As another Cubs Opening Day is upon us, we are reminded everywhere we look around the ballpark that things are... well, different. There's a new plaza, The Park at Wrigley, that Lin helped christen before the game. The surrounding area is still very much a construction zone, but the ballpark is becoming nearer to the vision the Ricketts' ownership put forth upon purchasing the club. There's a new western entrance and exit. New offices are housed above what used to be the parking lot immediately adjacent to Wrigley on Clark. Gone are the concrete slabs around the exterior of the friendly confines, which now sports a new stucco look. The ceramic roof shingle ornamentation now stretches well beyond the facade at Clark and Addison. Gone are the baseline bullpens that allowed fans to interact with relieving pitching corps of both teams. They've been hidden away under the bleachers, viewable to the seats only via closed-circuit television. However, the bullpens feature a screen that allows relief pitchers to see out to the field of play, but not for outfielders to see in. Similarly, the outfield concourses now have one-way glass that allows fans to see into the bullpens, but not for relievers to be distracted by fans. But most notably, there are four new flagpoles situated on either side of the old centerfield scoreboard. And now, four new pennants flying at Wrigley Field: the 1907 & 1908 World Series banners, the 2016 National League Pennant, and of course, the 2016 World Series Championship banner.

Everything you need to know to start your day.

After the season opener in St. Louis saw Javy Baez lose a ball to a backstop with a white ad, we saw Stephen Piscotty get beaned for the cycle and a baseball magically stick to Yadier Molina's chest protector. Baseball's a strange game, and this certainly was a strange beginning to year one of the Chicago Cubs World Championship saga, but the Cubs'll take it, winning two of three down south. Now it's north to play the Brew Crew ahead of the home opening NLCS rematch against the Dodger and XRT's Opening Day live broadcast from YakZies where Len will join us in the flesh!

Everything you need to know to start your day.

Everything you need to know to start your day.