For years I have heard stories about the Chicago Cubs fans...that in spite of the "curse" they continue to have hope that is unfounded in reality. To be clear, they have made the post season playoffs on occasion, but for some the curse of the Billy Goat remains fully in tact.

So why the fascination for this team? There is even a second team in town, but it is the Cubs that draw all the attention, or at least the bulk of it and certainly the notoriety as being the Chicago team that comes to mind when one thinks baseball and Chicago. I had no idea...it has baffled me. Then I had the chance to go to Wrigley last weekend as a guest of a friend...he felt that I needed to see this stadium to understand the importance of the Cubs.

I have been to Fenway Park, Camden Yards, Nationals Stadium, Chavez Ravine, Angels' Stadium, Chase Field...all fine ballparks. I've enjoyed games at all those locations. I like Camden Yards and Nationals' Stadium because they work hard to bring back the feel of the old parks with the updates that one needs to see in today's world. Well done to both of them. But now I have seen, felt, experienced Wrigley Field. This is a park that did not have lights until 1988...and then under duress...the park sits in a neighborhood and people did not want the lights and noise to drift into the the evening...some thought it was the lack of lights that made the park what it was...the last bastion of "real baseball" from an era of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb...but they would have been wrong in my opinion. Wrigley Field does not suffer from the lights. The charm, the feeling of a different era comes from so much more. To be honest I went to a day game, but it is the closeness that one feels at this field that creates the feeling.

From my recollection, Fenway was smaller in general than Wrigley...the two old men of Major League Baseball. But Wrigley is not the shortest center field that belongs to the Padres in San Diego...but the feeling at Wrigley is unlike any park I have been to. Maybe it is the Ivy on the outfield walls or the shorts the walls themselves. Maybe it is the lack of a bull pen and the closeness of the warm-ups. Maybe it is just the more gentle slope of the seating that makes one feel closer to the field...not counting the balconies of course. Maybe it is just the age that makes it special.

But for me it was the people around you that made the difference. There were folks taking pictures of themselves in Cubs shirts with their kids and especially infants with the field in the background. There were the cries of "Throw it back" when the Braves hit a home run to center field. The crowd is passionate about their team and passionately opposed to any other team on the field. There was not booing for a mistake by a Cubs player...there were cries of being robbed and even some sadness because of the errors but no anger against the players on a team that has not made the fall classic in 105 years.

For me it was also the company...being with someone who cares so much for the team. Someone who loves baseball and thinks this park is the holy grail of sorts. It was the fellowship, the time with a friend and the chance to do something that is, for many, a "manly" recreation...not going shopping or to a movie...going out to the ball park. It was a great time. Perhaps more importantly, I came away a Cubs fan. I came away feeling that any changes to Wrigley that alter the character of the field would be a mistake. This field, Wrigley, and the team, the Cubs, have a lot to say about baseball, about life, about how we use to live and even how we should. It is simpler, it is smaller, it is closer, it is friendlier.

Thanks for a great Sunday...