Pete Crow-Armstrong loves playing for the @Cubs. His dad loves it, too: “Growing up in L.A., my dad gave me a couple of rules. 1) I couldn’t root for the Dodgers. 2) I couldn’t root for the Cardinals. He’s from Naperville, just outside Chicago. He didn’t force me to be a Cubs fan, but let’s just say it was heavily encouraged. When I was a kid, maybe seven or eight, I’d bust open my parents’ door first thing in the morning and start jumping on the bed, Let’s go throw the ball!! Dad!!! Get UP!! Let’s go!!! They’d stick me in front of the TV while they got their day started. And I’d watch the same thing almost every morning: Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game. Dad must have recorded a re-run of it or something, I don’t know. But it was always on the TV, ready to be replayed whenever I wanted. I’ve got something to admit though, I was a bit of a s*** growing up. Dad is a big Bears guy, and like I said, I was just this little rascal. So my guys were Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews. I’m sorry about that. I am. It’s not that I didn’t love Matt Forte or Brian Urlacher or Peanut Tillman — I just loved giving my dad a hard time. So I’d run around the house laughing every time Rodgers dropped a dime at Soldier Field. But baseball was different for me. I didn’t really have a team. I had my dudes. Soriano, Jeter, Damon, Derek Lee, Matt Kemp, Jim Edmonds. Cutch a bit later. My guys. And you remember that board game, All Star Baseball? I loved that s***. That was my jam.... My dad came to me with an ultimatum. He’s an absolute baseball nerd. Big analytics and prospects guy. I was only 11 or 12 and he sat me down and was like, Look, if you’re going to pick a team, now is your last chance to pick the Cubs. We’ve got a bunch of kids coming up soon. Báez, Contreras, Bryant, Russell, Almora. We’re going to be good. Now is your chance. I was like, Alright, alright. Fine. Go, Cubs, go.... My dad and I watched Game 7 together, just the two of us. Felt like it went on for three days. I remember him jumping up and down and crying. I don’t think I fully got it in the moment, you know? I was like, Dad, don’t be weird … stop crying. But I’m sure almost every Cub fan of a certain age had tears in their eyes that night. And now, a bit older, I get it. Five years later, I got traded for Javy. I can’t lie, when I first got the news, my heart was racing. I was injured, and I felt like I was a long way from making it to the show. When I heard I was being moved, I thought maybe I was being given up on. But then I saw it was for Javy and it calmed me down, in a way. It made me feel like the Cubs believed in me. That they really wanted me. It’s funny, man. I was on my way to lunch that day with my parents and my agent. And my dad played it cool. He was just talking about the opportunity and all that. That’s my mom rubbing off on him. She’s cool like that. But she talks about that day now and she’s like, When your dad found out … he had a MOMENT. His son was a Cub. Pretty cool.” playerstribu.ne/PCA