HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -- They went on their first date to a Valentines Day dance a few years after the Cubs lost the 1945 World Series. In the seven decades between that night and this one, Rene and Helene Van Hulle raised four kids, losing one of them a decade ago. They moved from the North Side to the suburbs, finally ending up here, in a small apartment with yellow walls, in their respective recliners, waiting on another World Series game to begin. Shes 83, and hes 88. Hes on oxygen all the time, dying, in the care of a hospice nurse. This is the last World Series hell ever see.Rene grew up on the corner of Racine and Waveland, a block from the ballpark. His dad was a janitor, and he became one, too. As a boy, hed climb the fence and sneak into Wrigley Field. He spent four years in the Navy, repairing submarines; she waited three years, 11 months and 26 days for him to do his time and come home to get married. During that time apart, hed mail her Easter corsages to match her outfit. The boy she met all those years ago is still in there; he loves roller coasters, stamp collecting and Wile E. Coyote. Sometimes he still holds a book above his head, with his arms locked, a kind of muscle memory from laying on his back with a wrench.?Tonight, hes wearing a T-shirt from his ship, the USS Orion. Theres a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label in the other room.If we win, his daughter Christine says, well have a shot out of your bottle.Well do that, he says.He closes his eyes for the national anthem, gripping the oxygen tubes with both hands, tapping his left foot, mouthing the words. Soon hes tapping both feet. When he nods off a few minutes later, his daughter touches his knee gently. He wakes up as the game begins, and everyone is telling stories, about the trouble the girls got into and about how Rene sent great gifts home to Helene while they were dating -- the key piece of his strategy to win her over.Its still working, she says, smiling. I still love him.When the doctors placed him in hospice care, essentially sending him home to die about a year ago, he asked his girls if theyd take him back down to Wrigleyville, to see the place where he grew up. That trip brought back so many memories, the World Series season of 1938, and 1945 when all the men were coming back from the war. Driving his block, he still remembered the houses where his friends, nearly all of them dead now, grew up, and where theyd play. He remembered the old German bar, where his mom would help fry fish on Fridays.Hes remembering tonight.I like to reminisce, he says. I aint got that much else to do. Its one of the few joys of getting old.As much as a sporting contest, Friday nights game served as a portal to that time and place. Cubs flags and banners decorated grave sites all over Chicago; at one suburban cemetery, an old man in a Cubs jacket laid a pennant in between his mother and father. At Renes apartment, while the game stretched out on TV, Rene and Helene talked about the past. Two of his daughters hung out, and they heard some stories for the first time, leaning in rapt, desperate for every detail because soon it will be too late to ask. Every Easter, the union boss gave him a chocolate egg with a dollar bill in it. Sometimes he and his friends rented a party room in the local auditorium, bought some luncheon meat and a case of beer. He played softball for a team named the Jokers.Even Helene learned some new things.Did you play baseball? she asked.He nodded.What position? she asked.Left.Left what?He grinned.Left out, he said, making fun of his own complete lack of talent.Over and over, they bring up Rene Jr., their son who died in 2007. He was beloved in the Chicago gay community, an activist and leader, and theyd often go hang out at the bar where he worked. Tonight, their daughter Laurie is wearing one of her brothers sweaters, turquoise and worn -- her good luck charm when the Cubs play. Rene Jr.s name is spoken with love and a touch of regret; he loved the Cubs more than any of them. But, for a few minutes at a time as his name is said aloud, their son and brother is with them. They can hear his voice describing seeing the green field for the first time, after only seeing Wrigley on a black and white TV.The nurse is sitting back watching, stunned, because she has been seeing Rene for months and this is the most upbeat and energetic he has been. Thats the greatest gift the Cubs gave so many people around the city Friday night. Who knows how many great days Renes family will have with him? Tonight, he was laughing and cracking jokes, the same sharp and quick man theyve know all their lives. The game woke something in him, something that doesnt come out much anymore.Ive never seen him this good, his nurse says.The girls pour a round of drinks from the Blue Label bottle in the seventh inning, and his nurse says that he can have a sip. The hot whiskey hits his throat and stuns him a little. When the Cubs lose, he curses in Flemish -- the language of his parents, still burned into his memory -- and sinks back into his chair. His time is running short, but tonight, he was living, surrounded by his wife and two of his girls and by the memory of his departed son. He sat in his chair, watching one of the last baseball games hell ever see. His eyes sparkled, and he looked content. Cincinnati Reds Shirts . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Cincinnati Reds Pro Shop . 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It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. BALTIMORE -- Rick Porcello pitched a four-hitter for his major league-high 21st victory, David Ortiz and Mookie Betts hit two-run homers and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 on Monday night to pad their lead in the AL East.Coming off a four-game sweep of the Yankees, Boston sustained its late-season surge in the opener of an important four-game series for both clubs. The Red Sox stand atop the division by a season-high four games.Adam Jones homered and Mark Trumbo picked up his 102nd RBI for the second-place Orioles, who started the day with a one-game lead over Toronto for the top AL wild card.Porcello (21-4) struck out seven and walked none in his third complete game of the year. Five days earlier against Baltimore, the right-hander gave up one run in eight innings but took the loss.Playing his final regular season series in Baltimore, the 40-year-old Ortiz connected against rookie Dylan Bundy (9-6) with a man on in the fifth for a 5-1 lead.CUBS 5, REDS 2CHICAGO -- Dexter Fowler hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the seventh inning, and Chicago beat Cincinnati.Fowlers line drive into center field capped a three-run rally for the Cubs after they were shut down by Tim Adleman most of the night. It also made a winner of Jason Hammel (15-9), who pitched seven solid innings.Jason Heyward added a two-run homer in the eighth as the Cubs moved seven games ahead of Washington for the best record in the National League, lowering their magic number for clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs to five. Thats the only major goal still out there during the regular season for major league-leading Chicago after it secured the NL Central title last week.BRAVES 7, METS 3NEW YORK -- Aaron Blair won for the first time in 13 major leaague starts, Freddie Freeman drove in three runs off a misfiring Noah Syndergaard and Atlanta slowed New Yorks wild-card chase.ddddddddddddFreeman had four hits for the Braves, who have the worst record in the National League, and rookie Dansby Swanson had three hits and three RBI.New York had won 11 of its previous 14 games and led the NL wild-card race at the start of the night, one game ahead of San Francisco and two in front of St. Louis.Pitching on five days rest rather than four, Syndergaard (13-9) allowed five runs, eight hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings.Blair (1-6) gave up six hits in six innings and lowered his ERA to 7.71.MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 3MIAMI -- Giancarlo Stanton homered and Miami beat Washington.Christian Yelich, Ichiro Suzuki and Derek Dietrich also drove in a run for the Marlins and A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 38th save in 41 chances.Brian Ellington (3-2) picked up the win with an inning of relief while Mat Latos (7-3) took the loss.ROYALS 8, WHITE SOX 3KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Yordano Ventura picked up his first complete-game victory, Kendrys Morales hit a three-run homer and Kansas City defeated Chicago.The Royals have won three straight, keeping their faint playoff hopes flickering with 12 games remaining. The Royals went 14-5 against the White Sox this year.Ventura (11-11) gave up nine hits, struck out five and walked one. His only other complete game in the majors was a loss July 28 at Texas.Morales homered off Carlos Rodon (7-10) in a four-run fifth. Morales homered in back-to-back games, bringing his total to 29. The last Royal to hit 30 home runs in a season was Jermaine Dye, with 33 in 2000. ' ' '