Kyle Schwarber’s home run ball in Tuesday’s incredible series-clinching game may have been “long gone,” but now that it’s found it’s not going anywhere.
The ball was retrieved from the top of the new right field scoreboard Tuesday night so officials could verify it was “indeed the Schwarber ball,” according to Cubs spokesperson Julian Green. The team plans to return it to its spot atop the board Wednesday, where it will stay, surrounded by plexiglass, until the end of the postseason, he said.
Cubs-Cardinals Game 4
The seventh-inning hit gave the Cubs a 6-4 lead against the Cardinals – a lead that stuck and sent the team to the NLCS. Schwarber’s homer was the Cubs' 10th in three games.
Green said the reason behind the decision to preserve the ball in its location was the history behind it.
The board is one of the first video boards in a century at Wrigley Field. Paired with the fact that the ball is the first home run ball to land on the board, during the first post-season clinch at home and it’s clear the ball has a lot of firsts attached to it.
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"With all those firsts we said, 'Why not leave the video ball up?'" Green said. "It's a real cool piece of history and with some of the most passionate fans who love tradition, love history, love everything about this ballpark, it's one more thing for fans to talk about and rave about Wrigley Field."
