Meet the Cubs fan who sent a drone to Trevor Bauer

When your favorite team hasn’t won a World Series in 108 years, you’ll do just about anything to help them gain a mental advantage. So when the Chicago Cubs made it to the World Series, life-long Cubs fan Jason Mollett sprung into action.

Upon looking over the Cleveland Indians’ roster, Mollett decided starting pitcher Trevor Bauer would be his target. Bauer was already in the midst of an interesting postseason. A few days before the American League Championship Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, it was announced that Bauer had cut his pinky while repairing his drone. Bauer was able to start during Game 3 of that series, but lasted just two-thirds of an inning after the cut on his finger ripped open and bled all over the mound.

At that point, the idea was born. Mollett would purchase a miniature drone for Bauer on Amazon and ship it to him prior to the World Series. He did just that, and the story exploded after Bauer tweeted out a picture of the gift.

While he was definitely trolling with the purchase, the 42-year-old Mollett says the gesture was all in good fun.

“This was just light hearted trolling,” Mollett says. “There was no maliciousness in it. Bauer seemed like the kind of guy who would understand it’s a joke. I don’t know if I would have wanted to do something like this with a hardcore competitor like John Lackey.”

Mollett, who proudly flies a Cubs “W” flag from his 18-wheeler, grew up in Southern Illinois, which he deems “Cardinals territory.” His Cubs fandom is, as he puts it, a “genetic disorder” passed down from his father. He has since passed it down to his three children, Heidi, Megan and Harlan.

Upon graduating from Mt. Olive High School in 1992, Mollett served four years in the Army. He was stationed in Korea during the strike-shortened 1994 season. Mollett currently lives in New Mexico with his wife, Tracie, and their three children.

After taking the risk and sending the drone to Bauer, Mollett was aware that the whole thing could backfire.

“Some people joked that I got in his head,” Mollett says. “Honestly, if anything I think it would have relaxed him and taken the edge off. All the attention was a little scary. If Bauer had thrown a complete-game shutout I was going to have to hide.”

That wasn’t the case. Bauer and the Indians turned in a rough performance in Game 2 of the World Series. The 25-year-old drone enthusiast labored during the start, giving up two runs and throwing 87 pitches over just 3 2/3 innings in the loss.

“I won’t lie,” Mollett says. “When Bauer came out, I breathed a sigh of relief.”

With the series heading back to Chicago, Mollett is going to head home to be closer to the action. He’s planning to fly from Reno to St. Louis on Friday so he can watch Game 3 at his father’s grave. Mollett’s dad, the man responsible for his Cubs fandom, died in 1998.

Then, on Saturday, Mollett is taking the Amtrak down to Chicago to meet his wife for her birthday. She’s flying in from Albuquerque to meet him. The two couldn’t manage to get tickets for Game 4, but they plan on spending the day in Wrigleyville.

Even that could prove to be expensive. With the Cubs in the World Series, some Wrigleyville bars are charging fans up to $250 just to watch the games on TV.

For that price, Mollett and his wife might be better off purchasing a real drone and flying it over Wrigley Field at game time. While Bauer would approve, Major League Baseball might not see the humor in that strategy.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik