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* Steve Dahl and Ron Santo “debate” in the Tribune today over which Chicago baseball team has the best ballpark.
Dahl’s tongue in cheek piece can be enjoyed here, and Santo’s dreary tome can be scanned here.
* Question: Which Chicago baseball park do you prefer? Explain fully, please.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:16 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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My full, long and extended explanation:
Wrigley.
Sorry - “better food”, “more comfortable seats”, and “plenty of activities” will never be factors for me.
Though, you can say one good thing about Comiskey: It has plenty of leg room. You can just stretch your feet out onto the seats in front of you, no problem. Set your beer on one seat, hot dog on another.
Very niiiiice.
Comment by GoBearsss Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:20 am
The Cell, better food and facilities and there’s (usually) no Cubs fans in it.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:21 am
===Sorry - “better food”, “more comfortable seats”, and “plenty of activities” will never be factors for me===
Apparently, neither will good baseball.
Let’s play two on the way to two hundred years of futility.
Comment by Bill Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:24 am
As much as i agree with your sentiments, Bill, you didn’t answer the question.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:25 am
Wrigley, it’s “Baeball Heaven”
Comment by Dan S, a Voter & Cubs Fan Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:29 am
as a fan of another team, i believe i offer a much more dispassionate answer than most-easily the cell…part of going is comfort, and they offer that. another part of going is for the actual contest, and not the social standing of being there-they offer that…and yet another part of going is to see those championship banners (from your lifetime) and being able to tell the story of “where you were when…” and they offer that too…GET OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!! every other mlb city seems to have…
Comment by downstate GOP faithless Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:30 am
I prefer Coors field
Comment by Ghost Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:31 am
The Old Busch Stadium. Oh wait, I missed the part about Chicago stadium. Old Busch had character because it was ugly. The New Busch is exceptable, but I still need a few more years to get over the tragic loss of the beloved Old Busch.
Comment by SouthernILRepub Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:32 am
Wrigely, plain and simple. It’s a ball park. It’s not a shopping mall surrounding a patch of grass. It’s a ball park.
There’s not some sponsored shower in left field or picnic area behind Fukodome. It’s a ball park.
Do what I do before a Cub’s game. Go to Bacci’s and get yourself a $2.50 special which includes a large slice and a soda with free refills, if you’re worried about the quality of the food in the park.
Wrigely Field, ’nuff said.
Comment by ChiCountryGuy Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:33 am
US Cellular Field.
Great lighting, seats, boxes, food, and TEAM!
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:35 am
Ok. I obviously prefer The Cell. The quality of baseball played in the American League is far superior and that’s why I go to the park in the first place. Tickets are usually available at the box office on game day and every seat is a good seat. The recent improvements have improved sight lines and the upper deck is now a very nice place to watch the game. There is plenty of reasonably priced parking close to the park. The food is so superior I can’t even begin to compare. If what they sell for hot dogs at Wrigley is the North Side version of that uniquely Chicago delicacy I feel sorry for all who live there. Come to Jimbos or the cell to experience heaven. At the cell the beer is actually cold, tastes better, and you don’t have to watch the Cubs and I don’t have to worry about getting hit in the head with falling cement. There is more but I’ll stop now.
Comment by Bill Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:35 am
Cards fan.
Love Wrigley. The neighborhood, the history, day baseball (especially on a weekday!) Love it.
Haven’t been to the southside since ‘01, but it was a surprising decent place to watch a game. And that was before improvements. But I’d still take Wrigley, even with the horrid parking in Wrigleyville.
Comment by Peter Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:42 am
Cards fan.
Wrigley is excellent place for fans–good sightlines, great atmosphere around the park, loud crowds, ice in the urinals.
It’s one of the worst parks around for players, but then, who cares about the players?
Comment by Fan of the Game Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:45 am
WRIGLEY FIELD brought to you by Winston & Strawn.
