Two Days at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field, Chicago
Bob and Dad on the Ballpark Tour in 2005

 

In my mind, there are four baseball stadiums that have a certain reverence… a majesty of sorts… a mystical, legendary quality about them. Three of them are classics, with one a bit more modern.

Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Yankee Stadium – I think most people will understand why I’d mention these three. Enough said.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards – It was Camden Yards that triggered the “new park with great amenities, a classic feel and some thought given to the surrounding property” building craze. It’s the one consistent reason and inspiration involved in all of the new baseball parks built across the country in the past ten years.

Before the 2005 season began, I had visited two of them, and both on multiple occasions. Something funny happened in 2004 though…

Like many baseball fans, I had always toyed with the idea of seeing a game played at every major league stadium. Was it realistic? Probably not. At least that’s the way I thought about it. So it stayed in the background. In August of 2004 though my father and I were talking about it… he had the same dream, which I knew before, but we both just dismissed it. Other things to do. But on a wonderful summer evening at McCoy Stadium (the AAA home of the Pawtucket Red Sox), the two of us were at a game with Tigg when he mentioned that the Red Sox were heading to Wrigley Field in June of 2005.

Well… that took the dreams out of the background, dusted them off, and spurred us into action. We were able to get tickets to two of the games at Wrigley Field… and Chicago didn’t disappoint.

In ten, fifteen, maybe twenty years, I hope to be able to tell you about every one of the thirty places a major league baseball team plays. I want to tell you about the green grass. I want to mention the special aspects of the building… the field… the neighborhood around it. I want to talk about hot dogs and special concessions. And I want to tell you how fun it was to see them all… with my family… with my father.

But you have to understand that I’ve been spoiled. I grew up seeing games every year at Fenway Park. I can’t possibly imagine that Tropicana Field or Dolphins Stadium today… or even Memorial Stadium or the Kingdome in the past… could compare to having Fenway as the regional home field experience. Because as much as it is the field, it’s the neighborhood as well. It’s more than the Green Monster or the golf cart designed to look like a baseball that used to bring the relievers in. It’s the Citgo sign. The original Lansdowne Shop.

So having been to Fenway so often and Camden Yards twice for games, I was worried about heading out to Wrigley Field.

It turns out there was no cause for concern at all.

You know Wrigley has the ivy.

You know Wrigley has their bleachers… and decorated foul poles… and Waveland Avenue… and the throw back the home run ball tradition.

And they have something else…

Wrigleyville.

While I don’t think I will ever see a baseball field of play as amazing as Fenway’s… I’m sorry to say Boston fans… I’m otherwise happy to report that Wrigleyville will likely never be topped as a home for a ballpark. This place is a part of the family for these people… even more than Fenway is for Boston.

One interesting side note about the trip to the field. We got off of interstate 90 and drove along West Addison to get to the park. Both of us felt as though the road was quite similar to Veterans Parkway (which you can use to drive in to Fenway). Haven’t done the research to prove it, but we wondered if that had anything to do with the age of the parks and how they were placed into their locales so many years ago.

The outside of The Cubby Bear, with the sign saying it all... "just named the best neighborhood bar in America..."

When it comes to Wrigleyville, let’s start with The Cubby Bear. It’s located on the corner of North Clark and West Addison, and it is a great sports bar. Dad and I went to visit the grounds around Wrigley on Thursday evening, the day before the first game of the series. We stopped to eat at The Cubby Bear and had a great time. Food was good and the staff was friendly. Say hello to Jennifer if you see her… she was our waitress.

We walked around Wrigley and were stunned at how short the walk seemed. One thing that immediately hit us as we turned onto Sheffield Avenue was the stands built on top of the buildings across the street. It’s one thing to know they’re there… another thing entirely to see them in person.

The view of the stands next to right field... you can see the stands on top of the buildings along Sheffield Avenue

As we passed a gate outside the left field area, a man walked past a staff member that was taking a break with a cigarette. After exchanging pleasantries, the first man said something that made my Dad and I smile… “World Champions are in town.” Dad walked up to the man with the cigarette a few moments later and mentioned that he had waited 50 years to get to Wrigley. “You must be from Boston,” came the reply. We spoke to him for a few minutes, and he said they expected a huge percentage of the fans to be supporting Boston. He went on to say it would likely be alot like when St. Louis comes to town, but without the bad feelings about the opponent.

Around the park are stores and bars and food. Just incredibly easy to navigate. Another note… amazingly clean and well maintained. Just beautiful surroundings. Gorgeous. You can sense how proud these people seem to be about being on display when visitors come to Wrigley.

Get there early and enjoy on of the pleasures of a day at the ballpark... batting practice...

On Friday we got to the field several hours ahead of game time. We watched batting practice and walked around the park. I’ll hand it to you Wrigley… and the Cubs organization… I doubt if there is any way I will meet friendlier people at a ballpark. The whole city was full of fantastic people in every direction we turned and in every place we went to. But at Wrigley… amazing. Great people.

The first day we sat down the right field line, in aisle 239. A metal support beam was directly between me and the pitcher’s mound. Ah… the old ballparks! And yet, having been to Fenway so often, I wasn’t shocked or put off by the obstructed view. It was a part of it. No problem.

Do you see the beam off to the left of this picture? Good. Do you see first base? Neither did I.

Out in center is a huge old-time scoreboard. Most of the games were at night… (What? A game at Wrigley during the day while basically every other major league team was playing at night? You have to be kidding… I’m stunned…) but the hand operated features were still on display. I hadn’t paid much attention to the way opposing pitchers were listed, so Dad had to explain the references in the program. Yup, a father explaining how to score a game to his son moment. This trip had it all.

For those of you that favor the American League game… a note from Friday’s action…. 20 combined runs scored… 7 home runs hit. The Cubs had 14 runs and 20 hits. Game time? Not even three hours… officially it was two hours and fifty-two minutes.

For the Saturday game we were in aisle 226, significantly closer to the action and in between home plate and first base. In fact, turning our heads to the right, first base was obstructed by a beam.

A slightly different view on Saturday's game

One thing was absent from Wrigley… and we didn’t miss it. There were no prize patrols or specialized groups out there firing off air cannons to shoot T-shirts into the stands. And while there were some sponsored prizes flashed across the scoreboard occasionally, it seemed that the favorite announcement for the fans was “Old Style here!”

Old Style… that’s the beer. Old style… that’s Wrigley Field. Full of charm and class and fun, it was packed with those experiences that create lifelong fans of teams and the game. Just a bunch of people enjoying the food, the company, the weather… and yes… even a ball game.

As of right now, Fenway Park is still the best field I have ever seen a baseball game played on. But Wrigley Field… Wrigleyville… made me feel right at home.

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail me at Bob@inmybackpack.com