Chicago Cubs fans mourn the end of the season as club comes up just short of making the playoffs
As Alana Palmer prepared to move into her new apartment in Wrigleyville, the 23-year-old had high hopes for a Chicago Cubs’ playoff run. She watched games from her home in Nebraska, anticipating an exciting game-day atmosphere.
But she said she’ll have to wait until next year to catch a game in person after the team’s playoff aspirations ended Saturday night with a Miami Marlins’ victory over the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
“It’s kind of sad that they didn’t make the playoffs, but at least they’re close,” Palmer said.
“We were really watching intently because it’s like, oh my gosh, you could be moving here when the Cubs could be making history, so we were watching all the Braves games and then the game yesterday where the Marlins were supposed to lose, but then they won,” added her mom, Amy Palmer, while the duo sipped beer outside at the sports bar Murphy’s Bleachers.
Some fans still headed to Wrigleyville on Sunday afternoon to cheer on the Cubs from afar during their last regular season game against the Brewers in Milwaukee. A few mourned the end of the season, some made plans for next year and others decided to change the channel to the Bears game — which also didn’t bode well for Chicago sports fans, as the Bears blew a 21-point lead for their 14th straight loss.
Cory Carson didn’t expect the Cubs to play well this season, so he said a winning record felt great. Early last month, the Cubs were 12 games over .500 and in the second wild-card position, but they lost 14 of their next 21 games. The 32-year-old South Side resident said he hopes they continue to develop their younger players and strengthen their pitching.
Carson said he used to support the Detroit Tigers, but after moving to Chicago a few years ago, he immediately became a Cubs fan.
“When you move to Chicago, you can’t help but root for the Cubs,” he said.
On Sunday, Carson joined a couple of friends at Murphy’s Bleachers. The bar was filled as people ate, drank and watched various baseball and football games on flat-screen TVs.
“It’s great to see the Bears winning,” Carson said at halftime when they were up 21-0. " It hurts that the Cubs, it doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter whether the Cubs win or not.”
Karen and Trevor Eden said they wanted to experience the American sports atmosphere while on a work trip from Canada, and even though they’re Toronto Blue Jays fans, Wrigleyville seemed like the perfect place to visit. The couple rented bikes to explore the city.
“I was hoping we could go to a game. If there would have been a game we would have gone,” Trevor Eden said.
Decked out in shirts with the Bears’ logo, Greg and Kim Miller walked through Gallagher Way outside Wrigley Field, looking for a place to watch the end of the Bears game. The husband and wife from Schaumburg said they tried to watch the game from Soldier Field, but the prices were too high.
Kim Miller said she’s rooted for the Cubs since she was a little girl.
“The very first experience of walking up and then seeing the field, it was just like awestruck,” she said.
The duo said they tried to “raise their kids right” but they unfortunately ended up Red Sox’ fans.
Win or lose, the 55-year-old said she’ll always be a Cubs fan and that the games are a fun time. However, she said she wouldn’t complain if Chicago teams won more.
“We’re such a classy, five-star city that we should be maintaining our World Series Cubs. We should be maintaining those players, we should be maintaining the ’86 Bears,” she said. “Why are we breaking up a winning team? Why don’t we have a mainstay quarterback like the Packers, somebody who stays with the franchise so they win?”
