After I returned from Cleveland, I was fed substantially by the Turow's and then Scott (the dad), Eve (the youngest daughter) and I went to a park along Lake Michigan and played softball for nearly an hour. I hadn't played any form of baseball or softball in over a year -- I hadn't even thrown a ball. It was a lot of fun to play around again (I was a little rusty), and the exercise felt good after so many days in the car. We went out for some of Chicago's best ice cream and I went to bed early.
I woke up early the next morning, once again proving unable to sleep in past 7:30am. I got dressed, worked on some logistical stuff for the upcoming games on the trip, and pack my car full of all the goodies I had collected from the All Star Game. Annette (the mom) packed me some snacks and I was on my way to the Wrigley Field.
Wrigley Field is located on the North Side of Chicago, not far from Lake Michigan in a neighborhood that is somewhere between a fully residential neighborhood and one that is designed to accomodate baseball. Most of the games are day games because there are so many Chicagoans living around the stadium -- in fact an ordinance limits the club to only 18 night games per season. Most of the shops and restaurants around the park have a baseball theme to them with a few who have been around since the beginning. But, there are also some chain restaurants, such as McDonalds, that remind you of the commercialization of baseball.
When you walk around the inside of the stadium you feel the warmth and friendly nature of the park and the fans. "Welcome to the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field." is the key phrase associated with the park. . . nametags, signs, and even the visitors dugout displays the message. The park is clean, small, and still reflects many of the old qualities that make ballparks special. There is no loud rock and roll music playing the background, instead an organ plays all of the music for stadium (often converting the top hits of today into organ songs without words).
The scoreboard in center field is manually operated and there is not diamondvision providing replays. Flags represting the National League division standings fly high above and indicate which way the wind is blowing. There is a little digital sign above the center field bleachers to offer players statistics and other information, and there are digital scoreboards on the lower seating areas to give fans who can't see the scoreboard regular updates, but that is the extent of the modernization of the park. The lights were only added to the park in 1988 (the last park in the majors) and the clocks are all manuaal -- prompting one Cardinals coach to scream out "What this field really needs is a f*@%ing digital clock."
I entered the ballpark nearly two hours before the pitch and the fans were already lining up outside the gates. I tried to find the press box, looking around for the elevator for nearly ten minutes, but settled for my field access. I learned later that there are no elevators at Wrigley Field and I would have to walk up to the press box, located at the top of the stadium behind home plate. The dugouts are very deep and the players and coaches sit up high on the wooden benches so they can see on to the field. The bullpens are located on the field up the first and third base line, and the brick walls of the stadium stretch all the way around.
But there are a few thing that makes Wrigley Field the most special park in all of baseball -- the ivy walls, the bleachers, and the apartments. Stretching around the outfield walls, dark green ivy grows from top to bottom -- cut out only for some service entrances and to show the distances on the wall. Above the ivy are the bleachers where Cubs fan gather during the game, many of them shirtless, and watch the game. The fans who sit in the bleachers are famous for throwing back homeruns hit by opponents (rather than keeping them as sourveneirs) and on this day they held true to history, throwing back Gary Gaetti's solo homerun in the third inning. Finally, beyond the bleachers, outside of the stadium walls are the many apartment buildings in the neighborhood. Fans and local residents gather on top of the apartment buildings to barbecue and watch the game. You can see the smoke rising from the grilles on each rooftop and some have even had bleacher type seating installed. One of the rooftops even displays a pinwheel, purchased from the old Comiskey Park when it closed in 1991.
The combination of th neighborhood, the fans, and the simple beauty of Wrigley Field make it the best park in baseball. It is not the most modern, the cleanest, and it doesn't offer the most amenities (or even the best team). But, if I had to choose any ballpark to live near, have tickets for, or even travel from out of town to visit, it would be Wrigley Field. It is that special.
The wind was blowing in at Wrigley Field during batting practice so most of the hits were either on the ground or into the part of the outfield just beyond the dirt of the infield. I arrived in the middle of the Cubs warm ups, just in time to see some of the Cubs stars take their swings. Sammy Sosa winked at me while I stood outside the cage, Ryne Sandberg nodded at me when I commented on how beautiful a day it was for baseball,. and Mark Grace almost had a conversation with me before we were interrupted by a a reporter (who essentially had a conversation with himself as Mr. Grace seemed uninterested).
In fact, for most of the time I was on the field with the Cubs, this one reporter walked around, in front of every picture I tried to take, interrupted me and walked in front of me while I was talking with players and coaches, and generally was a nuisance. When he finally left the field, I overheard some of the other local reporters talking about much they disliked him (I will spare you the profanity) for his tactics and his method of constantly trying to steal quotes, tips and other information from the other working press on the field. I felt better that I wasn't the only one adversely affected by this reporter.
