Oct. 05--When Ed Hauter was 12, he was a Yankees fan. The kings of baseball were perennial winners, and Ed's cousin Joe had the same name as one of the Bronx Bombers' 1940s stars, second baseman Joe Gordon. It was a relationship of convenience.
Then, in 1945, the Cubs advanced to the World Series. Hauter, who grew up in the central Illinois town of Morton, near Peoria, decided it was time to switch allegiance to the home state Cubs.
"I wanted to be for a winner. Little did I know. Little did I know," Hauter said with a laugh. "Obviously, I'm not capable of picking winners very well."
The Cubs lost the Series to Detroit, but Hauter was hooked on the club from Chicago. And since then, the 82-year-old retired banker has been the anchor of a family of loyal Cubs fans stretching over four generations. With one notable exception, the Cubs have been a thread connecting the family members from that last World Series until today, with the Hauters steeling themselves for Wednesday's win-or-go-home wild card game against Pittsburgh.
In families from central Illinois to Chicago to Naperville to points across the globe, love for the Cubs runs deep, connecting fans young and old. Brothers and sisters share the buzz of postseason berths, then weep as the team falls short again. Grandmothers caution grandchildren to temper expectations, fathers hug sons when the "W" flag is unfurled after wins.
For the Hauter family, the Cubs tradition means gathering to watch the games together, on television and at Wrigley Field, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, spring training in Arizona, and Coors Field in Denver, where visits to family there are carefully planned around the Cubs' schedule. It means thumbing through an old scrapbook pasted with clippings of old Cubs stars or playing catch together while reminiscing about trips to the ballpark with brothers and sisters and dad.
One of Hauter's sons, John, 57, remembers watching Ernie Banks and Billy Williams during the family's weekend trips to Wrigley in the 1960s. Ed took a rare half-day off work, and the family made the 165-mile trek north. The first weekend after school let out meant a car ride to see the Cubs.
"That was just a great time with my dad," John Hauter said.
On summer weekdays in the '80s and '90s, Ed's grandson, Joe, now 33, came over to watch Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace and Sammy Sosa with Gramps. Joe remembers how angry Ed got when the Cubs' bullpen blew late-inning leads, and the joy the two shared when the team began winning more regularly as Joe grew older.
With the Cubs charging into the postseason this year for the first time since 2008, Joe Hauter has been calling Ed minutes after a big Cubs' win. The two may not say much on the phone, but they share the excitement together, more times than they thought they would this season. And for the last few years, Ed's great-grandson, Dade, 11, often visits so the two can watch ballgames together on television in the basement or play catch in the yard.
For years, the Hauters have gathered on summer Saturdays or autumn evenings to play ball together on the grassy field set amid the family's wooded, 22-acre property north of the town of Mackinaw. Batters settle in front of the metal backstop, where a sign proclaims the grounds "Grampa Hauter Field Go Cubs." A long hit over the driveway is a home run, blasts to the left-centerfield gap often soar into the branches of a majestic oak tree.
The area near Peoria is split between Cubs and Cardinals fans, where friends razz each other over the other team's success or, as often has been the case with the Cubs, disappointments. Ed Hauter said he "failed totally" because one of his sons, Bill, is a die-hard Cardinals fan -- "He's not in the will," Ed joked -- but the rest of the family bleeds Cubbie blue. The Hauters said they have never considered jumping ship for the more successful St. Louis squad.
"Shoot me," Ed Hauter said.
"We don't want Uncle Bill to have the satisfaction," Joe Hauter said. "When (a championship) does happen, the long suffering will be worth it. Our motto is 'Hauters never quit.' We can't quit on the Cubbies."
The inter-family rivalry is serious but playful, and forms another connection among the baseball-crazed family. Joe Hauter, an emergency room doctor at a Peoria hospital, said his Uncle Bill, also a doctor, was instrumental in his decision to pursue a career in medicine.
"It's a pretty friendly rivalry. Probably because the Cubs haven't won," Joe Hauter said.
John Hauter, who owns a garage-door repair company, often makes trips south to Busch Stadium with his brother Bill's family, where he tries to limit his distaste for the Redbirds. But he says the trips are a win-win. He gets to watch baseball, and he's usually satisfied no matter the result.
"If the Cardinals win, then they buy me a steak dinner and I get to enjoy that," John Hauter said. "If they lose, they're all arguing and sad. So I'm happy either way."
John said he attended the 2011 World Series at Busch Stadium, and while his brother insisted he could not wear Cubs gear, he yelled "Go Cubs!" toward the Cardinals dugout.
Dade said most of his sixth-grade Peoria Christian School classmates and youth baseball teammates are Cardinals fans, but he wears his Cubs colors proudly. He keeps a pair of baseballs, autographed by Cubs' pitchers Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks at a Wrigley Field event the family attended this season, on a shelf in his bedroom.
The Hauters usually attend prayer services, Bible study or youth education classes on Wednesday nights at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Morton. But this Wednesday, Ed will be staying home for the wild card game against the Pirates, nestling into his lounge chair in front of the big-screen TV, his customary caffeine-free Coke at the ready.
"This is too special," he said.
John, Joe and Dade will be watching, too, hopeful that the patriarch's proclamation about missing church means they will be off the hook too. But they won't be watching with Ed, who prefers to focus on the broadcast.
"These guys are very active and loud, walking around and shouting at the TV," Ed said. "They know nothing. I want to listen to the announcers."
John and Joe laughed. John's wife, Tobey, and Joe's spouse, Alana, are fans too, although perhaps not as rabid. Joe and Alana regularly attend games with Dade and their two daughters, Milli, 8, and Lyla, 2. Ed's wife of 62 years, Shirley, refuses to buy or showcase any trinkets or bird feeders featuring a cardinal.
One of John Hauter's sisters, Laura, lives overseas in Lebanon, and the family has a long-standing agreement that if the Cubs ever make the World Series, she'll fly to Illinois, something that's never come into play as the Cubs' playoff fortunes fizzled year after year.
"It's been a pretty safe bet for a long time," Joe said.
The Hauters are hoping the family will have to pay for a Beirut-to-Chicago ticket this fall.
"This year," Joe and John said. "This year."
poconnell@tribpub.com
