A doctor, a teacher, and a former NBA player walk into a bar. They once were all strangers, but are now friends after realizing during Game 3 of the National League Division Series that they have one big thing in common - their love of the Cubs.
Nicholas Pappas taught at-risk youth in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen before moving to Sacramento, California. He's now a 12th grade social science teacher at Leo A. Palmier Jr./Sr. High School, and he brought his love of the Cubs out west with him.
Dr. Stephanie Rogers is a physician of geriatrics & internal medicine at UCSF Medical Center, also living in San Francisco. She grew up in Metamora, Illinois, in a Mennonite Christian family. Rogers' brother even played church baseball with current Cub Ben Zobrist who lived in nearby Eureka.
And Brad Miller is hard to miss. At 7 feet tall, Miller was adorned in red and blue argyle Cubs-themed pants, jersey and hat. Growing up near Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Purdue star's allegiance to the Cubs only grew when he played for the Chicago Bulls for three of his 14 seasons in the NBA. [[393634811, C]]
These three fans became unlikely friends after meeting in the bleachers at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Monday. Pappas' tattooed arms stuck out of his spring training t-shirt while pumping his fist at every Cubs' run.
Rogers cheered every time Ben Zobrist came to the plate, and Miller blocked the views of anyone who dared stand behind his 7 foot frame.
Only one thing could bring this threesome together - their love of the Cubs. They say they'll stick together and follow their beloved team all the way to the World Series.
Chicago Baseball
There's one more member of this newfound friendship on the West Coast.
Kalan Winston is a Midwesterner as well, another big Cubs fan who relocated to California. He too was in the bleachers at AT&T Park on Monday, cheering on the Cubs with Pappas, Rogers, and Miller.
But Winston won't be making the trip to the NLCS to follow his Cubbies. After jumping for joy over Kris Bryant's 9th inning home run in Game 3 with his new friends, Winston tore his achilles tendon.
He refused medical attention until the 13-inning marathon ended, but now he can't travel to watch his beloved Cubbies because surgery awaits.
But nothing can stop the love of the Cubs from these unlikely new friends from afar.
