This is a Cubs game that was aired on Fox-TV. But when?
Here’s a great view of Wrigley Field during the game aired on Fox Sports. This was sent to me by BCB reader PACubsfan1, who also sent me the Nationals Park photo I posted here last weekend. It’s a reminder. If you have any photos of Cubs that you would like me to examine, please send them to me (email in my profile).
So what do we have here? It was a full house, and the first baseman was wearing No. 3. That’s one clue, but a better one is the visiting team’s number font. The Red Sox are the only team to wear gray uniforms with numbers like this.
The Red Sox first visited Wrigley Field in 2005, but the Cubs player who wore No. 3 that year was Jeromy Bernitz, who did not play first base for the team.
Their next visit was in 2012. Jeff Baker played No. 3 for the Cubs in 2012 and started 20 games as a first baseman. Baker was an unforgettable Cub acquired from the Rockies in 2009 for the appealing name of Al Albuquerque.
Baker started two of the three games against the Red Sox at Wrigley Field in 2012, and it wasn’t too hard to tell which ones. That year, Fox Sports broadcasts had to be on Saturdays. If you zoom in further on the photo, that pitcher is Jeff Samardzija, who actually started against Boston on Saturday, June 16, 2016.
Definitely a batter too. This is David Ortiz. Ortiz had 4 at-bats in this game (3 at-bats against the Sharks), but which one?
I found a video of this game and you can watch it here. Looking at the batter’s box and lighting in the photo, I believe this was Ortiz’s second at-bat of the game, which he led off in the top of the fourth inning. Ortiz hit a double in that at-bat. This at-bat can be seen at 58:00 in the video.
The Red Sox led 4-0 until the bottom of the seventh inning, when they fell behind to his replacement, Jon Lester. Baker doubled, and one out later, Wellington Castillo walked on base. Luis Valbuena then hit a home run to make it 4-3, but the Cubs were no closer and Boston won the game by that score.
It’s just a piece of Cubs history, and you can even watch Lester pitch at Wrigley Field three years before he signed with the Cubs as a free agent.
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