Clutch 29-2016: Eve of the Eve of the Big Games

Mr. Clutch is coming to you live (well, live at the time of this writing) from somewhere between here and there. There is Philadelphia, PA and here is up in the air on a flight to Chicago. The guess is that the aircraft will be crossing over the Illinois border at some point soon. This normally wouldn’t mean much of anything except yesterday the Cubbies from the windy city reset the record books.  They are heading to the World Series for the first time since 1492.

OK, so it wasn’t 1492 – that’s when Columbus sailed the ocean blue and allegedly discovered America. The year was the early 1900s and in the paper today there was a fun article that listed all the things that didn’t exist the last time such an event occurred. It included most technology, color TV and probably most of the daily amenities that everyone takes for granted today. If time permits perhaps the exact list will make this post.

If the L.A. Dodgers, who by the way were on the list of things that didn’t exist last time the residents of Wrigley were in a world series, would have one won game six yesterday, then the Clutch team would be in route to watch game seven of the NLCS live between the two teams left from the National League. Those were the two teams that by the way the Mets motored through just a year ago in serious New York October baseball.  The coincidental trip to Chi-town could have been a bucket list knock off, and an elimination game no less.

Instead of witnessing some miniscule part of history, the 24 hours in the Windy city will likely not include a lot of baseball. That said, if time permits, which it certainly would of if a game was going to be played, a quick stop down at Wrigley field might be in order. The Clutch travel team believes that the excitement and aura of championship baseball will still be in air around the stadium despite the fact that the players will be on their way to Cleveland. The guess is that a fair amount of press, tourists and shocked locals will be wandering around the campus.

For anyone out there who is a baseball diehard seeing some places and possible games in being played in them are a must. On any list out there is Fenway park in Boston and Wrigley field in Chicago. They are two of the oldest old school stadiums that still exist and hold more history than any book or website. The best players of all time suited up and locked horns in these places. Records were set, classic games were played and of course these stadiums hold unbelievable historic significance.

As noted in a previous blog, Mr. Clutch and his gang from the old neighborhood visited Fenway a while back and was able to take in the full experience of a game, a tour and everything else that came along with visiting the great baseball town. Though during the off-season, and a time when the Cubs were playing poorly, Clutch, traveling solo like this trip, was in Chicago with time to kill.  The visit to the outside of Wrigley was relatively dull. It was cold, the tours were not running that day and not much was going on. The highlight was picking up some souvenirs to bring home. The hope is that this pilgrimage has better value.

Clutch is no stranger to being around World Series baseball.  Teenager Clutch was practically a resident of Shea Stadium back in October of 1986. Likely noted in previous blogs, ticket access was easy to come to that year and the Mets played home games in game one, two and six, seven (both if necessary). Four tickets to each game was obtained. These seats were right behind home plate and “Loge level”. For those not familiar with the seating chart of the old man, that was one level up and excellent seat.

What was the face value for these tickets? $1,000? $500? Keep going lower. The tickets were sold on the singular market for $30 each. It was hard to believe, and for those who don’t believe it there are many easy ways to validate it. Of course in this day and age the fastest way would be to “Google” the term “1986 Mets World Series ticket” and then click on images. That will bring up plenty of originals which you can select and zoom in on to see the price. Not that technically savvy? Then drive over to Clutch’s house, go down into his basement and look at the ticket from game six which is hanging in the LED lit glass shrine.

Having your team make it to a World Series is exciting. Having it happened when your team is coming off a pretty long losing streak like the Mets of 86 and now the Cubs of 16 is even more exciting. It brings people together and puts a smile on fans faces. The fact of the matter is that most fans of baseball are “Regular” folks with regular jobs and work to pay their bills and advance forward in life. Having a team that you cheer for get to or win a world title certainly brightens you day, week or year.

One final noteworthy item about the Cubs making it to the World Series comes from the same place the team they just beat does: Hollywood. Mr. Clutch is a fan of many things and after baseball is the great movie trilogy “Back to the Future”. In the sequel, BTTF 2, Marty played by the even greater Michael J. Fox, travels into the future from 1985ish to October 21, 2015 – which happens to be a year and two days ago today. While walking through the town square he sees a digital billboard with a joke which reads “Cubs win the World Series”. Like the self-tie laces and flat screens perhaps this fictional prediction was also right on – just a year late!