Rookie of the Year star will attend NLCS Game 4, will not pitch for Cubs

The Cubs will need a miracle to come back against the Mets. Maybe the star of Rookie of the Year can help?

Facing a 3–0 series deficit the Cubs will need a miracle to come back against the Mets to advance to their first World Series since 1945. They will have a fictional hero in the building on Wednesday, though. 

Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas (three first names!), who played Henry Rowengartner in the 1993 film Rookie of the Year, is going to Game 4 of the NLCS, he told ESPN.com.

He’s got a jersey with his real name on it, but he asked the team for one with “Rowengartner” on the back, hoping the real Cubs can accomplish what Henry’s fictional Cubs did in 1993—win the World Series.

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“I’ve never done that. I haven’t worn a Rowengartner jersey since the movie, but I feel like we kind of need it right now,” Thomas told ESPN. “It’s kind of like my rally cap.”

The Cubs could also use a pitcher. Jason Hammel, who lasted just three innings in his last start, takes the mound for Chicago.

- Dan Gartland