Spring is in the air, and now that the temperatures are rising… and falling back down sometimes (thanks Chicago), baseball season is back. Wrigley field has opened up its gates and we’re so excited for the Cubs new season, that they forgot the bathrooms didn’t work, but pshh, that will never stop us Cubs fans. We stood by our team, got boozed up, and peed in our empty cups to be able to watch the opening game. We are that loyal, yo.

Outside of Sluggers at night.

We Chicagoans love our Cubs baseball so much (Ok, minus Sox fans) that we have a sports bar in Wrigleyville that has an actual batting cage inside it. It’s called Sluggers, but the full name is “Sluggers World Class Sports Bar.” The name fits like a glove, because world class it sure is. When you walk in you are greeted to an atmosphere that can only be described as a sports pub on steroids. The place is generally quite large compared to a normal bar but the energy of the people keep it feeling cozy. The place is buzzing with all different kinds of people from all over the city, although, naturally, you will notice that most of these people are sports fan types (the cubs jersey’s and/or attire will give it away).

As you walk down there is an entrance that leads you to the batting cages. You go upstairs and there is a booth to buy your tokens. Half the time the line for the cage isn’t even that long, and you’ll be drunk anyways so it doesn’t even matter. You’ll also find it extremely amusing to watch drunk people try to hit a ball with a bat. When it’s your turn, it is required that you put on a helmet (for obvious reasons) and then hey batter batter, you’re up!

Surrounding the batting cages are a bunch of arcade games glowing all of their colors and making all of their beeping sounds. These games included the classics, such as Skee-Ball, air hockey, Pac-Man, Super Shot, and many others, so you won’t every find yourself bored. It’s like adults are revisiting their childhood, except this time they are drunk while they play games instead of on a massive sugar high.

Sluggers also has this super cool thing called “Dueling Pianos” which is this awesome interactive musical show that heats up Wrigleyville every weekend and every night after a Cubs game. These piano duelers play songs ranging from rock & roll, oldies, top 40, and everything in between! There is even a “Dancers Pole” in between the two piano’s for anyone daring enough to climb up and dance on the piano’s and really turn the party up! People will be singing, dancing and laughing at the wonderful show of entertainment that you won’t find anywhere else.

With all this of combined, it gets us excited to finally go to a Cubs game on a nice and sunny warm day, knowing that after the game – win or lose – we can go get hammered and hit a bunch of baseballs, shoot some hoops, and even dance on top of a piano if we really wanted to. Sounds like a great way to welcome back Spring to me!

Alyssa
Contributor, LoveforCity.com / Chicago
Instagram: @lyss_lou