A little luck, longwait net dad, daughter a World Series story
Mike Lyp was a little lethargic Monday at work.
“Yeah, I’m dragging butt,” he said. “But I’m happy as hell.”
He’d had a long 36 hours. Lyp, 44, a tow- truck driver, and his 12- year- old daughter, Shelly, waited in line overnight to buy face- value tickets to Game 5 of theWorld Series Sunday from the box office at Wrigley Field, where lastminute tickets were sold on a first- come, first- served basis.
Rain showers in the wee hours took a toll on their Cubs face paint. Then, the cold set in.
And, as day broke, a crush of people — including homeless men ticket brokers paid to stand in line for them — arrived and didn’t respect the line, Lyp said.
“It was a free for all,” the Lake in the Hills resident said. “So my daughter yelled, ‘ Hey! We waited here in the rain all night! Get behind us!’ ”
Someone in the crowd threatened her, and Lyp nearly lost it.
But everyone cooled down, and the Lyps ended up at the front of the line. After about 20 hours of waiting, they got their World Series tickets — standing- room- only in right field near a row of skyboxes.
Lyp said he ended up scoring autographs from team president Theo Epstein and owner Tom Ricketts as they walked past.
He and his daughter, who fell asleep at one point, even amid the deafening cheers for the Cubs, got home late and passed out with their face paint still on— smeared a bit from victory tears.
On Monday, he faced a 24hour shift at work— starting at 6 a. m.
“I was three hours late to work,” said Lyp, who was hoarse from cheering and had a Cubs “W” flag flying behind his tow truck. “And Shelly is getting the day off school.”
They’d driven in Saturday from their far northwest suburban home to be part of the Wrigleyville excitement. On a whim, after realizing they were standing exactly where the line for tickets formed, they decided to wait.
Now, they have their Cubs World Series story to tell for the rest of their lives.