Hey, in case you missed it, the Cubs won the World Series last year.
There were many things about that run that remain memorable, but one of the cooler aspects was inherently ephemeral, and could have been lost forever.
Fans loaded up the bricks on the exterior of Wrigley with chalk art as the team made their run:
Reeves wasn’t alone in feeling emotional in the moment — fans had been writing on the wall since Game 4, but after Game 5 there were dozens of fans who wiped away tears as they wrote their messages on the wall, grasping a small piece of hand-me-down chalk the previous tear-soaked Cubs fan gave them.
They were great. After the season, though, the Cubs did a lot of construction at Wrigley, and the walls themselves were removed. But before that happened, the Cubs photographed large sections of the bricks, for a purpose to be named later.
As the Cubs get set for their home opener, that purpose has been revealed:
#Cubs have incorporated brick wall art from last postseason into a mural right outside the clubhouse. Maddon loves it. LeBron probably not. pic.twitter.com/6m48v34AMv
— Sammy P (@spshoot) April 10, 2017
That’s actually really, really cool of the Cubs, and it’s a great way to preserve an organic connection with the fans who had stuck with them through over a century of empty seasons.
Touches like that help make the overall renovation more pleasing, even if it’s mostly going to be seen by the players. Overall, the renovation and post-World Series additions to the stadium are much more commercialized, and though updated amenities are necessary at Wrigley, there are some less-than-appealing aspects to the new stuff:
Starting this week, the Cubs will display their trophy in the new plaza that connects to a Jostens ring store for fans to buy rings pic.twitter.com/QDiCtRypqL
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 10, 2017
Darren Rovell interviewing Crane Kenney about different branded sponsorship opportunities is going to go a long way towards starting a potential Cubs backlash. So, let’s have more stuff like the wall art, and fewer things like a giant Motorola logo surrounded by baseballs.
