WRIGLEYVILLE — If you've watched the Cubs in the playoffs on television, chances are you've also seen a banner sign for DePaul University's club baseball team.
During the Fox Sports pregame show located at the corner of Waveland and Sheffield Avenues, a sign that says "@BaseballDePaul" is prominently featured in the crowd behind the set. The team is very active in social media.
Mama we made it pic.twitter.com/HgNPMTtZKx
— DePaul Club Baseball (@baseballdepaul) October 16, 2016
@baseballdepaul pic.twitter.com/uXpBaNv09g
— 🎬#BowtieTom (@ciszek) October 29, 2016
Finishing touches, tune into Fox pregame pic.twitter.com/t3xJyHuFfY
— DePaul Club Baseball (@baseballdepaul) October 28, 2016
Alex Perry, team president and second baseman, said he and his teammates get to the pregame an hour ahead of game time to get a good spot. They plan to be out there for Saturday night's Game 4.
"We knew that Fox was going to broadcast games from here, so we decided to have a sign ready," Perry said. "The World Series coming to Chicago was a great opportunity to build a brand. We planned it out."
The team, which was restarted in 2010 after a lengthy hiatus, plays in the District B5 South Conference. League members consists of other club baseball teams from local universities such as Loyola, Northern Illinois, and Columbia College.
The team has 22 players and looking for more. The banner seen at games is used to encourage fellow DePaul students to play baseball.
Perry, 20, a junior finance major, hopes the team can eventually move from the club level to be officially recognized as the school's baseball team.
"We've gotten the word out so we can recruit players. As we've added players, we've gotten better," Perry said. "We want to be the school's varsity team."
During Friday night's Game 3 of the World Series, the team held up a sign that said "Get Well Soon Matthew." Matthew Abrams, 14, who was recently diagnosed with Leukemia, is the little brother of the girlfriend of a team member.
Seeing the signs during the games has been an unexpected surprise for many DePaul club baseball alums. Some of them have reached out to the team.
"One of my friends texted me about the sign. I personally didn't see it until I went back on my DVR. Now it sounds like they actually are playing in a real club conference and doing well," said Brian Horvath, who played on the team from 1999-2003. "Not to many people knew there was a team. It was very hard to get funds from the school and hard to get use of school vans."
Horvath, who works in finance, said he is glad that the current group is keeping goal of being recognized as a official baseball team alive.
"I'm glad that it is still in existence. All I know from my personal perspective, is that it was fun time and a good experience," Horvath said. "I had to go to monthly club meetings held by the supervisor of the rec center. This was a must in order to keep club status."
Perry said that he hopes the sign will catch the attention of DePaul administrators.
"I hope they can see what we're doing," Perry said. "The more attention we get, the more players will want to try to out for the team."
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