Cubs Fans Among Top Ten Most Loyal MLB Fans

According to sports writer John Belaska, if fans want to show how much they love their favorite team, they do so by going to the games. In order to figure out how loyal a fan base is, Belaska calculated the average attendance per 2013 home game for each MLB team.  Wrigley Field, the second oldest baseball stadium in the United States and home to the Chicago Cubs since 1916, can pack in 41,019 fans on any given day. Last year, the Cubs averaged 32,625 fans in attendance per game. This means on average Wrigley Field was 79.54 percent full every time the Cubs played a home game, ranking it tenth among America’s top ten most loyal MLB fans.

Today, I felt like a true Cubs fan as I cheered on the home team at my first-ever major sports event in Chicago: a Cubs game against the San Diego Padres. The game was highlighted by several other ‘first’ moments as well. In the tenth inning, Jorge Soler made a outstanding catch of Matt Kemp’s drive to right field. I’ve seen my share of rough rugby games, but that was the first time I’ve seen a human being run and slam himself into a wall, and in spite of how masochistic that may sound on paper, I know any real Cubs fan would say it was for a very worthy and glorious purpose.

Up until the sixth inning, the Padres were leading, but with a home run, which I had never seen in real life before, the Cubs caught up quickly. We ended up beating the Padres 7-6 after eleven innings. Additionally, this was a milestone game for third-baseman Kris Bryant—if he ever becomes a Hall of Famer I will be able to say I watched the first hit and RBI of his MLB career. It was a landmark game in other ways, too. Despite having given up a homerun to Kemp in the first inning, Kyle Hendricks struck out fourteen batters in a row after that. Even as a rookie spectator, I know that can’t be an easy feat. What’s more, the wind was blowing at 19 miles per hour at Wrigley today. The Cubs’ Miguel Montero, when asked to comment on his two home runs, displayed a confident sense of humor, the kind that is reserved for winners. “When I hit it, it goes, regardless of the wind,” he said with a grin.

Before this afternoon’s game, I had been to only one other Major League Baseball game. Although I do not see myself becoming a baseball connoisseur—if ever asked to summarize a baseball game, I’d probably have to refer to the Chicago Tribune’s game recap, as I did for this post—I definitely enjoy the palpable excitement of a live game. Next on my sports bucket list is a Bulls game and a Blackhawks game. Of all the spectator sports, basketball is my favorite. I look forward to taking advantage of the specially priced tickets, sponsored by the Department of Programming, that are sold at the Damen Information desk.