For Cubs fans, joy, relief as win keeps World Series hopes alive

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Fans were joyous after the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 at Wrigley Field on Sunday to stave off disaster and send the World Series back to Cleveland for Game 6. | Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times

The two previous nights, fans had left Wrigley Field quickly after the Cubs lost Games 3 and 4 of the World Series.

Sunday night, no one wanted to leave, after a 3-2 win that forced a Game 6 in Cleveland on Tuesday night — the Cubs’ first World Series win at Wrigley Field since 1945.

“We still got some magic left!” Dan Chavas of Logan Square yelled as he and a group of friends made their way to a nearby bar.

“Amazing,” said Maria Regopoulos, 35, of Palatine, dancing and high-fiving everyone at Sheffield and Addison with her friend Christina Floros, 33, of Arlington Heights. “We knew that our Cubs could pull it off.”

Kevyn Mader drove in from Lombard to watch the game on the North Side at the Dark Horse bar with her son Alonzo Anderson.

“I didn’t care they were down,” Mader said. “I’m ride or die with my Cubbies. This is our time.”

“Just being a Cubs fan you’re always nervous,” Anderson said. “But it’s all about momentum. We got it now.”

Fans cheer after the Cubs’ 3-2 win Sunday in Game 5 sent the World Series back to Cleveland for Game 6. | AP

Fans cheer after the Cubs’ 3-2 win Sunday in Game 5 sent the World Series back to Cleveland for Game 6. | AP

Stephen Tyler, 41, drove a far greater distance — from Tuscaloosa, Ala. — to see the game. Seeing the Cubs win a World Series game at Wrigley was “No. 1 on my bucket list,” he said.

Tyler said he was on edge up until the final two outs. “It still felt like something could happen,” he said.

When the game finally ended, “It’s almost like people didn’t know what to do,” Tyler said. “It went berserk. It was worth every penny I spent.”

Sisters Eileen Ochoa, right, and Kathy Vana. | Mitchell Armentrout / Sun-Times

Sisters Eileen Ochoa, right, and Kathy Vana. | Mitchell Armentrout / Sun-Times

Sisters Eileen Ochoa and Kathy Vana drove in from the west suburbs just to stand outside Wrigley Field for the game. It’s been an emotional week for them. Their father, a lifelong Cubs fan, died in September.

“You’re watching and thinking about all the people you’ve loved who didn’t get to see this,” Ochoa said.

“But they’ve got the best seats,” Vana said. “There’s a lot of people watching from above — angels in the outfield.”

Ryan Wedig, 36, came in from Missouri. “We tried to be as loud as we could and just keep the team in it and let them know that we weren’t giving up because we weren’t ready for them to give up,” Wedig said. “It took a while for me to even eat a hotdog I was so nervous — but I finally got one down.”

Ryan Wedig (right) with his friend Joe Dooley. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Ryan Wedig (right) with his friend Joe Dooley. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Watching Cubs relief ace Aroldis Chapman finish off the Indians in the ninth inning was scarier than the scariest movie Vanessa Childs has ever seen.

“I couldn’t even look,” said Childs, 47, of Northbrook. “I hid my head in my husband’s shirt.”

Matt and Vanessa Childs. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Matt and Vanessa Childs. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

“She couldn’t bear to watch,” said her husband, Matt Childs, 48. “I didn’t have anyone to turn to for comfort.”

“I was on my feet the whole time,” said Max Rimac, 17, who lives four blocks from Wrigley and attends Notre Dame College Prep. “I can barely talk now. It was an insane experience. Honestly, my knees are weak.”

Max Rimac, 17: “My knees are weak.” | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Max Rimac, 17: “My knees are weak.” | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

“Two more to go,” said Matt Levin, 19, of South Barrington. “Cubs in seven. I can’t describe it. It was  unlike any game I’ve ever been to.”

Matt Levin, right, with his dad, Mark. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Matt Levin, right, with his dad, Mark. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Robb Louder and his son Brevin flew in from their Wyoming home even without having tickets for any of the games at Wrigley Field.

“Lifelong Cubs fans, we could feel it was gonna happen and had to be here,” Robb Louder said.

They toyed with springing for tickets as prices fell after Game 4 but decided to enjoy it from a bar.

“It’s just exciting to be around this atmosphere,” Brevin Louder said. “I was nervous, but I knew they could pull it out.”

Police officers showed their support for the Cubs outside Wrigley Field during Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday. | Santiago Covarrubias / Sun-Times

Police officers showed their support for the Cubs outside Wrigley Field during Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday. | Santiago Covarrubias / Sun-Times

Marianna Hernandez and Jasmin Rodriguez sat on a roadblock at Clark and Addison to take in the atmosphere after working the game as security guards at the gates. The friends from Archer Heights aren’t Cubs fans but said it’s been fun being part of the action.

“You could feel the energy with people walking in,” Hernandez said. “A lot more nerves tonight.”

“People were rowdy tonight,” Rodriguez said. “They wanted a win.”

Marianna Hernandez, left, and Jasmin Rodriguez. | Mitch Armentrout

Marianna Hernandez, left, and Jasmin Rodriguez. | Mitch Armentrout

“I am elated for my dad,” said Judy Burke, 64, a retired postal worker from Montana whose father, Ed Burke, was a Cubs fan who died in 1989. “This is for my dad.”

“This is for my dad,” Judy Burke said of the Cubs’ win. She was among many fans elated over the victory but saddened that a relative who loved the team hadn’t lived long enough to see the Cubs in the World Series. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

“This is for my dad,” Judy Burke said of the Cubs’ win. She was among many fans elated over the victory but saddened that a relative who loved the team hadn’t lived long enough to see the Cubs in the World Series. | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

Fans outside Wrigley Field celebrate the Cubs’s Game 5 World Series victory. | Santiago Covarrubias / Sun-Times

Fans outside Wrigley Field celebrate the Cubs’s Game 5 World Series victory. | Santiago Covarrubias / Sun-Times

Cubs fans and police officers outside Wrigley Field celebrate the Cubs’s Game 5 World Series victory on Sunday. | Santiago Covarrubias / Sun-Times

Cubs fans and police officers outside Wrigley Field celebrate the Cubs’s Game 5 World Series victory on Sunday. | Santiago Covarrubias / Sun-Times

Cubs fans celebrate outside Wrigley Field after Game 5. | AP

Cubs fans celebrate outside Wrigley Field after Game 5. | AP

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