Oak Brook man makes late purchase of tickets, sees Cubs win World Series

Aside from the birth of his children, Oak Brook resident Mike Manzo said being at Progressive Field in Cleveland Wednesday to watch the Chicago Cubs win their first World Series in 108 years was the greatest experience of his life.

“I think I had two heart attacks during the game,” Manzo joked after the Cubs saw a 6-3 lead turn into a 6-6- tie, before rallying in the 10th inning to win, 8-7. “It really was unbelievable to be there to see it. We stayed inside the stadium with other Cubs fans for at least two hours after the game. Everyone was so happy and so excited. People kept on cheering and singing.”

Manzo, an Oak Brook Village Board member, wasn’t planning to be there for Game 7 until his brother-in-law, Ralph Ambrosino, a Westchester dentist who lives in Elmhurst, called that morning.

“He asked me if I waned to go,” Manzo said. “I said, ‘yes,” so he told me to come to his office. We bought the tickets online and headed to Cleveland for the game.”

Nearly six hours after they left, Manzo and Ambrosino were outside of Progressive Field.

“It was worth every penny,” Manzo said, noting that he and his brother-in-law paid $1,400 each for tickets with seats in the lower level near the right field corner.

“There were so many Cubs fans there; I’d guess 40 percent of the people at the game were cheering for the Cubs,” Manzo said. “The Cleveland fans were fantastic. Everyone on both sides cheered for their team, and there were no problems at all.”

Manzo, a self-proclaimed lifelong Cubs fan, said he had one regret about seeing the Cubs win the World Series in person.

“I went to Game 4 at Wrigley Field with my son,” he said. “I would have loved to take my son to this game, too, but I didn’t want to stop in Bloomington (Indiana) to pick him up and go to Cleveland.”

cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @chuckwriting