CHICAGO – After the Cubs put the finishing touches on an easy 4-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, McCormick senior Mike Kinsella stood outside Murphy’s Bleachers with a group of friends, proudly showing off a baseball with two gray leather marks on one side.
“That’s from where the ball hit (Cubs infielder) Ryan Theriot’s glove,” Kinsella beamed.
Meanwhile, his housemate happily bellowed, “I want my girlfriend to have Mike Kinsella’s babies!”
About three hours earlier, Kinsella was one of five people to throw out a ceremonial first pitch from the Wrigley Field mound, marking the unofficial start of NU Day at Wrigley, an event sponsored by Northwestern Class Alliance (NCA), the Alumni Association (NAA) and the Center for Student Involvement.
Tickets for the game went on sale on March 1, and a week later all 1,500 were gone. For $15, any student with a WildCARD received a ticket and a purple shirt.
“I think NU Day went over well,” said NCA president Mike Kane, a Weinberg sophomore. “NCA was really pleased with the ticket sales this year, and I felt the purple shirts added to a sense of community.”
As Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano cruised through eight innings of scoreless ball while the Cubs squeezed out four runs off Nationals ace Livan Hernandez, chants of “Go U, NU” could be heard coming out of sections along the left-field line.
“The chants showed students from the section were really excited to be there,” Kane said. “I think everyone had a great time.”
For some, the festivities began before the first pitch. As part of Countdown to Commencement, seniors were invited to attend a pre-party from 4 to 7 p.m. at John Barleycorn, a bar in Wrigleyville. NAA assistant director Jeremy Wingerter said about 150 seniors showed up and that NAA would consider holding the pre-party next year if the Senior Class Council wanted to have it.
“I think (NU Day) is nice because it’s one of the only events off campus that students get together to attend,” Wingerter said.
As for the game, played in calm, 55-degree weather, students with differing levels of baseball knowledge – novices and aficionados alike – seemed to enjoy themselves.
“I’ve never been to a Cubs game before, and as I approach graduation, I feel like it’s one of the things I needed to do before I graduate,” said Communication senior Kira Kleaveland.
Communication senior Candice Tse, sitting next to Kleaveland and donning a Toronto Blue Jays cap, piped up with a laugh, “Earlier she asked me, ‘So what happens when you score a home run?'”
Even White Sox fans had a good time. McCormick sophomore Julia Padvoiskis, wearing a Sox hat, admitted she was enjoying herself, even as the Cubs led 4-0 late in the game.
“We started a ‘Go White Sox’ chant, but no one really caught on,” Padvoiskis said.
But the night belonged to the Cubs and their fans. “Start of a winning streak,” Kinsella said afterwards – an optimistic declaration, considering the Cubs had lost 14 of 16 before Tuesday.
The only possible kink in the night came during the seventh-inning stretch, when recently graduated Illinois basketball players Dee Brown and James Augustine led the crowd in a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
“I would’ve liked to get a chant together, ‘Root, root, root for the state school,’ but that didn’t happen,” said Weinberg senior Chris Paolelli, a Cubs fan by birth.
“But nothing could ruin a night like this – beautiful weather, lovable lovers on the field,” Paolelli said. “As Harry Caray said, ‘You can’t beat fun at the old ballpark.'”
Reach Anthony Tao at [email protected].
