Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs)

Chicago Pictures

Indianapolis 500 Picture

Road to Chicago Picture

Ballpark Assessment

Category Score (0 to 10)					TOTAL (0 to 50)
Location	Atmosphere	Food	Exterior Architecture	Interior Architecture
10	10	6	7	7	40

Wrigley … wow!  This Thursday day game drew roughly 34K people.  An incredible number in my opinion.  On the rooftops just outside of the stadium were bleachers with great views of the stadium.  These bleachers each held about another 100 fans.  Being in that stadium felt like going back in time.  The ballpark is very old, but instead of seeming dilapitaded and run-down, the stadium had a certain historical and culture mystique that was truly remarkable.  The hot dog and soda vendors who came to your seats all seemed to have a lot of fun with their jobs, which made the experience that much more enjoyable.  The location was incredible.  Wrigleyville has a ton of bars and restaurants with open windows and outdoor seating.  Getting to the game was easy as there was a train (Addison station on the red line) that stopped right at the ballpark.

Game Comments (courtesy of MLB.com)

Game Date: May 27, 2010

Attendance: 33,868

Weather: 66 degrees F, partly cloudy

Length of Game: 2 hours, 29 minutes

Final Score: Chicago Cubs 1, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Ted Lilly and John Ely went toe-to-toe, but it was Ely, in his homecoming, who had to take the "L" after Tyler Colvin, who came on in the eighth, drove in Mike Fontenot, who replaced Jeff Baker, with the game's only run.

Stories from the Road

On our way to Wrigley from Cincinnati we took a slight detour to the Indianapolis 500 stadium (the race was actually that coming Sunday).  The track was MASSIVE.  So large, in fact, that there was a golf course and a +5 story office building in the middle.  Unreal.  There were already tents set up that would be selling turkey legs and copious amounts of Fried food throughout the weekend.  Plenty of Winnebagos had already begun to fill the parking lots for the big race.  We also met a few interesting characters who were directing traffic within the track.  One of which felt that we were pulling a fast one on him by not staying in the same car line as everyone else.  Before I told him that we just wanted to leave, he insisted that we get to the back of the line.

On another note, Indiana really smells.  Bad.  The next time I hear someone say that New Jersey smells, I'm going to ask if they have ever been to Indiana.  Had the stench been a bit worse in certain parts of the state (particularly between Cincinnati and Indianapolis), it would have really affected my driving.  It was bad.  Also, along the route between Indianapolis and Chicago, we saw a very very large wind farm.  The obligatory pictures were taken and we continued on our way.

We hit a lot of traffic coming into Chicago and I got into a slight verbal altercation while trying to park the car in front of our hotel (The other car had decided to take up 2 street side slots so I couldn't initially park).  I showed my brother Millenium Park before the game, which still is, hands down, my favorite park in the world.  After the game we walked from Wrigleyville to Weiner Circle (where the staff is famous for abusing patrons late on weekend nights) to grab a traditional Chicago dog.  I wasn't feeling great after the hot dog, but I guess that's the price you pay for tradition.  We had dinner at a Giradinno's for some deep dish pizza, which I have now discovered is nothing more than pizza with a LOT of riccotta cheese on it ... Uggh.  Again, such is the price you pay for tradition.

While walking along the Magnificent Mile, my brother spotted a group of pro soccer players walking right in front of us.  These weren't just any pro soccer players, these were soccer players on the AC Milan squad.  Check out the photo above!  The guy in the white T-shirt was some street vendor who had been peddling his wares to the AC Milan players when this photo was taken.  Vintage Chicago, maybe?

During the game, we met Paul, a man in his 50s who is from Colorado and catches games at Wrigley every year.  He works or worked for the Treasure Department, and offered to host me if/when I come to Denver for a Rockies game.  We chatted a bit, exchanged business cards and continued on our separate ways.