Today (April 8, 2019) the Chicago Cubs make their 2019 debut at Wrigley Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This year, the team limps home with a 2-7 record.
Fifty years ago, April 8 marked the season opener for the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Willie Smith won the game for the Cubs in the 11th inning in front of nearly 41,000 fans with a walk-off home run.
Chicago Tribune photographers even caught where Smith’s winning home ball run landed in the right field bleachers.
Ernie Banks launched a pair of home runs in the season opening win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Fans were eager for the start of the 1969 season, lining up for bleacher seats at 8 a.m.
Here is the box score from the April 8, 1969 game that the Cubs won over the Phillies, 7-6, in 11 innings.
