And the Vibes Were Immaculate

The beer was cold. The sun was warm. The bathroom lines moved quickly. There were friends (new and old) with which to chum in the bleachers (Hey, Florida guys, hope you made your flights back home!). The Cubs won. The Brewers (and Cardinals) lost. Dansby Swanson had as many hits in one game as he did all spring. The pitching was near-perfect. The defense was on point. Even Eric Hosmer made us smile with a ridiculous pick at first base in a pretty critical moment.

Yesterday was Opening Day at Wrigley Field and the vibes were IMMACULATE.

I’ve been to eight of the past nine Opening Days (2020 blew my streak…), and I had about as much fun at this one as I had at any. Jon Lester’s debut in 2015 was a cool game to go to, but it was FREEZING cold and the bathrooms didn’t work and the Cubs lost to the Cardinals, so….maybe it was just cool in retrospect because of the season(s) that were coming.

Anyway, yesterday was an absolute BLAST of a game, and I wanted to share some of that feeling with those of you that couldn’t be there.

We’ll have far deeper analysis on the actual events of the game throughout the day today, but among the actual performative highlights:

  • Marcus Stroman: 6.0 IP, 3H, 0ER, 3BB, 8K
  • Keegan Thompson throwing HEAT after low velo in the spring
  • New relief duo Boxberger/Fulmer got the job done
  • Swanson flips the ST script with three hits
  • Hoerner has the first hit of the spring
  • Happ was on base 3x
  • Okay, now for the atmosphere.

    Obviously, Brett and I had to get the new Beer Bats. They’re pricy, let me tell you, but it’s also a lot of beer and the bats themselves are much sturdier than they look in a picture. I wonder how long they’ll last this year.

    The Cubs did the whole giant American flag thing before the game, which was expected, but we also got a flyover from a jet, which was not expected and very cool. Elevated the importance of the day, in my opinion.

    After the Cubs went on their scoring binge in the bottom of the 3rd inning, I threw out a ton of Obvious Shirts (thanks, Joe!), which was an absolute blast.

    Of course, there was a cupsnake. I saw a few bat snakes, too.

    Then, out of nowhere, Bill Murray was on the video board making goofy faces and chugging RumChata complete with a milk mustache. It absolutely *killed.*

    And then the Cubs won the game in a brisk 2 hours and 21 minutes.

    Altogether it was just a really excellent freakin’ day. Hopefully, I’ll get to see a lot of you again next Thursday during our live event in Wrigleyville. All your details are right here.

    And you can sign up for a chance to win free tickets to our event (as well as two $100 gift cards to fanatics) by signing up for the random drawing right here.

    Other Fun Stuff:

    I can’t wait for this to happen to me … but I’d rather do it catching a home run.

    Marcus Stroman’s energy was palpable:

    The Cubs Hype video in case you missed it.

    written by

    Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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