Tuesday night Wrigley Field was the latest stop on the quixotic quest of the 45-year old curveballer
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They say that you can’t go home again, yet one of the most powerful stories in multiple cultures’ history is the Prodigal Son returning home. I’m not sure that Rich Hill fits the definition of prodigal, but I am sure I witnessed him coming home on Tuesday night. The 45-year old curve baller who made his debut in relief of Greg Maddux on June 15, 2005 made his 2025 debut at Wrigley Field against the Cubs earlier this week [VIDEO]:
It was a weird version of perfection and truly one of the top five nights I’ve ever spent at Wrigley Field. But first, some related tunes…
As Rich Hill returned to Wrigley, the Cubs paid homage to Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away earlier in the day. You may remember Ozzy from moments like this (forgive me for leading with a song that is not the focal point of this section just one time):
Y I K E S.
But the thing is, it’s not just a terrible rendition of the stretch. It’s an Ozzy rendition of the stretch. He doesn’t know the words and he doesn’t care. He’s there to be Ozzy and he thinks we should all get that. It’s wild and presumptuous and I hated it when it happened. I hated it when a podcaster most of y’all have never heard of named Alex Cooper did the same thing to the stretch the other night.
And I also wanted the Cubs to show it on the big screen at Wrigley on Tuesday. It’s a moment in Cubs history and so few people relative to all the people on and around the Cubs have moments in this team’s history, but Ozzy does.
During the middle of the third inning the Wrigley Field DJ played Mama, I’m Coming Home:
Times have changed and times are strange
Here I come, but I ain’t the same
Mama, I’m coming home
Time’s gone by, it seems to be
You could have been a better friend to me
Mama, I’m coming home
You took me in and you drove me out
Yeah, you had me hypnotized, yeah
Lost and found and turned around
By the fire in your eyes
It’s a banger even by early ‘90’s power ballad standards.
Selfish love, yeah, we’re both alone
The ride before the fall, yeah
But I’m gonna take this heart of stone
I’ve just got to have it all
I’ve seen your face a hundred times
Every day we’ve been apart
I don’t care about the sunshine, yeah’
Cause Mama, Mama, I’m coming home
I’m coming home
There was something special about seeing Rich Hill warm up to Mama, I’m Coming Home on Tuesday night.
Rich Hill was never a star. He was never an All Star. He never won a Cy Young, although he did generate some conversation in the fantasy baseball community every now and again as he came back in the league. According to Baseball Reference his best season was 2016 when he put up 4.3 bWAR between the Athletics and the Dodgers, it’s a sizeable portion of the 17.1 bWAR he put up in his career. Hill pitched for a record tying 14-teams (I’m looking at you Edwin Jackson) and the innings pitched in any given year if plotted on a chart could provide the basis for a Jackson Pollack painting.
But here he was at 45-years old on the field where he made his MLB debut more than 20 years ago, pitching in MLB [VIDEO]:
It was honestly a pretty good start. Dare I say close enough to (or maybe even above) league average? And he did it against one of the best offenses in baseball. Rich Hill stood on the mound on the North Side of Chicago to make a historic debut and at 45-years old he threw five innings of six-hit, three run (one earned) baseball. He walked two, and struck out one. It was a perfectly fine appearance, albeit one that ended in a loss.
Did it really end in a loss for Hill, though? Watching 45-year old Rich Hill return to Wrigley Field as a 45-year old with serviceable innings for a team at the deadline while throwing that curveball at variable speeds over and over, it honestly seemed like a win for Hill, even if it didn’t work out for the Royals.
Don’t take my word for it, take it from Rich Hill