Scott Green

Rod Blagojevich is no stranger to losing causes.  He was removed from the Illinois governor’s office.  He wanted President Obama to name him Secretary of Health and Human Services.  He’s a Cubs fan.

I learned the last one Thursday afternoon, when Blagojevich sat in the row behind me at Wrigley Field.  He was at the game instead of promoting his book, “The Governor,” which had only been in stores nine days and was in direct competition with Dan Brown’s “The Lost Symbol,” another government-themed work of fiction.

A couple guys immediately began heckling the former governor.  “It’s an injustice what they’re doing to me.  You’ll want to hear the tapes.  They won’t let me play the tapes,” Blagojevich informed them, referring to the demo tapes he made with his band, Roddy and the Kickbacks.

Heads turned as the crowd realized who was in attendance.  People arriving late acted like it was business as usual:  there’s our aisle, there’s our row, there’s the disgraced former governor, there’s the beer man, etc.

Some fans were able to ignore Blagojevich; behind me a few guys in suits had a long conversation about Steve Bartman.  Not ten feet away sat the man accused of extorting a children’s hospital, but at Wrigley Field that’s nothing compared to a guy who caught a foul ball six years ago.

Still, most people were interested, and dozens asked for a photo with the former governor. Blagojevich obliged them all.  Luckily nobody asked to share his peanuts, because a bag of peanuts is a valuable thing, and you don’t just give it away for nothing.

At first I didn’t want to get involved, but Blagojevich asked to borrow my pen to sign an autograph for someone.  I couldn’t help myself and asked for a photo.  “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the empty chair beside him.

We spoke for a minute, during which he pled his case by using the word “injustice” 38,000 times.  As I excused myself, a Derrek Lee fly ball was caught at the warning track.  “Now THAT’S an injustice,” I said.

“That’s an injustice,” Blagojevich repeated, clearly disappointed we were no longer discussing his injustice.

Some of the hecklers, not content to do nothing, bought a beer and passed it to the former governor.  “I don’t drink,” Blagojevich said, then grinned:  “Can I take this?  Is it legal?”

A few innings later he bought two bags of Cracker Jacks and tossed them back to the hecklers.  If they’d ordered him a hot dog, he’d have put them in the U.S. senate.

As a fan, Blagojevich was pretty normal:  he followed the action on the field, applauded good plays, and stood for the seventh inning stretch (“It’s root root root for the Cubbies, if they don’t win it’s an injustice”).

But what I’ll remember most is something he told me when I mentioned I recently graduated from law school.  “Don’t go into politics,” he said.

When he got into hot water last year, the guy went on a media blitz to talk about how he’d gotten into government to serve the citizens of Illinois and improve people’s lives, and that, as governor, he’d done exactly that.

If that’s true, wasn’t it all worthwhile?  Wasn’t it worth the scrutiny, the humiliation, the inability to enjoy a baseball game in peace?  I mean, especially if he gets to keep the bribes.

As for me – I could still enjoy a game in peace, so I turned my attention from Blagojevich to the field.  The Cubs are losers too, but at least they’re lovable.

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