Earth to Cubs fans: Bryant is here.

Excuse the break from the recent (3 year) run of belly and baby pics for this brief statement on the Chicago Cubs. EJ is a lifelong and huge Cubs fan and wanted to document this potentially historical date.

On April 17^th, 1970, Apollo 13 returned to Earth after a troubled and ultimately failed mission to the moon. Today, the 17^th of April in the year 2015, a seemingly cosmic event is underway;  heralded and highly rated prospect Kris Bryant has been called up to the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs drafted the third basemen as the second overall pick in MLB’s 2013 June amateur draft from the University of San Diego. His minor league stats in two minor league seasons (plus one week this season) are outstanding. According to Baseball Reference.com, in 181 games across six levels of the minor leagues, Bryant has compiled 212 hits (55 of which are home runs) along with a .327 BA and 1.092 OPS. These stats, combined with a century plus World Series drought on the North Side, have fueled expectations and a hype train that could travel from downtown to O’Hare in about 20 seconds. Folks attending this afternoon’s game versus the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field should expect to see Bryant’s statue already under construction on the corner of Clark and Addison. The Cubs are rumored to have taken out extra insurance on the new left field scoreboard to protect against a Bryant barrage.

Expectations of Bryant are so high that the people of Chicago should start considering his impact beyond just a World Series ring. Here are ten additional ways Bryant may affect not only the city of Chicago but also entire galaxies:

1. Coach Quenneville is considering starting Bryant in goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday versus the Nashville Predators.

2. Bryant may be able to successfully negotiate a peace treaty between the team and the rooftop owners. 

3. The city of Chicago may hold another mayoral runoff election pitting Bryant against Rahm Emanuel.

4.  The Dos Equis guy finds Kris Bryant most interesting.

5. Doug is reopening his hot dog joint and renaming it Hot Kris’s.

6. LeBron, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade are considering bringing their talent to Oak Street Beach.

7. The IOC may reconsider Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.

8. Donald will replace his name with Bryant’s on Chicago’s Trump Tower.

9. Steve Bartman is given a lifetime season ticket in aisle 4, row 8, seat 113 along with a formal, written apology from each and every fan that somehow still blames him for 2003.

10. J.J. Abrams and George Lucas are considering Bryant for a lead role in Star Wars Episode VIII.

Cubs fans have historically been waiting for next year. They've had their fair share of hyped hope to take the team to the promised-land: Ernie Broglio, Jerome Walton, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, Alfonso Soriano. This year might not be “next year” but Kris Bryant, in the way he carries himself and a bat, appears to be the real deal and next big thing. Whether he launches his fist hit into orbit today or not, it may take some time for Cubs fans’ expectations of Bryant to come back down to Earth.