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22 years ago tonight, to be precise -- that was the date of the first scheduled night game at Wrigley Field. There's no link, because, of course, that game was rained out in the middle of the fourth inning by a tremendous downpour. I don't think I've seen it rain that hard at Wrigley Field since then -- it was as if the baseball gods were saying, "Yes, you can play night baseball here. But not tonight."
The rain wiped out the aftermath of an amusing incident. Morganna the Kissing Bandit -- who made a career in the 1970s and 1980s by running onto sports fields and arenas to kiss athletes -- had found her way onto the field and attempted to kiss Ryne Sandberg. Security intercepted her before she could make it that far. Sandberg hit the next pitch onto Waveland Avenue, but it didn't count due to the rain.
The first actual night game, then, wound up being the next day, a 6-4 win over the Mets on August 9, 1988.
I post this mainly because it occurs to me that you'd have to be over 30 years old to have any real memory of Wrigley Field before lights were installed. For those growing up today, night games at Wrigley are a matter of course, though there are still fewer than other ballparks. But there are still many of us who recall the days of all afternoon games. I'm not saying they should go back to those days -- it's fine the way it is. If the Cubs eventually get a few more night dates, that's fine with me.
Naturally, the game on the anniversary of this notable event in Cubs and Wrigley Field history is a day game.
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Travis Wood made his major league debut at Wrigley Field on July 1. He gave the Cubs only two hits, but was long gone by the time Bob Howry blew the game in the 10th. (And here, you thought you'd never see that name again here.) The Cubs who got hits were Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano, both singles.
Thomas Diamond will be making his second major league start today, and, obviously, his first against the Reds.
Today's game is on WGN and FSN Ohio. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. As always, be careful over there.
Today's first pitch thread will be up at 1:15 pm CDT, and the overflows will post at 2:15 pm, 3:15 pm and 4 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.