Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
scott@scottlongonline.com
Over the past 2 Wednesdays, I have visited Wrigley Field and US Cellular ballparks in Chicago. With the White Sox and Cubs starting their cross-town games today, all the Chicagoland media and blogs are breaking down the battle. Well, forget searching the other sites, as here at The Juice, we have everything covered. This will not be about game specifics though, as this piece is focused on what makes the team's different.
When you talk about the Cubs, you must start with Wrigley Field. It's what makes the team special and it could be the biggest reason the Cubs have failed to win a World Series. When your park holds such drawing power, it takes away the financial incentive to spend money. Just visiting Wrigley is a schizophrenic experience, as it sits in a great neighborhood, but because of this parking is difficult and expensive.
Sitting close to Lake Michigan gives you a great flavor of Chicago, part of that flavor, though is the bitter winds off it. The day I attended the game, the temperature was 45 degrees, with a windchill somewhere in the 20's, despite the temps being in the 60's in the suburbs. Just to give you an idea of how cold it was, even the gameballs seemed to suffer from shrinkage. Being someone who likes to play the heretic, after a couple innings of dealing with this brutality, I loudly mentioned that "someone ought to put a dome on this dump!"
Despite the weather, the park has charm galore, from the brick, the ivy, and the view of people sitting on rooftops behind the outfield. Wrigley Field is the way an old park should look. Speaking of old, the Cubs must have an outreach program to the local mortuaries, as their ushers have a "Night of the Living Dead" appearance. Despite not wearing any paraphenalia to give myself away, I swear the offensive octogenerian, who was my aisle's guardian, must have sensed I was a White Sox fan, as she came down to check my ticket each inning. This cranky old broad treated me like I was Hamas and she was a Golani Bridge paratrooper.
One thing that both teams in Chicago share is that their fans favor Miller Lite. I lived in Chicago for a year and outside of Milwaukee, there can't be a city where Miller rules more over all other competitors. When you go to Chicago, you quickly notice that there are a lot of FAT people there. The biggest reason for this is because the food is so freaking fantastic. Much like New York, any kind of delicacy is available and how the Windy City wins out is the prices are more reasonable.
Unlike Wrigley, old Comiskey Park was never particularly special. If you aren't aware of the history of how the new Comiskey (renamed US Cellular Field) came to be built, it goes like this. White Sox ownership wanted a new park to create more revenue. The impetus to get the stadium built was a brand new stadium sitting empty in Tampa/St. Pete, which the community leaders were offering to owner Jerry Reinsdorf. In a midnight session, the Illinios governor and state senate concocted a deal to save the White Sox in Chicago. The new stadium was the first of the modern day parks built and when it first was opened, received glowing reviews. Then Camden Yards was built the following year.
Camden had the same designers as new Commiskey, but had a bigger budget and was set in an area, the Inner Harbor, which was going through a revitalization. There were plans to put the new Commiskey in a suburb of Chicago (Addison), but many in the city fought to keep the team in it's historical past. This was a major mistake, as the area around the park is surrounded by what even the most generous critics would describe as urban decay. No new restaurants, bars or hip housing has grown around it. Unlike the Cubs, which has a stadium sitting in the middle of Wrigleyville's great party atmosphere, you attend a White Sox game and then hit the parking lot and escape on the Dan Ryan.
The White Sox have pumped a lot of money over the past few years, remodeling their stadium and it's really been improved. In many ways it's become a more enjoyable place to bring your family than Wrigley. Hey, but what about the Ligue of nation fans who attend on the Southside? While not boasting the same financial demographics, as the average fan on the Northside, it's not like the average White Sox fan is some mullet-sporting guy, just looking to jump the closest first base coach.
Okay, maybe there is a decent share of these guys at the park, as my camera begged me to snap when visiting last Wednesday, but I would argue that it's just a more diverse crowd. Wrigley is known for the party which happens in it's bleacher seats, with a lot of hot women to rub elbows with. My experience has been that per capita, there are just as many babes at US Cellular. These women have a look which says, "just supply me with enough brewskis and have some White Castle burgers in the fridge, so I have something to take care of my naked hangover the next morning." I choose this woman over the Northside princess who you have to wine and dine just to attempt a hit and run.
Just in case you thought the above picture was part of the new remodel, a fence around the field to protect the players from the fans, you are wrong. This is a view from one of the most unique features of US Cellular, the bullpen sports bar. Below the stadium's bleachers, sits an underground sports bar, which just borders the bullpen to its right and sits just outside the right field fence. Considering the paucity of places to tailgate before the game, this is the perfect spot to prepare, especially if you're with Will Carroll and he can break down what the pitchers are doing right and wrong in the bullpen.
So to bottom line the whole Chicago baseball experience. Wrigley is the best, except for a few things that make it not. US Cellular is good, but has some stuff that is much better than Wrigley. Overall, the unique differences make it baseball's best two team town. Just think how great it could be if one could actually play in a World Series.
One of the biggest beefs about the place for the fan is the angle of the upper deck. Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner, wanted the architects to add a second tier of luxury boxes. The result is that the upper deck is so steep that the vendors are afraid to walk up the steps.
Why not? The red line is very close to the park. When I lived in the city, I would take the El there all the time. It is a very convenient, cheap and safe way to get to and from the ballpark.
