CHICAGO — On the last day of June, the flags danced in a stiff wind above Wrigley Field and Moe Mullins arrived more than three hours before first pitch, just like usual. He set up his camping chair under the ash tree at the corner of Waveland and Kenmore, across the street from the back of the left-field bleachers, and the neighborhood slowly came to life.
In time, the street vendors appeared and the merchandise stands opened and the patio at Murphy's, a block away, started to fill in. Soon, the spectators gathered along the brick wall and waited for the bleacher gates to open. For a while, though, it was quiet, and the last refuge of old Wrigley, and its old neighborhood, belonged to Mullins.
He is the unofficial mayor of Waveland and Kenmore avenues, the elder statesman among the characters who give it character. The Chicago Cubs this weekend celebrated their 150th anniversary as a National League member. They've spent 110 of those years at Wrigley, where the corner just beyond left field remains old-school, a small throwback in the middle of ever-expanding change.
The Cubs have bought up many of the nearby buildings. The rooftops are a little less organically charming and a lot more expensive. Trendy bars and restaurants have moved in all over. Even Wrigley's iconic marquee comes with a corporate sponsor, and has for more than a decade.
The corner, though, remains the corner. Lawn chairs. Lifers. Good banter, some of which is even suitable for children. The most prominent ad there is handwritten, for the Gatorade that Dave Davison sells out of a cooler: $3 for Cubs fans and $4 for Cards fans, with the $5 for White Sox fans crossed out and replaced with "stay thirsty."

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