First Trip to Wrigley

[jaxxradio]

Okay, some observations on my first trip to Wrigley (and Chicago as well)..

 

The city is alot cleaner than I thought it would be. Riding the subway/train was quite enjoyable and what I liked most was the fact that I could clearly hear what our next stop would be. When I was in New York, their subway system had horrendous sound as far as when/what the next stop was.

 

Enough about the subway system.. Wrigley Field in general.. very cozy, alot smaller than I thought it was going to be. The field was beaten up, probably because of the horrible weather the city had had prior to the start of the homestand. I LOVED the scoreboard in center and it goes without saying, I LOVED the ivy walls. It reminded me an awful lot of Cleveland Municipal Stadium back in the day. An old ballpark that has plenty of beams that could tick people off. Unlike Cleveland Stadium, this place was made for baseball and has a much better baseball atmosphere to it. That's what makes Wrigley so magical.

 

BTW, there are fifteen guys on the expanded roster that has made a stop in West Tenn from 2004-2006. It looked like a West Tenn reunion of sorts.

 

I could get used to broadcasting games in Wrigley.. maybe one day.

[goonys evil twin]

Practically everybody I've ever taken to Chicago has commented on the cleanliness issue. NYers often marvel at it. I never really noticed before, but maybe that's because I'm a slob.

[Outshined_One]

Never give up the dream! :D

 

Wrigley is part of what makes being a Cubs fan so freaking great. 8)

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I always love my trips to Wrigley.

[jaxxradio]

It occured to me just now why I love the city of Chicago. It is the midwest version of New York without the garbage in the streets or the obnoxious attitude that alot (not all) New Yorkers have.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Chicago is also much cleaner than Downtown LA (which is so much smaller than the main financial districts in NYC and Chicago).

 

I love the subway system. I'm envious.

[goonys evil twin]

It occured to me just now why I love the city of Chicago. It is the midwest version of New York without the garbage in the streets or the obnoxious attitude that alot (not all) New Yorkers have.

 

As a native Chicagoan who has been in the NY area since the early 90's, and still makes it back to Chicago, I'd say there's a significant amount of that obnoxious attitude in both cities. Maybe that's just because I was at Soldier Field yesterday, but you get plenty of jerks.

 

Although overall, I'd definitely say Chicago has a little less.

[C.C.]

Practically everybody I've ever taken to Chicago has commented on the cleanliness issue. NYers often marvel at it. I never really noticed before, but maybe that's because I'm a slob.

 

I couldn't agree with you more. People are always blown away by how clean the City is. I had friend from NY come down this summer and they couldn't get over how clean it is. But compared to NY, which I honestly think is dirty beyond belief, any City is clean....

[Mephistopheles]

Wrigley is part of what makes being a Cubs fan so freaking great. 8)

 

It also might be one of the reasons the Cubs have been so freaking bad...

 

My family is from NW Indiana (Valpo/Portage,etc) so every summer or so I make it up to Chicago. I went there this summer, but I didn't get to catch a Cubs game (I was there one week and they were on the road), but I went downtown to go visit some museums, and it was very clean. It's a direct contrast from what Houston is.

 

Houston is one of the "newer" cities in that it was planned after cars, so it's a lot more dispersed than Chicago or New York. There's really no financial center to Houston despite being the fourth largest city in the US. Downtown Houston is a flat-out joke. The new basketball arena and Enron Field are just attempts at gentrification of downtown Houston. Most of the economic centers in the city are on the west side and northwest sides of the city in the suburban area.

 

Oh, and I did get to go to a Gary Railcats baseball game, and I didnt feel like I was going to shot! Jermaine Allensworth was playing for them too.

[PrimeTime]

Well the northside is pretty clean as is downtown..The southside of town by The Cell and the Dan Ryan Expressway..Now thats a different story..I suggest you lock your doors,close the windows and just look straight ahead if you ever plan on going to that part

[BeerHere]

I'll agree that Chicago is cleaner than NY, but that's not saying much. I worked in Manhattan for 2 years and have worked in the loop for 7. There are certainly places in the loop that'll make you gag. The cleanliness is superficial. I love Chicago, but it consistently does the least it has to to appear clean. The metra station for the Union Pacific NW line at Clybourne is absolutely disgusting and , unfortuntely I have to walk through that toilet every time I go to a home game.

 

The mayor is a south side guy and if you take a close look, a lot of tax money is being spent to clean up the south side. It's certainly where it is needed most, but there are problem areas all over the city.

 

As far as Wrigley is concerned, I love it and the bleecher improvements are outstanding. The restaurant is still a tough sell for me but the overall design is excellent. Long term, I'd like to see a park built in the burbs that is more modern, doesn't have "obstructed view", better bathrooms, and cleaner. I love the park, but it is old. Take a look at the peeling 45 coats of paint clearly visible from the outside of the park. I'd be willing to bet that no one has a long term plan for the ballpark, and that is a shame.

