Watching a baseball game at Wrigley Field feels like stepping into a time machine. Wrigley Field is one of two 100 year old active ballparks in the major leagues (Fenway Park being the other). Wrigley Field is easily accessible by public transportation and is surrounded by many bars, restaurants, and merchandise retailers. One unique aspect of Wrigley Field is that the apartment buildings beyond the outfield fences are taller than the bleacher seats. Thus, the building owners have put seating on top of their buildings so they can charge people for a rooftop view of the game. Also surrounding the ballpark are statues of numerous Cubs greats including Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, and announcer Harry Caray. The iconic feature of Wrigley Field from the outside is the Wrigley Field sign which now has a small message board displaying the next Cubs home game.
The nostalgia strengthens once you enter the ballpark. The main concourse is narrow and a couple flights of stairs lead up to the top of the field level seats. At the top of the field level seats, there is a walkway but no concessions. The seats in this area have a limited view: the scoreboard in centerfield is not visible and you may be stuck behind one of many poles that hold up the upper level. The view from the first several rows of the upper level might be some of the best in the ballpark. Even though they are in the upperdeck, these seats are close to the action and are not obstructed. A few rows back and the view may be obstructed from more poles that hold up a canopy. The only seating in the outfield are bleacher seats. The bleachers are general admission but you must enter through a specific gate which is separated from the main concourse from the ballpark (although I think I saw a walkway between the two). It was a battle to find seats online and determine if they might be obstructed or not. I decided on seats that were in the lower level about 15 rows up from the left field foul pole (about 50 yards up and further out from where Steve Bartman sat). We had a good view of the infield, outfield, and scoreboard. The ivy on the outfield wall might be the most iconic feature of any ballpark in the world. As someone who always thought the ivy was somewhat overrated, consider me now a fan. The ivy gave the ballpark a lush and natural feeling. Above the ivy-covered walls is a manually operated scoreboard. The runs for every inning of every game in the majors are hung on the scoreboard manually. The only electronic element to the scoreboard are the balls, strikes, and outs as well as a small video screen showing the name of the batter. There is a larger video board built into the right field wall that gives some pitcher and hitter statistics. The tradition of the ballpark carries over to the atmosphere. There is a lot of organ music, the 7th inning stretch is made into an event, and "Go Cubs, Go" is sung and a 'W' is hung if the Cubs win. I kept with the tradition by eating a Chicago dog and having a beer.
The Pirates scored first with a double and successive RBI single. The Pirates' starter, Jeff Locke, walked 7 batters and gave up one run through 5.2 innings but hadn't surrendered a hit. Dioner Navarro broke up the no-hitter with a single and the Pirates went to their bullpen. The next Cubs offensive inning, Cody Ransom gave the Cubs the lead with a 3-run homerun. The Cubs relievers shut the Pirates down in the later innings to give the Cubs a 4-1 win. After the last out, nearly all the Cubs fans participated in the Wrigley Field tradition of singing "Go Cubs, Go".
My take-away of Wrigley Field is that it is filled with tradition but it lacks modern amenities. The number of obstructed view seats is astounding and it is actually pretty hard to follow the game without keeping a scorecard yourself. The traditions and the iconic features are pure baseball and shouldn't be discarded but renovations would improve the ballpark experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment