Best Opening Days In Cubs History, #3: Corey Patterson Knocks In Seven!

[Andrew Wright]

The 2003 Chicago Cubs season is one that many fans have completely thrown away out of their minds and vowed never to speak of again. How the season ended for the Cubs was heartbreaking and devastating, to say the least. As bad and agonizing as the last game of the season was, the first game was a thrill and gave fans the hope that they held onto until the final out of Game 7 of the NLCS.

The first game of the 2003 season saw the Cubs travel to Shea Stadium in New York for a matchup against the Mets. The pitching matchup was all-world: Kerry Wood vs. Tom Glavine.

Two aces going at it in front of over 53,000 in attendance for Opening Day is what baseball is all about. Glavine was undoubtedly the story for the Mets that day, as he was blasted for five runs on eight hits and four walks and did not make it out of the fourth inning. The story for the Cubs, however, was not their starting pitcher. Their starting centerfielder, Corey Patterson, had quite the day.

Patterson was making his second career Opening Day start, and it was a tough matchup against the left-hander Glavine. Patterson must've eaten his Wheaties that morning because he had one of the all-time best Opening Day performances for any team or player. He went 4-for-6 at the plate with two home runs, and seven runs driven in. All four of Patterson's hits came against a left-handed pitcher. He had two RBI singles against Glavine, and both homers came against Mets reliever Mike Bacsik. 

It was the second multi-home run game of Patterson's young career, and he would finish his career with six games with multiple homers, including another one against the Mets in 2005. The seven RBI were the most in any game of his career and it is still currently tied for an MLB record for the most in an Opening Day game. Patterson's career with the Cubs did not go quite the way many would've hoped, but we will always be able to look back on and remember the performance he had that day at Shea Stadium.

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[We Got The Whole 9]

Great day, I'm pretty sure we know what nunber 1 is gonna be.

Edited March 16, 2025 by We Got The Whole 9

[Andrew Wright]

On 3/16/2025 at 4:31 PM, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Great day, I'm pretty sure we know what nunber 1 is gonna be.

Number 1 may very well surprise you

[We Got The Whole 9]

On 3/17/2025 at 5:59 PM, Andrew Wright said:

Number 1 may very well surprise you

I don't see #2. There's been 4 players to hit 3 HR on opening day. Tuffy Rhodes' accomplishment (and all of them off of Doc Gooden) tops Hendricks SHO pretty easily IMO.

[Andrew Wright]

On 3/18/2025 at 10:03 PM, We Got The Whole 9 said:

I don't see #2. There's been 4 players to hit 3 HR on opening day. Tuffy Rhodes' accomplishment (and all of them off of Doc Gooden) tops Hendricks SHO pretty easily IMO.

I was going to do Tuffy, but when diving into it, I realized they lost the game so I didn’t feel like it deserved to be there