Game Notes:
Pran actually lives within walking distance of Wrigley Field which is key because parking around the stadium would have been a nightmare. I suppose I could have taken the train as well but being a few blocks away just made life easier. Once I got close to the field I noticed the surrounding buildings all had bleachers on their roofs. I had heard a bit about this and I think a few years ago a legal battle was won and the buildings were allowed to construct the seats to allow fans to look directly down onto the field. I forget which stadium I was at but someone told me the people in Chicago were really friendly and I’d be able to just knock on a door or two to check out the “Wrigleyrooftops.” Not so. I knocked or rang the buzzer at four different buildings but didn’t get an answer. Maybe it’s the beard? Or maybe I was there around 4:30-5:00 in the afternoon and some people actually have jobs!
On the buildings across the street you can see the seats I’m talking about. I think it’d be really cool to watch a game from up there. Also, if I’m not mistaken, I think the high-rise in the background is Pran’s building.
In terms of old-timey charm, Wrigley is right up there with Fenway.
You can tell the stadium has a lot of miles on it, everything feels a bit too cramped and there are poles everywhere. Also, the Cubs do not use a video board! Intentional or not, I thought that was a nice nod to tradition. Another nod to tradition can be found below.
Even Fenway has upgraded its facilities in recent years. Nice job Cubs!
Not everything is comparable to Fenway though. The grandstand seats at Wrigley are all plastic instead of those wooden nightmares and they have scoreboards and TVs hanging from the rafters in the lower seating bowl and all the way up in the upper deck, which isn’t even very “upper.” When I took a walk through the seats I was shocked at how close everything was to the field. For the first few innings of the game Pran and I ended up sitting in the very top row of the upper deck and we were still SO much closer than I have been at most games on this trip. Every seat in the house makes you feel like you’re right there on the field and I love that. Of course, there are tradeoffs…but this just reminded me of home…and it wasn’t my seat, so it was OK.
Continuing on, I was met with a harsh reality. I had heard Rob mention something about this before I went to the game but I wasn’t sure how true it was. Apparently, as I found out, fans with tickets for grandstand seats at Wrigley ARE NOT allowed to be walking around in the bleachers section but fans with tickets in the bleachers ARE allowed into the rest of the stadium. So as I made my way over to the bleachers I wasn’t sure what type of resistance I’d be met with. When I noticed the ticket checker person get temporarily distracted I seized my opportunity and walked right up the stairs; all in all, pretty easy.
Something I was very curious about at Wrigley Field was seeing a shot of the stadium that didn’t contain ivy (which, by the way, was in full bloom and really pretty spectacular). On Sportscenter it seems like you only see shots of the outfield and that’s it. So without further ado, I present to you a shot of Wrigley Field FROM the outfield!
The fans in the bleachers were amazing. I got to the game shortly after the gates opened and they had almost packed the bleachers by the time I made my way over. They were all dressed in blue and white team shirts and were merciless when it came to heckling the Braves players during BP. Usually you hear kids screaming “right here! right here!” when a player catches a ball near the wall. Nine times out of ten the guy will just throw the ball back to the bucket and that’s the end of it. Well, at Wrigley if that player didn’t flip the ball up to a kid he was practically crucified! If the fans were that into BP I wondered what the game was going to be like. Answer: equally insane.
Satisfied with my bleachers experience, I tried to finish my loop around the field. That’s when my trip to Wrigley almost was cut extremely short. Trotting down the stairs to head back to the left field grandstand I was met with a girl who wanted to scan my ticket. “Ut oh” I thought. “Sure!” I said. She informed me my ticket was to the grandstand and asked what I was doing in the bleachers. I explained I just wanted to take some pictures (my go-to line!) but she wasn’t buyin’. She told me I wasn’t supposed to be in the bleachers and that my ticket was no longer valid. I kind of looked at her with a blank look on my face and she called her supervisor over. He admonished me about certain “rules and regulations” that have to be followed and confirmed what Rob had told me earlier. I wasn’t supposed to have been in the bleachers in the first place and blahbiddy blibbidy bloobidy. He didn’t give a lick when I told him about my big summer trip and, sure I was getting kicked out, I was THIS close to just using Pran’s ticket to get back in (he was meeting me after work). In the end, after the lecture I asked “so what am I supposed to do?” and, oddly, it seemed to catch him off guard. He just gave me a simple “well, you got away with it…enjoy the game.” I couldn’t believe it!
Before moving on, does that make sense? I know at Fenway the opposite used to be true. If you had tickets to the bleachers you were not allowed into other areas of the park. I assume this was to keep the rowdy drunks away from the high class grand stand? Or maybe if you paid a small price to sit in the bleacher seats you weren’t supposed to sneak into more expensive grand stand seats? Either way, Wrigley is the opposite. Maybe those are more coveted seats and they don’t want thousands of people overcrowding the bleachers every game? I’m not really sure what the reason is but to be sure, there ARE rules and regulations.
