THE WAIT IS OVER
By BRANDON HURLEY
Sports Editor
JEFFERSON – Jim Copeland endured it all.
Through 80-years of fandom, two World Series failures, playoffs sweeps, heartache, last place finishes and the butt of numerous jokes, and like many Chicago Cubs fans, the Jefferson native’s loyalty never wavered.
Copeland knew what it felt like to watch the Cubs in the World Series (Two Fall Classics, to be exact, 1938 and 1945), and wanted that taste again.
But that pesky curse stood in the way (Hey old Billy Goat, how’s that grass taste now?).
Then a giddy fan that wanted his own piece of history held up his celebration (Cubbies, will you let Steve Bartman live in peace now?).
There’s even the weird story of Sammy Sosa, which started out so well (66 homers!) but ended so poorly (He’s bleached his skin so much he looks like Michael Jackson’s ghost).
What about Mark Prior, wasn’t he supposed to be the savior? (Hello, Tommy John, meet Mark’s elbow).
Then, five years ago Theo arrived, then later, Joe and we can safely say, thanks to several well thought acquisitions and patience, the rest is history.
Copeland’s loyalty to the club he latched onto as a kid finally paid off last week, as the Chicago Cubs, yes, those “lovable” Cubs, captured their first World Series title since 1908.
“What a wonderful feeling,” Copeland said basking in the memory of witnessing his beloved Cubs clinching the World Series in a classic game seven over the Cleveland Indians.
A LIFETIME OF HOPE
Copeland recalls a lifetime’s worth of Cubs struggles as the unofficial longest-running Cubs fan in the area. And unlike fans born in the last 60 or so years, he has fond memories of the good times prior to 2016, too, albeit rare.
After witnessing the famous “Homer in the Gloamin’,” in the 1938 regular season, who knew further glory would be so few and far in between?
The Cubs reached just one World Series over the next 77 years, in 1945 to boot.
Copeland’s undying support started to feel more like a wish then actual hope as he aged and many of his favorite Cubbies passed away. He has outlived Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, but the faith never fully disappeared.
“I always hoped they’d win the World Series, but I told them I was getting old, so they better do it soon,” he said.
Copeland’s fandom didn’t dissipate as he fought alongside his fellow countrymen as a member of the seventh division of the 98th artillery.
While deployed for the Korean War during the summer of 1953, he poured over as many box scores as he could get his hands on, mostly to see who hit home runs that day. Knowing the Cubs though at that point, expecting a hot streak was a measly pipe-dream.
“I read those box scores looking for stats, what usually followed wasn’t very good,” Copeland said.
And boy was he right, the Cubs were a dismal 65-89 that season, finishing in seventh out of eight in the National League.
Before heading off to the Korean war, Copeland’s love for the game of baseball blossomed at Beloit College in Wisconsin where he played a bit of shortstop and third base. The Davenport native was always drawn to “America’s pastime” but it wasn’t until 1936 that he became a diehard Cubs fan.
A neighbor he and his friends dubbed “Grandpa Lee” blared every Cubs game from his radio. The boys often found themselves plunked in front following a long day of school.
It’s where he heard the historic, pennant-clinching “Homer in the Gloamin,” in which Gabby Hartnett blasted a walk-off home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates to send Chicago to the World Series in 1938. That same radio sent the sounds of the 1945 World Series through his ears, where the Cubs lost to the Detroit Tigers in a time when many of the game’s best players were still fighting in the tail end of World War II.
Copeland even learned to appreciate the intricacies of his all-time favorite Cub through those radio waves as well.
A LITTLE MORE THAN AN OLD HACK
Copeland’s favorite Cub of all time isn’t Ernie Banks or Ron Santo. It’s not even Kerry Wood, Sammy Sosa or Kris Bryant. No, his MVP is the immortal Stanley Camfield Hack, who played for the Cubs in the 1930s and 40s.
“Long before Ron Santo,” Copeland said.
Hack certainly could cut it at the dish, boasting a career .301 average while scoring more than 100 runs seven different times. He still holds the franchise record for walks in a season with 1,092. Hack also made an appearance in both the 1938 and the 1945 World Series. So it’s no wonder Copeland grew a liking to him. He even opened a restaurant outside of the Quad Cities following his playing days.
After the ’45 World Series, things started to go south, in a hurry. The Cubs blew a 10-game lead to the Mets in 1969 and then the debacle of 1984 happened, in which they blew a 2-0 lead against the Padres thanks to a historic blunder by Leon Durham. The Cubs had the reigning NL MVP in Ryne Sandberg and Rick Sutcliffe won the C.Y. Young award. That year was as good as any for the drought to end, but on the it rolled, ready for a new group to grab hold.
A NEW AGE, A NEW HOPE
Copeland never doubted these new-look Cubs. He had immense faith in the architects of the first ever World Series championship team. Theo Epstein, President of Baseball Operations, Joe Maddon, manager, the young guns – Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber took control of historic Wrigley field and the long history of the franchise and steered it in the right direction.
“I thought they did an excellent job,” Copeland said. “What thrilled me was Schwarber, he was able to hit well last year, so I knew he was something special.”
And special he was indeed, all Schwarber did was bat over .400 in the World Series coming off a knee injury that forced him to sit the entire regular season.
The exploding farm system was the biggest difference that set this Cubs team apart from past clubs, Copeland felt.
“The key to a good farm system is building a winner but one that continues to be a winner,” he said. “The Cubs still have some real good prospects in their minor league system. And I bet Theo builds it up again.”
The missing piece in the 2016 puzzle, Copeland noted, was adding future World Series MVP, Ben Zobrist to the roster.
“He was a Royal last year and won the World Series. The camaraderie this team has is excellent,” Copeland said. “Maddon has great flexibility with his defense, to be able to have Baez, Bryant, Russell, and Zobrist – they can all play anywhere. And they are young, too.”
THE END IS NEAR
Everything was shaping up for 2016 to be THE year. The Cubs rolled through the NL Central, piling up 103 victories behind the prowess of an MVP candidate (Kris Bryant), a prospective CY Young award winner (Kyle Hendricks) and a lights-out closer they acquired from the almighty New York Yankees (Aroldis Chapman).
Panic sprung free as the Cubs not only lost the first World Series game inside Wrigley Field in 71 years, but did it in startling fashion, losing 1-0 then dropping the next home game for a 3-1 series deficit. Things looked dire, with their backs against the wall in need of three straight wins, and the final two games in Cleveland.
That unwavering loyalty, like Cubs fans all over the world have come to lean on for so many years, arose again.
Copeland knew there was still an inkling of hope – he had faith in the pitching staff even if the bats didn’t want to show up. So he took a step back, glanced at the pitchers the Cubs had listed for the final three games and began restoring his faith.
“I analyzed who we had coming up,” Copeland said. “Hendricks had the lowest ERA in the league, Jake Arrieta was good and then we had John Lester.”
Game seven arrived Nov. 2 with a bang as lead-off batter Dexter Fowler sent a solo home run over the center field wall and they sprinted out to a 5-1 lead. But as if just to toy with their fans one final time, the Cubs proceeded to blow that said lead in spectacular fashion, .
The Indians’ comeback was capped off by a Rajai Davis two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning with two out and that familiar feeling crept inside Copeland’s and millions of other’s minds.
“I thought, ‘boy, we blew another one,’” he said. “But there’s still a chance, and they came through.”
After the two teams played the ninth inning with the score tied at six, the fans watching on TV, including Copeland, were greeted back from the commercial break to a rain storm that had swept it’s way into Cleveland. But, thankfully, the delay only lasted 17 minutes, a span that may eventually go down as the most famous in sports history.
“I think that rain delay really helped us,” Copeland said.
The Cubs came out hot in the top of the 10th. Zobrist punched home a run-scoring, go-ahead doubling and Miguel Montero added an insurance run to extend their lead to 8-6 and just three outs from the world title.
Though the Indians added a run in the bottom half of the inning, the Cubs held on and the celebration commenced.
Joy was shared from coast-to-coast and resonated with Copeland as he sat inside his Jefferson home in the late hours of the night.
“I was thrilled to death they finally did it,” he said.
With the champagne still drying in the Cleveland locker room and all of Chicago recovering from the victory parade to end all parades, Copeland has turned his attention to the future, like any true Cubs fan.
“I expect them to win two out of the next five World Series,” he said. “I spoke at the local Rotary Club here, and last year, I told them they were going to win in 2016. So I was praying they would do it.
“These guys are young, they are still about three years away from their primes.”
And though he wouldn’t fully admit it, Hendricks just might be Copeland’s new favorite Cub. He even likened the youngster to the legendary Greg Maddux, who spent two stints with the then “lovable losers.”
“He may not have that fastball that everyone seems to have, but he has control,” Copeland said.
- Log in to post comments