[goonys evil twin]

As far as Wrigley is concerned, I love it and the bleecher improvements are outstanding. The restaurant is still a tough sell for me but the overall design is excellent. Long term, I'd like to see a park built in the burbs that is more modern, doesn't have "obstructed view", better bathrooms, and cleaner. I love the park, but it is old. Take a look at the peeling 45 coats of paint clearly visible from the outside of the park. I'd be willing to bet that no one has a long term plan for the ballpark, and that is a shame.

 

A park in the burbs is a terrible idea. Baseball is a public transport game, especially in Chicago, and especially with the Cubs. Moving to the burbs is for southern california teams and small cities with no city life.

[snoodmonger]

As far as Wrigley is concerned, I love it and the bleecher improvements are outstanding. The restaurant is still a tough sell for me but the overall design is excellent. Long term, I'd like to see a park built in the burbs that is more modern, doesn't have "obstructed view", better bathrooms, and cleaner. I love the park, but it is old. Take a look at the peeling 45 coats of paint clearly visible from the outside of the park. I'd be willing to bet that no one has a long term plan for the ballpark, and that is a shame.

 

A park in the burbs is a terrible idea. Baseball is a public transport game, especially in Chicago, and especially with the Cubs. Moving to the burbs is for southern california teams and small cities with no city life.

 

Ugh. Could you imagine heading out to Hoffman Estates or naperville or something for Cubs games? What a disaster.

 

Whatever happens, the satdium needs to be in the city. Hoefully, when the time comes, they'll do something similar to the bears. Play in some temporary set-up while they rebuild on the Wrigley site.

[LuckyPup]

after nearly 20 years of being a fan, i visited Wrigley for the first time in June- I have to agree the city itself was amazing and very clean- besides all the homeless people asking for money. Wrigley was so amazing, i sat in the bleachers for 3 days-best 3 days of my life(unfortunately we got our donkeys kicked by the stros and tigers for everygame).

[SouthSideRyan]

I'd be willing to bet that no one has a long term plan for the ballpark, and that is a shame.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by long term plan, but park has been taken care of very well which is why it will still function for the foreseeable future while places like Comiskey and Tiger Stadium had to be torn down.

[Chris]

I could get used to broadcasting games in Wrigley.. maybe one day.

 

That would be awesome! Did you leave a resume for future consideration?

[NCCubFan]

I could get used to broadcasting games in Wrigley.. maybe one day.

 

That would be awesome! Did you leave a resume for future consideration?

Maybe he can replace Bob Brenly if Brenly becomes the new Cubs' manager. :D

[Chris]

I could get used to broadcasting games in Wrigley.. maybe one day.

 

That would be awesome! Did you leave a resume for future consideration?

Maybe he can replace Bob Brenly if Brenly becomes the new Cubs' manager. :D

 

Or Len if he becomes the new GM :D

[BeerHere]

As far as Wrigley is concerned, I love it and the bleecher improvements are outstanding. The restaurant is still a tough sell for me but the overall design is excellent. Long term, I'd like to see a park built in the burbs that is more modern, doesn't have "obstructed view", better bathrooms, and cleaner. I love the park, but it is old. Take a look at the peeling 45 coats of paint clearly visible from the outside of the park. I'd be willing to bet that no one has a long term plan for the ballpark, and that is a shame.

 

A park in the burbs is a terrible idea. Baseball is a public transport game, especially in Chicago, and especially with the Cubs. Moving to the burbs is for southern california teams and small cities with no city life.

 

There is plenty of public trans. to the burbs. The L goes as far west as OHare, you have Metra, the Elgin-OHare expy etc. I'm not saying build a park in Naperville or Bloomingdale but Rosemont, DP, Arlington Heights shouldn't be too bad.

 

The problem with building a new Wrigley in Wrigleyville is that the team would have nowhere to play while the new park is being built.

[BeerHere]

I'd be willing to bet that no one has a long term plan for the ballpark, and that is a shame.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by long term plan, but park has been taken care of very well which is why it will still function for the foreseeable future while places like Comiskey and Tiger Stadium had to be torn down.

 

I disagree that the park has been well taken care of. The fact that it is still standing after so many years isn't sufficient proof to me. They had to install nets to keep the concrete from killing people. The steel beams are rusted to hell to the point that paint doesn't stick anymore. The bathrooms flood with regularity. Even the scoreboard is rusted.

 

Don't get me wrong....I love the Cubs, but I think they need a new park. My comment on the long-term plan is simple....the place is old. There should be a long term plan in place to take care of the where the team will be playing in 10-15-20 years. If that plan includes Wrigley then they should be planning out projects over the long term to keep the park viable. The bleecher expantion was excellent but it was a quick decision that they had trouble getting through city council. A long term plan would help both the Cubs and the neighborhood.