If the Cubs ever win the World Series, they'll build statues of the players and none of them will ever have to pay for a drink in Chicago again.
We heard that maxim for years. The 2016 Cubs finally ended the franchise's 107-year championship drought, putting it to the test.
Ten years later, there are still no statues. But the Cubs owners did erect a Champions Gate dedicated to the World Series winning teams of 1907, 1908 and 2016 and invited the '16 gang back this weekend for a dedication ceremony amid a 10-year-reunion.
Photos: Chicago Cubs Champions Gate dedication ceremony at Gallagher Way
Most of the gang was at Wrigley Field on Saturday to take another bow and to celebrate a season that never gets old.
"I'm struck by seeing all the players, all the family, all the staff, Tom (Ricketts) and his family, the front office and everybody," former President Theo Epstein said. "There's probably 150 people, and if you removed any one of those people from the mix, it's different and we don't (win).
"Obviously all the players, the people behind the scenes, everybody contributed in their own way, sacrificed together. You can't plan for that, but you can bring in the right people with the right stuff, treat them the right way, try to nurture it. And obviously the guys delivered when it mattered most."
You can quibble with the Rickettses for not building a statue based on the iconic photo of a group of Cubs players celebrating the final out on the mound, instead making a faceless arch the symbol of the season. You can speculate that some executives were more interested in cashing in on the championship season than trying to win another. You can debate why this special group was unable to replicate the ending of that season or why so many beloved players were traded or designated for assignment instead of being rewarded for their contributions.
But you can't question the brotherhood of a group that overcame the weight of more than a century of failures, and you cannot deny its place in the history of a town that treasures hard work.
"I don't know to this day that it really sunk in that we did it," Jon Lester said.
It happened, all right. Like the 1907 and '08 championships, it was chronicled in the Tribune, and the front page of that edition — "At last!" — is on many a Chicago tavern's wall, where it will likely remain until they shut the doors.
"It's evident more and more each and every day how important this is to Cubs nation," Jake Arrieta said. "We get told stories on a daily or weekly basis of what this meant to families or generations of families. And that's special. This is something we were able to do and cement ourselves in Cubs history forever."
After the gate ceremony and pregame introductions, the 2016 Cubs players and coaches and their families became right-field bleacher bums for a day, albeit with no Ronnie Woo-Woo on hand to shout "Cubs, Woo!" in their ears.
Dexter Fowler led the players in singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch and also chugged a beer while shown on the video board in the third inning. No word on whether he had to pay for the beer.
Anthony Rizzo was conveniently holding his young son when Michael Busch deposited a first-inning home run directly to his seat. Rizzo picked up the ball and held it aloft before putting his son on his shoulder and handing him the ball, like they were posing for a Norman Rockwell painting.
Who says lightning doesn't strike twice? Rizzo in September sat in the left-field bleachers during his retirement ceremony and saw Moises Ballesteros' first home run come straight to him. Rizzo famously dropped it.
Can the Cubs imagine how their lives would be different had they not won?
"I'd be a lot poorer, I know that," former catcher and manager David Ross said. "This team has let me dance (on 'Dancing with the Stars'), it's got me an ESPN gig, it's got me a podcast, it's got me a managerial job, it's got me private jets …"
Ross, who was blindsided by Cubs President Jed Hoyer when he was fired as manager after the 2023 season, got one of the loudest ovations at Wrigley. Epstein told Ross' and Rizzo's podcast, "The Lovable Reunion," that it took "seven beers" to reward Ross with a two-year contract in 2015 to catch Lester and be a mentor for a young team. Ross was the "grumpy grandpa that tried to keep guys in check (when) I walk in and these guys are playing Mario Kart and I'm about to lose my mind."
Did Ross have any second thoughts about coming back to Wrigley after the awkward ending?
"Personally, I try not to carry stuff for too long," he said. "That's just negative stuff for me. There has been nothing but a lot of positive energy and great moments here at this field with this team. The manager thing feels like a whole different chapter in my life. But this group of guys, I wouldn't miss that."
Epstein commissioned a "Twinkle Dee and Twinkle Dum" T-shirt for him and Hoyer to wear at a team party at Murphy's, continuing a decades-old tradition of sparing no expense to make fun of each other. Hoyer, to his credit, went along with the butt of the joke, and Jason Heyward posted an Instagram photo of himself, Maddon and Epstein, who was wearing his "Twinkle Dee/Twinkle Dum" shirt.
Epstein declined to comment but said with a laugh: "Busting each other's balls is a signature trait of this team."
I asked Epstein if he'd still be here running the Cubs if they hadn't won in 2016.
"I wouldn't have left voluntarily,"' he offered.
Epstein said he had recurring dreams in '16 of the Cubs winning it all, then waking up, only to actually win it all on Nov. 2 and realize it was no longer just a dream.
"It felt like liberation," he said. "We were all here to do one thing, and we got it accomplished. Everyone was in it together. Everyone can die happy. We had more work to do, but that's when it sunk in for me, knowing I can choose my path going forward. I wasn't going to leave without getting the job done, to answer your question."
My favorite line from the 2016 Cubs came from Miguel Montero in 2017, when he returned to Wrigley with the Toronto Blue Jays after the Cubs unceremoniously dumped him. Some Cubs fans booed him that day, which was rare for anyone from '16 who came back.
"I really don't care," Montero told me that day. "They cheered a lot of big hits when I was here, and whether they hate me or love me, they're going to remember me forever."
On Saturday they cheered him again, as they did for everyone on the team, and of course, for former manager Joe Maddon too.
They'll all be remembered forever.
"There are a lot of great players before us that didn't win here and are celebrated and loved dearly here," Rizzo said. "The list goes on and on. Obviously no one had won in 108 years until that time. Winning does change everything for you. Winning in Chicago, the magnitude of what we did, has elevated our careers and lives and our brotherhood tremendously. So yes, it has changed our lives big-time.
"This place is so special. Win or lose, everyone loves you as a player. But winning the big one is the best one there is."
Maybe some day they'll even get a statue.
