CHICAGO, Illinois — After winning the 2016 World Series Chicago on Sunday, Oct. 30, players celebrated their accomplishment with a parade and rally for their fans. More than 5 million fans gathered in Chicago, reports WGN.
Sports Director Matt Randazzo, photographer Stephanie Mattan and web producer Sarah Tisinger took off from Moline around 4:20 a.m. to head to Joliet, Illinois. From there, we took the Metra all the way into Chicago, meeting Cubs fans along the way.
Here's a look at our journey and coverage of the celebration in Chicago:
Every once in a while, we ran into fans from the QC among the crowd.
Getting off the Metra, everyone was wearing white and blue. Even security staff was getting in on the celebration.
It was a short walk to the park, where some groups waited in line all day and still didn't get in.
Here's a 360 photo of the three of us waiting in line with fans to get into Grant Park, which was where the parade would end with a celebration. Most fans had also been up since 4 a.m.
The above photo was taken around 8:30 a.m., right after fans began climbing the light poles. One fan fell (we didn't hear if they were OK or not) but even fans who weren't there later heard about the legend of the "fan who fell from the lightpole."
Right after, we walked by fans who broke down a gate in an attempt to get past security checks and get into the park.
Finally we were in the very muddy and crowded park. Some spots had standing water but fans didn't seem to care their shoes were filling with mud.
We met a lot of fans but we ended up near the stage on a media ramp next to ESPN and other networks. Here's a 360 photo from our view on the media stage.
With a nearly-tearful thank you from retiring "Grandpa" David Ross, the team showed off their World Series trophy and thanked fans, coaches, family members and the behind-the-scenes members who made the win possible.
The celebration was capped off with a surprise visit from country singer Brett Eldredge, who sang the iconic "Go Cubs Go."
With muddy shoes and sunburned faces, everyone made their way out of the park. Matt Randazzo and our photographer worked to put together the footage for the 6 and 10 p.m. shows...
... while those fans who had been up since 4 a.m. took cat naps on the Metra heading back to Joliet.
