The annual Club 400 Christmas Party was held on Friday December 10, 2021. This year’s guest was Patrick Wisdom. Wisdom broke the Cubs rookie home run record this past season surpassing Kris Bryant with 30 home runs in 2021. Other notables to appear at the Club 400 Christmas Party included former Cubs pitcher Ray Burris and Sammy Sosa’s good friend and former personal assistant Julian Martinez.
Club 400 Christmas Party 2021
The 2021 Club 400 Christmas Party was my 12th trip to what I call Cubs Disney World. What is Club 400? I detailed it after my first trip to Club 400 in 2018 to see Bill Buckner. That was a smaller event (which I actually prefer), but Club 400 also hosts much larger events during the summer months that have had Javier Baez, Ben Zobrist, and Willson Contreras.
Club 400 has now raised over $550,000 to charity. And most of these funds raised are going to local people, local friends. The motto at Club 400 is “Cubs fans helping Cubs fans,” and that is 100% true.
Club 400 Family
During my first visit to Club 400 I didn’t know more than a couple people. Still, the people I did meet I felt like we were friends because of our shared passion for Chicago Cubs baseball. Over time, you spend more and more time at these events with your new Cubs-fan friends, become connected on Facebook, and they become family.
Club 400 is more than baseball. More than the Cubs. More than a fun party. It’s about the people you have meet and become friends, and become as close as family. Not only that, you’re having all of this fun with family and friends while helping other Cubs fans that need a little assistance.
Patrick Wisdom Q&A
Patrick Wisdom arrived downstairs to Club 400, which is literally a basement in a suburban home. Of course, that description does it no justice. The look on Wisdom’s face was much like every other person that has stepped foot inside Club 400. You pull up in an unassuming far northwest suburban neighborhood. Walk through a garage that looks like yours and mine. Open the door that leads to the basement, or Club 400. As you walk down the steps and see all of the Cubs memorabilia on the walls you think this is pretty cool.
And then you hit the basement. Whoah. This is a Chicago Cubs museum. It literally stops you in your tracks, much like it did to Patrick Wisdom at the Club 400 Christmas Party. He greeted the crowd as he walked around checking out the space. After Club 400 owner Stewart McVicar made the opening announcement with Wisdom, it was time for the Q&A. Stu and his Club 400 podcast co-host William Geheren recorded an episode with Wisdom.
Out of the gate, a couple questions about St. Louis and the Cardinals came up. “Is St. Louis boring?” That’s what Kris Bryant said a couple years ago. Wisdom came up through the minor leagues with the Cardinals and appeared in 32 games with St. Louis in 2018.
My good friend, Crawly, asked the first question about the Marcus Stroman signing.
Sammy Sosa To Visit Chicago
Sammy Sosa’s former personal hitting coach, Julian Martinez, was also in attendance at the Club 400 Christmas Party. In a surprise twist to the night, Martinez gave Sosa a call. He then handed the phone over to Stu for a conversation and set the phone next to the microphone for those in attendance to listen in. One thing Sosa said that really got the crowd amped up:
“I will visit everybody. I still love Chicago, it’s my town. It’s time for me to come back to Chicago.”
Sammy Sosa via phone call to Club 400 – 12/10/21
Chicago loves Sammy Sosa, and hopefully he will be welcomed back with open arms to Wrigley Field in 2022. And…maybe even an appearance at Club 400 in the near future.
An Epic Club 400 Christmas Party
It’s almost unbelievable to say “this was the best party, yet” at Club 400. I was thinking it was one of the best parties out of the dozen I have attended. Then I started hearing others say the same thing. Surrounded my our Club 400 family along with a great guest like Patrick Wisdom really did make it an amazing party. How much of fan favorite did Wisdom become? He partied with us, and even shotgunned a White Claw.
Typically, after the meet and greet and Q&A portions of the evening, the guest of honor will take off. Not Patrick Wisdom. He was having just as much fun as his fans. He stuck around until after midnight conversing with Cubs fans and just having a good time.
The late-night entertainment was Jim & Justin from the Modern Day Romeos with John Benedeck on keyboards. John is the organist at Wrigley Field. They had a special guest vocalist on to sing “Stand by Me.” Former Cubs pitcher Ray Burris stepped up to lend his voice.
Next Up: Club 400 Cubs Convention
The great news is I only have to wait a month for the next Club 400 party. Since there is no Cubs Convention, a Club 400 party will take place the Friday night that the convention would have been scheduled. The special guests will be Frank Schwindel and Ron Coomer, and the event is sold out.
If you are interested in future Club 400 events, visit the Club 400 website, or follow Club 400 on Facebook and Twitter.