Chicago: Part Two

Part two…..the part that actually qualifies this trip for a baseball blog:

The hand operated score board with the "W" flag after the game.

            Sunday we went to Wrigley Field and saw the Cubs take on the Astros.  Wrigley Field is definitely a place every baseball fan should visit.  Entering Wrigley Field was like stepping back in time.  There are not a lot of the frills you would find in other parks.  There is no jumbotron to watch replays or to show fans dancing and acting silly between innings; just a massive, majestic hand-operated scoreboard.  The ratio of organ music to stereo music is a lot higher than most other parks.  There are no shenanigans between innings; no costumed characters racing, no contests involving the fans.  There is just baseball.  The vibe is a lot more serious and business-like.  It’s refreshing.  The big team store is across the street, because in 1914 when Wrigley Field was built, I would imagine the need for a team store was much less.  Actually there are a lot of good size stores selling Cubs gear outside of the stadium.  The concourse areas are much narrower and the concessions areas are much smaller.  There are no areas to sit and eat or just hang out in the concourse area.  You are expected to take care of your business and go to your seats.  This park was built for baseball, not commercialism.  There is a possibility that a lot of renovations and updates may take place at the park after this season, including but not limited to a jumbotron.  I am so glad I was able to visit Wrigley before any of these major updates take place.



The view from our seats



                 I have to say our experience was good, but not ideal…because it was so hot that day.  As southerners from the southeast we sometimes have blinders on and feel like we have a monopoly on heat.  It gets so hot here and with the humidity it is miserable, and there is no way anywhere else can compare.  Everywhere else has a “dry heat” right?  And it’s just not the same.  Well, the heat that day at Wrigley Field rivaled any day I’ve spent at Turner Field.  We had great seats; right behind home plate, section 123.  We were on the first row of that section.  At most parks you would have a bar in front of you and a small drop off.  Not here; here we had nothing in front of us and all the leg room you could ask for.  If someone on our row needed to get up, it did not affect us one bit.  The only downside was that the vendors were walking around in front of us for most of the game.  I am embarrassed to say that we went to the wrong seats at first.  We had seats 101 and 102, and when I spotted seats 1 and 2 for some reason I thought that was close enough.  I’ve done that at Turner Field before; I don’t know why I do that.  We did not go to our seats until right before the game started because of the heat and the seats were in the sun.  During the second inning some people informed us that we were in their seats, so we moved to our actual seats.  Those seats were literally too hot to sit in.  We tried for about a minute and then decided we had to do something else; anything else.  We walked around the concourse area for about two innings. That is when this conversation took place:

Mom:  How long are we going to walk around out here?

Me:  I don’t know, but we cannot go back out there to those seats.  We’ll have third degree burns on our backsides.

Mom:  I don’t want to miss “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Me: You mean the seventh inning stretch?

Mom: Yeah

Me:  Well, it’s the third inning now, so I think we’ll make it.

            We went back to our seats during the fourth inning.  By that time our seats were in the shade and everything was bearable.  We knew we would eventually be in the shade because of how the sun was moving, but we simply could not wait it out.  The seats immediately behind home plate and along the first base line were never in the shade.  I do not know how those people stood it.  All in all we had a great time!  The Cubs won 14-6 so we got to see them raise the white W flag and hear the crowd sing “Go Cubs Go”.  I recommend a trip to Wrigley Field to any baseball fan.  It is such an institution.  And I recommend a trip to Chicago to anyone.  It is a great city with lots to do and see!         



Greg Maddux's number on display.  It is retired by the Cubs (as well as the Braves).