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07/30/2008 1:54 AM ET
Minor Leaguers have blast at Wrigley
Three go deep in suspended first-of-its-kind contest
By Nick Zaccardi / MLB.com
Rebel Ridling's two-run homer put Peoria on the board in the second inning. (Craig Watson Photography)

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• Photo gallery
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• Schulze emotional prior to homecoming

CHICAGO -- Rebel Ridling might never forget his first home run in a Major League park. He certainly hopes it's not his last.

Ridling was one of three players to reach the Wrigley Field bleachers in the first-ever Minor League game at the historic park, dubbed the "Road to Wrigley," on Tuesday night. The tilt between Ridling's Peoria Chiefs and the Kane County Cougars was suspended, tied at 6 in the ninth. The result may have been incomplete, but the experience wasn't.

"That's what the coaches, hitting coach Desi [Wilson] and some of the guys were talking about. 'Soak it in. Don't let this one time be good enough for you,'" said Ridling, who started at first base for Peoria, the Cubs' Class A affiliate. "I just want to try and get back here in three years, or however long it might be."

Ridling laced a 2-1 pitch to the right-field stands in the bottom of the second. Left fielder Brandon Guyer went deep to left on the next pitch to give the Chiefs back-to-back home runs and a 3-1 lead.

"It was amazing," Guyer said. "I don't know if I've ever had that feeling before. It was definitely the most fans I've ever played in front of, and to go back-to-back like that was really cool, too."

Nobody in the Midwest League has ever played in front of that many fans, actually. The game drew 32,103 spectators, more than doubling the previous league record.

Kane County first baseman Greg Dowling noticed the packed park. His homer in his first at-bat in the top of the second produced the first run of the game.

"It was unbelievable, it really was," Dowling said. "For all of us that might not make it, or even if you do, it's the first time being in a big league park like that, 32,000, it was just unbelievable. I don't know how to explain it."

Dowling's parents drove from Atlanta to Dayton, Ohio, to Chicago once they heard the early estimates of a record crowd. Dowling said that his father, a Chicago native, tried to retrieve the home run ball, but Dowling hadn't found out yet if he had recovered it.

The biggest worry for the players coming in was pregame butterflies. But judging by the results, three home runs on first at-bats, at least a few guys calmed themselves down.

"I couldn't tell that the guys were nervous or apprehensive because of the field, because of the crowd," Kane County manager Aaron Nieckula said. "It would have had me fooled if they were nervous. I thought they responded well to the environment."

The jitters came later in the game for Kane County catcher Petey Paramore when Dutchie Caray, the widow of legendary Cubs announcer Harry Caray, sang the seventh-inning stretch.

"The only time I really got the goose bumps is when they sang 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,'" said Paramore, who knocked a bases-clearing double in the sixth. "I got it from head to toe. There was a time here or there where you realized where you were. A few minutes before the game, fans are starting to sit in, you kind of realized what was going on."

Nieckula planned a big league day for his team. He had them dress in business casual attire and arrive at the ballpark early to enjoy a nice lunch. He held back on a drawn-out pregame speech, instead just telling the players to enjoy the experience. They certainly did.

"[Like] kids in a candy store," Nieckula said.

Nick Zaccardi is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.