Holy Cow! A Gatecrasher’s Crazy NLCS Wrigley Experience

On the 18th episode of Bacon Shorts by Bacon Sports Rob Cressy is joined by his co-founder Greg Hunter. G-Hunt shares his incredible story from Game 3 of the NLCS in Wrigley (Cubs vs Mets) where he found a way to get in without a ticket and then create a priceless experience that’ll never be duplicated. You won’t believe who he met in the suite level and media deck, how he ended up sitting next to Peter Gammons in the post game press conference and then asking Joe Madden, Terry Collins, and Daniel Murphy questions in front of the media.

To satisfy those that want the CliffsNotes version of the story as well as those that want the full story with awesome detail I went ahead and created a few different versions for you.

Up first is a fluid conversation between G-Hunt and myself of the entire gatecrasher experience. Photos and videos to enhance the story are included throughout the video. This version spares no detail and gives you the entire picture of what is without a doubt one of the best stories I’ve ever heard.

Here’s an audio only/podcast version of the gatecrasher experience as well for those that would prefer to download and listen. Make sure to subscribe on iTunes and share with a friend if you dig it.

For those who want the simplified yet still awesome version of the story here is a photo diary with commentary. Enjoy.

Through a friend G-Hunt was able to get us a ticket to the Cubs owners reception which went down directly across the street from Wrigley before Game 3 of the NLCS. He sprung this on me about one hour before it went down so there was little planning other than “get your ass up here.”

The owners party was bumpin and you could feel the excitement of the playoffs. There was an open bar, food (9 out of 10 for taste & spread), and they gave out Cubs Playoff hats. As for the people at the party, they were at a level you’d expect for a shindig put on by the owners of a baseball team worth a billion dollars with a B. We saw Jim McMahon, Chris Christie, and Fergie Jenkins. It had a similar vibe to the party that Maverick and Goose were at.

While there we ran into Tom Ricketts, one of the owners of the Cubs. He’s a very normal, cool ass dude whose love of baseball certainly shines through. He was friendly and engaging, not intimidating or elite. He gave us two players in the Cubs minor league system to look out for. One was a catcher, the other an outfielder who is in lower ball (don’t remember their names). Just think, one of the biggest games in Cubs history is about to take place and he’s talking to us two knuckleheads. Big props to Tom.

The party started to fill out as the game got closer. We didn’t have tickets to the game but because there was an open bar we figured we’d kick it among the remaining few stragglers. It was then that G-Hunt and I decided to part ways. He was going to go on one of his “missions” to see if he could get into the game.

During my Ultimate NASCAR bachelor party we found a way to get into the winner circle and on SportsCenter, and at the Redhook Road Trip G-Hunt walked onto the field with the Texas A&M coaches, so I know these missions certainly can and usually are successful and insanely awesome. With him he had his DSLR (it makes you look important/legit), a lanyard saying he was at the owners reception, plus he grabbed two gourmet chocolate bars and a bag of Cracker Jacks that were given as parting gifts for the party (we’ll get to these items later). He was now off to see if he could make a magical night even more special.

Let’s just say flashing a big lanyard, saying you are with the owner, and walking swiftly with confidence in the right situation got G-Hunt in. This story is less about getting in and more about the cool things that went down once he got in. At Bacon Sports we always want to make things more fun and awesome and for the people we meet and interact with to have a better time now that we are there.

After getting into the Game 3 of the NLCS in this manner most people would end their mission and say “well that’s cool enough, my job here is done” and proceed to watch the game like every other Cubs fan in the stadium. Cool story but that’s not how G-Hunt rolls. He’s always striving for more fun and awesomeness. We have a saying, “Smiles don’t lie.” It’s time for G-Hunt to make some more smiles happen and do something sweet.

Congrats to G-Hunt for making the Smooth Moves Hall of Fame by spilling half a beer on himself while trying to figure out what to do next. Keep this in mind during everything that’s gonna happen.

By making some lovely older female Cubs employees laugh and giving them the two gourmet chocolate bars and bag of Cracker Jacks (in a “look what I’ve got for you!!!!” kinda way) G-Hunt schmoozes his way onto the suite level where all the boxes are. The mission now is to kick it with whoever is in the box, have fun, and see where the party takes him.

Shout out to Kristen who’s holding things down on the suite level.

G-Hunt decides to pop in each box with his camera and say “hashtag Suite Life, hashtag Do Something Sweet” during which people gladly would take a picture, laugh, and have a good time. He did this at the Bank of America box and Comcast box, kicking it for 15 or 20 minutes in each one.

After that mission ran its course it was off to find where the media deck was. More shaking hands and pretending like he belonged lead him to the visitors play-by-play booth. This is one of the hallways that lead him to there.

Not a bad view from the visitors booth huh?

G-Hunt then pops over to the home booth and gets some pics with the crew.

He even asks the producer to take some pics of all of them together (as if there isn’t a playoff game going on or something) and they happily do so. One again, smiles don’t lie. They are contagious.

Welcome to the other part of the media deck. This looks like some sort of sports media robot farm. “MUST CHURN OUT 600 WORDS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE.”

You can only kick it with the media so long before it’s time to start another mission. It’s not exactly MTV’s The Grind at the beach house in there. G-Hunt spots some seats open in the 2nd row, right behind the Mets dugout. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Yep, this close. It’s near the end of the game now, 8th inning.

Next to him is some security looking dudes who are with the Mets owner’s crew. Clearly they are here to party. Security dude on the left looks like he’d drink Bud heavy.

The Mets win the game and the Mets contingent around G-Hunt are wiling out as the celebration takes place a few feet away.

With the crowd emptying out through the concourse G-Hunt notices some dudes with notebooks that look like reporters. You know what would be a great idea? Following them. It’s like the gameshow Let’s Make a Deal where you choose which door to open. What’s behind that door you don’t know, you just hope it’s awesome. This leads him to the postgame press conference where there is virtually no resistance saying he shouldn’t be there. Seeing Peter Gammons and plenty of seats around him he sits down to chat with the baseball media icon.

Shout out to Peter Gammons for being friendly and engaging.

Now it’s time for the postgame press conference to start and Joe Madden is up first. Once again, at this point 99.9% of people would be content to just sit there and listen, but not G-Hunt. This is a chance for him to ask Joe Madden a question, he can’t pass up that opportunity. As you saw in the previous video, G-Hunt was priming up the girl who had the mic to make sure she knew he wanted to ask a question.

This is the response Joe Madden gave to G-Hunt’s question about if there’s any parallels he can draw between this Cubs team and the Red Sox squad that was down 3-0 to the Yankees and came back to win.

Up next is Mets Manager Terry Collins. G-Hunt asks him a question but given the craziness and excitement he doesn’t remember what it was. For the sake of the story lets assume it had nothing to do with if he’d leave Matt Harvey in to pitch the 9th if the situation arose in the World Series.

The men of the hour were next, David Wright, Jacob DeGrom, and Daniel Murphy. They were broing out like you’d expect three bro’s to after going up 3-0 in the NLCS. Hopefully you can guess what happened next, G-Hunt asks them a question. Actually, he asks a two-part question one of which is to Daniel Murphy asking him how much money he just made himself this offseason.

You know Murph wanted to say “I’m rich biatch!”


After asking questions at thepostgame press conference it was time to peace out of Wrigley and head back to ownerspostgame celebration (even though the Cubs didn’t win) where there was a donut station to cap things off. It was certainly a sweet night, one that added to the legacy of awesomeness that is G-Hunt, that only could have been made better with a Cubs victory.

BONUS: Here’s two awesome Cubs jerseys that were spotted.

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