Sunday, November 6, 2016

In the Wake of the World Series, 2016

Exclusive Space Alien Photo
We thought our loyal readers who do not live in the Chicago area would enjoy this news of the aftermath of the Chicago Cubs historic World Series victory on Wednesday, November 2, 2016. 

The Space Alien took this photo of the Cubs entourage traveling from Wrigley Field to Grant Park along Lake Shore Drive, and immediately teleported it to your editor.  It was a beautiful day and everyone was eager to see the Cubs en route to the big rally!

The Space Alien was there to frolic amongst the happy Chicagoans who had taken leave of work and school (Chicago Public Schools had a previously scheduled closure that day) to participate.

A reported five million revelers gathered in Grant Park.  Some reports said this number, over twice the population of Chicago, was inflated.  But whatever the actual count, the crowd was one of the largest in recent Chicago history.    Public transit use was at the max (click here)  That Chicago was well prepared (for more on this click here) was reflected in the few untoward incidents.  Get a bigger picture and many great bits of memory-stuff from the Chicago Tribune here.

Of course the Space Alien was there and can be found in the picture below.
Space Alien joins World Series revelers in Grant Park
A Quartet of Champions!
The Space Alien joined happy Chicagoans as they sang Go Clubs Go, along with this talented quartet: Dexter Fowler (who opened game 7 with a home run), First Baseman, Anthony Rizzo, Pitcher Jon Lester and David Ross who at age 39 became the oldest player to hit a home run in the 7th Game of a World Series Game.  (To see the NBC correction about this click here.  For a great New York Times story about David Ross, click here.)

To see and hear this song with country singer Brett Eldridge leading, click here.
To check out the crowd singing along with the Space Alien, click here.

And the following day Cubs Fowler, Rizzo and Ross appeared on Saturday Night Live along with Bill Murray to sing Go Cubs Go, captured here.

The revelers in Grant Park were not the only ones singing Go Cubs Go!  The entire cast of the Chicago production of HAMILTON did so too! Here are some links to see and hear them!
TMZ: click here.
Washington Post: click here.
One of many You Tube videos: click here.


The Chicago Symphony Orchestra joined in with their rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" --  click here.   (Editor's Note: The Space Alien is a feminist and asked your editor to let readers know they could learn about the feminist history of "Take me out to the Ballgame" if they would click here,  and for more general information about this song  click here.)

The Space Alien watches out for fan safety!
For the ENTIRE exciting celebration on Friday, November 4 at Grant Park, here's a list of You Tube videos that recorded the whole shebang!  To see this list and find your faves, click here.

The Space Alien had taped hours of this event with a mini-videocam. Unfortunately this tiny device -- dropped when the Space Alien helped to catch a pole climber at Grant Park -- was presumably trampled to dust by the crowd.  The Space Alien appreciates that many other photographers were there to make up for this heartbreaking loss.

A Well-Deserved Rest
At the end of a perfect day, the Space Alien left Cubby Bear taking a well-deserved rest.  Cubby Bear, encouraged by the Space Alien, had done his job, cheering and leading cheers, to the very best of his ability, and he had done so cheerfully.  (If you have not read the post about this, click here).  He could now rest in the happy satisfaction of a job well done!

For a short video of great ball playing, including that all-important 10th inning of the 7th game, click here.  Cubby Bear was at his best, as you can hear from the cheering of the crowd!  And of course the Space Alien was there in the stands as well that night, both awesome eyes fixed on the ball and the players!


These scenes will live in the Space Alien's exceedingly long and detailed memory.

The Space Alien gave the sleeping Cubby Bear a fond pat on a furry cheek, and then, grabbing a baseball in hopes of a catch, and traveling at tachyonic speeds exceeding the speed of light, headed off into deep space.

Wanna Catch?

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Notes and Corrections: 

1. A typesetter here at the insanely busy headquarters of the Space Alien Gazette omitted a link to the article about the feminist aspect of the song Take Me Out to the Ballgame, from the days when ladies did not normally attend baseball games.  This has been corrected above and here is that link again for your convenience: click here, to see it.

2. A loyal reader points out that the posted performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Muti performing Take Me Out to the Ballgame was not performed during this World Series, but was actually recorded some time ago.  The Space Alien reminds loyal readers that in deep space, time and space may be distorted, so such errors are to be expected from time to time.

3. A better video of the Saturday Night Live presentation of Go Cubs Go went online after the first edition of this post went to subscribers and was substituted in this post, above, and here.