Kris Bryant became the first player to deposit a homer into Wrigley's new bleachers
Bryant hits first homer into Wrigley's new bleachers
Over the weekend, masher of baseballs Kris Bryant crossed off a major milestone in his young Major League career: He cranked his first home run in the big leagues. Well, Bryant decided he liked that whole making history thing so much he should set his sights a little higher -- namely, right at Wrigley Field's sparkling new left-field bleachers.
The league's second-oldest ballpark is in the midst of a bit of a makeover -- the new right-field bleachers will be open for business on June 11, and several other renovations are in the works -- and Monday marked the first game with real, live fans in any part of Wrigley's new and improved outfield. Bryant, gentleman that he is, gave them a little gift to celebrate the occasion during the Cubs' matchup with the Mets:
At the rate Bryant's blowing through milestones, he's expected to be the game's first Cy Young/Triple Crown winner by 2017.
As for the lucky soul who snagged the first bleacher souvenir of Wrigley 2.0? His name is Jon Nowak, a resident of Westmont, Ill., and a die-hard Cubs fan who played some baseball himself while in college at Chicago's Robert Morris University. And yes, he was fairly excited about the whole thing:
Lest you thought grabbing a future star's home run wasn't fantastic enough, though, it comes with some perks as well -- like, for example, getting your picture taken with Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. You know, casual: