Crown Point boy's dreams come true at Cubs Spring Training

This past weekend was a dream come true for 11-year-old Gage Webber, as he got to practice with his favorite baseball player, Chicago Cubs third-baseman Patrick Wisdom, ahead of the Cubs Spring Training opener at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona.

“My friends definitely won’t believe me,” Gage said. “It was 11/10.”

Gage, of Crown Point, was one of three Advocate Children’s Hospital patients who received an all-expenses paid trip to Cubs Spring Training courtesy of Advocate Health and the Cubs. The VIP trip started Thursday with a special sendoff at Chicago O’Hare International Airport courtesy of American Airlines, which provided all-expenses paid travel. That night, Cubs players joined them for dinner to welcome them to Arizona. On Friday, the kids warmed up and practiced with the Cubs and played Wiffle ball with some players. The culmination of the trip came Saturday when each of the kids and some of their family members took the field at Sloan Park before watching the Cubs win their first game of Spring Training.

The weekend was a dream not only for Gage, but for his parents, Brian and Charisse, and his sister, who accompanied him on the trip. Gage had open heart surgery at only three months old due to a congenital heart defect called pulmonary atresia. He had a valve replacement in 2020.

Although he seemed destined to love baseball, growing up with a baseball field outside his window, his parents wondered if Gage would be able to play because of his heart condition. They tried to get him to play golf instead but quickly realized he was better suited for a bat. With his doctor’s permission, Gage has been playing baseball and now plays on the Playmakers out of Griffith.

“For a kid that we didn’t know how things were going to pan out initially, to see him take the field with these guys and put the bat to the ball, to see them be so accepting and treat him like one of the guys, that was just awesome to see,” Brian Webber said.