I feel safe driving and walking to it; I enjoy dropping down a Royale w/cheese value meal from McDonalds across the street; the tradition of baseball; as you drive up Clark it’s exciting to see it come into view. Now if they could just work on the pee troughs….
Comment by Vote Quimby Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:45 am
I’m a Cubs fan, but this post from StuffWhitepeoplelike.com is hilarious:
Comment by Kevin Fanning Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:49 am
Wrigley.
If I was that concerned with favorable parking conditions, good food selection and comfort when deciding where best to take in a baseball game, I’d go to Milwaukee over the zero-character Cell.
Comment by Eddie Vedder Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:52 am
US Cellular Field
– Better food and you can walk completely around the ballpark. Also during a rain delay the concourses do not feel like massive sweatboxes
Comment by OneMan Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:58 am
Wrifley Field
Nothing beats a summer day in the bleachers
Comment by scoot Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:10 am
My terrible error..wrigley!
And I feel safer in Wrigleyville after the game..then the other ball park
Comment by scoot Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:12 am
If it’s just me and another adult who wants to watch the ballgame, I prefer Wrigley. If I’m going with my kids or a group, Comiskey.
For Wrigley, I’m a history buff, I like the fact Babe Ruth called his shot there, Gabby Hartnett hit his homer in the gloamin, Bill Veeck planted the Ivy and built the scoreboard. I like that it’s not surrounded by parking lots. I like Wayne Mesmer singing the national anthem. I like the fact that all the pretty young girls from around the Midwest move to the neighborhood after college.
For Comiskey, I like the lower concourse and the ability to move around. My kids like to run around all over the place, and Fundamentals, Rainroom and Shower keep them occupied. I like the view from the patio in the outfield. I like the food selection.
Both teams have great fans, but each has a hard-core minority of way-overserved knuckleheads.
I admit to being a trough man. Efficient and green.
I’m glad to be able to hop the El on any given day and take in a National or American league game. I’m a baseball fan, not a team hater.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:14 am
I’m a lifelong Cubs fan who has never thought much of Wrigley. Keep the field, the brick walls, the scoreboard and the marquee out front and get rid of everything else. It’s a sh-t hole, plain and simple, and is falling down right in front of our eyes.
You can’t get in or out. Lines for everything. Urine covered bathroom floors. Too many obstructed view seats. The bleachers are a drunken riot on almost every occasion.
Cubs fans unite: don’t romanticize this obsolete relic. Tear it down and rebuild it.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:18 am
For the overall “experience”, Wrigley has the advantage of being in Wrigleyville. A Cubs game is an all-day event, enjoying lovely Chicago weather, grabbing some drinks before/after the game, etc. The 400 level seats at Wrigley are predominantly outstanding; close to the action, unobstructed, with a beautiful setting. Every other section is between bad and poor in terms of sightlines and overall comfort, and of course the Wrigley concourses/amenities are unspeakably awful.
On average, the actual game experience is much better at Comiskey (er, The Cell), and Comiskey food is some of the best in the majors.
Me, I try to catch games at both several times each summer.
Comment by VivaLFuego Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:24 am
Sox Park.
I prefer a park where the vast majority of fans demand a winning team, not a rundown antique where fans love losers and attend mainly to gawk at decrepit, dubious “history.”
Plus, at the South Side park there is no need to wear a helmet to protect against falling concrete.
Helmets are for batters, not for fans.
That is all.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:25 am
I am a STL fan, but I have to admit, after being in Yankee Stadium, Old Busch, New Busch, Kansas City, Wrigley, and New Comiskey, there is not a better place to take in a game than Wrigley Field. It is truly a great experience. The sightlines are great, the closeness of the seating to the field, the neighborhood feel all make Wrigley the perfect place to enjoy a Chicago afternoon.
Comment by Speaking At Will Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:26 am
===The [Wrigley] sightlines are great===
Obviously, this commenter has never sat behind one of the innumerable poles.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:29 am
The Cell…it’s not even a contest. Better sight lines…no obstuctions…wider concourses..easier to get around…..better parking…no yuppies at the game because of the “aura of the stadium”…tear Wrigley down!
