MLB: Grace Leaves Hole In Cub Infield, Hearts Of Fans

During a rainy August afternoon in 1998, Mark Grace and other members of the Cubs are getting ready to embark on the team’s annual “Cubs Cruise” from Navy Pier on Chicago’s lakefront.

Hundreds of fans have packed the inner concourse to catch a glimpse and try to get autographs from the players as the make their way through the rain to the boat. One of those fans was my sister.

With my Dad and I scanning the area, trying to get her an early advantage over collectible hounds and groupies, she makes the most of her own luck and runs right into Mark Grace.

“Gracie,” she says quietly as he approaches.

“That’s Mr. Grace,” he responded with a smirk.

She obliged him, and asked “Mr. Grace” to sign her jersey and pose for a picture.

Grace commanded respect from fans, so why shouldn’t he have looked for the same respect from his team of more than a decade?

Chicago sports have seen many notable eras come and go. Grace’s departure marks a particularly sad ending to one of the classiest and most appreciated runs anyone this side of MJ has seen in this city.

Put aside the fact he had the most hits of any player in Major League Baseball during the 90s. Look past the solid defense he provided to an often-shaky Cub infield – especially after the retirement of Ryne Sandberg. But do not overlook the silent resiliency Grace showed in the face of only four winning seasons on Chicago’s North Side.

There is little doubt that Grace loves Chicago. In my mind, he still loves the Cubs, but as he said after signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks this week, this is business.

It’s hard to imagine a player like Grace, whose name personifies his sweet left-handed swing and ability to scoop a ball out of the dirt at first base, using the word “business” when discussing the game he loves. Throughout his entire career, Grace put aside business in favor of loyalty.

Many in this day and age of baseball might equate loyalty with bad business, but not Grace. Wearing blue pinstripes and playing day baseball at the finest ballpark in the land was the payoff to Grace for many years. However, losing eventually wore through the fibers on his jersey and into his Cubbie blue heart.

Can anyone blame him?

While the popular notion in Chicago is that the Cubs will never field a winner as long as the Wrigley Field stand are filled is drastically overstated. If the Cubs, and the other Chicago teams for that matter, do not improve soon, the stands will be empty because of the number of fans dying of continued heartbreak.

Unlike Grace, true Cub fans have lifelong contracts with the team. They are not lucky enough to be told by management that they are being given an opportunity to “play the market.” If you love a team, you’re bound to them.

These contracts are not signed or notarized. They are contracts agreed upon at birth because of where your parents lived or because they sat with head in hands while the Miracle Mets stampeded past the 1969 Cubs.

I’m not bitter about it, though.

What the Cubs forced Grace to do is to think of himself for once during his career in Chicago. And that’s what he did. Leaving millions of Cub fans behind, Grace now has an opportunity to find success. Frankly, he deserves that opportunity.

Grace, while playing the role of the modern “Mr. Cub,” did not want to emulate the original, Ernie Banks. Banks has always loved the Cubs, won two Most Valuable Player awards as a Cub, but never saw a glimpse of the postseason. Grace did get to the postseason twice, but those trips were far from enough to satisfy the fiery first baseman.

A little more than a month after my sister’s encounter with Grace at Navy Pier, I was fortunate enough to be there as the Cubs beat the Giants to claim the National League Wild Card. I saw Grace’s reaction as Joe Carter’s weak pop landed in his glove. I saw Grace double over from a strange combination of emotion, exhaustion and exasperation.

Yes, it was only the wild card and Grace would go on to hit an un-Gracelike .083 against the Braves in the divisional series, but at that moment, Grace could want nothing more.

Now, he gets to move on to warm April baseball and The Bank One Ballpark. The Diamondbacks have managed to play like an expansion team, be an overachieving, money-driven winner and disappointment in their short existence.

And Grace thought being a Cub was tumultuous?

There should be little doubt that Grace will go on to the Hall of Fame. He probably will reach the 3,000-hit plateau hitting in the less-than-friendly, yet spacious confines of “The Bob.” He may even drop a few more home run balls in the pool there, but it will be hard to see him with anything other than a red “C” on his cap.

"I'll miss the city so much. It sounds sappy, but there are people on the first-base side I've gotten to know over 13 years. I'll miss Kerry Wood to death. And I'll miss Wrigley,” Grace said after the announcement of his two-year deal with the D-Backs.

Mr. Grace, you’ll find out how much the city and the fans miss you May 18 when you take the field at Wrigley as a visitor for the first time.