Since he was little, social studies teacher Mr. Alex Lanaghan has been a Chicago Cubs fan and has followed the team through their successes and disappointments.

Mr. Lanaghan spent his childhood years just outside of Chicago. Through his dad’s work connections, Mr. Lanaghan has had the opportunity to go to Cubs games quite a few times.

“My dad worked for the Wrigley Company for his entire career,” Mr. Lanaghan said. “I didn’t pay for a ticket for a Cubs game until I was probably 25 years old.”

Mr. Lanaghan’s love for the Cubs has stretched wider than the walls of Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ storied home stadium. Throughout his time as a fan, he has supported his team from stadiums in Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, New York City, and Cincinnati, along with some spring training games.

“I’ve been to lots of stadiums. There’s a lot that I have not been to, but if I have the chance to go to a baseball game if I’m visiting a city, then I’ll go,” Mr. Lanaghan said. “I just love baseball.”

In 2016, the Chicago Cubs claimed their first World Series title in over a century. As a result of that impressive playoff run, Mr. Lanaghan was in pure jubilation over the whole experience.

“The waiting is over, the relief, the excitement, the joy, and the sheer just happiness,” he said. “It was just the most exciting thing ever.”

As a result of the Cubs winning it all, Mr. Lanaghan was overcome with emotions and spent the night talking with all of his fellow Cubs fans.

Even many years later, Mr. Lanaghan talked about how he still goes back to relieve that historic playoff run.

“Just even last year, I watched some of the games again,” Mr. Lanaghan said. “For me, it’s about watching the fans in the crowd and seeing the people.”

When looking back on the whole playoff run and experience as a fan, Mr. Lanaghan said that “it just feels like it was yesterday.”

Over the years, Mr. Lanaghan has had a number of players he’s loved to watch. His overall favorite to grace the diamond for the Cubs was second baseman and 1984 National League MVP Ryne Sandberg.

“I have all his rookie cards, I have little figurines of him. I used to have a jersey of his,” he said. “He was the man.”

When it comes to one of his more recent favorites to suit up for the Cubs, Mr. Lanaghan quickly thought of Javier Baez.

“We named our cat after Javvy Baez,” he said. “I love Javvy Baez.”

However, in the summer of 2021, Baez was traded away from the Cubs. When Mr. Lanaghan heard of the news, he thought that moment “was like someone died,” he said.

Looking ahead to the upcoming MLB season, Mr. Lanaghan is excited for the year after some of the new offseason additions. He is pleased that the new ownership is willing to make moves to acquire free agents in an effort to be in win-now mode.

Two standout players the Cubs acquired are Cody Bellinger from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dansby Swanson from the Atlanta Braves. Each of these players has played deep into the season as Cody Bellinger won the World Series title in 2020 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dansby Swanson won the World Series title in 2021 with the Atlanta Braves.

Reviewing the potential and talent of these acquisitions, Mr. Lanaghan is “excited for those guys,” he said.

Mr. Lanaghan is geared up for another season rooting on the Cubs and hopes that they can make another run at the World Series in the Fall.

The Cubs kick off their MLB regular season on Opening Day with the first matchup of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be played at 11:20 a.m. PDT from the historic Wrigley Field.