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85-year-old Cubs fan surprised with tickets to second World Series

An 85-year-old Chicago Cubs fan is making his second trip to the World Series to see his team play, thanks in part to the help of some friends.

An 85-year-old Chicago Cubs fan is making his second trip to the World Series to see his team play, thanks in part to the help of some friends.

On Tuesday, ABC10 told you the story of Fair Oaks local Fred McNally and his memories growing up in the Chicago suburbs, when he snuck in to see the 1945 Cubs play the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.

Now, 71 years later, McNally is going to see his Cubs play the Cleveland Indians in the team’s only other appearance in the World Series since he saw them there last time.

He and his daughter Pamela will travel to Chicago for Sunday’s game, which could be a series-deciding game, thanks to some friends from a fraternity McNally started in 1980.

McNally started California State University, Sacramento’s Pi Kappa Alpha, or PIKE. When alumni saw ABC10's story, they took up a fund to get the Cubs fan to the game.

"Probably within an hour, we looked at each other and said, 'We got to send Pappy to Chicago,'" PIKE fraternity alum Shamus McClure said, using McNally's fraternity nickname.

McNally started tearing up when asked what the PIKE brotherhood means to him.

"It's a lifetime ... It means a lot," McNally said, adding that PIKE means even more to him than his beloved Cubs.

The fraternity is in the process of raising about $10,000, which will fund two seats for the Sunday night game, in addition to the cost of travel.

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