Most of the time, baseball is a torturously boring sport to watch, but every once in a while, you get to see some total no-name transform into a star before your very eyes: They emerge from the shadows and display such an uncanny gift, such sheer athletic prowess, there’s no question that you’re watching a legend in the making. And on Wednesday night, one such undeniable talent graced Wrigley Field during a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers, stunning fans with a feat unlike anything the sport has ever seen. Behold, and rejoice, for on this night, a true athletic hero was born:
That, my friends, is the world of baseball’s latest sensation: the Wrigley Rat. Fans couldn’t help but turn away from the actual game unfolding before them, and instead fixate on his quest to leap from a fence in the outfield to the wall behind it, a seemingly unnavigable gulf that, try as he might, our hero just couldn’t cross—for a time. Before each valiant attempt, the crowd roared with support, even chanting for him—“Rat! Rat! Rat!”—only to let out a resounding, collective “awww” when he failed to breach the wall. But after each defeat, he picked himself right back up, scaled the fence once more, and tried again.
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“You can do it!” one fan screamed.
While the crowd cheered him on, the Wrigley Rat sprang toward the wall one more time, stretched out his little paws, and—at long last!—hoisted himself up onto the grass. The crowd went wild, erupting in a chorus of shouts and whistles and applause, their arms shooting up in an gesture of pure ecstasy. Our boy had made the play, and though there were still a few innings left to go, it was clear who the real MVP was that night.
Here’s to you, Wrigley Rat. May you enjoy your grassy spoils, may the road before you lead to bounteous piles of trash and discarded pizza, and may we never forget the night you transformed a dumb, boring old Cubs game into a spectacle for the ages.
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