Fansided

108-year-old Cubs fan dies one week after winning World Series

By James LeBreton

Nov 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; A general view of the marquee with fans celebrating after game seven of the 2016 World Series against the Cleveland Indians outside of Wrigley Field. Cubs won 8-7. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; A general view of the marquee with fans celebrating after game seven of the 2016 World Series against the Cleveland Indians outside of Wrigley Field. Cubs won 8-7. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Cubs fan, Mabel Ball, witnessed two World Series victories in her lifetime. One the year she was born and the other a week before he died.

Mabel Ball was a devoted Chicago Cubs fan all 108 years of her life, so much in fact that she couldn’t rest peacefully until the drought was over.

Once the news broke that she had the potential to witness yet another Cubs World Series victory she was interviewed by the newspaper and ABC-7 News in Chicago. She suffered a heart attack during the series, but her family stated that the interviews added no extra stress to her life.

Although Ball was known as a local celebrity by her friends, she thought it was all nonsense. When she was young she grew a deep love for her team. So deep in fact that she passed it on to her son Rich, a 75-year-old Oak Park native.

Rich recalled fond memories of listening to the Cubs play on the radio with his parents. He also remarked on how unusual it was that his mother loved baseball, her father was a farmer and had no time for sports or the craziness of being a fan.

Though she was a faithful fan all of her years, she didn’t actually attend a game until she was 90 years old.

“The cruel irony, the almost unbelievable irony, is that the person who waits and waits and waits, after it happens, says, ‘I’ve done what I’ve got to do, and I’m out of here,'” said her son Rich per the Chicago Tribune “It ain’t funny, but it’s funny.”

Due to her health, she didn’t attend the seventh game to see her team win it all in person, but she did follow the game from home.

She had a long, happy life and was loved by many. Ball played in an orchestra when she was younger, and paid it forward to the youth in her Illinois neighborhood where she taught many children to play the piano.

Next: Derek Jeter and MLB's 20 Richest Players

Mabel was a well-rounded person who felt that life should not require a resume and that your talents should be on display and not written down. She loved many things, but above all she loved family, friends and the Chicago Cubs.

After the World Series victory she lived one more week, as a Cubs fan, it was the best week of her life.

Home/Chicago Cubs