Yankees' Gerrit Cole excited about pitching at Wrigley Field

CHICAGO — Gerrit Cole grew up a Yankees fan, but he has an appreciation for not only Yankees history but baseball history in general. That is among the reasons Cole has always enjoyed pitching at Wrigley Field.

“I just love the vibe,” said Cole, who will start Sunday afternoon’s game against the Cubs on  his 34th birthday. “It’s just so beautiful.”

Cole, who came up with the Pirates, an NL Central rival of the Cubs, has pitched quite a bit in this historic ballpark. His first start at Wrigley came on Sept. 24, 2013, and he earned the victory, allowing two runs and seven hits in six innings.

“Knowing that Babe Ruth called his shot here, I was definitely nervous the first time that I pitched here,” said Cole, referencing Ruth’s massive home run to centerfield off the Cubs’ Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.

Cole, 7-1 with a 2.29 ERA in eight career starts at Wrigley — where he hasn’t pitched since April 14, 2017, while still with Pittsburgh — added a pop culture reference.

“I was a big fan of 'Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,' ” Cole said with a smile of the 1986 John Hughes hit movie that took place in Chicago and included a day-game scene at Wrigley. “That element, I was excited and anticipating [pitching here].”

On a roll during what was a roughly six-minute answer, Cole said later of a ballpark that opened in 1914: “I don’t know, it’s 100-something-odd years old. All the great players of all time that have come through here and stood in the same batter’s box. Back when we [pitchers] were able to hit, that was cool, too. Like, I know for sure they stood right here.”

Speaking of hitting, Cole has a Wrigley accomplishment in that category as well.

He has three career homers, with the first of those coming in this ballpark on Sept. 7, 2014, a two-run shot in the seventh inning off righthander Blake Parker.

Pretty much every big-league hitter can recall, in detail, that first career homer. Cole is no exception.

“I very much remember it,” he said, brightening again. “First pitch. Didn’t often get the green light on the first pitch; they [coaches] drilled into us [pitchers] our objective was, if we had three at-bats, to take 15 pitches. So a lot of times you were taking strikes. I got the green light, so I went right after it, right down the middle. It almost got out of the stadium. It hit the back fence in left.”

Cole said he was slightly disappointed that the ball didn’t leave the park and land on Waveland Avenue, the famous street behind the bleachers in left.

“One degree higher, it would have left the park,” he said. “Just drilled the back fence.”

Though Cole is  in possession of that baseball, part of him wishes it had disappeared onto Waveland.

He smiled again.

“The story would be better,” Cole said, “if it left the park.”