CHICAGO _ A fake-mustachioed Theo Epstein drank beer in the front row of the left-field bleachers with other Cubs front-office brass and fans.
Ryne Sandberg sang the seventh-inning stretch while holding the Ryder Cup.
Munenori Kawasaki played second base.
Oh, and Miguel Montero blasted an improbable yet seemingly appropriate walk-off home run to lead off the 10th inning of a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory against the Brewers that fit the script of a team that seems, so far at least, to be on a crash course with destiny.
An unusual Thursday night leaned into an even more unusual Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field for the franchise that hasn't sniffed World Series triumph since 1908.
"Champagne is the best smell in baseball," President Epstein said. "It never gets old."
Friday afternoon promised to lean into an even more eventful Friday night as the club belatedly celebrated its postseason berth-day.
That's because even when the Cubs lose, they win. That's the kind of season it has been so far.
Despite a 5-4 loss to the Brewers on Thursday night, the Cubs' magic number dropped from one to none courtesy of the Cardinals' loss to the Giants a bit later. The Cubs didn't bother to stick around to watch. Manager Joe Maddon told his boys to go home and leave the partying for Friday.
And party they did.
Beer-soaked relief pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. cloaked himself in a white "W" flag and danced for all the clubhouse to see. Kris Bryant, who doesn't drink alcohol and gives himself an "F" in celebrating, grabbed a can of Budweiser to spray toward teammates.
Pitcher Jon Lester returned the favor to Bryant, emptying a beer down his back all the way to the floor, which was littered with champagne corks and empty cans, rendering a deep clean of the new clubhouse's carpet necessary pronto.
A live DJ blasted from his speakers Fat Joe and Remy Ma's song, "All the Way Up."
The Cubs, well, they know there's a ways to go before they're to that point.
"We just can't take anything for granted," Montero said. "We have to keep working. We have a long way to go."
They know their new magic number goes from 0 to 11, the number of victories necessary to win it all, come October.
"It kind of all boils down to how you perform in October," Epstein said. "There's not a team I'd rather go into October with, but there are never favorites in October the same way there are in the regular season."
After embracing the target and trying not to suck, the team planned to let time stop for a day Friday so they could soak it all in. To forget that they're the favorites for a moment.
Some didn't wait that long.
People, among them catcher David Ross, peered at TVs through bar windows to catch a glimpse of the Cardinals-Giants game Thursday night, the scar of that night's Cubs loss magically healed when the Giants won 6-2 more than 2,000 miles away.
Ross said he gave in and went into a bar during his walk home.
"I was like, 'You know what, I need to have something in my hand, like a beer or something,' " Ross said. "I didn't want to walk down the street with a beer, so I walked in, the bartender recognized me and bought me a shot. I (got) in a cab and was home by 12 or 12:15."
No such time constraints were expected to be followed Friday.
As for the guy in disguise, the man with the plan, Epstein, said his cover was blown in his first Wrigley Field bleacher experience since 1997 "by the fourth or fifth inning. That's what I'm telling myself."
That didn't stop him from watching the fruits of his labor unfold into a victory _ or from him picking up the tab for a few rounds.
"I bought my share," Epstein said. "(But) everyone was chipping in."
Just like the team on the field.
