Chicago Cubs

What's missing at Wrigley

Published Apr. 5, 2015 10:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

It was strange Sunday night, watching the first game of the 2015 season at Wrigley Field with one of its greatest assets missing: the fans in the bleachers. The Wrigley Field fans are always a lot of fun, and it was always one of my favorite places to shag during batting practice on the road.

There are rude, obnoxious fans whose ignorance you just ignore at most stadiums, and then there are fans who playfully insult you with wit that can only be appreciated. Like the fans at Wrigley.

One year during interleague play, I was out in center field with Todd Jones, my Detroit Tigers teammate, when a funny exchange happened between him and the fans at Wrigley.

Like every fan in the outfield during batting practice, Wrigley's bleacher fans were asking us to throw them every baseball that came our way. While you'd love to do that, you simply cannot throw every baseball you get in batting practice into the stands. This angers some fans. The perception is that you are cheap, hate those fans, or are just a plain jerk. Most of the time none of those things are true.

A steady stream of baseballs are coming our way, and one by one Todd is throwing them back in towards the ball bucket behind second base. "Give me a ball!" "Come on Jones, throw me one!" Every baseball player will tell you this never ends, from the first day you put on the uniform until the day you retire.

Todd Jones loved to have fun with fans, would poke them whenever he could. Another baseball came to him, and the begging and pleading started right on cue. Todd turned the fans, faked a throw into the bleachers and turned back around and threw the ball into the infield.

The berating started instantly and one voice amongst the herd reigned above all: "That's alright! I'll just get one later when you're pitching!"

I started laughing right away, and was quickly dragged in to the mix: "Hey Nitkowski, are you sure you aren't right-handed?"

Come back soon, Wrigley Field bleacherites. You are greatly missed.