Aroldis Chapman electrifies Wrigley Field in Cubs debut
If you were curious what type of reaction Aroldis Chapman would receive upon his debut at Wrigley Field, wonder no more.
The hard-throwing left-hander had won over Cubs fans even before taking the mound in the ninth inning. By the time he struck out Avisail Garcia to wrap up a perfect inning and a Cubs 8-1 win over the White Sox, he’d whipped them into a frenzy.
Chapman’s off-the-field issues were not a consideration on this night, whether people like that thought or not. It was all about baseball and the overwhelming optimism Cubs fans obviously feel now that they’ve added Chapman as their closer.
The #Cubs fans going wild watching Chapman stroll to the mound, and no one is leaving the park, waiting to see the scoreboard readiings
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 28, 2016
The buzz in the ballpark started the moment the Cubs took the lead on Javier Baez’s two-run home run in the seventh inning. It grew in the eighth inning as Chapman emerged from the dugout to begin his tosses in Chicago’s bullpen. Then it boiled over once he began his jog from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound at Wrigley Field.
It’s a place he’s been many times before, but it had to be a surreal sight to Cubs fans and a surreal feeling for Chapman himself wearing the Cubs uniform under those bright lights.
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Not surprisingly, Chapman was amped up for the moment. His first pitch registered at 101 mph, which quickly snapped everyone, especially White Sox batters, back into reality. Chapman kept throwing heat, firing 13 of his 15 pitches over 100 mph.
To say he’s added a new dimension to the Cubs pitching staff would be an understatement.
Fastest pitch by Cubs reliever in '16: 98 MPH.
Aroldis Chapman in the 9th: 101, 101, 102, 101, 102, 101, 103, 101, 101, 100, 100, 102, 103.
— ESPN (@espn) July 28, 2016
At the end of the season though, it won’t be digits on a radar gun that fans are judging Chapman’s performance by. It’ll be results, and those results will be under a microscope Chapman didn’t have the chance to experience yet in New York. If he wants the honeymoon to continue in Chicago this season and perhaps beyond — he’ll be a free agent this winter — he’ll have to be a successful part of a team that makes history in October, not a reason for its failures.
Not that there’s any pressure or anything.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
