Today in NY Mets History: Lenny Dykstra becomes the answer to a Cubs trivia question

August 9, 1988, was a historic day in MLB history. The New York Mets were in Chicago to play the Cubs and for the first time ever, the sun had zero chance of shining down. Overcast skies or just a few too many extra fluffy clouds had parked over Wrigley Field in the past. On this day, first pitch wouldn’t take place until after 7pm for the first time in Cubs history.

A first inning single by Mark Grace was the first hit under the newly installed lights. The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when Lenny Dykstra became the answer to a Cubs trivia question.

Who hit the first home run at Wrigley Field in a night game? Nails did. The Mets went up 2-0. History that shouldn’t have been made was.

The Mets were never meant to play in the first Wrigley Field night game

A day earlier, Dykstra’s future team, the Philadelphia Phillies, were going to be the ones to play under the Northside lights first. The game got into the fourth inning before getting suspended. They tried to outwait the waters from the skies, but after more than two hours, it was called.

This set up Dykstra and several other Mets to have some firsts at nighttime Wrigley. Sid Fernandez took the loss, the first of its kind. Roger McDowell was the first reliever to enter a Wrigley Field nightgame mid-inning. Dykstra added another by grounding out to end the game. 

Dykstra’s home run is hardly memorable for Cubs fans who had almost 100 years at Wrigley Field at the time it happened. In 1995, another Mets player made more specific history when the team helped open up Coors Field. The Mets and Rockies played 14 innings to open the season in late April due to the player’s strike. In the 11-9 Rockies win, Rico Brogna’s fourth inning home run was the first ever at the hitter’s haven in Denver. I’d guess this is possibly the first game I ever watched on television because the memories I have from my first broadcast were of a lot of Rockies players high-fiving.

Only Fenway Park is older than Wrigley Field and close to a billion (exaggerating) home runs have been hit at both places. Dykstra’s dinger was the first official one under the lights.

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