Videos: There Are Actual, Adorable Little Cubs At The Cubs' Practice Today

By Emma G. Gallegos in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 25, 2016 7:14PM

Cubs spring training has come very close to turning into a circus. Mimes were invited to one practice and today some living, breathing cubs showed up. They didn't perform any tricks, but they did walk on grass for the first time and cuddle with star player Anthony Rizzo. Cubs manager Joe Maddon has been asked to help name the cubs, and he promised that fans could help out. (Cue the Cubby McCubface jokes.)

Everyone is enjoying watching the little creatures roll around on the grass:

Here are some close-up videos:

This little guy enjoyed the concrete, too:

Their little growls are adorable:

The cubs really took a liking to Rizzo...

...as well as one ESPN reporter:

But everyone on the team got a chance to hold them:

Bringing actual cubs to the Cubs is a very old tradition, though not necessarily a lucky one if you're the superstitious type. A columnist way back complained the Cubs hadn't pulled their weight in 1906: "These bear mascots are a hoodoo. They had a flock of them at the world's series in 1906 and the Cubs lost with ease."

An allegedly unlucky Cubs mascot in 1906 (Library of Congress)