Yesterday was a rare day in Chicago. The Chicago Cubs won a playoff game!

In my lifetime, the Cubs have only made the playoffs 12 times. They lost the first seven series, winning only six of 30 games. They won the World Series in 2016, the first championship since 1908. This is only the fourth playoff appearance since then and the first win since 2017.

Hungry for any postseason success, the crowd gathered early around Wrigley Field. Even as I arrived very early as usual, there were thousands of fans already there. Many were without tickets, but they wanted to be part of the experience. I made a quick stop to check out the statues, including Ryne Sandberg, the newest for the recently deceased Hall of Famer.

The day’s festivities started with former pitcher Jake Arrieta tossing a ceremonial first pitch. Winner of the Cy Young award the previous year, Arrieta continued his historic run, going 18–8 in leading the Cubs to the 2016 World Series. Not surprisingly, Arrieta received a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd.

The San Diego Padres started the scoring with a run in the second inning. The Cubs answered with consecutive home runs from Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly in the fifth.

The loud crowd got even louder as singer and Cubs fan Eddie Vedder led the all-in song for the seventh inning stretch. The lead vocalist for Pearl Jam was born in Evanston, a few miles north of Wrigley Field, and is a regular visitor to the Friendly Confines.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Nico Hoerner hit a sacrifice fly to score an insurance run. Meanwhile, the Cubs relief pitchers held the Padres hitless in the final five innings.

When Brad Keller struck out Xander Bogaerts to end the game, the stadium erupted. I could actually feel the stands shaking.

Ordinarily, exiting is a big problem, as Wrigley Field, the second-oldest Major League Baseball stadium, has only a few exits. On this day, it didn’t matter, because I stayed long after the end, soaking in every second of the experience.

Since I wrote then, the Cubs went on to win the series to advance in the playoffs. I did not attend the clincher, but my high school friend Greg was there to capture the celebration.

© Greg Nessinger

— John Wroblewski, podcaster