ShawneeDispatch.com

Last weekend, my girlfriend and I took a trip to Chicago for a wedding and were lucky enough to witness a piece of history.

It wasn't historical in the same sense as "Man walks on the moon," or "Wilt scores 100 points," but it was still quite a sight.

First I'll set the scene, and then we'll get into the specifics.

Picture this: Chicago's Midway Airport littered with thousands of people wearing Boston Red Sox gear. Or how about this: Streets of Chicago filled with Baawstan accents. All of those Bostonians in town to see their beloved Red Sox take on the Chicago Cubs.

And they said interleague play was a bad idea.

For these two cities, it was absolute bliss.

For the first time since the 1918 World Series, the Red Sox and Cubs, Major League Baseball's two most cursed franchises, squared off for a three-game series at historic Wrigley Field.

The buzz around the ballpark was unlike anything I'd ever seen.

I've been to Chicago about a dozen times. I've been to Wrigley four or five. And every time I've been there I've seen the same things. Fathers and sons posing in front of the old ballpark, both looking like little kids. Fans with their mouths open wide staring up at the cathedral. Street bands, drunk fans and vendors jammed onto the sidewalks and streets of Waveland and Sheffield.

It's a thing of beauty no matter how many times you've seen it -- something every sports fan should see at least once.

But being there when the Sox were in town was amazing.

We didn't have tickets to the game, didn't need them. Heck, we couldn't have gotten them for less than $200 a piece anyway, so we figured what's the point?

Instead, me and a group of 10 or 12 friends spent the day wandering around the outside of Wrigley. It didn't matter that we couldn't see the game. It still sent chills down my spine.

We spent the afternoon popping in and out of a handful of the sports bars that surround the stadium. Inside each the scene was the same -- rowdy Cubs and Red Sox fans watching the game together in harmony.

It was unreal. It seemed like every group we saw had some of each. Some groups even had crossbreeds, Cubs fans wearing Nomar Garciaparra Red Sox jerseys.

The Cubs hammered the Sox that day, 14-6. But that was a good thing for our stay in the city. It made for a much more festive atmosphere after the game.

The middle game of the series went to the Cubs, 7-6. It was the only one of the three that delivered any drama. And Boston took the series finale, 8-1.

But it didn't matter. They could've played three games without scoring, and it would've still been an incredible experience.

I didn't go to the games, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to. But that's the beauty of a park like Wrigley -- you don't have to get inside to enjoy the game.

A couple of buddies of mine up there live spitting distance from the park, and every time I'm in town, we spend most of our time enjoying a game one way or the other.

I figure I've got about 360 days to find some friends in Boston so I can be a part of the rematch next year, when Boston welcomes the Cubs to Fenway Park.