GAME 9: Braves vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field

Where do I start?

Wrigley Field was beautiful. I definitely dig the "old-tyme" baseball feel. Thursday was apparently turn-back-the-clock day, too, as the Braves & Cubs wore baggy, old-school uni's. Wrigley has kept things a little more traditional than Fenway in that they have not installed any kind of jumbotron out in centerfield. I missed it a little bit when I couldn't see the replays. But it was still nice. I suppose I am more of a baseball purist, and that old stadium & field just give me the warm fuzzies.

One thing about these good, old stadiums though: they pack you in like sardines. And Fenway & Wrigley sell out every game. So be prepared for that.

I knew there some rooftop seats on nearby apartments, but I didn't know how many. There are tons of little companies (as evidenced here, here, and here) that sell seats & standing room to watch Cubs games. And with so many of them, honestly, it really just clutters up the view outside of Wrigley Field.

One interesting part of Wrigley culture: the passing of money & food down the aisles. They have long rows at Wrigley, so when the hot dog or beer guy comes by, you have to wave him down & communicate with hand signals. He may even have you pass your ID down if you look young to be drinking beer. He then passes the food/beverage down the row & passes your change next. It is a social operation. And I think I was sitting between two alcoholics on Thursday, so there was a lot of beer-passing happening on my row.

Even growing up in Florida, I had grown up knowing about the lore of the Chicago Dog. And so I knew that would have to be part of the Wrigley experience. I heard some manly Chicago guy in the row above me tease someone for putting ketchup on their dog, so when I got mine I ate it plain. And it was excellent. When you buy it from a vendor in the aisles, it is kept warm by some steam mechanism. So the bun is soft & warm, and it gets wrapped almost all the way around the hot dog. It was good. Very good. About as good as I could imagine a plain hot dog tasting. I give it an 8 out of 10.

It was cool to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." At other ballparks, it feels cheesy & copied to do that during the 7th inning stretch. But not at Wrigley: I joined in, and it was moving. It felt like church with a few thousand more people.

BTW, while I'm on this, other ballparks need to stop copying Chicago's "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" tradition. That was Harey Carey's thing, and everyone else needs to just let the Cubs have it. Its sad: whenever other ballparks do it, my first thought is, "Hmmm, this would be cooler if I was at Wrigley." Boston got creative and they discovered singing Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" in the middle of the 8th fit them. And it is cool. And unique.

Just had to get that off my chest. That, and EVERY ballpark should play John Fogerty's "Centerfield" immediately before the first pitch of every ballgame!

Cubs won a very exciting ballgame. They had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, and the Braves brought in a new pitcher. With his first pitch he beans the batter: game over. Cubs fans celebrated by going out to buy more beer!

I met up with a buddy from high school, Dawn. She, her room-mate, and I all walked down to Greektown and ate at a fantastic little Greek restaurant called Greek Islands. We had a little fried cheese appetizer dish, and I had a scrumptious chicken & rice dish for my main course. And the service was first class. I give that restaurant high marks.

To the Tab...

Starbucks
$9.60

(Didn't have a full night's sleep, so I was liberal in replenishing my caffeine level with 3 iced tea's along the way to Chicago. There was also a muffin in there for breakfast.)

Indiana gas
$30.00 @ $3.999/gal.

Tolls
$10.25

City Parking
$9.00

Chicago Dog @ Wrigley
$3.50

Wrigley Ticket
$46.00 (ticket from Cubs.com web site)
+$4.59 ("Convenience Fee")
+$6.00 ("Order Processing Fee (including shipping)" -- NOTE: They didn't ship it to me. I printed my ticket from home)
======
$56.59

Subway
FREE for me -- thanks Dawn! But probably would have been around six bucks.

Dinner at Greek Islands
$21.00

Pilgrimage Tab now stands at $1,885.69. I don't think I'm gonna make it in under 2K...

Today I make it down to St. Louis. Cardinals game is scheduled for tonight, but God has also scheduled some nasty weather for tonight. So we'll see what happens.