"A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" is a folk song written by Steve Goodman in 1981 and first performed by him on a WGN radio show that year.

The song tells the story of a Chicago Cubs fan looking back at decades of supporting the struggling baseball team.

Goodman wrote the song in the spring of 1981, just before that year's Major League Baseball strike interrupted the season.

Goodman, a native of Chicago, incorporated a number of specific references to the city, the Cubs, and their baseball stadium, Wrigley Field.

That song has been described as overly sentimental, and Goodman was said to have written it that way to subtly poke fun at the team's criticism of "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request".

[2][3] Singer-songwriter and Chicago native Steve Goodman was born in 1948 and grew up attending Cubs baseball games.

His great uncle, Harry Romanoff, worked for Chicago newspapers and knew an usher at the Wrigley Field ticket gate, so Goodman could get into the stadium for free.

[4] Goodman was a student at Lake Forest College in the late 1960s when he began performing at Chicago music venues.

[6] Goodman moved from Chicago to Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters about a year before writing "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request".

He said he began thinking about the looming start of the baseball season and the historic lack of success of his Cubs teams.

[7] The song presents a cynical but affectionate look at the Cubs from the perspective of a fan who has been through many losing seasons with the team.

[15] Accompanied by Jethro Burns on banjo, Goodman performed "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" on a 1981 WGN radio show hosted by Roy Leonard.

"[18] Chicago Tribune columnist Bill Jauss wrote that Goodman was not intending to criticize the Cubs with his song.

WGN-TV program director Dan Fabian said that the song "made [general manager Dallas] Green nuts.

Consistent with the lyrics of "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" ("Let my ashes blow in a beautiful snow ... / And I will come to my final resting place, out on Waveland Avenue.

[19] The song is often described as overly sentimental or saccharine, and Goodman is said to have written it that way as a subtle jab at Green's criticism of "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request".