Millions flood Chicago streets for Cubs parade 108 years in the making

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Joe Maddon – an old hippie with a scraggly white beard who’s become rich and famous beyond even his wildest dreams – looked out at Grant Park through his designer sunglasses.

“Welcome to Cubstock 2016,” Maddon said, standing on stage next to the World Series trophy. “I wasn’t there in ’69. But I wish Richie Havens was here today, man. That would be outstanding.”

An estimated five million people flooded the streets of Chicago on Friday to watch a championship parade that had been 108 years in the making. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity reminded you of another Cubs manager, Lee Elia’s classic rant about how “85 percent of the f------ world’s working. The other 15 come out here.”

The parade route began at Wrigley Field on a crisp, sunny, beautiful November day, the perimeter of the ancient stadium fenced off, helicopters buzzing overhead and the flashing blue lights atop police vehicles dotting Clark Street.   

The barricades lined Addison Street, Cubs fans waiting outside storefronts to cheer, hold up their phones to take pictures and wave at strangers as dozens of trolleys rolled past on the way toward Lake Shore Drive.

“Did anybody go to work today?” Pat Hughes, the smooth radio voice of the Cubs, said at the beginning of the Grant Park rally. “Did anybody go to school today?

“No worries, because your teachers and your bosses are here, too.”

Chicago Public Schools students – who might be wondering why the Chicago River had to be dyed a Cubbie color to look blue – already had a scheduled day off. But this would have been an open-air carnival no matter what.

“How ‘bout this s---?” ace pitcher Jon Lester said when he stepped up to the microphone. “Sorry, kids.”

People watched from the balconies of a Gold Coast apartment building. Construction workers in hard hats and neon vests stood atop scaffolding to see the motorcade, which kept moving south on Michigan Avenue past Fourth Presbyterian Church, where the Cubs organization mourned Ernie Banks in the winter of 2015.        

“I was here during the bad times,” said Anthony Rizzo, the current face-of-the-franchise player who had attended Mr. Cub’s funeral. “I got so much into the culture of the Chicago Cubs that I feel like every single person that has worn this jersey won the World Series with us.”

Rizzo choked up at the podium. So did David Ross, the retiring catcher/clubhouse sage/social-media sensation (Grandpa Rossy) who kept it short after being among the league leaders in media sessions at his locker. 

President of baseball operations Theo Epstein – who took a momentary break from the bender he promised after the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 – gulped a sip or two from a blue Solo cup before addressing the crowd. 

“We’ve asked a lot of you,” Epstein said. “We put you through a lot over the last five years – 101 losses, trading players you’ve come to know and love for guys you’ve never heard of. Trading 40 percent of the rotation three years in a row, asking you guys to follow the draft and follow the minor leagues.

“Let’s be honest, for a while there, we forgot the ‘Not’ in ‘Try Not To Suck.’”

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Epstein still engineered a stunningly quick turnaround that has the Cubs positioned as Major League Baseball’s premier franchise for the next five years, with young stars like Kris Bryant (who wore a professional wrestling championship belt) and Addison Russell (who moonwalked across the stage like Michael Jackson).

By the age of 42, Epstein has already busted 194 combined years of curses between the Cubs and his hometown Boston Red Sox, epic achievements that will someday get him inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“In the first year, I remember running into an elderly woman outside Wrigley one day leaving the game,” Epstein said. “She introduced herself: ‘I’m 83 years old. I really want to live to see a World Series. Is it gonna happen?’ 

“And we had just lost like 10-1. We’re on a five-game losing streak. It was pretty bad. I looked at her and all I could think to say was: ‘Take your vitamins.’

“But deep down, I know she made it. She’s out there somewhere. And you guys made it. Thank you for everything that you’ve given us. All the support, all the patience, it means the world to us.

“Really, that’s what’s made it such an emotional month. Our players felt it, felt how badly you guys wanted it, driving around town, seeing all the W flags, seeing you guys sharing this with your parents and your grandparents, all those who didn’t quite make it all the way here.”

To catch a glimpse of this, people were standing on rooftops in Wrigleyville and literally hanging from trees on Columbus Drive. The Cubs took their medicine during those rebuilding years, but this core group will now be viewed as World Series favorites – a good bet to repeat – when pitchers and catchers report to Arizona in about three months.   

That may or may not be enough time to shake off the hangover. Free-agent reliever Travis Wood carried around a bottle of Crown Royal. And then took off his camouflage vest. And then stood shirtless on the stage that Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner had crashed and held the World Series trophy above his head. 

Ben Zobrist brought along his World Series MVP trophy and deflected all the credit to God, his teammates and a “city of MVPs.” Rizzo gave the final-out ball from Game 7 to chairman Tom Ricketts. Country musician Brett Eldredge led a “Go Cubs Go” sing-along. Ross and his teammates turned their backs to the crowd: “How ‘bout a quick selfie?”

Exactly eight years ago, Barack Obama celebrated his Election Night victory here with a Grant Park rally, and now the Cubs will be invited to the White House. 

“This is an incredible moment for all of us,” Maddon said. “I’ve been around baseball for a bit. Never have I experienced anything like Wrigley Field on a nightly basis. Never have I experienced anything like the conversation among all of you when I run into you on the street. It’s different. It’s spectacular. It’s comfortable. It’s warm. And it’s the way it should be.

“Thank you for being so patient. Let’s hope that it’s not another 108 years. Let’s see if we can repeat this and come back next year.”

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