At long last, on August 8th, 1988, Wrigley Field turned on the lights. For 5,687 straight games, only the sun lit up the old ballpark on the south side of Chicago. 39,008 fans packed in the friendly confines to watch their beloved Cubbies host the Philadelphia Phillies. The only thing that put a damper on festivities (literally) was rain that washed out the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with Chicago leading Philadelphia 3-1. The game would eventually be called by the umpire crew of Eric Gregg, Jim Quick, Larry Poncino and Dave Pallone after waiting a little over two hours.

Offered here is a game used baseball from that historic night. While history records that the first “official” game under the new lights at Wrigley Field was played the next night on August 9th against the New York Mets, 39,000 fans will tell you that the real first night was on August 8th. To mark the occasion, this ball has been signed by all four umpires who worked that Cubs/Phillies series that began on Friday August 5th. This ball is an Official A Bartlett Giamatti stamped baseball that displays solid game use with evidence of being rubbed down for game action. Umpire Eric Gregg signed his name in black pen on the east panel with the “CUSHIONED CORK CENTER” stamp and inscribed “7”, while Larry Poncino penned his name in black on the south panel and inscribed “N.L. #39”. Jim Quick signed his name in black pen on the west panel with the Rawlings stamp and inscribed “N.L. #15”. Umpire Dave Pallone’s slightly faded black pen signature appears on the north panel and he inscribed “NL #26”. A great piece of baseball history and this ball displays excellent use comes with a LOA from Beckett Authentication for the signatures (A65909).

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