I can see where Wrigley is appealing to first timers or those from outide Chicago. Wrigleyville IS a very nice area to live/visit and you get a great taste of Chicago in that surrounding area. On the other hand, The Cell is in a part of Chicago that does not compare financially. TODAY. Well, ok, the last decade at least. But, as a suburbanite, I had to be told how not THAT long ago Wrigleyville was also far from being a nice, rich area. So, for those who like to shop, walk around, stop in a few bars, I can't blame you for liking the Wrigley experience in the 21st century.
Now, for those of you who go solely to watch a baseball game, Wrigley is not as good of a venue. Is it a crappy venue? Heck, I go to the local park here in Naperville just to watch some baseball being played - even by kids. There ISN'T a venue in the world that can be labeled as crappy if a baseball game is being played. I can be cramped in my seat for 3 hours and be ok. I can take an inning off and use the trough while holding my nose. I'm just glad my team plays somewhere else 81 games a year so I don't have to. I like my Cell experience and I'm proud of it! :)
People flock to Wrigley because it has history and the media portrays it as a thing of beauty. Oh, yes, and Chicago has lots of Cubs fans. There is nothing wrong with that. If you haven't been there and you are a fan of baseball history, you MUST go if you have the means to attend. But, to say it is a "better" park is just crazy.
Now PNC Park in Pittsburgh is the ultimate experience! ;)
Normally, Scott, I think you're a pretty good writer. That being said, the above statement is just one of those things Sox fans say that makes no sense.
The Cubs have one of the highest payrolls in the National Leauge. How have they not spent money to win, recently at least?
If anything, the reverse is true of the Sox-- Having such a bad ballpark in a bad location has taken away the financial incentive for the Sox to spend money.
Also, public transportation to Wrigley is extreme convenient.
Now Comiskey Park (note spelling, Mr. Long, since Charlie was a hell of a player and manager during my favorite era of baseball, before he became Mr. Burns) had its charms, much like Wrigley. I love Wrigley, but I would have enthusiastically dated old Comiskey.
US Cellular - feh!
You can't honestly say we're more obnoxious than any other fans around the country. I hate these fan arguments 'cause they're ridiculous.
Every team has fans who are obnoxious. Every team has fans who are great. You can hate the Cubs as a team--that's part of the fun, I guess, but the labeling of fans I never understood.
I don't hate you, White Sox fans. I may be jealous, but that's another story.
I still believe the Cubs could spend more. Not exactly a Pappas-like analysis, but I have a hard time believing they couldn't have been more aggressive going after a Beltran.
I'm not ripping the average Cub fan, just that a lot of the women in the bleachers there treat it like it's a Sorority meeting.
Beltran is currently 37th in NL OPS, behind Jeromy Burnitz. Take that for what it's worth.
I 'spose they could have threw more money to get J.D. Drew or Magglio, but I don't exactly know that was a good idea.
And, only because seeing the Sox beat the Cubs feels like getting a knife stuck in chest repeatedly, I'm sick of Sox fans complaining about casual Cubs fans. The Cubs have a lot of fans. Some of those fans aren't die hards, but still go to the games because Wrigley is a fun place. If that many people showed up at The Cell, you'd see casual fans there too. But, first you've got to see people show up.
The Cubs have about 10 times as many blogs dedicated to them than the Sox do. Take that as a sign of how dedicated the fan base is. And, I have nothing but the represenations of disgruntled Sox fans as proof that the people at Sox games are better or some how more educated than the fans at Wrigley. It's not fair to fault a team because good looking girls show up.
I think if they play Dubois all the time, they have a fine OF right now. The issue for the Cubs are injuries up the middle, the inevitable decline of Barrett and relief pitching that is putrescent.
The Sox have a nice staff but I wonder when their starters get a little weary will the lauded pen be able to keep up.
On another subject, I'm actually not sure that the Cubs would have no reason to spend that money. If you'll recall, the Cubs, before a few years ago, didnt draw that well before Mid-May (not unlike the team on the South Side) and attendence would pick up with the weather for the past four months. Only about 15,000 attended the Kerry Wood 20 K game in May of 1998. The past few years though, they've been selling out those first games that they used to only get 20-30K for, so selling those tickets before the season starts is a benefit of hyping up the team with a good roster.
Also, if the Sox were to do some postseason damage in 2005 (like make the World Series or win it), the Cubs might not be able to get those fans as readily as they were able to before.
I loved the old ballpark, despite the posts and seats up the lines that faced straight ahead to the outfield rather than angled to faced the infield.
I loved the smell of the place, it always smelled like hot dogs and beer and cigar smoke. That must have been permanently in the concrete or something, it smelled like that on opening day. It had the original shower in the bleachers, and the first exploding scoreboard. It had Bill Veeck as the owner. It was probably the first park to have food besides hotdogs, popcorn and cottoncandy. It sold Old Style. It had great vendors who would sit down next to you and shoot the shit on slow days or if you were good customers (like during my bachelor party in the left field upper deck). It had the best corned beef sandwich in the city, which considering what a food city Chicago is, that says a lot. It was cavernous--when I was young, it was 360 down the lines and 445 to dead center. It had the first picnic area, under the left field stands. It had Sox fans. You could sit cheek and jowl with anyone, talk baseball and make friendly bets. It had Reggie Jackson's final game. It had McCuddy's, the best near ballpark bar ever; Babe Ruth used to duck in there for a quick pop when the Yankees were batting. "Let's meet at McCuddy's" was the standard phrase when talking with friends about going to the game. It was the Baseball Palace of the World, and the world's largest saloon.
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