Book Review: Cubs Nation

I have a crushing amount of work to do before heading to Chicago for the Cubs/Cards series, but this weekend, I found myself feeling the need to do something baseball-ish. So, at long last, I read the copy of Gene Wojciechowski's Cubs Nation book that has been gracing my packed bookshelves for a few years now. (Yes, I read the entire book in less than a weekend--meaning my work week will be lots of fun!)

In short, I loved this book, though the season Gene (I cannot spell his name correctly again) chose to follow--the 2004 crash and burn--was one of the most frustrating and wasteful in my recollection.

The book is structured game-by-game, with a short summary of the score, memorable moments, Cubs' status in the playoff hunt and other tidbits leading each chapter. I found it fun to amble through the book, stumbling here and there upon games I actually attended, and remembering those games.

Gene also includes in each chapter an interview or in-depth look at some aspect of the Cubs phenomenon . . . talks with celebrities and other devoted Cubs fans like Studs Terkel, Sam Sianis and Billy Corgan, talks with the young leaders of the family business responsible for making all uniforms in MLB, talks with the family of the young man shot and killed that year outside the Cubby Bear after a traffic altercation. But my favorite of his interviews were those with the longtime staff who support the team, such as Jimmy Farrell, who takes care of the umpires, and the ushers, and the guys in charge of tickets, the stadium and the Cubs' travel details. Because I am a girl who lacks major league baseball ability, these people have my dream jobs and I love reading their humble and wondrous appreciation of the fact that they are living a dream.

At the very beginning of the book, Gene challenged me to a mission: to try to discover which Cubs player he was referring to when he wrote, "with the exception of one player who declined to be interviewed unless he was paid, the Cubs were mostly receptive to my many questions. Michael Barrett, Todd Walker, Paul Bako, LaTroy Hawkins, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Matt Clement, Greg Maddux, and Glendon Rusch were especially helpful." So I find myself, nerd that I am, listing the entire 2004 Cubs roster and checking off names of players who did talk to Gene as I work my way through the book. The answer? Unless I missed some quotes, the main position players whom I did not check off were Aramis Ramirez and Sammy Sosa. All of the main pitchers are represented. But I cannot be sure, as the book lacks an index that would make it easier to check myself on this.

Other highlights I noted:

--A Sun-Times report that Sosa and Donald Trump trade phone calls that end with Sosa telling Trump, "You're fired." (ironic, given how the season and off-season end for Sosa)

--Another irony: after Dusty Baker is tossed from the April 16th game for throwing a tantrum after botching a double switch, his son Darren compares him to Lou Piniella

--I am stunned to learn that George Will (whom I saw at Don & Charlie's during Spring Training this year) tells Gene he would choose the Cubs winning the World Series over seeing a Republican President in office

--Gene correctly observes that Bull Durham and The Natural are the two greatest baseball movies ever--he ranks Major League third, but I cannot comment, as I have yet to see it

--I can't stop thinking of the story in which a realtor tells Gene about a young architect in Chicago on business for a year who chooses to live in a trashed out apartment with a view of right field at Wrigley, rather than the lovely apartments his company's allotment would have purchased for him

--Another irony: Jack Wilson of the Pirates tells Gene after Prior kept him off base three times, "Hey, it's good to see him healthy."

I don't want to tell you everything that's in the book. There is wry commentary on Wavin' Wendell that will make you want to hug Mike Quade in this still-young season. You may, as I did, tear up when you read Ryne Sandberg's account of his last at-bat in Wrigley Field. There is a harrowing story of a toupe stuck to a Fed Ex box. And Gene will let you dig with him into old Cubs scouting reports on Barry Bonds and others that will give you a new appreciation for the prescience we demand of those scouts, who are still looking longingly into the windows of the Hall of Fame.

The book obviously ends with the last day of the season--the meaningless game after the Cubs had already been eliminated from Wild Card contention. And a tidbit there makes me hope I have found the answer to who wouldn't talk to Gene . . . while Sosa had already skipped out during the early innings of the game, leaving his team and a seething Jim Hendry, Aramis Ramirez "still in his uniform, sits in front of his locker with his head down."

I highly recommend this book if you love the Cubs and/or baseball in general. Remembering that 2004 season may make you hesitate for a moment to get swept up in the optimism that has marked the 2007 season thus far. But if you have been a Cubs fan this long, I suspect that hesitation will fall away by the end of the first homestand.