A Perfect Day

In the midst of a bad stretch for the Cubs, I was able to make a trip to Wrigley Field this past weekend with my best friend and his son. The Cubs really needed a win, as they had just suffered a bullpen meltdown on Friday, so the atmosphere in the stadium on Saturday felt happy but a bit nervous.

We drove from Minneapolis to Beloit late Friday night, and stayed in a hotel there to make sure we could get to the 1:20 game early for the 150-year celebration. Our hotel in Chicago was only about 15 minutes from Wrigley, so we parked near there, and walked straight to the game.

The seats were pretty good, in 324R, giving us an unobstructed view of the field, except for deep in the right-field corner. We were also right behind two of the camera operators.

Getting there early was very much worth it, as it was really great to see all the former Cubs greats walk out on the field.

Greg Maddux was chosen to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and he decided to air-mail it. Apparently, it was a practical joke shared among some of his fellow former pitchers: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7548724/2026/08/29/greg-maddux-wild-first-pitch-wrigley-field/

And as good as the pregame ceremony was, the game was a dream. PCA led off the game with a home run, and Alex Bregman followed with a 2-run shot in the first. Of course Eugenio Suarez tried to spoil the party, with a 2-run homer of his own to make it 3-2.

The Cubs got three more runs in the 2nd, include another home run from PCA. But the Reds closed the gap to 6-4 in the 3rd, with another home run of their own. It felt like it might be a back-and-forth slugfest, especially as bad as the bullpen had been the day before.

But as the game continued, the Cubs kept pulling farther and farther way, making up from a mediocre start from Kevin Gausman. And Ryan Zeferjahn actually had a game where his did not give up any runs.

And then PCA smashed his third home run of the game to complete the joyful experience.

The Cubs would add a few more runs against a position player, including a blast from Seiya Suzuki, leading to a 17-5 final.

I decided to record the final out and “Go Cubs Go” to complete the experience. Yes, that’s my voice, singing along. Apologies if you choose to click on play :).

It turned out to a be a perfect day, with a trip to Lou Malnati’s for Deep Dish, and a rare concert by the band, The Innocence Mission, at Lincoln Hall.

We were supposed to also attend the game on Sunday, but after the time change, we had to sell the tickets in order to get back to Minneapolis Sunday night. We decided to to a tour of Chicago Italian Beef places instead (we had to skip Mr. Beef and Carm’s – which were both closed on Sunday) and Johnnie’s was the clear winner. And the most popular, as we had to wait in a 20-minute line. But it was worth it.

I may make a separate post on this later.

Meanwhile, we listened to the game on the way home, with me yelling an expletive when Shota Imanaga gave up the first of three home runs. But the disappointment of the outcome on Saturday could not ruin what had been a perfect day in Chicago on Saturday.