Crystal Lake Native Hits Home Run at Wrigley

CHICAGO, IL — A Prairie Ridge graduate who now plays for the Oakland Athletics got to live out a lifelong dream when he played at Wrigley Field on Monday. The home run in the eighth inning, while his family and friends watched and cheered like crazy, was just the icing on the cake.

“I don’t know if I could have planned it any better than that,” Martini told MLB.com. “It was a special moment, to do that in front of all my friends and family, for sure.”

Martini spent a lot of time at Wrigley Field when he was growing up in Crystal Lake, according to the MLB.com article. Though the A's lost to the Cubs, 6-5, Martini's home run still got quite the reaction from his friends and family sitting in the left-field bleachers.

Martini spent the first seven seasons of his professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals before earning a Major League callup last year with the A's at age 28, according to MLB.com.