During the Cubs' final home game of the season, Ian Happ gifted arguably the team's No. 1 fan a baseball with a $100 bill tied to it. It was beer money for Jeff Gorski, known as "Bleacher Jeff" at the Friendly Confines.
“Thanks for the support all season,” Happ wrote on Gorski's money ball. “You guys are the best in baseball! Enjoy this one on me.”
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Bleacher Jeff made sure to use Happ's gift. He went for a ballpark breakfast Bloody Mary, a boozy blue freeze and a rum-and-coke towards the end of the game.
It was an emotional day for Gorski. He said he was nearly brought to tears from Happ's gift.
“It’s humanizing. We’re all people out here and we want the same thing: For the Cubs to win,” Gorski said to Block Club Chicago. “It’s nice to feel like, ‘Hey, these guys understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.’ They’re fans of us, too.”
Happ praised his outfield friends on the Bernstein & Holmes Show on 670 The Score.
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“It was just appreciation for the fans in the left field bleachers," Happ said. "… It’s amazing just how much support I get from them, looking up and seeing the same faces every day,” Happ said. “It’s a long season for us and the fact they’re supporting us through and through, they’re so positive. Just to say thanks, I threw the ball at Jeff.”
It's a tight-knit group in left field. And their fandom for the Cubs runs deep. Each year, they give Happ a baseball signed by about two dozen fans in the bleachers.
This season, Happ has struggled a bit on the field. He's hitting .246 this season, nearly 30 points lower than last season. He's notched an impressive 19 home runs and 79 RBIs, however.
The Cubs are in a jam after Wednesday night's loss to the Atlanta Braves. They have an identical record to that of the Miami Marlins, who are the Cubs' imminent threat for the final wild-card spot. The Cubs have one more game against the Braves and a final road series against the Brewers to make it happen.