Take Me Out to the Ballgame — Baseball Bench Coach

I just had to go to the game. Although both of my favorite teams, the Reds and the Cubs, were mired in last and fourth place respectively in the NL Central, I couldn’t resist going to Wrigley Field on a beautiful night for baseball. The first game ever between these teams was on April 19, 1890, as the then Chicago Colts defeated the Reds, 5-4. Since then, the Cubs hold a slim 1,188-1,165 advantage over Cincinnati, but maintain a healthy lead on their Wrigley home turf, 645-539. Yes, this would be just another game of literally thousands played between the two teams, but I couldn’t resist. Allow me to take you out to the ballgame.

Pre-game fun around the ballpark has plenty of options. I chose Murphy’s Bleachers, a restaurant and bar across the street from the centerfield bleacher gates. Murphy’s has been a ballpark area staple for over 80 years. It started as Ernie’s Bleachers, selling hot dogs and beer by the pail post prohibition. It was also the home of the Bleacher Bums during the 1960s, and remains so today. Murphy’s opened the first rooftop during the 1984 playoffs where fans could pay to watch the game from its roof and enjoy some food and drink. Today, there are sixteen rooftop businesses with over 2,500 seats outside the ballpark. On this night I ordered tater tots as an appetizer and a cold, draft Goose Island Green Line beer (I highly recommend both).

It was time to go to the game. I decided to enter the ballpark through the Marquee Gate at Clark and Addison. It’s always fun to watch the fans take photos in front of the historic Marquee sign, the second most photographed spot in Chicago (next to the Bean). The sign was installed in 1934 as an advertising sign. Its first color was fern green, a color that did not sit well with the other Wrigley Field residents at the time, the NFL Bears (those are Packer colors!). Indeed, a year or two after installation, the Cubs painted the sign a dark blue. In the mid-1960s, the sign was painted its color today, a bright red. The sign now serves as a welcoming invite to the thousands of fans entering the gate. I offered my electronic ticket (everything is electronic now) and breezed through security. I was in the ballpark!

Prior to reaching my seat, I stopped at the Marquee Grill nestled behind home plate and at the top of the lower grandstand. Dinner tonight would be a grilled hot dog with onions, one of the best tastes of Chicago. The Marquee Grill is the site of the first concession stand in professional sports. You see, the Cubs owner in the early days of the ballpark, Charlie Weeghman, was a restauranteur. He witnessed that his patrons’ views were often blocked by vendors in the crowd with carts of food and drink. Weeghman thought the ballpark could do better than that, and invented today’s concession stands. I took a ramp to the upper grandstand and found my seat, Section 314, Row 6, Seat 15, one of the best viewing spots in the ballpark. Wrigley Field was built in an era of “jewel box” ballparks (straight up) that feature two-tier grandstands supported by steel structures. You are right on top of the action in Section 314!

As I watched batting practice, my mind wondered to favorite moments of Cubs vs. Reds baseball at Wrigley. Interestingly, my top three each involve Reds’ legend Pete Rose. An early memory was watching from home, circa 1969. Rose batted with two out in the top of the ninth and the tying and winning runs on base. Phil Regan, the Cubs reliever, threw a two-strike pitch that dropped a foot as Rose swung and missed. I recall my Dad jumping out of his chair saying that the ball had been doctored. Years later, in May 1978, I attended a game at Wrigley where Rose, playing third base, snagged a line drive sure to be a double. He then pounded the ball to the turf, emphasizing the third out. I learned some new names for Pete in one of the historic Wrigley bathrooms between innings. Then, of course, on September 8, 1985, I, and much of the country, witnessed Rose tie Ty Cobb’s hit record of 4,191, with a fifth inning single.

The starting pitchers featured two young hurlers with tons of potential. Lefthander Justin Steele took the ball for the Cubbies. Steele, drafted by Chicago in the fifth round of the 2014 draft, made his way through the minor league system before an MLB debut last April. This season he has shown some real flashes, and tonight was no exception, throwing six innings and getting the win. His mound opponent, Hunter Greene, debuted this season after rocketing through the Reds system (he was drafted second overall in 2017). In his second start this year he set an MLB record by throwing 39 pitches with a velocity clocked of at least 100 mph. It was fun tonight watching the scoreboard light up at 100! Greene gave up just two hits in this outing, but they were big ones, coming after a hit batsman and two walks, resulting in 3 runs.

While both teams are indeed struggling, each has a very promising position player. For the Reds, that is Jonathan India, the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year. India was the Reds’ fifth overall selection in the 2018 draft. On this night he flashed the glove at second base, making a couple of key plays. At the plate he just had one hit. India was clearly overshadowed by Cubs rookie sensation, Christopher Morel, who jumped from Double A-Tennessee in May straight to the big leagues. Morel hit a home run in his first career at bat on May 17 vs. Pittsburgh, and hasn’t stopped there. Christopher homered tonight and began a tear where he hit HRs in three consecutive games this past week. But that’s not the highlight on this night. From his centerfield position, Morel threw out a Reds runner at the plate with an absolute rocket in the fifth inning.

The Cubs took a 7-1 lead into the seventh inning stretch as the fans stood to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. The tradition began with Harry Caray’s arrival in Chicago in the early 1970s as a broadcaster for the White Sox. The Southsiders’ owner, Bill Veeck, Jr., tricked Caray into singing the song one night in 1976 on the public address system. Harry was embarrassed; the fans loved it. Game after game the fans implored Harry to sing. When Caray signed with WGN TV and Radio in 1982 to be a broadcaster for the Cubs, he brought the tradition with him to Wrigley. Since his passing in 1998, the Wrigley crowd has been treated to guest celebrity singers, some very good (Bill Murray and Cookie Monster) and others not so much (Sharon and Ozzie Osbourne, Kid Rock, and Mike Ditka). On this night, Luke Richardson, the new coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, took the mike and belted out a nice rendition of the song.

The Cubs won this epic encounter, 8-3. Cubbies fans gleefully sang “Go Cubs Go” and watched the “W” flag raised above the manual scoreboard in centerfield, both traditions after a Chicago home win at Wrigley Field. Join me next time at the game!

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach