After what could have been his last game at Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ sent a kind message to the fans in the stands. Happ, who has spent the entirety of his MLB career with the Cubs over the course of 10 years, is set to enter free agency after the end of the 2026 season. Following Thursday's win over the Miami Marlins, he threw a ball into the stands.
"Thank you for 10 incredible years, for the positivity and unwavering support!" Happ wrote on the ball. "Y'all are the best fans in sports! Go Cubs!" Additionally, Happ attached $300 to the ball with rubber bands, leaving one more message for the Cubs fans.
Happ was a first-round draft pick to the Cubs in 2015, and wasn't with the MLB club for their historic World Series run the following year. He still accomplished plenty for the club across his decade of service, playing 1,292 games for the club while hitting 197 homers and tallying 625 RBIs. He has a .784 lifetime OPS, and earned the only All-Star appearance of his career with the team in 2022.
Additionally, he has won a Gold Glove in each of the last four years, and has a solid case to do so yet again in 2026 with a plus-6 fielding run value in left field. Chicago's last series of the season comes against the Boston Red Sox on the road, so Happ may not ever play another regular season game as a Cub at Wrigley Field. That leaves this year's postseason, but whether or not the Cubs play at home is up in the air.
The Cubs are the only team in the NL Wild Card to have secured their spot in the postseason, but they don't currently hold the top seed. The Padres entered their game against the Dodgers on Thursday with a 0.5-game lead over the Cubs, and if those results hold, the Cubs won't play at home during the first round of the postseason. Happ and the Cubs will do everything in their power to prevent that from happening, though, and will hope they can make their way back to the World Series for the first time since their historic 2016 run.
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