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After 10 years of World Series roadtrips, Cubs fan finally gets a home game

CHICAGO — Pete Seat walked into Wrigley Field on Saturday night, his 11th straight year going to a World Series game. This year, though, he looked a little different. He felt a little different too. This, he thought, was the dream realized.

Usually, he’d wear a World Series jacket and a cap from the previous year’s series. They’re the souvenirs of his streak. This year? Cubs cap. Cubs T-shirt. Because this year was all about the Cubs. All of this, actually, was all about the Cubs.

“Here we are,” he said, flashing maybe the biggest smile in the stadium.

You see, the reason Seat, 33, started “the streak” was because he’s a Cubs diehard and desperately wanted to go to the World Series. So 10 years ago, he booked a plane flight, bought a ticket and went to his first one. Even if the Cubs never made it to the World Series in his lifetime — a reality that many people in Wrigleyville a lot older than him have feared — he’d at least have this. If he went to the World Series 50 straight years, he figured, that would equal one Cubs World Series.

We introduced you to Seat and his streak a few years ago on Big League Stew. It’s something that started in Detroit in 2006 and has taken him to San Francisco, New York City, Texas, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Colorado, among other places.

And then 2016 happened. The Cubs — his beloved Cubs! — were actually going to the World Series. His streak and his dream were on the best possible collision course.

Pete Seat finally got inside Wrigley Field for a World Series game. (Yahoo Sports)
Pete Seat finally got inside Wrigley Field for a World Series game. (Yahoo Sports)

“It’s everything I hoped and dreamed it would be,” he said a few minutes after walking into an actual World Series game at Wrigley. “It only took 11 years of going to the World Series.”

Two years ago, after eight years on the waiting list, Seat fulfilled another dream: His name had come up for Cubs season tickets. He bought in and that made getting World Series tickets much cheaper than years past. In other cities, he’d pick a game and see what he could find online. Marlins Man he is not, so he wasn’t looking for a prime seat. He just wanted to get in the ballpark.

This year was different, though. He arrived with his wife Catherine (this often had been a solo journey) and they walked around the stadium. It felt real, Seat said, when he saw the marquee outside Wrigley with “Game 4 of the World Series tonight” on it. In the past, he was impartial. He just wanted to see good baseball. This year, there’s no doubt which team he’s rooting for.

“I’ve never seen this type of electricity in any of the stadiums I’ve been in any of the past 11 years,” Seat said, pointing out to thousands who filled the streets outside the stadium without even having a ticket.

Seat — a political communications director from Indiana — has tickets for Game 5 on Sunday too, but couldn’t resist the opportunity they presented.

“Look at StubHub and you’ll see why,” he said.

He sold them for $3,300 a piece — a nice little payday considering face value was more than $3,000 less. It’s enough for a down payment on a house, he said. Or enough to pay himself back for the 10 previous years of World Series trips.

Pete and his wife Catherine outside Wrigley Field before Game 4. (Courtesy Pete Seat).
Pete and his wife Catherine outside Wrigley Field before Game 4. (Courtesy Pete Seat).

That brings up an interesting question: Now that the Cubs have made the World Series and the purpose of “the streak” has been fulfilled, will it continue?

“We’ll see what happens,” Seat said. “I loved doing it, but this is what it was all about. So I leave it in the hands of the Cubs.”

Translation: The Cubs could be here again next season and you bet your Billy Goat he’d be back.

“He’s more than welcome to continue the streak,” Catherine said.

“I’m glad,” Pete said, “we have that on the record.”

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!