Despite having a blog roster that counts several Cubs fans among its members, the YCS Baseball Roadshow had never reported from 1060 W. Addison. Being given an extra ticket 2 minutes before we had to leave the house, I was naturally psyched for my first trip to Wrigley in more than 3 years. After battling Lake Shore Drive, parking in Lincoln Park and the chronic incompetence of the CTA, we arrived just in time to see Mark DeRosa tie the game with a 1-1 homer in the 2nd. Sadly, this would probably be the high-water mark of the day, as the Cubs proceeded to lose 12-3. Carlos Zambrano also homered which was badass, and from our crappy seats in Section 503, the ball heading into the bleachers was about the only thing we had a good view of (besides the buses lining up on Waveland.)
Wrigley has an almost bizarre mix of Disneyland-style charm and impending structural dread. While I love Wrigley, that place needs a renovation stat. If the stadium were in Latin America instead of Lakeview, it would only be one structural failure away from a stadium collapse spot on World's Most Amazing/Goriest videos.
Now, Wrigley has its obvious charms, so I won't go into the glories of the stadium in the city, the ivy, scoreboard, etc. However, one of the pleasant surprises of Wrigley is the beer. $6.25 gets you an Old Style (or a Budweiser if you really hate yourself). This is probably the lowest price for stadium beer that I've seen in a long time. Compare to Busch Stadium
ripping me off for $8.25 for Bud Light last fall . While still getting totally ripped off, it has the same good feeling of crossing the state line and seeing that gas is ONLY $3.87 a gallon.
However, on a related note for beer, Wrigley is probably the only park in the majors where just about everyone in the park can see a giant billboard for a beer they cannot order. Sadly, these same fans, in addition to being denied high quality beer (instead being subjected to A-B fermented dishwater) are left with terrible puns as well.
The crowd was a usual mix of North side babes with no obvious rooting interests, hicks from St. Louis with a psychotic/borderline sexual love for the Cards, and people actually there to enjoy a baseball game.
By the middle of the game, the Cubs were getting absolutely slaughtered and the red contingent of the crowd was living it up...many having been to a big city for the first time in their lives. With that, all that was left was to enjoy the ambiance of Wrigley...until the 7th inning stretch, when the Take Me Out to the Ballgame guest conductor was Digger Phelps.
Fuck... Me...
Despite being in the same part of the ballpark as the organist, the two were completely in capable of keeping up with each other. Digger seemed juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a step slow. I've never heard "For it's 1....2....3 strikes you're out..." three different times (First organist, then crowd, then Digger).
In conclusion, despite its many faults, Wrigley Field is still a great old park, but the new ownership should probably look into making it a slightly newer park sooner rather than later.
Despite having a blog roster that counts several Cubs fans among its members, the YCS Baseball Roadshow had never reported from 1060 W. Addison. Being given an extra ticket 2 minutes before we had to leave the house, I was naturally psyched for my first trip to Wrigley in more than 3 years. After battling Lake Shore Drive, parking in Lincoln Park and the chronic incompetence of the CTA, we arrived just in time to see Mark DeRosa tie the game with a 1-1 homer in the 2nd. Sadly, this would probably be the high-water mark of the day, as the Cubs proceeded to lose 12-3. Carlos Zambrano also homered which was badass, and from our crappy seats in Section 503, the ball heading into the bleachers was about the only thing we had a good view of (besides the buses lining up on Waveland.)
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2 comments:
You think sitting in Wrigley on a sunny afternoon poses a structural threat? Imagine my panic as the tornado sirens were going off Monday night.
Between being drunk, getting locked in for our safety and credit card machines going down, I thought Chicago had experienced a Katrina-level infrastructure collapse, so I started hoarding pretzels and bottled water to barter within the new society we would start within Wrigley.
That's how I think.
I don't care what city I attended college at. I'll take that fermented dishwater (regular Bud) over a Lite, MGD, or even High Life anyday. Agreed, though, that Bud Light is vile stuff (as are most corn-based beers). However, that isnt' an issue as long as the vendor doesn't screw up and give you Light even after you've yelled "Bud! No, not Light! Regular Budweiser!" down the row three times, and then he makes you pass down a second I.D., which is annoying, and then your terrible beer that you paid $6.25 for and took almost a half-inning to purchase is warm and about 45% head on top of that. Man, that vendor was an asshole.
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