CHAPTER 15

CUBS WIN, CUBS WIN

12:47 A.M.

Game Tied, 6–6

After seventeen minutes and one pep talk, we were ready to roll.

Our numbers two, three, and four hitters were due up in the top of the tenth against Indians reliever Bryan Shaw. Shaw had thrown fourteen pitches in the bottom of the ninth prior to the delay and Kyle Schwarber, as he promised in the dugout minutes earlier, went into his at-bat aggressive to lead off the tenth.

The left-handed-hitting Schwarber had hit .412 in the World Series—this, after sitting out nearly the whole season while recovering from two ligament tears in his left knee. With the infield shift in place, Schwarber singled on the second pitch to right field. It was two feet to second baseman Jason Kipnis’s left but Kyle hit the ball so hard Kipnis didn’t even have time to react.

In the dugout, we felt a jolt of energy—here we go, leadoff guy on! We were at our best all year when that leadoff guy got on base. As a catcher, I knew it was always the most important out of each inning.

Albert Almora entered as a pinch runner for Schwarber. Albert made a great read on a long fly ball to center field from Kris Bryant, who came up second. Albert tagged up and advanced to second base to beat the throw from Indians center fielder Rajai Davis.

With one out and a runner in scoring position, Indians manager Terry Francona decided to give Anthony Rizzo a free pass and Shaw intentionally walked him after a meeting on the mound. Now we had runners on first and second.

Up next was left-handed-hitting Ben Zobrist, who had won a World Series ring with the Kansas City Royals in 2015 and signed a four-year, $56 million deal with the Cubs in December 2015. So far in the game he was 0-for-4 with a run scored. But now he delivered.

Zobrist laced a 1-2 cutter off Shaw for an opposite-field RBI double down the third base line to score Almora from second base.

The Fox television broadcast caught the emotion of the moment as Zobrist jumped, waved his clenched right fist in the air, and lost his helmet as he landed on second base. Rizz, now at third, placed his hands on top of his helmet and mouthed, “Oh my God.”

Cubs 7, Indians 6.

Shaw then issued another intentional walk, this one to Addison Russell, to load the bases with one out.

Left-handed Miguel Montero, who entered the game in the bottom of the ninth when I was lifted for a pinch runner, followed with a ground-ball single to left field on a 1-1 cutter. Rizzo crossed the plate, bases were still loaded.

Score: 8–6.

In trouble, Francona opted for the pitching change. Right-hander Trevor Bauer, the Indians’ starter and loser in Game Two and Game Five, entered in relief and struck out Jason Heyward for the second out. Then he got Javier Baez to fly out to deep center field for the third out.

We had the lead back.

DAVID’S iPHONE JOURNAL

8/12/16

“Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners.” What an atmosphere tonight! Was probably the hottest game of the year and the guys kept pushing. Great team win vs. the Cardinals. Puts us 13 games up. Wrigley was rocking! I’m exhausted!

Hard-throwing right-hander Carl Edwards Jr., a forty-eighth-round selection in the 2011 major-league draft, was on the mound for us to start the bottom of the tenth. He had struck out the side in a relief appearance in the top of the sixth inning in Game Three.

My heart was racing. As a player, you are trying to stay calm and be as normal as possible, which is very difficult in that environment. The nerves are high and you are just so anxious and it’s like you can barely breathe. Now Edwards recorded the first two outs in quick succession: a strike from Mike Napoli and a ground-out by Jose Ramirez. Again, you never want to get ahead of yourself. In baseball, the third out is always the most difficult. That was the case in Game Seven, too.

Carl fell behind Brandon Guyer 3-0 and walked Guyer two pitches later. That brought a mound visit from our pitching coach Chris Bosio with Rajai Davis at the plate. Rajai, of course, hit the two-run home run in the eighth inning to tie the game. We allowed Guyer to advance to second base without a throw on Carl’s first pitch to Davis. Davis came up big again, smacking a single to center field that drove in Guyer.

Cubs 8, Indians 7.

My heart was pounding! I was worried about Rajai stealing second. At that point, a bloop single would tie it again. Could we really give up two leads in a single game?

Joe Maddon went to the bullpen and brought in left-hander Mike Montgomery to face right-handed hitter Michael Martinez. As Montgomery trotted to the mound, every second felt like an eternity. The crowd was going nuts but you almost become numb to the noise because you are so focused on the task at hand. There was so much pressure on every pitch.

Mike’s first pitch was a curveball. Strike one. On the second pitch, Martinez—with Davis running—tapped a slow roller to third baseman Kris Bryant. Off the bat the ball looked like it might be an infield hit.

Kris Bryant had other plans.

Kris charged toward the ball near the mound and fielded it cleanly. Though his front foot slipped slightly when he planted to throw, Kris made a clean exchange and zipped it over to Rizzo at first base, beating out Martinez by a good three strides.

And with that, Rizzo stuffed the ball in his back pocket and threw his glove in the air, and the celebration started.