Speaking of which, those of you who know me, know I play by nobody’s rules but my own, my own and nobody else's, not even my own. Have a look at this.
Drunk off his newfound sense of power and entitlement (and maybe beer), Matt has decided to write the following paragraph in the third person! Matt was surprised by the concession prices at Wrigley Field. When Matt was at US Cellular for the White Sox game Matt thought the prices would be higher due to Chicago being a large city. Well, the prices at Wrigley were even cheaper! Matt got to have another “Chicago dog” for a mere $4.25 (for what it’s worth, Matt liked the Comisky dog a little better). A pretzel was $3.00, a regular hot dog $3.75 and beers ranged from $5.75 to $6.50. Those are not the best prices in the country but for Chicago being such a big city, Matt was impressed.
OK, that’s over now, I promise.
High Points:
-I forget which city I was in but I recently saw a TV special on the Cubs and their winning ways (best record in baseball at the time of this post). For those of you who don’t know, a big part of their success this season is because of Japanese import outfielder Kosuke Fukudome (Foo-Koo-Doh-Mee). On the show they highlighted some of things fans are doing in Chicago this year. Well, I saw this shirt and knew when I got to Wrigley I had to have one!
-Related to the above, this thing was a hit! No less than three people came up to me and asked where I got the shirt. They don’t sell them at the official Cubs store but I found a few street vendors with different takes on the same slogan. I was a veritable social butterfly; two people asked me to take their picture and the guy sitting next to me for a while was taking a trip to Boston with his family in July and racked my brain about what to do in the city. I gave him some ideas but emphasized the duck tours. The kids were in the 7-10 range. Thoughts?
-The luxury space at Wrigley is secluded and while it provides its patrons a nice, close view of the game, it does not interfere with other fans' enjoyment.
-Pran seemed to think it was normal but I was surprised by all of the Red Sox hats I saw at the game and in Chicago in general. Red Sox Nation!
-The “CUB”house! I get it!! It’s a play on words!!!
-I mentioned this before but the upper deck was still SO close to the field. I’ve never been in the highest deck at a park and seen so many foul balls come my way. Even if you were near the top of Wrigley you still had a legitimate shot at getting a ball.
-At Wrigley, fans are known for throwing back home run balls hit by the opposing team. It’s a tradition. There are no repercussions for fans who take part in this practice. Kudos to the Cubs for allowing this, despite the potential dangers. In Arizona I saw a fan throw a home run ball back onto the field and then watched him get tailed the entire way around the outfield by two security guards. I didn’t see it but I’m assuming they kicked the guy out. I’m sure they waited until he was far enough away (in distance and time) from the event and then asked him to leave. I understand that it’s a potential hazard and players could be injured if fans in every park start throwing balls back onto the field but it's still kind of too bad.
-The Bud Light guy was able to pour two 16oz cans of beer simultaneously. That’s much easier said than done.
-I thought this was a pretty nice shot of the stadium. It was great to be there with a sellout crowd of passionate fans.
Low Points:
-The ushers around Wrigley were VERY strict. In the upper levels the taking pictures excuse worked before the game but not during. Obviously the aforementioned “bleachergate” was an issue. They were friendly enough, but they definitely did not want you sitting in the wrong seats.
-There was a general lack of standing room at Wrigley Field. It was very cramped quarters but I think they had room to expand the standing areas in some places if they wanted. Also, not that I’m a stadium architect, but it seems like they had enough base and support to build up if they wanted to expand. Just sayin.
-As much as the poles around the stadium felt like home, they were still a bit annoying if you got stuck behind one.
-During a pleasant 5-part acapella national anthem the Cubs fans started cheering and applauding before “star spangled banner yet wave?” That’s just too early for this guy.
-The peanut vendor “threw” his peanuts to people who bought them but never more than 2-3 rows. They ain’t got nuthin on Fenway!
Overall Grade: B+
Game Stats:
Teams: Cubs vs. Braves
Final Score: 10-5 Cubs
WP: Ted Lilly
LP: Tom Glavine
Time: 2:50
Announced Attendance: 41,624
Ticket Price: $60.00
Parking Price: N/A
Trip Stats:
Home team record: 17-6
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 8564
States Visited: 19
Countries Visited: 2
Beds slept in: 27
Highest Gas PPG: $4.19 [$4.81 if you count Canada]
Next Stop: Pittsburgh Pirates
Favorite Park: Petco Park (Padres)
Stadium Grades:
Marlins: D
Rays: B
Braves: B-
Rockies: B+
Mariners: B
Giants: A-
Athletics: C
Angels: B-
Dodgers: B+
Padres: A
Diamondbacks: B
Rangers: B-
Astros: B-
Blue Jays: C
Tigers: A-
Indians: B-
Reds: B+
Cardinals: B
Royals: B
Twins: B-
Brewers: A-
White Sox: B
Cubs: B+
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