Mishawaka’s Mark McGill went all in on fill-in role as announcer at Wrigley Field – South Bend Tribune

If those six days in May at Wrigley Field were a dream, Mark McGill didnt want to wake up.

It all was too good. It all was too real.

It was the dream McGill first lived as a kid in south-suburban Dolton, Ill. When it comes to baseball allegiances around Chicago, the dividing line is clear. Live to the North? Root for the Cubs. South side your home? White Sox are your team. McGill bucked those boundaries and his south-side roots to choose Dave Kingman and Bill Buckner and everything else about Clark and Addison.

A love for the Cubs runs deep in the McGill family. It was in his blood, and had been since the first time McGills mother put him on a Metra train at the Ivanhoe station with instructions not to exit until it arrived at the Randolph Street (now Millennium) station. Waiting there would be McGills father, Jim, who worked in the city and whose employer owned Cubs season tickets. The two would hustle over to the Red Line, and ride the El to Addison Street.

That's where Wrigley Field stands. It beckoned McGill to step inside and lose himself in baseball for a few hours.

The 53-year-old McGill cant remember the opponent for that first game he attended at age 8, but he does remember everything around it. Like making that climb up the steep concourse stairs into the grandstand and the panorama of Wrigley the green grass, the greener ivy, the bang/echo of the metal boxes the food vendors carried. The crack of the bat. The catch of the ball.

Just the smell of summer, of baseball, of perfection.

When you first see Wrigley Field, theres always this energy, this excitement, McGill said. It's like a dreamland."

McGill recently was back at Wrigley. The grass and the ivy still looked so green. The crack of the bat and the catch of the ball still sounded the same. The buzz of the ballpark still so alive. It looked and felt just like it had in the countless times McGill had been there as a fan. Only this time, McGill stepped into the stadium as a Cubs employee with one of the best seats in the old house.

What a week, he said. It was just crazy.

Wheels in motion

In March, McGill learned that Andrew Belleson was leaving after 10 seasons as the Wrigley Field public address announcer. A former morning radio show host in South Bend and current on-field/in-game emcee for the South Bend Cubs, McGill is no stranger to a microphone or an audience or public speaking or baseball.

Open auditions were held for a new P.A. voice, so McGill tapped a text to South Bend Cubs owner Andrew Berlin, also a minority owner of the parent club.

If they need any help...Im there for you.

Having seen McGill work at Four Winds Field, Berlin believed McGill was perfect for the P.A. job.

He is naturally out-going; hes got a genuine, warm heart and a good soul, Berlin said. Hes got that beautiful voice and clear enunciation. Hes just a positive guy. For Wrigley, hes terrific for the culture.

A backing from Berlin and a few more calls and correspondence set everything in motion. The Cubs brought in McGill for a March tryout. The club had Aprils home games staffed, but the first two series in May against the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates were open.

There also was a chance that it wouldnt proceed any further than McGills run-through in an empty stadium. Taking nothing for granted, and leaving less to chance, McGill treated his first run as his only run.

I drove in that day telling myself, Just soak it in, enjoy the moment, McGill said. I was going to be in the P.A. booth at Wrigley Field for three hours. It's a Chicago kid's dream to be in that booth. I didnt know if anything else would happen from there.

Something happened. The Cubs called and offered McGill those six games in early May three against the Dodgers, three against the Pirates. McGill took little time to decide. As the fill-in, he was all in.

I just thought, Man, Im the luckiest guy alive, McGill said. Think of all the people that would want to do one game in that stadium.

Most likely wouldnt have as long of a commute as McGill. He knows the exact number of miles (101) it takes from his Mishawaka home to the employee parking lot north of the ballpark. He followed his go-to route the Toll Road to the Chicago Skyway, then to Stony Island and Lake Shore Drive. Exit the Drive at Belmont, head west to Broadway, then north on Broadway.

A left onto Addison brings Wrigley's exterior and light towers into view for the first time. Each time, McGill felt like that 8-year-old getting off the El with his dad.

Fueled by all that adrenaline, McGill made that drive several times last week. Couple nights, he stayed at his mothers home in Chicago to cut down the commute. He often arrived at the park way early, but didnt have to wait until the gates opened to the public. Hed get to the booth and enjoy the silence. He'd sit and look around and remind himself that it wasn't a dream.

