Technically, yesterday was opening day for Major League Baseball. But, most games were scheduled for today as were the Cubs at Wrigley Field as Ron Santo was honored at the game and Robert Redford threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Pre Game Dining
Before the game, I headed to Irish Oak to meet up with friends. As I was walking there, I thought there was no way the game would start in this rain – it was not a hard rain but one I thought would delay the game. For some reason, Irish Oak was not showing the game, so I was unsure whether I should enter the stadium or not – I refuse to enter Wrigley until the first pitch is thrown since you never know how long the rain delay will be and there is so much to do in the neighborhood.

My friend and I then headed over to Mullen’s where the pre-game was on television. The players had been announced and the national anthem was currently being sung. Thus, we knew the game would start on time and headed over to the ballpark.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs
Since this was Opening Day the game was played. Any other day of the season, the game would (or at least should) have been delayed. It was raining for about an hour before the game and throughout the entire game. But, since the Cubs were charging big money for Opening Day they would not possibly delay or postpone the game.

Instead, the Cubs lost 6-3 as Ryan Dempster gave up a grand slam to Neil Walker in the top of the 5th inning and that sealed the game for Pirates. That was the first Pirates grand slam on Opening Day since April 10, 1962 when Roberto Clemente hit one in a 6-0 win over the Phillies.

Post Game Dining
We were headed to Moe’s Cantina to meet some people when the line to get in was at least 30 deep. So we cut over to Mullen’s to meet up with my friend who manages the bar. By the time we left Mullen’s, Red Ivy still had a line of about 15 people long so we went to Irish Oak where we could easily get in. Clearly waiting in line for a bar in Wrigleyville is a mistake – so find a bar selling reasonably cheap drinks and get inside.