The Chicago Cubs were not projected to be very good this season. In a pleasant change, the Cubs are still in contention for the playoffs in September. Of course, lots of things have changed at Wrigley Field in the last several years.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the annual game my childhood friend Tom and I attend. Friends from first grade, we started meeting for Cubs games about 20 years ago. For the last two games, a high school friend, Steve, joined us.

Although we are Cubs fans, baseball is really just the backdrop for an afternoon of friendship. We split the time between recalling fun times and catching up on recent events in our lives. We do pay attention to the game, especially in recent years since the Cubs have been winning.

This year I also had the pleasant surprise of running into Val, an old friend who is a beer vendor. I originally met Val when she was a roller derby skater more than a decade ago. Since then, we cross paths several times at various conventions.

Unfortunately, the Cubs lost 1–0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a pitching duel, with a total of seven hits allowed. Jameson Taillon pitched six scoreless innings for my Cubs, but Zac Gallen went the distance for the Diamondbacks. Arizona’s leadoff hitter Corbin Carroll went 2-4 with the lone RBI. My Cubs managed only two hits from Seiya Suzuki and one from Nico Hoerner.

The game lasted just over two hours, thanks to the new rules.

Despite the loss, the damp weather and the bad traffic, I drove home in a great mood. Fifty years of friendship is a real blessing.

— John Wroblewski, online writer