Hotard: Mainieri taking swing at singing

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 23, 2009 - Page: 1C

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In his third season as coach, Paul Mainieri led LSU baseball to its sixth national championship. This weekend, he’ll lead a stadium full of Chicago Cubs fans in the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

Surely, leading the Tigers was the tougher task.

But maybe not.

“You have not heard me sing,” Mainieri said.

Everybody will hear Mainieri sing on Sunday at Wrigley Field. Everybody in attendance. Everybody watching WGN.

First pitch for the Cubs-Reds clash is 1:20 p.m.

Mainieri’s chance to shine — or not — comes during the seventh-inning stretch.

“This is going to be the most embarrassing thing of my life,” Mainieri said. “But I figure it’s great exposure for LSU, so I reluctantly agreed to do it.”

The tradition of guest singers at Wrigley began after the 1998 death of Harry Caray, who famously sang baseball’s anthem in his years as a Cubs broadcaster.

More than 500 movie stars, musicians, athletes, ex-athletes, football coaches, basketball coaches, broadcasters, journalists and other celebrity guests have picked up the mike at Wrigley and belted out Jack Norworth’s 101-year-old classic.

Actress Joan Cusack has done it. John Cusack, her brother, has done it several times. Larry King has done it. Larry the Cable Guy has done it. Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Bozo the Clown and Barney the Dinosaur have done it, too.

Mainieri is believed to be the first college baseball coach.

He’ll join a fraternity that includes Sylvia Fowles and Tyrus Thomas, former LSU standouts who play for major-league basketball franchises in the Windy City; Chicago Bears offensive tackle Chris Williams, a Catholic High School graduate; and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who barked signals at Wrigley while a college star at Purdue.