The Wrigley Field marquee before the Chicago Cubs face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day 2021.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
For the first time in nearly two years, thousands of Cubs fans returned to the friendly confines to take in the unbeatable sights and sounds of a sunny day at Wrigley Field. Don’t let the mid-30s temperatures distract you: It’s Opening Day in Chicago, and it is indeed glorious.
Fans bundled in jackets with faces covered by masks took to the Wrigleyville streets Thursday to celebrate the first major sporting event to allow fans in the stands since the start of the pandemic last year.
One fan had a sign cheering the fact that he’s attending his first game with a mask on. Another sign said what fans around the country are thinking as the season starts: “Thank God baseball is back.”
Here’s a look at the sights at and around Wrigley Field as the Cubs welcome fans back home:
A group of Cubs fans, including Roberto Ramos, 56, of Norwood Park, wearing full team attire and a bright blue face mask, walk outside Wrigley Field on Opening Day.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Carla Piunti, 50, of Chicago Heights, smiles as she prepares to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
An usher waits for fans to enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
William Gonzalez, 40, of Gage Park, wears a Cubs-themed luchador mask outside Wrigley Field on Opening Day 2021.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
People walk their dogs outside Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Amy Zeiher, 34, drove to Chicago from New Jersey for the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game at Wrigley Field.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Wrigley Field employees work inside of the stadium before fans arrive on Opening Day.
Shafkat Anowar/AP Photo
Ivan Aroyo, 25, of Cicero, poses for a photo outside Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Greg Cooper, 58, of Springfield, holds a sign that says “First masked game 4-1-21” outside Wrigley Field on Opening Day.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Fans enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Fans enter Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Fans take selfies outside Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs Opening Day game.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Fans wait to get into Wrigley Field before the Chicago Cubs take on the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day 2021.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
The Cubs also gave us a taste Thursday morning of what it looks like inside the stadium:
“I remember coming out of my apartment one day and spotting Chicago cops dragging young protestors out of one section of Lincoln Park and shoving them into trucks, while nearby poet Allen Ginsberg was chanting in a circle of peaceful protesters not far away from the radical Abby Hoffman,” remembers Dan Webb, who later became a U.S. attorney.
The building where the outsider artist lived and worked for 40 years, now a rehabilitated five-bedroom home, will be listed for just under $2.6 million.
