Nico Hoerner stood at his locker wearing a big grin on his face, a blue Cubs undershirt…and a cowboy hat.

The Cubs second baseman was riding high after his first career walk-off and was quick to follow his teammate’s suggestion.

“I came in the locker room and Yan [Gomes] just put it on my head,” Hoerner said. “I think we’ve got some sort of celebratory hat I’ve been assigned to. That’s what we’re going with. I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

The man of the hour. pic.twitter.com/rcZrSUuD4V

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 11, 2023

Gomes didn’t spend much time thinking about it. He walked into the Cubs clubhouse after the team’s thrilling 3-2 victory over the Mariners in the 10th inning and he happened to see a sheriff’s hat on the ground.

“He’s the new sheriff in town,” Gomes said. “I feel like things like that happen organically. I literally just saw it laying around and I just grabbed it and said, ‘hey, Nico’s gotta wear this to do interviews.'”

So is it the start of a new tradition for the Cubs after walk-offs or wins?

“Who knows?” Gomes said. “Just trying to have fun in here. This is a good place and we got a good thing going. Especially a guy like Nico. This guy works his tail off. He’s one of the faces of our team and what better way to start that?”

While the Cubs roster was celebrating the big win, the Wrigley Field staffers played their role in delivering an unforgettable evening.

The Cubs installed new energy-efficient LED lights atop Wrigley Field last fall and Monday marked the first game under the new bulbs. The night started with the lights flickering to a pregame hype video and ended by playing a central role in the celebration:

"Go Cubs Go" ft. THE LIGHTS pic.twitter.com/2wB38Dd0lZ

— Jeremiah Paprocki (@jtheannouncer) April 11, 2023

They even lit up one of the banks of lights in the shape of W after the win:

Throughout the game, the upgrade in lights was apparent watching the game — either on the TV broadcast or in person at the stadium. It was a noticably different atmosphere at the corner of Clark and Addison.

“Those lights are unbelievable,” Nick Madrigal said. “You can tell a huge difference. I was watching down below on TV. You couldn’t even tell if it was a day or night game. It was so bright. I think those are gonna be really nice throughout the year.”