Pitch perfect? Ben Johnson has a tough act to follow — or does he?

Ben Johnson is the most popular guy in town as a head coach of the Bears with a 0-0 record. But he had a tough act to follow at Wrigley Field on Saturday when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Cubs-Diamondbacks game. 

When Matt Eberflus threw out the first pitch in 2022 after being hired as the Bears’ head coach, the Bears not only won by a football score, but a memorable one in Bears history. 

The Cubs, who had scored 12 runs in their previous four games (all losses), beat the Pirates 21-0 that day — the same score the 1985 Bears beat the Giants by in their playoff opener at Soldier Field en route to the glorious Super Bowl championship. January of 1986 en route to the Super Bowl championship. 

When Matt Nagy threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field in 2018 as the newly hired coach of the Bears, the Cubs also won by a football score — and again, one that elicited memories of crowning moment in Bears history. 

The Cubs, who had scored one run in their previous two games (both losses), beat the Braves 14-10 that day — the same score as the Bears’ victory over the Giants in the 1963 NFL Championship Game … at Wrigley Field. 

The Cubs won again Saturday when Johnson threw out the ceremonial first pitch, but without the poetic final score — 6-2. That’s not a football score. In fact, the only game in the 105-year history of the Bears (1,523 games) that ended 6-2 was a loss to the Packers in 1931 — at Wrigley Field. 

Bears head coach Ben Johnson reared back and fired the ceremonial first pitch like few others have. (Chicago Bears photo)

A bad omen? Probably not. On the contrary, despite their first-pitch experiences evoking memories of past Bears greatness, neither Nagy nor Eberflus found lasting success with the Bears. Nagy went 12-4 in 2018 but 8-8, 8-8 and 6-11 in the following three seasons and was fired. Eberflus went 3-14, 7-10 and 4-8 before he was fired after Week 13 last season. His 14-32 record is the third worst in franchise history. 

So Johnson’s more sobering, if not ominous, first-pitch final score is more likely to have the opposite outcome, which is pretty typical of Bears football. In fact, the general tempering of enthusiasm from Bears fans about — arguably — the Bears’ most inspiring head coaching hire since Mike Ditka has been an encouraging theme this offseason.

Despite the Bears hiring the hottest coordinator in the cycle to pair with a promising quarterback drafted No. 1 overall, it seems like even many of the most meatball Bears fans are taking a believe-it-when-I-see-it approach. Instead of dreaming of a 13-3 season with a deep playoff run, the Bears improving to 8-9 or 9-8 is a reasonable — and general, by my observation — expectation for the 2025 season. 

I’ve always said, “Lower the bar and you’re less likely to be disappointed” when it comes to optimism about the Bears. (Actually, I’ve said, “Lower the bar and you won’t be disappointed,” but that went out the window last season, when the Bears somehow managed to limbo well under the modest bar of 8-9/9-8 — with Eberflus becoming the first coach in franchise history to be fired in-season.) 

Right or wrong, Bears fans actually have more reason to think crazy, giddy thoughts with Johnson coaching Williams. Yet the tone seems more low-key than it normally would be. That healthy skepticism — more than the head coach throwing a credible ceremonial first pitch at a Cubs game— seems like a set-up for a rosy Bears narrative to finally come to fruition.