Many Chicago Cubs fans aren’t limiting their World Series celebrations to just the nighttime.
In preparation for Game 3, which starts at 7 p.m. CT Friday night, Chicagoans flocked to Wrigleyville, the neighborhood surrounding Wrigley Field, with plenty of time to spare.
Matt Lindler, a Chicago-based freelance writer, began documenting the craziness before sunrise.
“A couple bars were already pretty packed,” Lindler says. “People have waited so long for a day like today, and a lot of people are taking off from work.”
The historical importance of the Cubs’ appearance in the World Series is palpable, and Lindler says that part of the reason the event feels so special is because of how interwoven the Cubs are in Chicago’s identity.
“Chicago is known as the ‘second city,’ but I think something like this almost sheds that label,” Lindler says.
Everyone in Chicago is a Cubs fan right now, according to Lindler. He says he couldn’t escape team hats and jerseys if he tried.
The Art Institute of Chicago, which houses some of the world’s most famous works of art, have rendered some of the works online with Cubs regalia.
Their challenge to the Cleveland Museum of Art did not go unnoticed, as the museum did the same to some of the works housed in their galleries.
The good-natured art brawl captures the fun of this year’s World Series, as neither team has had a chance to vie for the title in several decades. The Cubs’ last World Series victory came in 1908, which makes it the longest championship drought in American professional sports. The Indians’ last World Series victory was in 1948.
This historical bout has electrified the local community, according to Lindler.
“Today is one of the most fun days in Chicago history,” he says.
In the coming week, history will be made regardless of the series’ outcome.
