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CHICAGO (FOX 32 NEWS) - Someone once wrote: “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”
It’s a game of great triumph, of bitter tragedy and, from time to time, the most unexpected ironies.
Meet Darryl Wilson, for 25 years, he’s had the best view in all of baseball, but very rarely does he ever get to see it.
The historic scoreboard of Wrigley Field -- not just a symbolic staple of the Cubs but all of baseball.
Built in 1937, it may have undergone a change or two in its eight-decade history, but it’s stood as one of the few comfortable constants of the "friendly confines."
And inside ... Is a man. Since 1991, Darryl has been that man.
Darryl doesn’t have much time to reminisce about history.
He’s responsible for manually changing and updating dozens of scores across the American and National leagues.
While that information used to be frenetically printed out on a sports ticker, he now accesses it through a continuously updating website on a computer.
Scattered across the three-story stretch of history are sharp, metal numbers and letters, a vast alphabet of athleticism that he’s constantly picking up and putting down.
And if the never-ending updates don’t kill you, the heat might – inside the scoreboard is, on average, 10 to 20 degrees hotter than it is outside.
But you’ll never hear Darryl complain – he’s as much a part of Wrigley nostalgia as the game itself. And if you keep your eyes peeled, you might even catch a quick glimpse of him.
Millions of people have seen the Cubs play at Wrigley but few very have ever seen it like Darryl does. It’s hard to imagine the novelty ever wearing off.
Because from his ironically busy perch, Darryl Wilson has witnessed history – a game of great triumph and bitter tragedy.
It’s enough to make you wonder:
“How can you not be romantic about baseball?”