The Chicago Cubs showed off the new LED lights at Wrigley Field this week — and Ian Happ is loving them. The old 1988 lights apparently required a lot of maintenance over the years, while the new LED bulbs were installed to provide better and more energy-efficient lighting.
“The new lights are epic,” Happ said on his podcast, The Compound, on Friday. “Epic! It's gonna add a whole two points to my batting average. It's unbelievable. They kinda turned them on in BP, and there was bad shadows, and I was like ‘these things aren't gonna be any better,' and then we get to the game, it's like the fourth inning, I have an at-bat against Castillo, and I'm looking out there and I'm like ‘it's so bright.'”
Happ says Wrigley's new lights will improve his batting average by two points!!! pic.twitter.com/3rIs6XShol
— The Compound (@thecompoundpod) April 14, 2023
“I'm going to be able to see the ball so much better at night here,” Happ continued. “You just didn't see it that well at night at Wrigley it was so dark, and the outfield was always really hard because there's no lights behind and everything was so dark. It's really nice to have a bright stadium and be able to see the ball. I saw it so well I swung early on a fastball.”
Although Happ is a big fan of the new lights, he does wonder if fans at Wrigley Field will appreciate the move to a more modern lighting system.
“The one thing though, and I'm just gonna say this before it happens, Wrigley Field is a special place,” Happ explained. “I don't want like a crazy light show on a homer, don't want the blinking lights, I don't think the people will like it at Wrigley.”
Only time will tell if the 28-year-old has a point, but it looks like the brighter lights are better for players in the dark.
Ian Happ just signed a three-year, $61 million extension with the Cubs, in a deal that covers the 2024-26 seasons, so it's safe to say the former All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner will be seeing a lot more of the LED lights at Wrigley over the next few years.
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