How do you describe yourself? I like to say that I’m the biggest Cubs fan in the whole universe.
How did this come about? It started when I was very young. My grandma would take me to the ballpark to see the Cubs and I also had a favorite teddy bear at home, big and brown. I think I thought the Cubs emblem and my teddy bear were the same thing. I just took a liking to it.
How many Cubs games have you seen? I’ll have to add them up someday. I started going around 1955, about the same time I started saying “Woo.” After the 1958–1959 season, I started going just about every day.
What do you do in the off season? I get up in the morning and take my daughter to school. Then I ride over to the Billy Goat on Addison and talk to the people who work there. We’ll all look at the scores, see what baseball trades are being done, try to figure out the lineups, see what’s in store for baseball. Then I get on my bike and go around and wash a few windows. Then I go by the ballpark, right by the left-field bleachers, and sort of meditate for a few minutes. . . . I say a little prayer too. I just pray that everything falls into place for the Cubs. . . . Then, before I go, I touch a brick, touch certain parts of the ballpark, and say, “Let’s go get ’em, Cubs.”
How do you stay so positive? It takes time to do everything. When it’s time for the Cubs to win the World Series, they’ll win the World Series. But I feel real good about this season. We picked up Moises Alou [from the Houston Astros] and we have some good young players coming up.