The Cubs were World Series champions for the first time in 108 years!

As Fox game announcer Joe Buck said, “What a game. What a Series. What a night.”

DAVID’S iPHONE JOURNAL

9/19/16

Crazy weekend! We clinched on a loss by Cardinals but Miggy hit a walk-off home run the next day that started the party just right! One of the best celebrations I had been a part of, they had a DJ in our locker room. At one point there was so much beer and champagne being poured on my head I couldn’t breathe. It was so cold, gave me brain freeze from the outside. Only down spot was not having family here. They are very busy at home with school and activities but are coming up this Wednesday for the weekend and back full time for playoffs. More parties to come.

I was a tad slow out of the gate following the third out. As I climbed over the dugout railing, left leg first, my cleat got caught. But I made it over cleanly and rushed the field to join my teammates. Honestly, it was a blur. I remember embracing Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Jason Heyward. Kris was crying and I remember him thanking me and telling me he loved me.

Appearing from out of nowhere, World Series T-shirts and caps were being passed around. Carl Edwards Jr. ran around the field with a “Cubs Win” flag above his head. There were cameras everywhere. It was just a cool, emotional experience.

The game had so many ups and downs. I was totally spent after the game. With glassy, moist eyes, I tried my best to explain my feelings to Ken Rosenthal of Fox when he interviewed me live on the field following the game and asked me what it was like. “What a group of winners, what a group of resilient winners,” I managed to say. “These guys have never quit. They’ve answered every challenge all year long. When you just want to crumble when that ball goes over the fence, these guys fight back and continue to have good at-bats and play their game.” I told him, “I am so happy for these guys and I am just glad they took me on this journey.”

My self-deprecating humor kicked in when Ken told me I looked almost stunned when I rounded the bases after I hit my solo home run in the sixth inning. “You would be stunned, too, if you had my swing,” I joked.

At that point, manager Joe Maddon and I shared an emotional hug as he repeatedly patted me on the back with his right hand, which held a World Series T-shirt. Ken’s last question was about my retirement and my family and the prospect of spending more time with them. He asked if that was on my mind. “It wasn’t. It was staying in the moment. When we won, my first thoughts were on my wife, what a great way, what a great journey these guys took me on. I am just so proud of these guys. The city of Chicago deserves it. With these guys, with these guys…”

I was babbling at that point. Suddenly, as I was in midsentence, Anthony Rizzo, on my right, and Jason Heyward, on my left, came up from behind me and lifted me on their shoulders and carried me off. Can you believe it? The backup catcher gets carried off after Game Seven? That just doesn’t happen anywhere but in the movies. (Are there any movies about backup catchers?)

I high-fived a couple of my teammates as they toted me toward our dugout along the first base line. I blew a kiss to the crowd with my right hand. It was such an emotional moment, a “Rudy” moment, something I never expected. I’ll remember for the rest of my life this moment when I was literally carried off the field and into retirement as a World Series champion.

But one thing was a little awkward, if I’m being honest. As I told Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, when I was on their shoulders I didn’t know what to do with my hands! Do I wave, do I point, do I blow kisses? It was so surreal and incredible.

A few minutes later, the trophy presentation took place in our clubhouse, where everyone was ready to pop champagne and celebrate. On a stage near the wall stood Fox announcer Kevin Burkhardt, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred (standing next to the Commissioner’s Trophy), Cubs owner and executive chairman Tom Ricketts, Executive of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein, President of Business Operations Crane Kenny, General Manager Jed Hoyer, and Manager Joe Maddon.

Theo, Crane, and Jed unveiled the “Cubs Win” flag as Kevin made the introductions. The commissioner lifted the Commissioner’s Trophy off the table next to him and presented it to Tom Ricketts, saying it was an honor to present it to the Cubs and adding how historic it was. “Your fans waited one hundred and eight years and you delivered in style,” he said.

Tom lifted the trophy above his head as we cheered. When asked by Fox announcer Burkhardt what it felt like to hold the trophy, Tom said, “It’s incredible. I just think about so many millions of people giving so much love and support towards this team for so many years. To finally pay them back…” And when Kevin followed up with another question on how it felt, Tom shouted as he looked toward everyone in the clubhouse, “Hey, how does it feel to be world champions? It feels pretty good.”

Tom passed the trophy to Theo, who lifted it skyward. When asked how he was surviving the heart-attack game as he watched from the stands near our dugout, Theo said, “This is fitting that it has to be done with one of the best games of all time. It’s unbelievable. What a testament to our players, their grit.”

The trophy was handed off to Joe Maddon, the Cubs’ fifty-third manager since 1908—and who was ready to celebrate with goggles around the top of his world champions cap. “It’s the baby, it’s your first baby,” Joe said as he cradled the trophy. When asked what he was most proud of accomplishing, Joe said—as somebody threw a World Series champion hat toward the stage—“You just heard them say we never quit. I am really proud of the attitude and the culture that we have created here obviously. I think it’s something that carries for many, many years to come.”

