Father's Day, baseball, when Chicago Cubs win World Series ... That's when I miss Dad most

When my dad was a kid, his father used to drag him to Yankee Stadium.

My dad grew up hating the Yankees – he was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan who grew up idolizing Duke Snider.

But the Dodgers moved out of Brooklyn when my dad was 8, and since the Mets didn’t exist then, the only option for baseball in New York was the Yankees.

My dad used to tell me stories about how he would put Mickey Mantle baseball cards in the spokes of his bike tires, or how he’d rip them up and throw them away. (Yes, I cringe even typing that sentence.)

He really didn’t like the Yankees.

So, when we moved to Florida in 1981, he didn’t have a baseball team to root for.

But he loved baseball. When I was in T-Ball and Little League, he was one of my coaches.

Fast forward to 1987, when I was 10. I  started watching baseball, and my dad and I caught a day game on WGN, the home station for the Chicago Cubs.

We were captivated by the extremely rambunctious announcer, Harry Carey.

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On this day, the Cubs won on a three-run homer from third baseman Vance Law. Carey went berserk when Law hit the ball out of the park. “It might be! It could be!! it is!!! A home run!!!!” By the time he said “A home run” Law was almost around the bases.

It was comical. It was exciting. We were hooked.

From that point on, my dad and I were Cubs fans.

Baseball would become a much bigger part of our relationship.

We’d watch games together at night and on weekends. We collected baseball cards together. And we’d play catch.

When the Cubs made the playoffs in 1989, we had real hopes their 81-year World Series title drought would end.

It didn’t.

In 1991, my dad took our family to Atlanta to see our first live Major League game at old Fulton County Stadium. I don’t remember who the Braves played, but it didn’t much matter.

In 1994, we went to Miami for the first time to see the Marlins host the Cubs. It was awesome. We were up close and personal with my childhood hero, Ryne Sandberg.

Two years later, we’d return to Miami for two more Marlins-Cubs games.

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We also used to regularly attend Brevard County Manatees games together, especially in the early- to mid-1990s, when I was in high school.

Yes, baseball was always something special for us.

Sadly, in 2003 my dad was diagnosed with late-stage melanoma, and he died in January 2004.

He lived long enough to see fan Steve Bartman become a part of Cubs failure lore, but not to see them win a World Series.

When the Cubs won the series in 2016, I wrote about how much I missed my dad and how I would have liked to have shared that moment with him.

I cried watching the Cubs hoist that trophy, and all I could think about was my old man.

This Sunday, on Father’s Day, take some time to look back at your own dad. What made him so special? What did you share with him? If he’s gone, what do you miss about him?

I always think about my dad a little more on this day. It's maybe the time I miss him most.

But I know he is smiling down on me while also watching his beautiful granddaughter, Isabella.

They never got to meet, but I always felt he had some say in helping bring her to me and my wife.

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. I hope you have a special day worthy of you.

Walters can be reached at twalters@floridatoday.com.

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