Cubs in Philadelphia, April 30, 2012 (photo by Brad Moore)

I have patronized this park, even this post in left field behind the foul pole, many times before. But I can never get used to the view. No large green hand-operated score board, no rooftop bleachers, no ivy-covered brick wall, no Old Style guy at the end of the ramp. I even miss the bitter, cutting wind at the back and constant stream of people walking in front of us that is unique to Wrigley Field SRO, an experience that I had the pleasure of having just weeks before (see “Opening weekend fun! Cubs not fun.“) Nothing is quite the same.

Happily, any homesick feelings I may have felt for Wrigley Field on Monday night were dispelled by the Cubs stinking just the same as they always do. Soriano continued to look “out of left field” while out in left field. The bullpen (I’m looking at you, Rafael Dolis, despite being from a lovely town) continued to look like poo. And the entire team continued to the leave TONS of runners in scoring position. (An aside for Dale Sveum, if you’re reading: No one on the Cubs roster should be allowed to bunt until completing an intensive bunting instruction camp, unless they are Tony Campana.)

Overall, the Cubs reeking up the joint as well as having a vocal but empathetic Phillies fan friend along for the game made for a sort of homey experience. It’s not all bad in Philadelphia; the Cubs even managed to pull out two games in the four-game series. But I still can’t wait to get back to Chicago to see the next Cubs collapse. A collapse doesn’t look half as good unless it’s from the View from (Wrigley Field) SRO.

6 lb. 15 oz.

21 inches

Born in Chicago, IL

… and then little Harper’s cousin Callie, who came all the way in from Ohio, finally saw the baby.  She was too young to come into Harper’s room, but she was allowed to look in through the waiting room window …

Good night, Harper!  You are beautiful and awesome!

It’s opening day …

Wife of Admin and Admin venture to the ballpark, as usual. We see a lot of old friends including Margaret, back in town from her home in Massachusetts …

… our favorite scorecard vendor just inside Gate K, Bob, quite harassed on opening day!

… and the shaggy-headed beer vendor we’ve known since the 1970’s …

Ahhh! Life as it should be.

Here’s a guy who emphasizes the bright side of things …

Okay, so it was 1907 and 1908. So what? There had only been five World Series. The Cubs were in three of them and won two. They were a flippin’ dynasty! If you want to talk percentages, much better than the Yankees, who at the time were known as the Highlanders and who stunk out loud!

Never mind.

Bill Murray was there. Before he threw out a first pitch, he ran the bases! And he’s older than Admin by about three weeks! (Look it up.)

And he sang the 7th inning stretch … after 6 1/2 innings of rest …

It was cold, but does anyone remember an Opening Day that wasn’t freezing?

We had great seats — first row of the upper deck just to the third base side of the press box. We had a great view of the new “Budweiser Patio” above the basket in the right field “well.”

Our verdict? Not horrible, like the Toyota sign. The Cubs seemed to have made an effort to mute the illumination somewhat, and design the messaging with a green background so it doesn’t glare at you and draw your eyes away from the game, like many of the huge, blindingly bright scoreboards we’ve seen at other ballparks.

By now you’ve heard about the awful ending of Opening Day. But did we give up on the Cubs? Of course not! We went back to the second game of the year for more, and this time we brought almost the whole family to join in on the fun.

Daughter of Admin, Also Daughter of Admin, Foreign Correspondent, SiLoA (Son-in-Law of Admin), Friend of Daughter of Admin, PLUS three Grandchildren of Admin came to town from Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Bloomington, IN to visit their favorite place on earth — Wrigley Field! Son of Admin and Wife of Son of Admin couldn’t make it. They were busy preparing treats for us for after the game! How nice is that??!! And Friend of Foreign Correspondent was back in Philadelphia. We missed them, but kept them updated via texts!

And so on a bright but chilly Saturday morning we left the apartment and strolled east on Addison toward the ballpark …

Photo by SiLoA

As reported in an earlier blog (click here to read all about it), the Cubs have been busy touching up the paint, cleaning the stucco and policing the grounds to make the old yard sparkle and gleam for its thousands of fans who come to town from around the world to see … this??

Once again the Cubs attempt to hide the greatest sports arena on the planet, so all those visitors who spent a ton of dough to come to Chicago and visit one of the only true baseball landmarks left, don’t really see it at all! Instead they see a building that resembles a bad Pinterest.com page (is that redundant?). Would the government hang big photo banners of the President and his family on the front of the White House?

We rail about this obscenity every year. This year is worse, I think, because the banners aren’t even printed well. They look flat; without contrast. Bland. Blah. Boring. Bogus.

But since this was our only chance, we took a picture of the whole group in front of the main gate anyway. At least the Marquee shines brightly, and the crew looks beautiul, all Cubbed up and ready for baseball …

There was no way we would be able to get 10 seats together, so we bought random 500s for $21 each (plus tax) just to get into the game. We proceeded in through Gate K, bought a pile of scorecards from our friend Bob, and headed up the ramp. Some of us took spots at our favorite SRO ramp …

… while the kids found an awesome, unobstructed view from the landing in front of the elevator …

… until they got shooed away by an usher (not Margaret, who was actually taking tickets at Gate K! She met almost the whole family!).

But we had a blast!

(Setting up the shot …)

Photo by SiLoA

How can you not at Wrigley Field? There was a bit of everything, including hot dogs …

… and rally caps when the situation on the field called for them …

You can tell by the expression on this young Cub fan’s face that the rally caps didn’t work. Ah well. Wait ’til — when? Poor kids. I hope they see a Cubs World Championship before they get as old as Admin. By the end of the game the seats were emptying out, except for a few stalwarts who will never leave a game early …

Photo by SiLoA

But much fun was had by all. So much that Foreign Correspondent momentarily suppressed her abhorrence of large mascots, clowns, and actors who come off the stage to engage the audience, to help Grandson of Admin say hello to the big Cubby Bear that strolls the perimeter of the ballpark getting his (her?) picture taken for tips …

And then it was on to Son of Admin’s for a fabulous dinner that made us all forget just how bad the Cubs looked in their first two games of 2012.

This fan is already camped out, waiting to enter at Gate D, Sheffield and Addison.

But Harry can’t bare to watch!

He seems to evoke Dante standing before the gates of the bleachers, I mean Hell … “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!”

Or perhaps he is taking a page from an old friend who resides just a few blocks north at Clark and Irving Park Road …

“Eternal Silence” by Lorado Taft, Graceland Cemetery

… endlessly watching as Cub fans continue their everlasting march toward the inevitable …

(“Fountain of Time” by Lorado Taft– Midway Plaisance)

… I mean the box office, which has just been spruced up with a new coat of paint,

along with much of the rest of the ballpark …

We pass Wrigley Field every day because Wife of Admin catches the Red Line at Addison, half a block from Gate D, so we’ve been following the progress of all things new at Wrigley Field. We noticed the construction work below and our hearts filled with hope and joy because we were convinced the Cubs were removing more of those hideous concrete panels …

But, alas, no. Workers were putting them back on. They must have removed them temporarily for some kind of infrastructure repair.

Below we look through the “Knot Hole” on Sheffield and see the crew working on the field.  Note the two shades of green sod.

The lighter grass is on the part of the field that is most trampled upon during games. So if that’s the new sod, why does it look so anemic?

Here’s an interesting development. The view below is of the “Mueller” building just north of Waveland on Clark. Up until now it’s been used as a staging area for beer and hot dog vendors. The Cubs gutted it and refurbished it as an office building. New desk chairs sit stacked outside waiting to be brought inside.

As I type this Len and Bob are interviewing new GM Jed Hoyer during a Spring Training game. He just this minute said that he was happy there’d be more office space because they were all stumbling over each other in the limited work areas of the ballpark and the temp trailer offices lined up along the Clark Street exterior wall.

Wait a minute! Did I say “Mueller” Building? Mueller was my Mom’s Mom’s maiden name! Except that her family was from France and pronounced it “Mew-LAY.” So for W4TC from now on it’s the Mew-LAY building and more than ever it’s all in the family, including our little Cub fan cousin at the top of this blog who is a direct descendant of the Muellers!

The most obvious change in the immediate vicinity of Wrigley Field is this architectural gem in the McDonald’s parking lot on the northwest corner of Clark and Addison, across from the main entrance …

They basically stacked up a bunch of Cub-blue truck containers like so many Legos, and put up a big tent behind them. It’s tacky as can be, but obviously temporary. As I stood admiring its incredible bad taste a uniformed man came up to me and said, “Can you believe they spent $20,000,000 for that little corner of a parking lot?”

“$20,000,000?”

“It was in the news! Just gonna sell more souvenir crap out of it.”

The Cubs paid $20,000,000 for the entire parcel, including the land on which the McDonald’s sits.  The company that used to set up temp souvenir stands on the site is suing, claiming they were illegally forced off the premises. Nice.

To get into the swing of things during Spring Training, we stopped at Wrigleysville Dogs one afternoon for a gourmet lunch. The dog was as good as ever, and the joint had classed up its presentation. Check out the fine china and classy red pepper-patterned tray!

No more green plastic baskets with wax paper lining! Okay, the plate is melamine, not china, but still … is the old hot dog joint putting on airs? Well, at least they didn’t change the interior decor …

The fans, the neighborhood and the ballpark (almost) are ready. Are the Cubs?

]]> http://www.waiting4cubs.com/2012/03/24/as-opening-day-rapidly-approaches/feed/ 2 http://www.waiting4cubs.com/2012/03/10/first-televised-game-of-2012/ http://www.waiting4cubs.com/2012/03/10/first-televised-game-of-2012/#comments Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:34:15 +0000 admin http://www.waiting4cubs.com/?p=2271 Sitting in front of the tube, or rather the flat panel screen, waiting for the magic moment when the ballpark appears. We’ve already listened to Pat and Keith on the radio, but there ain’t nothin’ like wasting away an afternoon watching meaningless Cubs baseball on TV.

And there they are! Len Kasper and Bob Brenly talking about how almost everybody in Arizona is new!  They’re broadcasting from the Spring Training home of the Milwaukee Brewers.

New Cub lead-off man David DeJesus gets called out on strikes. Reed (Poop) Johnson steps in.  Routine ground ball! Starlin Castro follows with a routine fly ball!  Then Ryan Dempster opens the bottom of the first by giving up a long double to the Brewers’ Rickie Weeks.  Life is back to normal.

And there’s A-Ram … batting for the Brewers. His departure, more than the new GM, the new President, the new first baseman etc. makes one feel like the Cubs are indeed a new organization. Aramis hits into an inning-ending double play. That much, at least, hasn’t changed.

It looks beautiful in AZ. Since few wonder about the Cubs chances to contend this year (nil), the most important question concerning Spring Training is, “Why aren’t we there?”

There’s a new Budweiser commercial that was filmed to look like vintage footage of the end of prohibition in 1933. But at the end of the spot a guy twists off the cap of a bottle of Bud, presumably for the first time since 1919. Must be some kind of joke because twist-off caps were first introduced in 1984. If it was meant to be a joke, it’s either lame or I’m dense. Maybe both.

Geo Soto is catching his first game of the spring. What was his problem? I google it … uh, let’s see … sore groin. He throws out a base runner trying to steal second.  Geo looks fine.

They interview new Cub manager Dale Sveum (did I spell that right? Let’s google it … YES!). He has a soft but deep voice with just a hint of gravel. Not real demonstrative. Kinda flat, but with some dry humor. He gives the same interview given by every manager since the beginning of professional baseball in 1869, so I don’t need to report its content.

Castro gets around on one and hits it deep to left … back! … back! … HEY HEY! (Props to Jack)

Dempster goes three innings and looks good after his rocky start.

After the top of the sixth, we watch the first “Fan Cam” (aka “Bimbo Cam”) segment of the year. The boys of summer (behind the TV cameras) are in mid-season form. Based on their coverage, there isn’t a male fan in the ballpark, and not a woman over 25.

The game goes into the late innings. Most of the starters are gone. But Aramis is still in for the Brewers! He must need the work. He grounds out on a routine play, lazily running to first. All is normal!

At one point Bob says, “That’s why we play all 162 games, because you never know.” And so during the very first telecast of the year, we’ve heard just about every baseball cliche imaginable. And that’s exactly what we wanted.

Who wins? Who cares?!

Baseball is back.

PS. They just showed the Bud commercial again. I don’t think the twist-off cap was meant to be a joke. Just playing fast and loose with history. Bogus. Bad beer, too.

YES! To celebrate this annual first sign that baseball is indeed coming soon, Wife of Admin and I ventured over to the ballpark to check things out. Flags were flying and the marquee looked pristine and maybe a brighter red than ever.

An important stop for us was to inspect our brick. Both of you who read Waiting for the Cubs know that the Sullivans received a Wrigley Field brick for Christmas a few years ago. We were lucky enough to have our brick placed in the shadow of Ernie Banks’ statue on the Clark Street side of Wrigley Field. Actually, Ernie will never cast a shadow on our brick because Ernie is north of our brick, but you know what I mean.

Last year we were horrified to see gum stuck to our brick, but the Cubs, ever respectful of their fans, cleaned the bricks!  Here we see Shadow of Wife of Admin as she makes sure our brick, the one on the left that says “THANKS DAD”  has been well cared for …

It looks ready for Opening Day, don’t you think?

As we strolled around the perimeter of the ballpark, we chatted about the Cubs. We reviewed that exciting off season when the new owners hired a hot general manager from that East Coast team that had won the World Series a few years before. And how that new GM brought in a new manager and was looking forward to establishing a “New Tradition” on the North Side of Chicago.

The year was 1982. The new GM was Dallas Green.

My point? We’ve been here before. Okay, two years later the Cubs went to the playoffs for the first time since 1945, but the result, as would become the norm for Cubs playoff appearances, was a horrid choke. So, in spite of the fact that the Cubs did indeed “back up the truck” as so many of us demanded last year, we don’t expect anything except to go to the ballpark.

How about in a couple of years maybe? We collectively shrug. We will go to the ballpark, or turn on the tube (or plasma display … whatever) and watch one game at a time with absolutely no expectations at all. From what I’ve read in the sports pages or online, the rest of Cubs Nation feels the same.

Continuing our stroll around the ballpark, we saw various signs of sprucing up …

The most intriguing is the work being done to the right field bleachers at the foul pole … the “bleacher boxes” also known on occasion as the “family section” where you couldn’t drink beer.

Here’s a rendering of what it’s going to look like …

It resembles the section on top of the “Green Monster” in Boston, and the patios at ballparks like Camden Yards and Citizens Bank. We’ll have to reserve judgement until we see it.

We finished our tour at our favorite gate — K — where we more often than not enter the ballpark. We chatted with a security guard who assured us that the Cubs had hundreds of workers getting the ballpark ready. That’s great to hear because one thing’s for sure.  We’re ready.

Play ball.

I just heard the news.

By coincidence, I went to the McDonald’s across the street from the ballpark for lunch today. I hadn’t heard the news.

There was a crew from CBS. There was a crew from NBC.

I wondered why.

Two flagpoles, one to either side of the red marquee, flew Ron Santo flags.

I wondered why.

I hadn’t heard the news.

First anniversary of Ron’s death, I surmised.

Ron Santo is in the Hall of Fame.

One year ago I went to the ballpark and cried.

One year ago my brother called me and cried.

He’s a Sox fan.

Ron Santo is in the Hall of Fame.

They wouldn’t let him in because he clicked his heels.

They wouldn’t let him in because his son made a film.

They wouldn’t let him in because he had diabetes.

Ron Santo is in the Hall of Fame.

Some say he was the sixth best third baseman of all time.

They wouldn’t let him in while he was still alive.

Ron Santo is in the Hall of Fame.

I just heard the news.

I guess it’s time to celebrate.  They say Ron would have wanted us to.

Ron Santo is in the Hall of Fame.

I feel as sad as when I heard the news that he died.

But Minnie is still alive, so there’s someone else that is still denied.

Congratulations.

Ron Santo is in the Hall of Fame.

Got to ballpark early Wednesday — not long after the gates opened at 11:20AM.  Decided to walk the park, taking in the scene for the last time this year.

The Brewers were taking batting practice, so I watched a while from down close …

… and from up in the 200’s …

… and from WAY up in the upper deck …

Everyone there was especially friendly.  Total strangers said hello and smiled, and not just the ushers. Speaking of which, I stopped and chatted with both Tom Reeves, who was working between the 100s and 200s down the right field line, and Margaret Wichmann, who was about as far down the left field line. By the time I write this on Friday, Tom is no doubt a grandfather for the first time!  His daughter-in-law was due to deliver a baby girl even as we chatted in section 137. Congrats, Tom!

The PA announcer reminded us fans that all food and beverage, except beer, was 25% off until 12:20, so I made my way to the beef and brat stand on the terrace above the main gate.

The nice woman who took my order was very friendly and chatty, too! We talked about the cost of scorecards and how the Cubs ran out of their signature souvenir Cubs pencils weeks ago and instead of reordering they substituted stubby little, plain blue miniature golf pencils.

BOGUS!  What kind of souvenir is that?! Maybe the money they saved will help pay Soriano’s salary … about 20 seconds worth.

There was no one else in line, but my brat was getting cold, and I was getting hungry just smelling the grilled onions, so we exchanged “Have a great day”s and I moved over to a table to eat.  Yum!

I found a seat in 433 (although I bought a 533 ticket — shame on me!) with the intent of moving around a bit more. A guy behind me came with his own snacks, not even willing to save 25% before 12:20!

He had a plastic Jewel Foods bag full of stuff (you can see the bag at the very bottom of the photo above). There he sat, munching away, and I thought to myself, “Now there’s a stand-up fan! Comes to the park alone with his own can of Pringles.”

But then another guy arrived and sat next to him. The first guy reached into that Jewel bag and produced … another can of Pringles for his friend!

That’s being prepared for a ballgame!

It was Fan Appreciation Day. A Cub employee made the rounds of the stands with a big blue bag full of fresh new baseballs. He gave one to every kid he saw. My instinct was to throw myself on his mercy, as in “I’ve been coming to games since 1958 and have never snagged a ball, and twice almost died trying! Can’t I have just one …” But I stopped myself.

This family included three kids, each of whom received a ball.

Nice!

The Milwaukee TV announcers finished their pre-game show right below me …

… and the grounds crew finished laying the chalk lines, and raking and hosing the infield dirt. It was time to play ball for the last time at Wrigley Field for 2011.

And it was a great game, except for knuckleheaded baserunning and a couple of horrifying errors. The Cubs won 7-1, finally scoring some runs for Matt Garza, who went the distance.

And speaking of the grounds crew, they sang the seventh inning stretch, and did a bang-up job of it to wild cheering and applause.

A great time was had by all, except for the thousands of Brewers fans who made the trip down from Milwaukee.

When it was over, the Cubs congratulated each other on the field for the last time at home …

… as the crowd sang “Go Cubs Go.” But even after the song ended and the Cubs disappeared into the dugout, no one wanted to leave.

We all took one last, long look at the old ball yard and then shuffled off to the exits, counting the days ’til April 5, 2012 (opening day AND Wife of Admin’s birthday!).

Last photo of the ballpark for 2011.

But it was cold. We moved down from the upper deck 500s to the first row of the 400s where there was still sun and so reasonably comfortable. EVERYONE else in the upper deck did the same, so it looked like a full house …

… at least in the first row. But here’s what it looked like right behind us …

… in the cold seats.

And then the sun continued to move west, as it is want to do, and the fans bolted, so our row looked like this …

We sat in the last section down the left field line. At one point I mentioned to Wife of Admin that perhaps we should move south to maybe aisle 413 to improve our chances of finally getting a foul ball. And, as if ordained by the baseball gods, Aramis Ramirez got around on a pitch and drove it deep into our upper deck section! Typically, however, it landed a few rows behind us and was run down by a guy of about my age. He gave it to a cute little guy who had no idea what was up. Turns out it was the kid’s first ever Cubs game! And he gets a foul ball!

He seemed suitably unimpressed so I told him, and his sister and grandparents, that I first went to a game at Wrigley Field when I was just a little older than him and have, to this day, NEVER shagged down a foul ball, or a batting practice home run, or a ball tossed into the crowd by a bored player, or any kind of game day baseball of any kind! He didn’t understand and asked for a hot dog.

