Ian Happ overtakes beloved former Cubs star on the franchise's home run leaderboard

Home runs were flying Saturday afternoon as wind gusts reached as high as 32 MPH at Wrigley Field ahead of first pitch. Factor in the extreme heat and it’s no surprise balls were leaving the yard left and right as the Chicago Cubs held on for a 10-7 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Cubs leadoff man Ian Happ got his money’s worth at the plate, depositing the first pitch he saw into the bleachers to give his team a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning. For Happ, it was three straight games with a home run, and the second day in a row leading off the game with a home run.

With his leadoff blast, Happ became the first Cub with back-to-back leadoff home runs since Anthony Rizzo accomplished the feat in 2017, where he hit five home runs in a 14-game stint in the leadoff spot.

Ian Happ took full advantage of the windy conditions at Wrigley Field

Happ wasn’t done hitting home runs, or matching former teammates for that matter. The switch hitter followed it up in the second inning with another home run, this time a three-run blast, to extend the lead to four.

With the pair of home runs, Happ’s career total now sits at 161 blasts, putting him 15th all-time in Cubs history and overtaking his former teammate Kris Bryant on the home run leaderboard.

Of course, Bryant did most of his damage early in his career, hitting 26 home runs en route to NL Rookie of the Year honors in 2015 and following it up with a career-high 39 the next year, bringing home MVP honors and a World Series ring. Even with the shortened 2020 campaign taken into account, the former first-rounder averaged 31 homers per 162 games from 2015 to 2021, playing a key role for the Cubs during that stretch.

Happ has consistently been one of the best Cubs players over the years, accumulating at least 3.5 bWAR in each of his last three seasons, a number he is currently on pace to match once again. Along with winning three straight Gold Gloves in that span, Happ has flown under the radar as one of the best left fielders in the game.

While never a flashy player, the veteran outfielder is in the process of writing a storied history that will be remembered by Cubs fans, just recently surpassing the 1,000-game threshold for his career. Now in his ninth season in the big leagues, no one has been more consistent for the Cubs than Happ.