Glencoe Woman is Longest Running Cubs Season Ticket Holder

Fans of the Chicago Cubs can be spotted all around the world. For a franchise that has seen only one playoff series victory and infamously no world championships over the last 107 years, they have quite the footprint when it comes to having a national fanbase.

But the most devout remain on the north side of Chicago and its suburbs, and one Glencoe woman can say she is among them.

Carol Haddon, a retired special education teacher, has rarely missed a Cubs home game in the last 4+ decades. If fact, according to a CBS-2-Chicago report, she has had her season tickets longer than anyone else, first receiving them in 1971.

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That means Haddon has been in attendance for some great moments, like the time rookie phenom Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters in a 1998 game and the first night game at the friendly confines, a rainout held on August 8, 1988 (8-8-88).

“My husband and I wore formal gowns and tuxedos that night, and we got rained on,” she said of the first night game at one of America’s most cherished ballparks.

Watching the Cubs clinch the division in 1984 gave her “goose bumps,” she told CBS.

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But like anyone who has rooted for the boys in blue for some time, the disappointments have been there as well. 1984, 1989, 2008 and most sensitively 2003, represent what could have been for the franchise that has not won a title since 1908 or a pennant since 1945.

But that doesn’t deter Haddon, a staple in section 14, row 1 - right behind the Cubs’ dugout.

Her ritual, as reported by CBS, before each game includes the traditional radio, glove and scorecard.

“I keep score at all the games,” Haddon said. “I learned how to keep score when I was 7 years old.”

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Of course, much has changed of the ballpark experience since 1971.

“When I first started here, the Cubs could barely draw 10,000 a game,” she said, remembering when box seat tickets were only $3.25. The same seats are now more than $100.

Always the optimist, Haddon says 2015 will be the year fans have been waiting for.

“I truly believe this is it,” Haddon said. “This team this year is so exciting.”

We shall see. Fans like Haddon have been waiting long enough.

more via CBS-2-Chicago

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