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| Ready for the Postseason: Chicago Cubs fans turned out for a rally Monday. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP |
Baseball's ardent fans bring on the antics
As the postseason gets into full swing this week, some sports enthusiasts will take their passion to the limit.
from the October 4, 2007 edition
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Earlier this year, Gifford was yelling at San Francisco's Barry Bonds. By his third at bat, Bonds couldn't take it anymore. He pointed to Gifford's wife and yelled, "Isn't he too old to act like a child?"
It was during Mr. Schuman's childhood that he used to go into "mama's" kitchen on New Year's Eve, banging on the pots and pans to wake up the whole neighborhood. Then, in 1988 when the Yankees were in the middle of a long slump, he suggested to the team management that they let him roam the stadium with a sign to encourage fans to make some noise and possibly inspire the players.
The first year, he mainly got children interested in banging his frying pan. But by 1996, after plenty of television coverage and newspaper stories, he says, "I was on the map."
On the map is an understatement. In 2000, Rudolph Giuliani, New York mayor at the time and a longtime Yankees fan, brought the World Series trophy to the hospital when Schuman was ill. Mr. Giuliani took him to Arizona on a chartered jet for the 2001 World Series. He's been in World Series parades. He has a frying pan in Cooperstown at the Hall of Fame. The former truck driver, who was once homeless, has written a book about his first five years as "Freddy Sez" and is included in a MasterCard commercial.
"I am just a quiet guy," he says.
The fans generally adore Schuman. Longtime Yankees fan Bruce Garrison remembers banging Schuman's pan and then watching Darryl Strawberry hit three home runs in one game. "Freddy's always got a positive message," says Mr. Garrison.
Mr. Wickers's story can be equally inspiring – especially since he has not had the support of the Tribune Co., owners of the Cubs, the same way the Yankees have supported Schuman.
Wickers traces his love of the Cubs back to his love of teddy bears: The baby bear in the Cubs' logo is close enough. "Teddy bears bring people together. They will always be your friend; they will always be happy," he says.
Wickers has been a fan despite enduring seven long Chicago winters as a homeless person. That may be why he loves going to Wrigley Field, "because there is always so much joy at the ballpark," he says. "People want to enjoy life."
Tim Bannon, writing for View From the Bleachers, a Cubs fan site, asks, "Is anyone a bigger fan and optimist than this man?" His long profile of Wickers gives some insight into what makes him tick. His final conclusion is that Woo Woo's heart is in the right place and it bleeds Cub blue.
Sometime soon, a wider audience might be discovering more about Wickers. Documentary maker Paul Hoffman is putting the finishing touches on "WooLife," a biography of Wickers in the making for seven years. "Ronnie represents hope, passion," he says. "It rubs off on everyone around him."
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