CHICAGO (CBS) -- While the Friendly Confines are still a bit too chilly for baseball at Wrigley Field, that isn't keeping Cubs fans from dreaming about the start of the upcoming season.
Big crowds packed the Sheraton Grand Chicago hotel in downtown Chicago on Friday for the start of the annual Cubs Convention.
The convention's headline, of course, is the return of legendary slugger Sammy Sosa, after he mended fences with the organization earlier this month when he publicly apologized earlier for past "mistakes" – an apparent reference to allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
But it's also an opportunity for fans to get excited about 2025, on the heels back-to-back 83-win seasons in 2023 and 2024, after losing records in 2021 and 2022.
This year's big offseason acquisition, All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker, also will be at the convention as the current team seeks to take a step forward in year two under manager Craig Counsell.
"Being able to be in the city and be in front of the fans in front of the hometown crowd is pretty special, you know, especially being able to be able to do it before the season just to kind of hype up the season and get everyone ready for what we can do out on the field is pretty cool," Tucker said.
Counsell said Tucker is without a doubt the best player the Cubs have added this offseason.
"He's a really good player," Counsell said. "But I think everybody you add makes you better, and we have to keep at it to make us better. So it's about adding better players. That's how you raise the win totals."
Cubs team president Jed Hoyer said it felt like the right time to add a player of Tucker's caliber this offseason.
"I don't think that our roster, our team would have been ready for that kind of investment in talent [before]. I think everything is dependent on where you are in your life cycle as a team," he said.
While the convention did not officially start until 6 p.m. Friday, many fans showed up at the Sheraton before dawn to get in line. Many of them carried big binders of player trading cards to make deals with other fans.
Just about everywhere you looked there were Cubs logos and fans dressed in blue.
Some people in the line for the team's meet-and-greet were in line since as early as 5:30 a.m., and said they saw others camping out overnight.
"I thought that they were insane, but I realize how long the line is now, so I am glad we got in early," said Hunter Parkman, who got in line at 8 a.m.
"I just got out of this line and I just went downstairs to the line. So it was crazy. It was a lot of people," said Joseph McClennon Jr., of Chicago Heights.
Fans who have been to the convention many times before said they can with a strategy – including stools and folding chairs and blankets. Jim Anglin got in line at 6 a.m.
"You gotta have a plan. This is almost our 12th or 13th year coming. So you gotta have a plan," he said.
But a lot of people said the convention is about more than supporting their favorite team. It's a chance to celebrate milestones, be with family, and support a good cause. A portion of the proceeds from the convention go to Cubs Charities, which supports youth sports and educational programs.
"They get to kind of experience what a Cub Convention really is, and what the love is, and people just don't understand until they're here," said 19-year Cubs season ticket-holder Scott Bourke.
Mike and Pat Bacharach, from Berwyn, said it's their second year at the convention.
"Last year was our first, and we both have January birthdays so I said, 'Why don't we go,' you know, and so we had a great time, and we're back again," Pat said.
