Vol 3.
Just like Milwaukee before it, Chicago has fallen to the greatness that is Frankie and Eric. In 24 short hours, we conquered the Second City in a way only we know how. One day is never actually enough to see a city, but damned if we didn't try. Though I could never stop thinking I was in either Blues Bros. or Ferris Bueller, I was able to stay in the moment long enough to see a great amount of treasures that Chicago has to offer. We saw the giant steel bean, the top of the world at Willis Tower, ate a GINORMOUS pizza, and generally saw the sights of Chicago. We also managed to check out the Billy Goat Tavern and have a beer with Mich. It was super duper.
But, like most of the other destinations, our real purpose is baseball, and Chicago was no different. We saw not one, but two fantastic houses of worship. In the afternoon, we took an "L" to the northside to Wrigleyville in what quickly became a religious experience. It's a very cool old ballpark and lived up to the hype. The tour we got to take because the Cubs are on the road was both informative and exciting. I drank out of the same water fountain that Willie Mays once did. Boom. We got to see both clubhouses and both dugouts, as well as the press box and the scoreboard. It's unreal to think about all the games played in that park.
Wrigley Field is pretty amazing to behold. walking up to it, it's like you stumble upon a sandlot in the middle of a suburban setting, but it happens to be a 40,000 seat sandlot. It's definitely a park. With the ivy on the outfield wall and the old timey scoreboard that isn't even large enough to show all the games being played in a given day and real bleachers in the outfield, it's like you're quickly transported to an earlier era. It's absolutely worth a visit.
After grabbing a quick pint and reminding ourselves why Harry Caray is one of the greatest people ever, we hopped back on the "L" and made it down to the Southside where an actual ballgame was about to be played. I use "actual ballgame" in the loosest sense because it was between the White Sox and Twins, and Jamey Carroll is hilariously bad. The Twins looked like a AA club out there as Chris Sale (note: since this was written Sale has had two more great starts, we may have witnessed the beginning of a great career) and the White Sox blanked them 6-0.
US Cellular field is an interesting park, though Miller and Wrigley beat it handily in almost every respect. It was very tall and there was no view to the outside world, kind of like Oakland. The concourse was a bit dreary. It felt like a "stadium", not like a park like many of the other new fields. However, it didn't quite have all the modern kinks worked out that would excuse it in any way. The three scoreboards in left, center, and right all displayed different information, so you kept having to swivel your head in order to see everything. The out of town scoreboard was insanely busy and hard to read. Also, their mascot is a travesty.
No one truly knows what South Paw is or where he came from, but he definitely gave us nightmares. There are also lightup pinwheels in center. They're the same ones that were on the board at old Comiskey Park, so that was pretty cool. Also, in a very odd feature it took Frankie and I way too long to figure out, two dirt fungo circles are etched into the field on either side of home plate. They mark where the coach should stand in order to hit infield practice during the pregame warm ups, but they don't seem quite necessary in today's day and age. With all that said, it was a very fun game and the Chicagoans (Chicagites? Chicagans?) were very nice to us and or silly curiosities.
Today we are headed to the major non-baseball stop of the trip to detox a little and probably play catch, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The saga continues....
Quote of the Day: I'm in the middle of Chicago and I don't have reception. %$&# you AT&T.
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