Oct. 21--Scores of joyous New York Mets fans, most hidden in plain sight Tuesday night in blue-and-orange caps amid a sea of Cubs fans, congregated behind the visitors dugout as the Wrigley Field faithful trudged glumly to the exits.
"Let's Go Mets! Let's Go Mets! We want a sweep!" they chanted, ignoring a steadily falling rain.
Hundreds of New York fans came to the ballpark from Chicago and beyond to see in person their favorite club take a commanding 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series with a 5-2 win over the Cubs.
There was a family in Jacob deGrom jerseys deciding on what food to buy at the concession stand. The Matt Harvey fan quietly watching from the bleachers. The fan on a business trip lucky enough to get tickets to the game. And after New York wrapped up the win, there was chanting and towel-waving as the Mets left the field and the horde of New York camera crews looked for pictures to beam back home.
"Beautiful! Let's go! The Mets are unstoppable!" Andrew Moreira, 27, of Staten Island screamed.
"Better pizza, better pitching!" his friend, Shane Thompson added, standing on the seat and high-fiving anyone, everyone. The friends flew to Chicago on Tuesday so they could see their favorite club in person.
As the Mets inched closer to a win in the ninth, Steve Marcus, 43, of New Jersey, bounced up and down in the right field pavilion, pumping his fist with each out.
"C'mon familia! Bring it!" Marcus urged the Mets closer. After the final out, Marcus, in town on business, was all smiles.
"I'm never going to say I'm confident, because I know what happened to the Yankees when they were up 3-0 on the Red Sox," Marcus said. But, he added, he has a feeling it is the Mets' year.
Marcus said Cubs fans were gracious and polite all night.
"Amazingly good," he said.
Decked out in orange, blue and white, Erick Guevara and Stephanie Vasquez happily ventured into wave after wave of amped-up Cubs fans for the chance to cheer on their childhood team from the bleachers.
"People have said, 'Hey, wrong team!'" Guevara said. "It's all in good fun, though."
Guevara, 37, wore his Lenny Dykstra jersey. He grew up in Belleville, N.J., and has cheered for the Mets all of his life, even though he and Vasquez, 34, now live literally around the corner from Wrigley Field. They decided on a place on Clifton Avenue because they both love baseball.
Matt Cirrito, 31, wore a David Wright jersey high up in the standing room area above the center-field bleachers, watching the game with his College friend, and Cubs fan, Nick Herweg.
Cubs fans playfully razzed him after a key play in the middle innings. Cirrito, who moved from New York to Florida when he was 3, grew up watching the Mets with his dad. The two didn't want to pass up a chance to see a playoff game together.
As fans filed out of the ballpark, the Mets fans lingered.
One Cubs fan exclaimed, "We got 'em right where we want 'em." And then, as he descended the stairs to the main concourse, he muttered, "These Mets fans are going around like they own the place."
poconnell@tribpub.com
