The tradition of having a “guest conductor” to sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field began in 1998, the year Harry Caray passed away. Caray had made this an event, starting with Bill Veeck asking him to do it when Caray was a White Sox announcer.
So this tradition was still relatively new when former Bear Steve McMichael was the “guest conductor” when the Cubs faced the Rockies August 7, 2001.
The Rockies led the game 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh. There had been some controversial ball-and-strike calls earlier in the game.