Comment by Tranplant Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:34 am
Cubs park rules. I haven’t been to the Cell since they cut it down, but I sat in some of those seats way up one time and it was just awful. Upper deck at Wrigley isn’t great, but better than Comiskey for sure. Wrigleyville makes all the difference too.
The Dahl piece could have been funnier. Maybe Gary Dahl should try next. There was a great comment on the Trib page about “I’d develop a complex too if my team won the World Series and nobody cared” LOL that was great.
Comment by Napoleon has left the building Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:37 am
Wrigley Field.
I’m a confirmed upper deck denizen & the Wrigley UD is light years better than The Cell. Reason? Distance. You’re A LOT closer to the action. I’ve sat in the Wrigley upper deck and seen the wind blow the ripples across the players’ jerseys. Sit in the Upper Deck of Comiskey and you feel like you’ve got Goodyear Blimp seats. Yeah - no obstructions. Even with you can hardly see the game worth a fart.
For all the bellyaching people make about the obstructed seats, they miss the fact that’s because that park puts the seats so much closer to the field. Sucks for those who sit in the back of the lower deck, but unless it’s your first time or two there, you should know better than to sit there.
Wrigley also has a better overall feel with the scoreboard and the ivy. Plus, when I sit along the third base line upper deck, I can look up on a clear day and see ships on the Lake. A much better view than at 35th/Shields.
The Cell has several definate advantages - food being the most obvious, better rampways, etc. It also has better parking, but I take public transportation to both places, so that’s a wash.
Both are light years better than Busch II or the monstrosity that is Miller Park.
Comment by Some Guy Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:39 am
Sox Park!
When the rebuilt the park, they FINALLY paid attention to the many female fans and installed larger and nicer ladies rooms.
Although the local watering holes are a bit of a walk, they are genuine and traditional.
The fans at Sox Park pay attention to the game. Not so much the case at Wrigley.
Comment by southside chic Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:44 am
As a die-hard Sox fan who isn’t afraid to admit his glee whenever the Cubs tank (keep running Kerry Wood out there Lou!), Wrigley is a great park — only Fenway compares to it.
Comment by lake county democrat Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:50 am
Sox Park is clearly superior as a ballyard. I’m not a baseball fan and I live close enough to Wrigley to hear the cheers so I think I can be relatively unbiased.
Wrigley is decrepit. You could cover me in Ivy and I still won’t look like Angelina Jolie no matter how many Bud Lights you have.
Now the neighborhood around Wrigley is clearly superior and perhaps on that basis one could argue the ballpark is better. Acres of empty parking lots do not make for a great pre or post game experience. Those lots around “da Cell” should be turned into residences and bars. Start working on getting better public and private bus transportation for the dozens to hundreds of Sox fans who attend those games.
See I tweak both sides. Perhaps we could raise money for residences around “da Cell” by having a Blago, Madigan, Jones wrestlemania competition in the middle of a recreation of “disco demolition”.?.?
Comment by irishpirate Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:01 pm
Wrigley Field needs a major makeover before it can even hold a candle to the current version of the Cell, especially now that there are fans in the seats on the south side. No stadium is attractive empty.
If they could fix Soldier Field (at least on the inside), they can fix Wrigley. It’s a piece of crap right now.
Comment by Lefty Lefty Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:01 pm
I liked the old Comisky. The picnic area behind right field during the game was the best seat with the best food.
Cell is just an OK replacement. At least the food is still good.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:06 pm
I’ve never been to either. Well I’ve visited Wrigley for a game when I was too young to appreciate it and the same for old Comiskey. I’ve never been to the Cell. I can’t choose any but I’d certainly give anything to visit old Comiskey.
