Evan Kreke, in his early years at age 5, with his brother Matt, 9, and late father, Paul, at a Cubs game. (Submitted photo)
WESTFIELD – For long-suffering Cubs fan and Westfield resident Evan Kreke, the champagne truly has been on ice.
A native of Southern Illinois, Chicago, Evan grew up a Chicago Cubs fan. Evan forged a lifetime of memories, watching games with family members and friends before meeting his wife, Rebecca, a former front office member of the Red Sox, and moving to the Whip City a year ago. Now, 32, he is heading back “home” in hopes of catching lightning-in-a-bottle, a once-in-a-lifetime sporting event for the ages in Games 3, 4, and 5 of the World Series against the Cleveland Indians.
Evan plans to watch the games on television with family and former college buddies, and celebrate with a bottle of Brut Champagne that his mother bought in 1984, but never opened. That was the year the Cubs blew a 2-0 lead against San Diego in the National League Championship Series as the Padres rallied to win the next three games in the best-of-5 series, furthering the myth of the “Curse of the Billy Goat.”
As the legend goes, a hex, of sorts, was supposedly placed on the organization during game four of the World Series after Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis was asked to leave the team’s home park, Wrigley Field, because of the odor of his pet goat.
Sianis allegedly responded: “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”
Evan Kreke, right, and wife, Rebecca, at a Cubs game. (Submitted Photo)
Since that famed incident, the Cubs went 71 years without a World Series appearance. They have not won a World Series title since 1908.
Evan can remember watching every game at the stadium or on TV as a young child with his mother, Sue, and father, Paul, a Yankees fan, who has since passed away.
Evan has suffered through all the heartbreaks, through 100 loss seasons, only to share in the recent joy of the team’s rise through the ashes, thanks in large part to “boy wonder,” Cubs General Manager Theo Epstein, who helped break the “Curse of the Bambino” in Boston, before fleeing to Chicago, where he got rid of large veteran contracts and infused exciting young talent with a new stats-based system before adding the final pieces the last two years.
Evan remembers all the years he spent, rushing home from elementary and high school to catch day games; and all the times he caught train rides to Wrigley with buddies (he scheduled his entire college schedule around Cubs games).
Westfield resident and longtime suffering Chicago Cubs fan Evan Kreke, right, poses for a Halloween-themed photo with his wife, Rebecca, left, and their 11-month-old daughter, Eleanor. (Submitted photo)
The San Diego Padres eliminated the Cubs in the NLCS on Oct. 7, 1984. That is the exact same day that Evan was born. He says that maybe it was “sort of a bad omen.”
Sports-related curses aside, he has been blessed outside the sports arena.
Evan met his wife Rebecca in 2008 in Newport, Rhode Island. Living in Providence at the time, Rebecca worked for the Pawtucket Red Sox. Despite having left the job, she remains a diehard Red Sox fan to this day. Maybe the championship appeal has rubbed off.
The two joined forces and now share an 11-month old child.
Evan will briefly leave his wife and child to fly back to Chicago on Saturday to stay with family and friends, where his love of the Cubs was originally forged.
As for that 32-year-old bottle of champagne, Evan said: “I’ll probably drink it and get sick, but I’ll be OK.”
Contingency plans are in place for Evan. If the Cubs are forced to travel back to Cleveland for Games 6 and 7, Evan will remain in Chicago until they bring back the championship trophy.
