It was July 28th, 2000 when I was visiting my brother for the first time in Chicago. I had just tried Horchata for the first time, and the world was our oyster. My brother said, "Hey, finish that drink, we're going to Wrigley."
It was a gray day, and the overcast skies were threatening rain but none fell during the game.
We were more interested in seeing some thunder - see that little blurry blob in the bottom left stepping up to the plate in the photo?
That would be this guy:
At the plate, the Cubs featured their own big slugger:
The 4th of July was long gone, but we were hoping to see some fireworks. Instead, the Cubs and Giants treated the North Side with a good ol' fashioned Pitchers' Duel.
Courtesy of Livan Hernandez and .... Ruben Quevedo?!? Well, good for him. Livan outlasted Ruben, with the game's only 2 runs coming off the bat of Rich Aurilia, who crushed a 2 run dinger off of Cubs reliever Tim Worrell in the top of the ninth. Robb Nen faced the last two batters in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his 25th save of the season. Box Score
The weather didn't really co-operate, and the Cubbies did not score a run, but I got a chance to see Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa at Wrigley Field. The "Make 7 Up Yours" t-shirt should properly contextualize the late 90's early 2000's time this photo was taken. (I still have that hat by the way.)
Awesome! I always have vivid memories when I visit a park for the first time. I have trouble remembering what happened at Pirate games but I can go on and on about the first time I went to Yankee Stadium.
ReplyDeleteI had to use Baseball Reference to jog my memory on a couple points - I remembered that the Cubs lost, and neither Bonds nor Sosa hit a home run, Outside of that I couldn't remember the score or who was pitching.
DeleteI remember the last Pirates game I went to, but that's mostly because it is the only time I've been to Pittsburgh.
Cool story. I still have the program from my first game.
ReplyDelete