April 06--The Cubs faithful were already out en masse hours before the team's Sunday night season opener against the mighty St Louis Cardinals.
Fans would soon get the glimpse at a roster hoping to end the streak of misery for fans during this 2015 campaign.
They were also about to see the work-in-progress additions to Wrigley, featuring a massive video screen in left field. Green sheets featuring the late Ernie Banks adorned the bleachers, which remain under construction.
Jerry "The Bleacher Preacher" Pritikin stood outside Wrigley and recalled asking his dad to take him to the Cubs' last World Series appearance, in 1945.
"He said I was too young, he'd take me the next year," the 78-year-old Near North Sider said. "And I've been waiting to get to that promised land."
Pritikin said he was cautiously optimistic about the Cubs' prospects this year.
But the fact that even a section of the bleachers won't be open until later in the season is a shame, he said.
Pritikin said he wasn't going in on Sunday and would wait until his beloved bleachers open.
"No one can re-create the sounds of the people in the bleachers," he said.
Pritikin said he knows how to get under the skins of visiting outfielders, and once got the Phillies' Von Hayes laughing uncontrollably during a game in the 1980s.
But things weren't always congenial in the bleachers of old, he noted.
"A Cardinal fan once burned my propeller," he said, pointing to the accouterment on his safari-style hat. "That's why I've got a sign: (Expletive) the Cardinals."
geoffz@tribpub.com
