Posted on 04/10/2016 9:18:35 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Who is the "The Pink Hat Guy" behind home plate at Wrigley Field? And why does he keep wearing that loud hat and green sweatshirt?
It's Jim Anixter ... and he just wants his wife to know he actually went to the ballgame.
"It's so my wife can see I'm really at the ballpark and I'm not fooling around," said a laughing Anixter, who celebrated his 45th anniversary on Dec. 20.
Justin Breen says Anixter's company spends $200,000 a year on Cubs tickets:
Jim Anixter is Jim Anixter is "The Pink Hat Guy" with season tickets behind home plate at Wrigley Field. TBS CHICAGO — Who is the "The Pink Hat Guy" behind home plate at Wrigley Field? And why does he keep wearing that loud hat and green sweatshirt?
It's Jim Anixter ... and he just wants his wife to know he actually went to the ballgame.
"It's so my wife can see I'm really at the ballpark and I'm not fooling around," said a laughing Anixter, who celebrated his 45th anniversary on Dec. 20.
Justin Breen says Anixter's company spends $200,000 a year on Cubs tickets:
"I like being the 'Pink Hat Guy,' but my family thinks I'm a total child. I tell people I'm going to be 71, going on 12."
Anixter is a Hyde Park native, a Highland Park resident and the president of A-Z Wire & Cable, a distributor of industrial, commercial and specialty wire and cable. He's also been part of several efforts to buy the Cubs.
Anixter turned 71 on Oct. 22 — the day he had hoped the North Siders clinch their first World Series trip since 1945. Like the rest of us, he's been waiting his whole life. He's just had better seats.
Anixter has owned Cubs season tickets in the first row since 1966. He's been donning a pink hat in the stands since the Cubs passed them out at the 1990 All-Star Game.
Anixter's three sons and daughter all work at A-Z, which has distribution centers across the country and owns season tickets with the Brewers, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Astros, White Sox and Cubs.
Anixter doesn't just have the seats caught on camera during every pitch. He currently has 16 season tickets in prime seating locations at Wrigley. That includes the four in the first row behind home plate and 12 in the fifth row. He said his company spent about $200,000 on Cubs tickets last year.
"It's well worth it," Anixter said.
Jim Anixter, "The Pink Hat Guy." Flickr/Brule Laker
He always wears the pink hat when he attends games, Anixter said. He more recently added the green shirt — or green hooded sweatshirt when it's cold — to his repertoire because green is the color of baseball diamond grass, he said.
Anixter said fans get their own "Pink Hat Guy" hat by emailing him and promising to make at least a $25 donation to the American Cancer Society. He said he's mailed fans at least 1,000 hats since they started asking him.
"The pink hat thing started as a joke, but it's become more serious," he said.
As for the Cubs' chances in 2015, Anixter, like any die-hard Cubs fan, believes this is the year.
"Yes, yes, yes, we are going to win the World Series this year," he said. "It's destiny."
Well, I enjoyed the story. Sorry about the sour old coots and the snark.
My sister and brother-in-law have season tickets to the Detroit Red Wings. Now that the Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, they are obligated to purchase tickets to all the games and with each round advancement, the prices go up. If they don't buy, they lose their rights to the season tickets for next year......
There is also a guy that shows up on a lot of tv games and sites behind home plate who wears a Marlins hoodie/jersey (not Marlin’s games). I see him all the time, not yet this year however.
He was at last Sunday's game with the Mets at Kansas City right behind home plate. His visor was on sideways, trying to attract attention, as usual. I understand he is a lawyer from Miami with more money than brains. I'm certain I would not want that kind of attention. He's a friggin idiot.
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