Comment by Levois Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:06 pm
Plus, in the old Comisky, the upper deck had a roof.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:07 pm
I prefer fans in love with losers than fans who appear to have permanent, ingrained inferiority complexes, complexes which apparently cannot be removed even after having watched their team win the World Series.
Of course not all White Sox fans fit this description … but really, not all Cubs fans are so in love with losing either. Go Wrigley. Go Cubs.
Comment by ZC Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:12 pm
- Rich Miller - Friday, May 2, 08 @ 11:29 am:
===The [Wrigley] sightlines are great===
===Obviously, this commenter has never sat behind one of the innumerable poles.===
Obviously, you are correct. I make sure I don’t
Comment by Fan of the Game Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:17 pm
===permanent, ingrained inferiority complexes===
Actually, we believe ourselves to be superior and, unlike Cub fans who believe themselves to be superior, we have evidence to prove it.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:28 pm
re: Rich
***I prefer a park where the vast majority of fans demand a winning team, not a rundown antique where fans love losers and attend mainly to gawk at decrepit, dubious “history.”***
C’mon!??? The White Sox are not the benchmark of winning. lol.
They won their title 30– I mean– 3 years ago and Chicago and all of its inhabitants have yet to live a day without saying, “Yes, you were the world’s greatest in 2005.” We get it!
TO THE QUESTION…
For food and comfort, you can’t beat The Cell…
… but, for atmosphere and tradition– I gotta say Wrigley. I love it.
Comment by The Rookie Friday, May 2, 08 @ 12:59 pm
P.S.– I think all “fans” (not spectators or party goers) want a winning team.
Its not fair to Cubs fans to imply that because some fans go to the game for the BEER and WOMEN and couldn’t tell you who the starting pitcher was if he was related to them, that ALL fans are like that.
Its a fun side of town where some people choose to enjoy the game and others choose to enjoy the view and people around them.
Comment by The Rookie Friday, May 2, 08 @ 1:03 pm
We demand winning. Did you see happy Sox fans last year? Very few. Did you see happy Cub fans last year? Most.
But let’s get back to the question.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 1:05 pm
I like the Sox attitude -
“As punishment for losing, we will stop showing up to the games, further eroding team confidence and eliminating any home field advantage.”
That will show ‘em!
Comment by GoBearsss Friday, May 2, 08 @ 1:22 pm
Rich -
The Cubs are the second winningest team in all of baseball - ever.
… And that’s why Wrigley Field is the greatest (see? I got back on topic!)
Comment by GoBearsss Friday, May 2, 08 @ 1:23 pm
Wrigley is the best minor league stadium in baseball. If you can’t win a Series in a century, maybe it’s not a goat or some poor sap who caught a foul ball in the playoffs. Maybe Wrigley is cursed. Move to a real ball park.
Comment by Southern Right Friday, May 2, 08 @ 1:28 pm
Sox park shines in the one category that really matters: Fewest Cubs fans.
– SCAM
so-called “Austin Mayor”
http://austinmayor.blogspot.com
Comment by so-called "Austin Mayor" Friday, May 2, 08 @ 1:43 pm
Please stop calling it The Cell. Comiskey or Sox Park will do. The Cell sounds like some freaky Wachowski Brothers movie.
These naming-rights handles are vulgar and transitory. Progressive Field, PetCo Field, AT&T Park, Minute Maid Park, give me a break.
I know Wrigley was an old school naming rights field but the brand association has long been forgotten. Some old timers call it Cubs Park.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, May 2, 08 @ 2:07 pm
My husband’s a baseball nut. We’ve been in at least a dozen stadiums across the country. There is no contest. Wrigley has more character in its upper deck than most baseball parks have in the entire stadium. The bleachers, the ivy, the 7th inning stretch and the fans. Second to none.
Comment by puzzler Friday, May 2, 08 @ 2:27 pm
Ivy beats pyrotechnics any day.
