‘The reason you watched the game’: Cubs fans welcome Javy Báez back with open arms
Tuesday’s game is one Cubs fans have circled on the calendar since the schedule came out.
Javy Báez returns to Wrigley Field for the first time since he was traded away in July 2021.
Báez spent parts of 8 years in Chicago with the Cubs before he was dealt away to the Mets as part of the franchise-altering sell-off. He then signed a 6-year, $140 million pact with the Detroit Tigers.
[WATCH: Javy Báez’s top moments with the Cubs]
As Báez makes his way back to the field where he became a star, Cubs fans reacted to El Mago’s greatest highlights and described what he meant to Cubdom.
Some of fans’ favorite memories included Báez winning co-MVP in the 2016 National League Championship Series, the time he broke the Pirates in 2021 and an epic Mother’s Day walk-off.
“Javy Báez was the reason you watched the game,” said one fan. “Something crazy was going to happen – good or bad.”
For others, he was far more than just his eye-popping play on the field.
“For us being from Chicago and him being from Puerto Rico, it was great,” a Cubs fan said. “It was just Puerto Rican pride. But on the baseball field, it meant everything – defensive plays, double plays, his hustle. Just the way he played with heart meant the world.”