I hate baseball. It’s a no contact sport: the most contact that happens is the rare case of when the bat hits the baseball. And even when the bat does hits the baseball, it’s usually a foul ball or caught and the play is quickly over. So, NU Day at Wrigley was this past Tuesday and my friends somehow persuaded me to buy a ticket and go to my first Cubs game. The only other baseball game I’d attended was a Red Sox game and I didn’t have a great time: it was a hot summer day, and I couldn’t see anything because my seats were facing the sun. But here’s what I thought about my first Cubs game:
1. ‘These seats are wet.’
I know enough about baseball that it’s played outside. I came to the game prepared with 2 layers and a rain jacket just in case. Our seats were under the overhang of the stadium yet for some reason they were still wet from the rain. When I looked around at the fans who looked like they’d been to several games, they had come prepared with Cubs blankets to stay warm and dry.
2. ‘Do I hear an organ?’
Throughout the games, there would be little jingles of songs played by an organ. I recognized the similar organ jingles from the Red Sox game I’d been to before and thought the organ music really made the whole experience uniquely “baseball-y.” In fact, Wrigley Field was the first team to utilize an organist in 1941 and since then organists have been staples in MLB stadiums.
3. ‘So, THAT’S a Grand Slam.’
The Cubs had the lead for the majority of the game: by the bottom of the 7th inning, Cubs were beating the Padres 8 to 3. People had started to leave at the start of the 8th inning because it seemed like the Cubs had this one in the bag. However, at the top of the 8th inning, the bases were loaded with Padres players and Cubs fans all stood up and started clapping and cheering as the Cubs’ pitcher attempted to strike out the Padres batter in this crucial moment. Instead the Padres hitter, Alex Dickerson, hit a homerun out into the stands and four Padres runners scored. All of a sudden the Padres were only down one point and the game got a lot more interesting.
4. ‘Wow, Kris Bryant is really good looking.’
Because I never followed MLB, I never paid attention to baseball players. It wasn’t until the pictures of the batters would be put up on the big screen did I realize that baseball players are really attractive, particularly the Cubs’ third basemen Kris Bryant. This was old news, according to my friends who would pay extra attention whenever he was up to bat.
5. ‘The Cubs won and everyone’s singing this song that I don’t know.’
The Cubs eventually took the ‘W’ and the fans all stood up and started singing a song. I had no idea victory songs were a thing, so when thousands of fans started singing the lyrics to ‘Go! Cubs! Go!’ I felt super left out. I eventually got the hang of the song and I admit it’s a super adorable tradition.
6. ‘Did I just enjoy a baseball game?’
As my friends and I walked out of Wrigley Field, the streets were filled with fans and Wrigleyville was packed with celebrating Chicagoans. The weather, which had been rainy right up till the game, had cleared up to be a nice foggy night. Though baseball still might not be my favorite sport, I definitely had a great time at NU Day at Wrigley and being with good company was the main reason why.
Featured image taken by Grace Choi. Others pulled from Google Images.