The Chicago Cubs will have the honor of opening the MLB regular season when they take on the Miami Marlins on Thursday morning, and the team released a new hype video to get fans fired up for the year.
The Cubs, who will begin the campaign on a 10-game road trip, had a solid spring training and will be looking to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year:
In the video, President Theo Epstein discusses how far the team has come over the last few seasons, saying that its remarkable that another NLCS run like the team had last season could be viewed as a “disappointment.”
The video also shows players like Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo working out at the team’s spring training facility, and is naturally full of the dramatic music and images that the Cubs have become known for using.
nAccording to the school’s website, the term “Ramblers” was used because the team used to travel all across the United States, “rambling” from game to game.
nFans of the team during their last tournament run in 1985 will remember the team’s mascot “Bo Rambler,” which was short for “Hobo.” That mascot was used until 1990, when the university decided it was a bad idea to use a hobo as a mascot and replaced it with the Wolf, who still patrols the sidelines to this day.
nThe wolf is associated with Saint Ignatius of Loyola, according to the school.
nAccording to ESPN Stats and Info, the Ramblers are just the second team to reach the Elite Eight with such a small average margin of victory, joining St. Joseph’s, who accomplished the feat in 1981.
nNone of those three teams made the championship game of the tournament.
First pitch between the Cubs and Marlins is set for 11:40 a.m. Thursday, and Jon Lester will be on the mound as the team begins its campaign.
