On October 15, 2018 I was in Seattle at a conference standing on a Pier looking at beautiful Mount Rainer when I looked at my phone and saw a notice that Paul Allen had passed away. How I ironic and unique was it to be standing there looking at the city he loved (and I was going to visit a longtime colleague at the Seattle Seahawks, the team he owned in about an hour) and the area where he had such profound impact as the world was learning of his passing. A moment where the idea of just showing up held a really unique POV.
The same thing happened on Friday in Chicago. I had planned to visit some old colleagues at Marquee Sports Network early in the morning to check out their new facilities around Wrigley Field, and jumped into an Uber to make the trip across town, thinking I was going to chat, see some new innovative broadcast tech and head back for the rest of my day.
Well not quite.
As I pulled up to the offices near the stadium I saw a great amount of early morning hustle and bustle, more than you would see on a Friday morning. I soon learned from my host, longtime MSG and MLB Network leader Mike Santini, that the Cubs were not only playing that afternoon, but it was Ferguson Jenkins Day, and the Hall of Famer was having his statue unveiled outside of Wrigley later that morning. I frankly had thought that the Cubs were playing a night game and never thought to look up what else was going on, so maybe a quick change of plans for where my office would be Friday could pop up. Maybe.
After being given the tour of the uniqueness of what Marquee is doing…the innovative facilities all have the unique touches Santini, along with his boss and another longtime friend, broadcast and tech innovator Mike McCarthy would expect and then some…I started to head back out when Santini asked me if I wanted a ticket for the game. I thought for about 30 seconds, said yes, and rearranged some things for the afternoon that needed to get done to plan what I thought would just be a nice few hours at a legendary venue on a warm May day. (Their offices are in former Cubs offices where Theo Epstein and crew built a world champion, note how Epstein signed the wall).
Well not quite.
I headed back to my hotel, dropped off my bag and began my trip back to Wrigley when I noticed on Twitter that another longtime colleague, Josh Rawitch now the President of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was also in town for the ceremony. Another unplanned meet up was in the works and quickly a random meet up to learn was turning into something more. That seemed to be enough.
Well not quite.
I returned in time to mill about, watch the Jenkins ceremony up and continued to soak in and learn all that the “new” Wrigley now offered fans and consumers. Shops and photo opps, digital booths, collectable items all tied to the beauty of baseball. The Cubs had even built out a “Creators Corner” in their main store, celebrating the creativity of area artists that again tied the growing community of Wrigleyville to the team far and wide.
There was all the fun food and families that make a baseball experience like this special (I overheard one young boy asking his mom to get chicken tenders and she said no, “We are at a Cubs game you get a hot dog or a Brat,” great advice mom) and of course there are all the baseball trimmings that made it a special afternoon, with just enough Wi-Fi to keep things going. I got to spend time with my friend Josh and learn about Hall of Fame goings on as well, so the day was complete, right?
Well not quite.
The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Friday, which makes it a hitters day in “The Friendly Confines.” And hit the Diamondbacks and Cubs did…11 home runs on the day, tying for the most ever in one game in Wrigley Field history. And while, sigh, even the Cubs do not allow printed tickets as a collectable (0ne of the few things the team is missing to round out an experience), I did buy a simple scorecard, and scored the game. Hence a unique keepsake on my own to take back. So that’s enough right?
Well not quite.
Late in the day, as the wind was blowing off the Ivy on the outfield came the news that one of baseball’s greatest storytellers, Roger Angell, had passed away at 101. Like millions of others, for decades Angell’s work about the personalities of baseball had helped knit a fabric of love and admiration for the game, and here I was, getting ready to leave this Cathedral, when someone who had really instilled love and beauty for the game, passed. Much like where I was standing in Seattle when Paul Allen passed, I again marveled at the uniqueness of just showing up and seeing the wonderful gifts we are given.
One of the many great pieces on Angell was done by Lindsay Adler in The Athletic on Friday…here is a quote and the link.
He was once described as baseball’s poet laureate, but I considered him something else. He was baseball’s living history, its institutional memory, and one of its all-time greatest ambassadors for the magic of the game.
Quite a day.
The lesson? As we have said before, the randomness of showing up vs sitting behind a screen or texting someone or not taking the extra step can lead us to places and experiences that may never come along again. None of it, other than a quick morning meeting was planned, but all of it was there because we took the extra step.
You never know what you find until you look.
