3 out of 4 isn't bad, right?

Some of you may know that during the baseball off season, my beloved Chicago Cubs pulled out of Peoria and we are once again stuck with the St. Louis Cardinals representing baseball in Peoria. We knew Kane County would come to town at least twice this summer to take on the Peoria Chiefs, but would the Cubs Caravan make a stop Peoria this January?

The answer, YEP!

And tonight was the night. Nothing like hitting Expo Gardens for some ballpark food in January, with the hope of obtaining some Chicago Cubs players autographs. Definitely a wonderful way to spend the evening, especially when you get to hang with your brother and couple friends. (Vince pictured below.)


Sadly, the Cubs didn't send any current players. Kind of a bummer because it's always nice to see some new faces pass through. Who they did promise, did show up and did not disappoint!
     James Rowson - Cubs hitting coach
     Keith Moreland - Cubs radio, former Cubs player
     Randy Bush - Cubs Assistant GM, former player
     Ernie Banks - Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer

Based on the title of this blog entry, you may have deduced that I only obtained 3 of their autographs, and you would be correct. But I did interact with all four.

I will attempt a "quick" summary of the evening.

1. I wait in line for a Banks auto as Tom waits in the other autograph line. A quick count and he tells me I'm approximately 120th in line. Yep, this isn't looking good.

2. Guests of Honor show up and start signing. Tom gets Moreland's and Rowson's autos and joins me to wait in line. (no, not line cutting, just keeping me company... unlike a good 50 other people that oozed into the line ahead of me.) Yes, sometimes I wish I was that person, but ultimately I'm glad I'm not.

3. Tom saves my spot and I get to meet Moreland and J-Row! Very nice fellows and J-Row has an awesome smile.


4. Join Tom again. 30 minutes have passed and we've move a total of 10 feet, not good.

5. "Friends" near us in line save our spot as we go chit-chat, get auto, and pic with Randy Bush.


6. We go back through Moreland and J-Row's line again, so I can get some pics with those guys. Too nice! Love it!



7. Autograph session should last 45 minutes, but it's now about an hour and fifteen minutes since they started. I go join my "friends" back in line.

8. We make it just in front of the podium area before they pull the plug on Ernie's signing madness. Still a good 30 people in front of me. I watch Ernie walk towards me as he makes his way to the stage and I simply stick out my hand. "Ernie, thanks for coming down to Peoria!", I say while he shakes my hand and smiles back. I believe he said something along the lines of "My pleasure." I honestly don't recall because I was caught up in the moment of shaking Mr. Cub's hand.

9. I head back to my seat and turnaround to see the people around me jockeying for position to try to get an autograph. Once again, not my style. I'm just glad I got to thank him. He helped make for a magical evening.

Here's a photo of Ernie signing for people that were lucky enough to get an autograph, but I guarantee they didn't shake his hand. Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!