One New York Mets fan, Bill Laramie, dared to show up at Flo’s Kenwood Tap in Hammond’s Hessville section for the Cubs-Mets weekend matchup.
On Tuesday, he texted Kenwood owner Flo Decker, a ride-or-die Cubs fan, to see if he was allowed back in. Decker had some stipulations.
“I told him, ‘If you’re muzzled and your hands are restrained, you’re welcome,'” Decker said, only half joking. “I thought (the guys he was with) were going to kill him Saturday, so he was much quieter Sunday.”
Flo’s crowd was boisterous and ready for the Cubs to regain their footing after losing two in New York. Every pitch and every play was met with cheers or hollering about what went wrong.
“This is going to be a long night,” said Nancy Johnson, of Hessville, catching her breath after Kyle Schwarber caught a fly to left field in the first.
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Johnson, with her niece, Liz Dommer, and sister, Betsy Hunt, of Schererville, coached their beloved team from their seats. When Schwarber hit his first homer, she had one thing to say: “Take that!”
Her excitement was tempered before the game started.
“I was Negative Nancy,” Johnson said. “I’m 61 years old, and every year, it’s ‘Next year.’ I’m not doing ‘Next year’ again.”
Dommer, the trio’s statistician, was sanguine.
“I’m keeping the faith,” she said. “I mean, come on! We have Theo Epstein, the guy who brought the Red Sox out of an 87-year slump. And we did something called player development this year, and we couldn’t always say that.”
Laramie, of Hessville, who swears he cheers for the Cubs when the Mets aren’t playing, at least has an honorable reason not to root, root, root for the home team. Growing up, he had a buddy who was a Mets fan.
That friend died at 19, so Laramie took the Mets in his honor.
This season has been a little hectic for Laramie, though, he said.
“I had another buddy that just died who was a K.C. fan, so when they were playing and the Mets were playing, I didn’t know who I was going to root for,” Laramie said.
Hunt, whose daughter was in Chicago for the game, had a different take.
“I’m an atheist, and you know how when the Pope was here a few weeks ago, everything was so peaceful and positive? That’s how I feel about the Cubs,” she said.
Nick Rakos, also of Hessville, was still hoarse from the weekend games. He and his twin, Jay, tore it up, but Jay was nowhere to be found Tuesday night.
“We need a break, but if they win tonight, we’ll be back together,” Rakos said. “Fired up is one of the many words used to describe us.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.