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guillensdisciple
06-16-2009, 04:04 PM
My grandfather just showed me one of the collectibles he found on the streets as he was walking back from picking up groceries.

It was a coin that had 8/8/88 scripted the middle of the back and around it the words "I Saw the Lights*Wrigley Field* Chicago". On the other side "sluggers*Chicago* Vernon Hills" was written around a picture of person swinging a bat with the numbers "472-9696" written below that person.

I looked for the significance of this coin and all I could find was that 8/8/88 was the first time lights went up at Wrigley, but I have no idea whether this coin was a certificate of proof that a person was there that night or whether this thing was just a random coin.

I could not find anything about the coin itself, except for one ebay entry trying to sell the coin:

http://cgi.ebay.com/8%2F8%2F88-CHICAGO-CUBS-%22I-SAW-THE-LIGHTS%2FWRIGLEY-FIELD%22TKN_W0QQitemZ270382199265QQcmdZViewItemQQi msxZ20090429?IMSfp=TL090429124009r35383



Mine looks exactly like that, including all the same details written on the front and back of the coin. If anyone can give me more information on this darn thing I would be very :D:, because this is very odd and I have no idea what to do with it. Well, I can give it to my cub fan parents. I guess I will do that.
Desert Rat
06-16-2009, 04:32 PM
Could "Sluggers" have been/still is some kind of sports bar?
Maybe they minted them as a promotion around the event?
Almost as good a discovery as Quagmire finding that old Rhode Island coin in Peter Griffin's house in a Family Guy episode I just watched! :D:
DSpivack
06-16-2009, 04:41 PM
Could "Sluggers" have been/still is some kind of sports bar?
Maybe they minted them as a promotion around the event?
Almost as good a discovery as Quagmire finding that old Rhode Island coin in Peter Griffin's house in a Family Guy episode I just watched! :D:

Sluggers has been a well-known Wrigleyville spot on Clark for years.
cbone
06-16-2009, 06:05 PM
As a mini hijack to this thread, my daughter Maggie was born on 8/8/88 8 lbs. 8 oz. The OB was watching the game in the room while my wife was in agony. :gulp:
Woofer
06-16-2009, 09:16 PM
As a mini hijack to this thread, my daughter Maggie was born on 8/8/88 8 lbs. 8 oz. The OB was watching the game in the room while my wife was in agony. :gulp:

That game was rained out, I think. Not that you have forgotten when your daughter was born.:smile:
dllrbll7
06-17-2009, 11:05 AM
Did they have the batting cages back then? Could it be a token from the batting cages?
maristsox
06-17-2009, 11:22 AM
472-9696 is the telephone for sluggers
BleacherBandit
06-17-2009, 11:54 AM
As a mini hijack to this thread, my daughter Maggie was born on 8/8/88 8 lbs. 8 oz. The OB was watching the game in the room while my wife was in agony. :gulp:

There's a Cub fan for you. :redneck

But yeah, I know for a fact that this particular game was rained out, and they had to postpone it. A game later in that series was the first night game at Wrigley. My father went to that one, and he still claims he went to the first night game, while others argue with him and say that because they had tickets to the game on 8/8/88, the technically went to the first night game. :rolleyes:

There's a real Cubs fan argument there.
goon
06-17-2009, 11:58 AM
Sluggers has been a well-known Wrigleyville spot on Clark for years.


Yeah and the "Sluggers" in Vernon Hills was an expansion of the original. I grew up in Libertyville, which borders Vernon Hills, I used to go to "Sluggers" every so often because they had batting cages in the basement. Then they closed it down and it became a dance club for teenagers... that went over well.

So it could be a token for the batting cages, I think they had some arcade games, too.
HebrewHammer
06-18-2009, 09:51 AM
It is in fact an old batting cage token. I had more than one birthday there. The restaurant was set up so you could look into the batting cages. It would have been cool if anyone ever actually went there.