I’m a Cubs fan. I’m also the parent of a 4 year old.
Some would see these as completely unrelated facts. One fellow Cubs fan went so far as to tell me I should raise him a Yankees fan. (Side bar: That’s not going to happen. As I tucked him into bed last night with a Cubs blanket, he mentioned to me that he hates the Yankees. That’s my boy.)
However, I’m at a bit of a quandry. Four year olds sometimes have a hard time getting beyond the one favorite player position. Last year, that was Sammy. This year, obviously, it’s not. Though Theo keeps asking me what happened, and I’ve had to tell him The Story Of Sammy And How Eventually He Got Traded at least a half dozen times. [Abridged version. No mention of how Dusty is a terrible manager, for example.] Anyway, here’s my dilemna. It needs to be a position player; someone who he will see play pretty much any time we go to a game. Although, he does know Prior and Wood by now. I had been trying out “Go Nomar!” with him, but obviously that’s scrapped. Jerry Hairston Jr. is a bit of a mouthful. I’m not quite ready to embrace DuBois.
So tonight, in the 8th inning, as I watched the game in the bedroom and we roughhoused on the bed, I paused for a second and said, “hey Theo, GO NEIFI!”
He said “Go Neifi!”
Neifi hit the next pitch into the right field bleachers.
Congratulations Mr. Perez, you’re the new Mr. Cub.