A Saturday surprise

McGills first game a Monday contest against the Dodgers was rained out, which meant a Tuesday doubleheader. Games on Wednesday and Friday followed the same script get to the employee lot early, make the walk to the ballpark, go in and go to work. He walked the same ramps from the concourse to the upper deck that he once ran as a kid. When he reached the top, hed show his employee badge to security outside the P.A. booth. Theyd say Have a good game, Mark!

It was like, Who am I right now? McGill said. There were so many outer-body experiences and crazy moments.

Like that Saturday morning after McGill had settled on a gameday routine. That morning on his walk down Waveland, McGill turned to head into the ballpark and noticed a woman in her mid-20s with a colorful sign.

Came All The Way From Wilmington, North Carolina for the P.A. Announcer.

Holding the sign was McGills daughter, Madison, who caught a 6 a.m. flight that day to be there. She attended that afternoon game with her sister, Kennedy, and McGills wife, Julie. Just when McGill thought his week couldnt get any better, it did. It took a minute for McGill to process seeing his daughter there. Seeing both of them. Seeing his wife.

When youre shockingly surprised, your mind cant catch up, he said. I just couldnt figure out what was going on.

McGill had no such issues when it was time to work. When he learned hed be doing those two series, McGill raced to MLB.com to study the visiting teams rosters. No names were going to trip him. Pittsburgh outfielder Kaai Tom was a bit tricky, but McGill had that one down by the end of the weekend.

As much as the place means to him like, everything he put it all aside and was the P.A. announcer.

I was doing the job and tried not to get caught up in all that it was, he said. It wouldve messed with my head.

At times, it did. Perched in the P.A. booth, McGill would breathe it all in the center field scoreboard, Lake Michigan in the distance, his favorite team on the field. The atmosphere. The energy. The everything.

Occasionally, McGills gaze would drift toward the stadium's first-base side and a section seven rows behind the visitors dugout. Thats where his fathers season tickets were located. Thats where McGill fell hard for the Cubs, fell hard for Wrigley, first had that true connection with his father, who died in 2018 at age 78.

I thought of him every single day, said McGill, who even carried a picture of his father into the P.A. booth. I know my dad was with me."

Current pandemic protocols mean limited attendance at Wrigley. Fans sit scattered around the ballpark in odd groupings of sections and rows. McGill looked out at those seats seven rows behind the visitors dugout each of the six games. They remained empty for the entire home stand.

I took that as a sign, he said. It just made it even more special."

Whats next?

Mothers Day was McGills last scheduled day of Wrigley work. The last batter he introduced was Cubs shortstop Javy Baez, who grounded out in a 6-5 loss. It was the only game the Cubs didnt win during McGills run.

Following that game, there was one final commute home to Indiana. McGill needed the next day to decompress. He didnt sleep much the previous seven, then snagged 10 solid hours. Not only did he catch up on his sleep, McGill finally caught his breath. The job never really felt like one.

The magic was there from start to finish, he said.

Theres a chance that McGill might not work another game this year. Theres also a chance that he might get a call or two or three in June and July and August. The Cubs dont have a firm plan on a permanent P.A. announcer, something that McGill might have to consider. Given the roots hes planted in Michiana, it would be a tough sell.

McGill serves as director of community engagement for A Rosie Place for Children, a licensed hospital for medically fragile children in South Bend. He works part time at WSBT Radio. Hes still on-field emcee at Four Winds. Every employer gave him the time and space and days off needed to make his Wrigley gig work. They knew what it meant to him.

If an offer for McGill to be the permanent P.A. voice surfaces, Berlin may give him a nudge.

We love having him (at Four Winds) but I have to be loyal to the man first before Im loyal to my own company, Berlin said. Ill support him in that journey.

The first day of May also saw McGill serve as fill-in color radio commentator for Notre Dames annual spring football game. He kept thinking that in 48 hours, hed be at Wrigley Field. Working two historic sports venues in three days? How cool was that?

None of it seemed real, McGill said. Im really a lucky, blessed man to have the support that I have and the family that I have and the friends that I have and the opportunities that I have.

It was just an honor.

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Mishawaka's Mark McGill went all in on fill-in role as announcer at Wrigley Field - South Bend Tribune