6 years, 8 months ago Mike Moyers
I think I still remember.....some of it.
Twenty nine years ago the baseball world was on the brink of entering a new era. Wrigley Field, the long time home of the Chicago Cubs, would be turning the lights on for the first time. The date: August 8, 1988. The opponent: the Philadelphia Phillies.
I was working for WGEM at the time and back then the cardinal rule was: “if you can sell it you can do it.” The “IT” was live coverage of the afternoon leading up to the first night game. Since we could-we did and with that Steve Cramblit and I headed up to Chicago on August 7th. WGEM was (and still is) the local Chicago Cubs affiliate and we had a great relationship with the organization and those in control of Wrigley Field. This assignment was to bring the flavor of the moment of the first night game back to Quincy. And most of the flavor was being consumed in the numerous bars and taverns surrounding Wrigley Field.
WGEM radio legend Bill Wegman pulled a double shift that day anchoring the morning show with Bob Turek then returning at 3pm for the reports that Cramblit and I were sending back. Keep in mind there were no cell phones to speak of back in 1988 but there were these things called “pay phones.” And Wrigleyville had plenty of them.
I don’t recall every detail but I remember that once Steve and I got to Wrigley Field we split up and proceeded to stop by and visit with fans at every local watering hole along the way. We were to then call in at designated times and be conferenced up long distance so could share the sights, sounds and smells of the impending event with Bill and the WGEM listeners. That was the plan, sort of.
With Bill Wegman you just never knew what you were going to get. Wegman was a major market radio talent and was one of the best ad libbers ever. And on August 8, 1988, he had to be.
The first couple of call ins were smooth and professional. Both Steve and I had lots of little factoids to drop in and had met and chatted up a number of fans, so Bill pretty much just got us in and out of the breaks. No problems.
The problems, for me at least, started around 90 minutes into the program. By then both Steve and I had “hit” a number of watering holes. It was a hot day, and everyone was partaking of an adult beverage or two and one thing lead to another and……you get the picture. On my part, the reports got to be a little “sloshy”, meaning that Bill had to drag me through the reports. Steve did fine…I think. That was 29 years ago and some of events that took place after 4pm are a little foggy.
We had tickets to the game so after still ANOTHER stop at the Cubby Bear, or Murphy’s or Sluggers (or maybe all three) Steve and I headed to the game. Our seats were on the third base side about 30 rows behind the dugout and the place was packed. Rick Sutcliffe was on the mound, Damon Berryhill was behind the plate and former Macomb High standout, Phil Bradley was leading off for the Phillies.
The setting was perfect. Except for the weather. It started to rain shortly after the first pitch and it really never let up. Steve and I decided that we had had enough for the day. So, we called our friend, former QND soccer coach, Al Knepler, with whom we had stayed the night before and asked him to pick us up at the train station nearest his home. Once we got inside the Knepler-mobile Al suggested we stop at-(wait for it)-a sports bar for dinner and drinks. Every TV in the place was tuned to WGN-TV where they were covering the Cubs game, which by this time had turned into the Cubs rainout. It was surreal to see coverage of a game we had just come from live on TV.
None the less that game was officially rained out and the following night the Cubs hosted the Mets making the game played on August 9,1988, the “official” first night game.
But those of us who were there know that 8/8/88 is the date and the game we’ll always remember. Twenty nine years ago; where does the time go?
