1988 HEADLINE: Chicago Cubs To Host First Night Game In Wrigley Field History
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the first night game at Wrigley Field. On 8/8/88, the Cubs hosted the Mets in this historical game.
And although this contest didn’t last 3 innings due to rain, it was the first time in franchise history that the Cubs turned on the lights and hosted a night game. If you want to be picky, the first official complete game at Wrigley Field was the next night on 8/9/88, but the 8/8/88 sounds so much cooler…
I am a native Floridian, but I lived in Chicago for 5 years. I moved there in 1988 when I was 13, and moved back to sunny Florida after graduating high school. Over the first 4 months of the 1988 season I became a Chicago Cubs fan. It was sweet to come home from school and get to watch baseball. While other kids were glued to Charles In Charge or Full House, I was enjoying the Cubs.
I thought it would be cool to reflect on what their line-up looked like 24 years ago today.
For the Cubs: Catcher – Damon Berryhill; 1st Base – Mark Grace; 2nd Base – Ryne Sandberg; SS – Shawon Dunston; 3rd Base – Vance Law; OF – Rafael Palmerio, Dave Martinez, and Andre Dawson; SP – Greg Maddux, Rick Sutcliffe,Jamie Moyer, and Calvin Schiraldi.
That’s not too bad of a line-up. 2 current HOF players in Dawson and Sandberg and an obvious 1st ballot player with Maddux. And 1 of the best hitters of the 90’s in Grace.
For the Mets: Catcher – Gary Carter; 1st Base – Keith Hernandez; 2nd Base – Wally Backman; SS – Kevin Elster; 3rd Base – Howard Johnson; OF – Darryl Strawberry; Lenny Dykstra, and Kevin McReynold; SP – Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Ron Darling, and Sid Fernandz.
This group is a little more rag-tag with the exception of HOF’er Gary Carter. There must be something in the water in NY because none of these guys did extremely well after leaving the Mets(possibly excluding Dykstra and Cone) and several of them went down the tubes quickly.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WRIGLEY FIELD!!!!
