Aug 11th 2008 1:19PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
Assuming the Cubs make the playoffs — and I stress, for the sake of fate and karma and all that make believe nonsense, that this is still an assumption — they will have a bit of ceremony to pull off. It’s likely, if things keep up this way — and again, merely likely, not assured — the Cubs will play their first round playoff games at home. Who will throw out the first pitch? Mayor Daly? John Cusack?

Or what about this guy: 104-year-old Chicago resident Leo Hildebrand wants his shot. As one of few Chicagoans who was actually alive in 1908, he thinks he deserves first crack, and he has a decent case: Pitching in front of his Bensenville bungalow one day last week, he says he’s got a fastball. He doesn’t. “I’ll do better,” he vows, continuing to pitch. “I’ll give you a sidearm now.” A lifelong Cubs fan, Hildebrand wants to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field for a game during the Cubs’ expected playoff run. His neighbor and good friend, Henny Kronvold, tried to persuade the Cubs to let Hildebrand pitch last season, but the Cubs politely told her all of the slots were taken, Kronvold said. The Cubs are going through the requisite public relations steps — saying they’re considering Hildebrand as well as others, and haven’t made decisions yet, and so on. But if Leo Hildebrand, centurian, can indeed throw a baseball across home plate, the Cubs couldn’t possibly deny him. Come on, people. The man is 104, and he’s not actively campaigning for his own euthanasia, which I would be doing if I was 104. He deserves one freaking opening pitch. Make it happen.