On the way out of the ballpark, as Steve Goodman’s song played on, I noticed the center field scoreboard message board exclaiming that the Cubs had won game #4000!

Photo by Katie Casey

I thought it must have meant in all of Cubs history. But that doesn’t make sense, as simple arithmetic should have told me. But who does math as he or she strolls down the ramp from aisle 403 to aisle 206 and out through Gate K?

The win marked 4000 regular season victories at Wrigley Field, not total for the franchise. Still cool to have been there, though! We grasp at anything, us Cub fans.

We were at that game!

First, what the heck were Admin and Son of Admin doing in these seats?

Total face value:  $100.80.  How’d we snag these tickets? By the way, what’s up with the prominent Toyota piece of crud in the photo on the ticket? Part of their deal with the Cubs? Looks like it’s the Toyota Cubs instead of the Chicago Cubs. More on that later.

We met before the game for some dinner at a favorite spot — Sheffield’s.

I had a perfectly delicious, homemade sausage with peppers, plus baked beans, while Son of Admin worked his iPhone to find something at a reasonable price. He doesn’t just have a guy, he’s got, like, 6 guys. “No way we’re paying face value tonight,” he said. A sign of the horrible no-show problem the Cubs have for less-than-marquee games.

We met three of his guys at the corner of Addison and Sheffield. Fists full of tickets were fanned before our eyes!

One guy says, “I can give you these 200’s, row 4, no obstructed view, and I’ll GIVE them to you. As in FREE. Or, I got these 16’s where you can sit with the Ricketts for $40 each.

Now, Admin and Wife of Admin had just turned down similar seats from Tom Ricketts himself (see previous blog)! Why would I want these tonight? Especially when FREE seemed like a good price.

Because Son of Admin was popping for them, that’s why. Woo hoo! Plus, it wasn’t a sellout so SRO wasn’t an option.

We passed Ron’s new statue …

… and headed in through Gate D. We ran into usher friends Tom …

… and Margaret …

… both of whom were amazed by our $100 tickets. They were used to seeing us way up at the top of 206, which, by the way, was a loooong way away from these seats. Our usual spot in standing room isn’t even visible below, somewhere in the dark void below the luxury boxes to the right.

But it was a fine night with a dramatic sky …

(photo by Son of Admin)

And we were close. How close were we? Check out Aramis Ramirez standing right in front of us as he prepares to hit one of his 5 hits for the game (3 singles, 2 doubles).

And we were so close that everybody in the section was holding up fancy phones taking pictures, just like us …

photo by Son of Admin

But what about the Governor? Down in those seats, Cub management seats, there was tons of schmoozing going on. Marketing guru Wally Hayward …

… sat two rows below us with a contingent of potential somethings … sponsors, like maybe the Toyota guys responsible for the abomination that stands above the left field bleachers (see photo on ticket above). Two other Cub marketing types arrived and spent their time with their backs to the game pitching something or other, neither of them seeing a single real baseball “pitch.” In fact, it looked dangerous. If a left-handed batter had hit a line drive foul ball in their direction, neither would have had a chance as the ball would have drilled either in the back of the head.

Son of Admin heard these words spoken by a Cub employee (I wrote them down on my scorecard at the time): ” … anything that will lead to the merging of our two brands together.” Scary. Something like the “Toyota Cubs”?

Then the guy in the white shirt arrived and the schmoozing intensified. Standing up and delivering hand shakes all around, during an inning! That’s when Admin and Son of Admin, with no rehearsal, screamed in perfect unison, “DOWN IN FRONT!!”

“Who is that guy?” I asked two fans in front of us.

“Governor Quinn.”

“Ha!” I replied, not exactly embarrassed by my ignorance due to a long-standing policy of ignoring all state political news, mostly because so many Illinois governors go from the State House to the “big house.” Not that Governor Quinn is headed in that direction.

Wally left early. Laura Ricketts was there and left early (I tried to get a photo of her but none came out well — my bad). But the Governor stayed until the bitter, very bitter (Braves 5, Cubs 4) end. Son of Admin escorted him from the section.

Somewhere along the way the Governor lost his glasses. That’s how it goes at the old ball yard!

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