Dansby Swanson explains why he signed with Cubs with emotional story about his grandfather
Get the tissues ready. This one is a bit of a tear-jerker.
Dansby Swanson, the Chicago Cubs' newest shortstop, who recently signed a seven-year, $177 million deal, revealed Wednesday in his introductory news conference why he decided to join the Cubs after seven years with the Atlanta Braves.
"Being a Cub means more to me than people would realize," Swanson said. "It's no secret I left my hometown team to be here. But I kept telling everyone it's more personal to me."
An emotional story on why being a Cub is so important to Dansby. pic.twitter.com/b7ZcRTFS73
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) December 21, 2022
It all comes back to his grandfather, who passed away the day after Swanson and his wife, Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh, were married earlier this year. Swanson, who grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia, outside of Atlanta, lived on the same street as his grandfather and often saw Cubs games played on WGN in the background when he went over to visit after school.
"I was always like, 'Pops, we're in Atlanta, dude. We're Braves fans,'" Swanson recounted. "He loved baseball so much, and all he ever wanted me to be was doing what I'm doing now."
Swanson, who joked that he wanted to get through the story without crying, added that after he brought a championship to one of his grandfather's teams, the Braves, in 2021, he wanted to bring another to his other favorite team, the Cubs.
"To be able to play for two of my grandfather's two favorite teams means literally, like, the world to me," Swanson said.
The hope for the Cubs is that the 28-year-old Swanson can build on a career year in 2022. Swanson hit .277/.329/.447 with 25 home runs in 696 plate appearances and stole a career-high 18 bases this past season. He was selected for his first All-Star game and won his first Gold Glove award.
