Emanuel watches Cubs capture title with father-in-law’s tickets

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Comedian Bonnie Hunt (from left), musician Eddie Vedder, actor John Cusack and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel celebrate after the Cubs’ win in Cleveland. | Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s father-in-law is a Cleveland Indians season ticket holder.

The mayor used those family tickets at Progressive Field to watch the Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908 in pulsating fashion.

“In about the 8th inning, I said, ‘I need some blood thinner, man. I can’t take this,” the mayor said.

After two hours’ of sleep, a bleary-eyed Emanuel flew home to Chicago in no shape to attend a parent-teacher conference for his two teen daughters at the University of Chicago Lab School.

“I said to the teacher, `Now, what are my kids’ names again? And what subject and what school do they go to?’” Emanuel said.

Wearing a Cubs’ World Champions hat, the mayor said, “I put this under my pillow last night . . .  and my middle one tried to steal it. My eyes just opened up and I said, ‘Get your hands off that. I got something else for you. This is my hat.'”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule, watch the final game of the World Series in Cleveland. | Getty Images

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule, watch the final game of the World Series in Cleveland. | Getty Images

An obviously punchy and giddy Emanuel then talked about the Game 7 for the ages that saw the Cubs go out to an early lead, the Indians tie it on a dramatic home-run that forced extra innings and the Cubs win it all after a rain delay that helped them regain their focus.

“This last seven games was a metaphor of the entire season for the Chicago Cubs. Every time you thought the momentum has shifted, those players dug deeper. Got something inside themselves and came back and kept defying the odds. This is a team and this is a series for history and for a century and decades,” Emanuel said.

“And the one thing I can say with absolute certainty as mayor, as a Cub fan and as a Chicagoan, never again will we have to say there’s always next season. It’s over. You never have to say it as a Cub fan ever again. Uh-uh. Never that tone of disappointment. Now, you’ve got delight. Yes, there’s next season. We can’t wait for next season in Chicago.”

The mayor’s wife, Amy Rule, grew up in suburban Cleveland, where her parents still live.

Out of deference to his in-laws, the mayor tipped his hat to the Indians and their fans. Now that the Cubs have buried the curse, the Indians’ 68-year drought between World Series championships stands as the longest in Major League Baseball.

“Having been there, there were a number of Cleveland fans who said, `If we had to lose, that was the team to lose to.’ That was a great competition. All seven games,” the mayor said.

“To come from [being down] 3-to-1 and go three straight — two of the three out of town in Cleveland — those players, their love of the game and their youthfulness. There’s just a great sense of joy of the American passport. Pastime, rather. I may need a passport now.”

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