Comment by David Starrett Friday, May 2, 08 @ 2:45 pm
Give me a break. This is the biggest non-story I’ve ever read.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, May 2, 08 @ 2:58 pm
Relax. It’s a diversion. We all need them.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 3:00 pm
It’s only a non-story because the question is unbelievably ridiculous. It’s like asking, who was the better basketball player? Spud Webb or Michael Jordan?
Comment by Anonymous Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:08 pm
What a humorless jerk you are. Try to have a little fun in life.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:09 pm
Must be a Cardinals fan. lol
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:12 pm
The Cell. The between-innings entertainment is great: loud and boisterous, especially when the fans get to play smackdown with the umps and first base coaches.
Comment by Adolfo Phillips Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:13 pm
To the humorless jerk… you can choose to read & ignore or show your [[Rich Miller says you shouldn’t curse on this forum, and I believe in that whole-heartedly]].
Its a Friday “Rich-is-excited-about-the-baseball-season-and-wants-to poke-at-the-Cubs” thread. (just joking with you, Rich.)
Seriously, though… you gotta love the tradition at Wrigley, Rich. I went to a Braves game two weeks ago in Atlanta, and their 7th inning stretch made me feel as if I was being sold something. It had no tradition or flavor to it. made me wish I would have stayed home.
The Cell is good if you have a business meeting or you’re with your kids… The baseball is the ONLY thing that is there. Parking is VERY nice too.
Comment by The Rookie Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:24 pm
re: Rich
*** Did you see happy Cub fans last year? Most.***
Were those fans of “Wrigley” or the “Cubs”? And that’s the dynamic you are missing, my friend.
Comment by The Rookie Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:27 pm
Except, as Jim Thompson himself admitted recently, 90 percent of Cub fans are really just Wrigley fans. Frankly, I don’t think I know any pure Cub fans.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:29 pm
Wrigley….by far and I am a pure Cubs fan Rich
Comment by embarassed to be a democrat. Friday, May 2, 08 @ 4:33 pm
Ironies abound.
US Cellular was one of the last 70s-style circular parks.
Around that time, Camden Yards opened, featuring asymmetrical architecture and sightlines.
Then came all the rest.
Like it or not, they were copying what they thought was the essence of Wrigley Field, which was home to the most unique experience in baseball at that time. Might still be in some ways, but I digress…
Personally, I find the asymmetry of this new wave of baseball-only parks contrived, ersatz and uncalled for.
Wrigley, Polo Grounds, Fenway, et al. were built that way to conform to existing city layouts.
I’m not saying Three Rivers or Riverfront were great parks. They weren’t. But phoniness is unsettling (although no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.)
The Cell and Wrigley are both real and genuine in their own way and Chicagoans should feel blessed to live in a city with two major league baseball teams.
Comment by The Cypress Friday, May 2, 08 @ 5:10 pm
=== phoniness is unsettling===
I went to a game in San Francisco at AT&T park or whatever it is now and felt like it was a simulated real experience. I totally agree.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, May 2, 08 @ 5:16 pm
The only thing I prefer about Wrigley is the stacking of the upper deck above the lower deck. I miss that aspect of old Comiskey as I used to love to sit in the RF stands and look down almost directly over Harold Baines.
I don’t miss the bathrooms or ancient, spine-torturing seats. The Cell is much more comfortable, and I’ve never worried about the neighborhood.
I’d trade either building for Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, but the Cell is as good as it gets in Chicago.
Comment by Boone Logan Square Friday, May 2, 08 @ 6:43 pm
I much prefer Busch Stadium to either Wrigley or the cell (and prefer old Busch but am growing to love new Busch)… better team, fun fans, & ice cold beer. The cell is cleaner & nicer but doesn’t have Bud Light which ruins it for me. Wrigley is fun and the outside the park atmosphere is a blast but the beer vendors are stingy, beer in the stands isn’t iced down and they cut beer sales off way too early (but at least if the game goes into extra innings, there are excellent options right outside the stadium).
Comment by Cards Fan Friday, May 2, 08 @ 10:59 pm