Ballpark: US Cellular Field

On Monday, June 10, I met my friend Miso at "The Cell" to watch the White Sox take on the Blue Jays. US Cellular Field is located near an 'L' station so public transportation is easy but parking is also available. The first thing I noticed about US Cellular Field is that it is gigantic from the outside. I think this is because the field is at street level and you must go up a ramp to reach the field level concourse. In front of the main gate there is a large structure representing the past White Sox greats. In a circle around this structure are plaques for the individual players. Once through the main gate, you must travel up a ramp to the concourses. Only ticket holders of 100 level seats are allowed on the main concourse. Although we had 100 level tickets, restricting main concourses to only field level ticket holders is quickly becoming on of my top ballpark pet peeves. 

The main concourse is pretty typical of major league stadiums. I like how concourse was wide enough to walk around if the stadium had been full (it was about 20% full) and the field is visible from anywhere on the concourse. Our seats were 3 rows up in right-center field, next to the Blue Jay bullpen. As opposed to some ballparks where the bullpens take away from the viewing experience, these bullpens were small and the seats conform around the bullpens to provide good seating and sight lines. In general, the sight lines in this ballpark were pretty good with one big exception. Directly above the ivy and shrubbery that make up the hitter's eye in centerfield, there is an elevated patio porch. On this patio porch is a brick shed, for which purpose I am not sure. This brick shed is tall and unfortunately positioned that at least a corner of the scoreboard is blocked when sitting anywhere from the first base dugout to right field. Although there were three video boards (one each above the stands in left, center, and right) that gave all the desired baseball information, the one in center had most of the replays. There are some features to draw on the baseball tradition on the south side of Chicago. There are statues of some of the past greats on the concourse in centerfield. There is also a working shower in the outfield which is a historic hold over from Comiskey Park. 

The food at the ballpark was pretty decent. I had Cuban sandwich as recommended by Men's Journal and a sausage with peppers and onions recommended by Miso. I also had a fried dough but I couldn't handle all of the oil. Although the White Sox fans have a reputation for being a little rough, I found the fans to be fine. The entire stadium gave former White Sox and current Blue Jay, Mark Buerhle, a huge standing ovation after the first inning. Later in the game, the guy sitting right in front of me (and roughest guy in the crowd) proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes. Actually, I am not sure if she actually said the word "yes" but she wore the ring and they were kissing for the rest of the game. 

So far on my trip, there are only been a couple tough games to watch, and this was one. The Blue Jays started off strong as Jose Bautista hit a two-run homerun in the top of the first. As the fog rolled into the stadium, so did the runs. With the White Sox up 4-2 in the bottom of the 3rd, the game was halted because of the fog. It was definitely the right call to delay the game because I could barely make out the third base dugout. The fog affected the players as Bautista, the Blue Jays right fielder, was complaining about not being able to see the ball. After about an hour the game resumed. The teams exchanged leads as Bautista and the White Sox's Adam Dunn each hit their second homeruns of the game. The score remained 7-6 White Sox from the bottom of the 5th to the bottom of the eighth but threats by both teams caused several mid-inning pitching changes. This made a long, reasonably entertaining game feel long, drawn out, and difficult to watch. In the bottom of the eighth, two Blue Jay errors allowed the White Sox to add three runs and give them a somewhat comfortable 10-6 win.

My take-away from US Cellular Field is that it is a pretty typical MLB ballpark. There isn't any distinct feature to make "The Cell" standout and there are only a couple of negative. The neighborhood and the fans were not as rough as their reputation although the stadium was pretty empty.