When the Cardinals took the field, I grabbed a ball that got away from Manager Tony LaRussa during infield warmups, and before I had the chance to toss it back, he turned away gesturing as if I could keep the ball. So I did. The rest of the time I stood by the batting cage, watching the players take swings, and talking about the trip. The Cardinals only All Star, Royce Clayton, came up to me after reading my hat and we had a nice converstaion about the trip. Leadoff hitter Delino Deshields and I joked about one photograhper from a card company that had offered him a box of cards from Delino's time with the Dodgers (mr. Deshields didn't seem that interested in his past participation on other teams). After Ron Gant muscled a homerun to left center field in the face of the wind, I walked up to him and explained that he hit the first homerun in batting practice on the entire day (both teams). We spent the rest of batting practice, along with Ray Lankford, joking about mother nature, the wind, the strength of the Cardinals players (particularly these two) and how mean the Cardinals organization was being about my visit to Busch Stadium.
I tried throughout my time at Wrigley field to find some of the folks from the Cubs organization that I had spoken with, but proved unable. I had been contacted several months ago by someone in the General Manager's office to arrange a meeting, but when I called ahead a few days ago, I was unable to locate anyone and never got a call back. The media relations office was very helpful, providing me with field and press box credentials and offering me information, free food, and several other things during my visit.
The press box at Wrigley Field is all the way at the top of the stadium, and only accessible by a series of ramps and staircases. It is very modern, compared to the stadium, with all new floors and countertops having been installed over the past few season. At the same time though, the print media is very segregated from the radio and television areas as each has a separate closed door area (even for the folks who are not on the air). The box is open to the field and occasionally a fould ball even comes up and hits one of the reporters (a highlight according to one fan in the park).
I assumed a seat directly behind home plate in the visiting press area. Sitting next to me was one of the oldest and most respected reporters in the box. While I wasn't able to meet him (he was quite busy speaking with other folks as he had just returned from some type of medical problem) I was told stories about his days at the park and how all the others followed in his footsteps. Once again, the obnoxious reporter from the field impeded my progress in the box (he blocked my path as I tried to get a drink without acknowledging I had been waiting) but otherwise I had a pleasant time.
THE FOODThere is only one type of food that truly distinguishes Wrigley Field from the other parks in baseball. The vienna sausage, I am told, is the best in the leauge, complete with good toppings and condiments. Since I wasn't really in the mood for a sausage during a day game (or ever really) all I can tell you is that it smelled quite good. The rest of the food is quite extraordinary. . . there are stands for nachos, barbecue, mexican food, Chicago style pizza, specialty sandwiches (deli style and italia), and even a Dunkin Donuts. The most popular items are the vienna sausages and the nachos (just like most parks), with the pizza coming in a close third. As expected, the beer is plentiful and bought in large quantities ( despite the 4 drink per I.D. limit). Despite the large seleciton, including several restaurants and clubs, there seemed to be less food being eaten in the stands than in other stadiums.
As for the pretzel, it looked much more appetizing than it ended up tasting. From the case, the hot pretzel looked warm, soft and generally appetizing. But, when I bit into my lucnh treat I found it to be stiff and tasting of plastic. It is possible that I was unlucky in my selection of pretzels, but I would err on the assumption that most of the pretzels are just like that one, not to impressive (like in most parks). My suggestion would be to skip the pretzel and go for the sausage.
Wrigley Field is known for its fans. And they dissapoint on this day. Most of the park was filled -- even for a Thursday afternoon game -- and the fans were loud, involved and very supportive of the Cubs. I was suprisded, despite being warned, by the number of Cardinals fans in the ballpark, all dressed in red to support their team. I was told that many of the Cardinals fans actually made the trip from St. Louis to support their team, but I wasn't able to ask anyone if that was true. The Cubs and Cardinals have quite a rivalry.
The fans around me all seemed to be in a bad mood. The woman in front of me was yelling at her daughter for eating the last of the candy, the little girl to the right of me was crying because her dad took the binoculars away, and the little boy to my right was yelling about how he wasn't having fun because it was so cold. Meanwhile, the little boy's dad was calling for the Cubs pitcher to hit the Cardinals batter with a pitch because he had gone 2 for 2 so far on the day and we should "send him a message". Whoa.
was supposed to sit with a woman I had met at the All Star Game in Cleveland but when I went to her seats next to the visitors dugout she wasn't around and there was not way to reach her at the stadiu. She probably just didn't make it to the game today.
As for the game, each team scored in their half of the first inning on well executed hit and run plays (the Cardinals beat a throw to the plate to score their run). Gary Gaetti gave the Cardinals the lead in the third inning with a homerun to left field (which was promptly returned to him). This is notable because Gaetti only took half a dozen swings in practice so his son could take the majority of the cuts in anticipation of an upcoming game (at the high school level, not the pros). The Cubs tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when Ryne Sandberg avoided the tag at the plate, but Turk Wendell (the most abnormal pitcher in the majors -- never steps on the baselines and and brushes teeth between innings to wash out the black liccorice he chews) gave up a solo homerun to Gary Gaetti in the top of the ninth opening the door for Dennis Eckersly to close, leading the Cubbies to their first loss of the second half of the season.
Harry Caray got up during the seventh inning stretch , as he always does, and led the crowd in the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". That was the highlight of this very exciting day at Wrigley Field. The traffic was terrible on my way to Madison, WI but I was filled with all the wonderful thoughts of a great ballgame at a great stadium and the extra time didn't really matter. I am sure everone who visits Wrigley Field has the same feeling when they leave.
Harry Caray leading the crowd in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
A view from the press box of Wrigley Field in Chicago.