After the speeches, Ben Zobrist was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the Series with a nice trophy and a fiftieth-anniversary Chevrolet Camaro.

Now, finally: It was time to party!

One of the highlights was bullpen catcher Chad Noble, who stripped down to a Speedo bathing suit as the champagne sprayed. As for me, I kept the champagne celebration short and sweet.

I wanted to get out to the field to see my wife and kids.

It wasn’t about me or my family when I got out of bed nearly sixteen hours earlier in our hotel suite. But at this moment it was all about them.

DAVID’S iPHONE JOURNAL

9/9/16

Had off day yesterday in Houston, love the Galleria mall! Took a few guys to my favorite sushi spot Uchi. Have a noon game tomorrow then Lester is flying us to TCU–Arkansas game. Can’t wait for that. We have been playing very good except vs. Milwaukee. Think it’s hard to get up to play them. Lester has been pitching great, so glad he is having a good year. Long road trip, need to play well here and St. Louis. Got a big lead in division, should close out soon. Harper is going to start walking really soon. She is standing all by herself, uh oh!

When Game Seven ended, Hyla, Landri, and Cole (who still didn’t feel well) and other families waited in the stands to be escorted to the tunnel near our locker room. The bottom bowl of Progressive Field still was packed with Cubs fans thirty minutes after the game. It probably was around forty-five minutes or so when I first spotted Hyla and the kids waiting outside the locker room. I grabbed Cole and we headed into the dugout to sit. We tried to take a couple of family photographs on the field, but Cole wasn’t up to it. I took him into the training room to get him something to drink and have him lie down to rest, while Hyla and Landri waited in the dugout as the rain returned, this time in monsoon-like fashion. While I was being pulled in what seemed like one hundred different directions by interview requests, Hyla, in the dugout, started talking to a guy who sat down next to her and introduced himself. It was Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam. And lifelong Cubs fan.

Eddie gave me an incredible shout-out during the seventh-inning stretch of Game Five of the World Series at Wrigley Field. I mean, that was such an emotional game for me. We were down three games to one in the Series. We had lost the previous night 7–2 and were on the brink of elimination. It was my last game at Wrigley and potentially the last game of my career.

The guys had been feeling pretty down when we walked into our locker room after Game Four. But as I got undressed, I heard someone slam their glove in their locker. I had no idea who it was but this overwhelming feeling to say something came over me. I battled that voice for a second and then I let it go. I was like, “No, we are not going to do that.” I wanted to put things in perspective. I was like, “Hey, we have Game Five tomorrow at Wrigley Field. This is the World Series. Every baseball player in the world would trade places with us to get a chance to play in that game tomorrow, right?” Plus, I reminded them, “Daddy’s in the lineup tomorrow. We are fine. I will take care of everything.”

All season that was my way of lightening moments. I stole that from Dustin Pedroia. He would always call himself Daddy when he would start talking trash, and it always made me laugh. I only got to play every few days, but I always made it a point to say, “We don’t lose when Daddy plays!” The guys had spent so much time calling me Grandpa, but I couldn’t go there. I had to be Daddy. And it worked out for us.

When I was lifted from the game for pinch hitter Miguel Montero in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game Five, it was a tough, emotional moment. I went to Lester, hugged him, and told him I loved him. I went back into the locker room to change and gather my emotions.

As it happens, Eddie Vedder was scheduled to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch, one of the cool traditions at Wrigley. When I walked back in the dugout, everyone looked at me and said, “Dude, Eddie Vedder just dedicated the whole seventh-inning stretch to you.” I was like, “What?” Eddie had thanked Theo Epstein, Tom Ricketts, and Joe Maddon before he mentioned me. “There’s one guy in particular I want to sing my butt off for. He’s number three, he’s behind the plate, he may retire, but he’ll never quit. Mr. David Ross, I’d like to belt this one out for you. It’s his last game at Wrigley, let’s sing it for him.”

I really didn’t hear what was said or what went on but I was totally blown away. I had gotten to know Eddie a little bit—he was a regular around Wrigley Field when he wasn’t on the road with his band—and he’s really a down-to-earth guy, a genuine human being. Everyone knows who Eddie Vedder is. I walked to the top of the dugout and tipped my cap Eddie’s way in the announcer’s booth. To say my name and honor me was a huge compliment. So, how cool and surreal is it that Hyla talked to Eddie about life, baseball, the Cubs, and children in our dugout after Game Seven?

I don’t think we left Progressive Field until 3 a.m. It wasn’t a great experience for family members as everyone waited in the dugout on the players. Plus the sky opened up and it was pouring rain. We were being pulled in so many different directions that it was a chore just to break away and shower. While Landri was fine and mingled with friends, Cole was tired and lay in Hyla’s lap most of the time.

Finally, everyone boarded the buses to head to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for our charter flight to Chicago. En route to the airport on Interstate 71 south, a truck that had a mobile billboard sign pulled up in the lane next to the buses.

It displayed a huge, glowing white and blue “Cubs Win” flag.