Hey Chicago, what do you say, the Cubs are gonna win today!
That is just what the Cubs did for our game at Wrigley Field. They beat the Pirates after they took 2 of 3 in a weekend series from rival Cardinals. The young Cubs have had a poor season, but they are playing better of recent, and they are more exciting. The Cubs had a good game, but it started out for B4B with some excitement of our own. We got to go on the field at Wrigley during batting practice!
That’s right! Hallowed grounds at Wrigley Field. We had been in contact with people in the Cubs front office during the day, and last minute we found out they were letting us on the field for the Pirates batting practice. It was an absolute honor for us to be on the same field that has been home to the Cubs since 1916. So many great players have stepped on this field, you could feel the history from the field.
We snapped A LOT of pictures, saw Andrew McCutchen take BP, and met a twitter friend who happened to see us from the stands. We took a team pic from the on-deck circle, and stayed around the warning track until club officials kicked us off the field because BP was over. There was an hour until gametime at that point so we went outside the stadium to take in the great scene on the corner of Addison and Clark. We dropped by the Cubby Bear to have some Old Styles before the game, which was great!
After drinking the official beer of the Cubs, we made it back in the stadium right before first pitch. Our seats were donated to B4B by our great host, friend, and general B4B supporter Dave. It was incredibly generous of him to hook us up, so we were immensely grateful. Our seats were literally a peanuts toss away from some historic seats in the ballpark. Directly in front of our seats along the wall in section 4 is where the Bartman incident occurred during the 2003 NLCS. The great Ferris Bueller skipped school in 1986 to go to the Cubs day game and sit in section 104, right in front of our seats. Pretty incredible spot!
Wrigley Field can’t be compared to any of the other ballparks we’ve seen this season. It’s a completely different stadium experience, and it is something any baseball history fan should experience. There are times where we complain about lack of amenities at the stadiums where you expect amenities, but you know going into the game that Wrigley has no replay board or small concourses. Its part of the history knowing that fans watched games in this stadium basically the same way they did 50 years ago. The ivy and the old school scoreboard in center field are such charming aspects of the stadium.
Like we mentioned earlier, the Cubs pretty much smoked the Pirates. All 3 of the Cubs young stars hit home runs, and both Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro were 1 hit away from a cycle. Castro went 3 for 4 with a single, 2B, and HR. Barney went 3 for 5 with a single, 3B, and HR. The game was kind of close going into the fifth inning when the Cubs had a lead of 4-2. When the inning was over the Cubs were winning 13-2. They scored 9 runs in the fifth inning! Eight of the runs were credited to Pirates starter Erik Bedard and the Pirates offense managed zero extra base hits.
This Cubs game also happened to be the night before the non-waiver trade deadline, so there was bound to be some action during the game on the trade front. We kept our eyes on twitter during the game to stay updated with any deals going on. We knew Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer might have something up their sleeves to try to make a trade. Naturally, there was some crazy trade speculation going on throughout the night. Anytime a player gets taken out of a game during this time of the year, rumors start to fly. When Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson was taken out of the game, we added to the crazy speculation with this tweet:
Reed Johnson giving hugs in the dugout. Traded to the Pirates for Neil Walker & now Reed Johnson is pinch running. #wildtradespeculation
Turns out he was traded with Cubs pitcher Paul Maholm to the Atlanta Braves. Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was also pulled mid-game and traded to Texas. Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster was also traded to Texas in a separate deal that day. Epstein and Hoyer were busy.
So when the game ended, the Cubs roster was down a few men, but they didn’t need them. When the dust of the offensive onslaught settled, the Cubs defeated the Pirates 14-4. The “Cubs win” flag was raised and the “Go Cubs, Go!” song blared from the speakers. What a great night at Wrigley Field!
Gm 1– 4/13 @ Safeco Field – Oakland A’s @ Seattle Mariners
Oakland wins 4-0 (WP – Colon, LP – Hernandez)
Gm 2 – 4/24 @ O.Co Stadium – Chicago White Sox @ Oakland A’s
Oakland wins 2-0 (WP – Milone, LP – Floyd, SV – Balfour)
Gm 3 – 4/27 @ AT&T Park – San Diego Padres @ San Francisco Giants
San Diego wins 5-3 (WP – Luebke, LP – Hacker, SV – Street)
Gm 4 – 5/3 @ Angels Stadium – Toronto Blue Jays @ LA Angels of Anaheim
Toronto wins 5-0 (WP – Morrow, LP – Haren)
Gm 5 – 5/7 @ Dodger Stadium – SF Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers win 9-1 (WP – Lilly, LP – Zito)
Gm 6 – 5/8 @ Petco Park – Colorado Rockies @ San Diego Padres
Padres win 3-1 (WP – Suppan, LP – White, SV – Thayer)
Gm 7 – 5/12 @ Chase Field – San Francisco Giants @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Giants win 5-2 (WP – Cain, LP – Cahill, SV – Casilla)
Gm 8 – 5/20 @ Coors Field -Seattle Mariners @ Colorado Rockies
Mariners win 6-4 (WP – Beavan, LP – Guthrie)
Gm 9 – 5/30 @ The Ballpark in Arlington – Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers
Mariners win 21-8 (WP – Beavan, LP – Holland)
Gm 10 – 6/3 @ Minute Maid Park – Cincinnati Reds @ Houston Astros
Astros win 5-3 (WP Lyles, LP – Arroyo, SV – Myers)
Gm 11 – 6/15 @ Tropicana Field – Miami Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays
Rays win 11-0 (WP – Moore, LP – Zambrano)
Gm 12 – 6/22 @ Marlins Park – Toronto Blue Jays @ Miami Marlins
Blue Jays win 12-5 (WP – Romero, LP – Sanchez)
Gm 13 – 6/30 @ Turner Field – Washington Nationals @ Atlanta Braves
Braves win 7-5 (WP – Minor, LP – Strasburg, SV – Kimbrel)
Gm 14 – 7/6 @ Busch Stadium – Miami Marlins @ St. Louis Cardinals
Marlins win 3-2 (WP – Nolasco, LP – Westbrook, SV – Bell)
Gm 15 – 7/13 @ Kauffman Stadium – Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals
White Sox win 9-8 (WP – Alexrod, LP – Teaford)
Gm 16 – 7/19 @ Target Field – Baltimore Orioles @ Minnesota Twins
Orioles win 4-3 (WP – Chen, LP – Burnett, SV – J. Johnson)
Gm 17 – 7/24 @ U.S. Cellular Field – Minnesota Twins @ Chicago White Sox
White Sox win 11-4 (WP – Jones, LP – Fien)
Gm 18 – 7/26 @ Miller Park – Washington Nationals @ Milwaukee Brewers
Nationals win 8-2 (WP – Jackson, LP – Gallardo)
Gm 19 – 7/30 @ Wrigley Field – Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs
Cubs win 14-4 (WP – Germano, LP – Bedard)