Five years ago, the Cubs embarked on a historic journey that will go down as one of the most impactful seasons in professional sports.

Throughout 2021, we’re taking a look back at some of the best moments from the incredible 2016 campaign.

Next up: Willson’s 1^st career home run

Willson Contreras has good career numbers against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and that started from the very first pitch he saw.

Contreras dispatched an 81-mph changeup into the center field bleachers in his first career at-bat, sending the Wrigley faithful into a frenzy.

He became the second Cub ever to homer on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues, joining Jim Bullinger (1992 vs. Cardinals), and the eighth Cub to homer in their first career at-bat.

The Father’s Day crowd of 41,024 cheered Contreras on until he took his curtain call.

Fun Facts

–   Kyle Hendricks struck out a career-high 12 batters, which he has only matched one other time in his career (8/13/16 vs. STL)

–   The Cubs tied a season-high by hitting 5 home runs, which they did 4 times in 2016

–   Despite having a 2.94 ERA through 13 starts, Kyle Hendricks was actually under .500 with a record of 5-6 at that point in the season

–   Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez all had 3-hit games

–   This was the Cubs 2^nd sweep of the Pirates in 2016, as they took 8 of the first 9 games