I was 10 years old in June of 1958, and I had absolutely in the game of baseball let alone a favorite team. In that summer, I became friends with a neighbor about my age who was a baseball fan, not just a baseball fan, but a fan of the Chicago Cubs. I didn’t realize just how much this friendship would change my life because of him, I not only became a fan of baseball, but a life-long fan of the Chicago Cubs.

For years, the Cubs would be known as the loveable losers and basement dwellers, the doormat of the National League. In that year I became familiar with such players as first baseman Dale Long, second baseman Tony Taylor, theird baseman Alvin Dark, left fielder Walt (Moose) Moryn, centerfielder Bobby Thompson, rightfielder Lee Walls, Sammy Taylor catcher, and future Hall Of Famer, shortstop and later first baseman Ernie Banks.

They had pitchers like Dick Drott, Bill Henry, Moe Drabowsky, Dick Ellsworth, Gene Fodge, and Glen Hobbie. There were others, but I couldn’t recall them. Their managerr was Bob Scheffing.

The Cubs finished in fifth place out of eight teams in the national League. Expansion took place a few years later adding teams like the New York Mets and the Houston Colt 45s who bacame the Houston Astros.

I suffered long and hard for many years following my favorite team, but in 1969, Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, created this slogan for the year, “The Cubs will shine in 69,” and it appeared that this would be the year the Cubs would break out. It was a fun seasonuntil in August of 1969, the Cubs were playing the Mets in New York when centerfielder Don Young misplayed a fly ball that he dropped out of his glove, and the Cubs lost that game. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the unravveling of the Cubs season.

As I recall, the New York Mets went on to win over 20 games in the month of September to win the Eastern Division of the National League. They went on to defeat the Atlanta Braves of the Western Division, and ultimately went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles for the World Series.

I wouldn’t have the joy of victory until 2016 when the Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. To commemorate this glorious triumph, I purchased a solid silver World Series ring with my last name and the number engraved on it. I’m looking forward to another World Series Championship before I leave this earth.