Ryan sent me a better image, and from it I think I have it figured out.

Earlier posts suggested the year as 2005, and I concur with their logic. Ryan was pretty sure the opponent was Houston. Checking retrosheet.org, the Cubs played the Astros at Wrigley on May 23-25 of that year, and then again September 23-25. The May series were all night games and the September series were all day games, so May is possible.

The better of Ryan’s photos clearly shows that #11 is batting, Brad Ausmus, and that it is the top of the third inning with nobody out. Ausmus is shown as having one HR and 14 RBIs. During the game on the May 23, Glendon Rusch pitched a gem, scattering 5 hits over 8 innings, and Ausmus hit his first home run in the second inning, which was also his 14th RBI. So we can rule out the game on the 23rd.

On the 24th, Sergio Mitre pitched well also, the Astros going 1-2-3 in the first and in the second stranding Berkman at first after a leadoff single. Ausmus led off the third inning grounding out to third base.

In the photo the pitcher looks like it could be Mitre. He is looking toward third base, and the first baseman is running to cover the bag. This correlates with the result of the Ausmus at-bat being a grounder to third.

Some other clues provide additional verification: the NL Central pennant order is Cardinals-Brewers-Cubs-Pirates-Reds-Astros, which were the standings at the close of play after the May 23 games. Also the Cubs have no hits and the Astros have one hit, which matches. On the scoreboard, two games above the Cubs game appears to have St Louis at home against a team with one long name, and they played the Pirates that night. Also, no games in either league had been completed yet, and on Tuesday May 24 no day games take place. The White Sox are playing a team that could read “Los Angeles” and it hasn’t started yet. 2004 was the last year that the word Anaheim appeared on the scoreboard in favor of Los Angeles in 2005.

Based on these observations, I conclude that this photo is from the game on Tuesday, May 24, 2005, which the Cubs won 4-2. (It was Mitre vs Clemens, though both got a no-decision, as the Cubs had a four-run rally in the 8th, scoring against Qualls and Lidge. Wuertz got the win and Dempster the save.)