One in a million

Lone cherub braves Cub fans to cheer on Giants, watch beloved Barry Bonds chase history

By Larry Yee

It was like a hurricane watch. I was running back and forth between classes and a computer. I checked the same Web site day after day, waiting for the three words that I would eventually see: "Bonds will start."

Four weeks of waiting to see the Giants play the Cubs at Wrigley Field were really worth it.

Barry Bonds launches the first of his two homeruns at Wrigley Field on July 19th. Photo by Larry Yee.

As a San Francisco Giants fan and a staunch supporter of Barry Bonds, I may have been the most elated of all the cherubs. When we arrived at the ballpark the day of the field trip, I felt singled out. People looked at me like I had escaped from a freak show. I felt like the only one in a mile radius wearing a Giants uniform. Stares and jeers were common. But I said to myself that at the very least, we wouldn't be sitting in the bleachers, where some of the most ruthless and demeaning Wrigley fans sit.

The first Bonds at-bat rolled around during the top of the second. I was one of a very few number of people giving a standing ovation in a stadium of boos. Bonds turned on the first pitch and sent it onto Sheffield Avenue, right behind Wrigley Field. I was no longer the only one standing, but I was still in the minority of cheering fans.

As things settled down, a Cubs fan to my right turned to me and said, "You're alone, kid."

A rush of San Francisco pride filled me. I was the lone representative of the magnificent city I called home. It was amazing. I loved playing the role of devil's advocate. I was evil in the minds of Cubs fans. This experience is unmatched.

The scene repeated itself through all of Bonds's at-bats: One crazy 17-year-old kid standing and cheering, among thousands of Cubs fans sitting and booing to their hearts' content when the most hated man in all of pro baseball came up to bat.

At the end of the game, after two of Barry's homeruns, (the second more magnificent than the first) the fans were piling out singing "The Cubs Song." The Giants had lost. But with my last chance to play devil's advocate, I yelled out, "99 years."

Cubs fans hate that number. The Cubs have not won a World Series in 99 years, the longest streak in baseball history. Luckily, I survived with only verbal insults and a couple of shoves as I walked down the ramps.

That may have been the most thrilling experience of my life.