You get only one chance to make a first impression, or so the saying goes.
At a packed Wrigley Field on Monday, the Cubs opened their home schedule in style — Chicago-style, that is: cold, breezy and wet.
It was the first of what the 40,077 in attendance and millions — millions? — worldwide hope is Day 1 of the Cubs’ quest for a World Series title, the club’s first in 101 years.
Here’s how it played out, with “one” holding the key to the day.
– 1 hour, 12 minutes: The length of the rain delay before Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly delivered the game’s first pitch — a ball — to Dexter Fowler, who hit just one foul ball all afternoon, belying his last name.
1: Number of hits Lilly gave up. He had a no-hitter through 62/3 innings.
– First Cubs hit: The red-hot Alfonso Soriano — he’s batting .313 — hit the second pitch he saw into left field.
– First incorrect Whizzer prediction (from Monday’s RedEye): “Alfonso Soriano leads off with … a strikeout of course.” It won’t be the last, people. In fact, Whizzer predicted a Soriano hit in the second, when in reality he struck out to end the second.
First out: Soriano tried to steal second base in the first inning.
– First shattered bat: Kosuke Fukudome, who was batting third for the first time in his major-league career, destroyed his bat in the first inning.
First run scored: Koyie Hill walked after Reed Johnson loaded the bases to score Derrek Lee.
First highlight-reel play: Second baseman Aaron Miles jumped up, poked his glove toward the sky and robbed Brad Hawpe of a hit in the second.
First beaned batter: Johnson, for the second game in a row, got hit by a pitch to load the bases in the third. He was plunked in the back Sunday night in Milwaukee.
First balk: Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez made a move toward first base that was ruled a balk in the fourth inning, sending Ryan “The Riot” to second base.
First 7th-inning stretch: Former Cubs Rick Sutcliffe and Jody Davis sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
First Wrigley save: Kevin Gregg struck out three and walked one to seal the deal for the Cubs.
First final score at Wrigley: Cubs 4, Colorado 0.
One down, 80 — or hopefully more — to go.
