Jonathan Daniel - Getty Images
A general view of U.S. Cellular Field as the Chicago White Sox take on the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the White Sox 8-6. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
A report Monday evening on NBC5 in Chicago stated that the Cubs were "in talks" to play the 2013 season at the home of the White Sox, US Cellular Field, colloquially known as "The Cell".
This was quickly refuted in this examiner.com article and also by Fox Chicago. I confirmed this myself late Monday.
The Cubs have gone on record multiple times as saying that when renovations to Wrigley Field begin, that they would be done during the offseason and also during road trips during the season. At the moment, no announcement has been made and the last thing I heard, the target date for completion of renovations was 2016, not anything that would suggest that construction would start in 2013.
But what if the Cubs did decide, sometime in the future, that they'd rather play a year at the Cell and renovate Wrigley that way? After the jump, a few thoughts.
You might think that, as much as I love Wrigley Field, I'd be totally against even a one-year temporary move to the Cell.
And you'd be wrong about that. The point of the one-year move would be to renovate Wrigley Field so that it could last another 50, or 75, or even 100 more years. That, of course, I'm all for. Wrigley has a small footprint, but does have the triangle property on which the Cubs are planning on building... something. The proposed Triangle Building has morphed several times, and the Cubs haven't released any specific plans as to what's going to go in there. Presumably, it would include improved player facilities as well as fan amenities. Renovations to the ballpark itself could include new premier seating as well as other fan amenities, bigger clubhouses, etc.
One year at the Cell in exchange for all that? Sign me up.
I will note, however, that some Cubs fans refuse to set foot in the home of the White Sox. To me, that's a ridiculous attitude to take. The Cell is a perfectly nice baseball stadium. Over its 21-year existence, there have been changes and renovations made there that make it more ballpark-like and less flying-saucer-like, which it was when it first opened. Sightlines, at least in the lower deck, are excellent; food choices are generally good, and I have been there many times, including for some games not involving the Cubs, just because I love baseball.
The Yankees moved to Shea Stadium for three seasons, from 1973-75, so that the old Yankee Stadium (since demolished for the new one that opened in 2009) could be renovated. The Yankees won nine pennants and six World Series in the 33 seasons from the reopening in 1976 through their final season there in 2008. We'd take that during the first 33 years of a renovated Wrigley Field, I think.
I still don't think this will ever happen, and certainly not in 2013; again, the Cubs have been consistent in their statements that they intend to do Wrigley renovations while remaining in the ballpark. But if they did decide to move to the South Side for one year sometime in the future in order to bring Wrigley Field into the 21st Century, I'm perfectly fine with that.
0 recs | 268 comments
so the thing I hadn't heard about it isn't happening.
In all seriousness, I would have been ok with this happening. While it’s not as convenient to get to, Comiskey isn’t a bad place to see a game.
mjk83 - February 14, 2012
Wow
When I first saw this on Twitter, I thought you meant they weren’t playing interleague there, either. “What’s the point of interleague when two ‘natural rival’ teams don’t meet in each others’ park?”
scareduck - February 14, 2012
Didn't mean to mislead with the headline
… this report was out and about on Monday, so I thought I’d respond to it.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
It would seem they are gonna have to shut the park down for a year
eventually if they want to rehab it right, I have always believed they should knock down the entire park, except the bleachers from foul poul to foul poul and start over.
I guess they can’t do that with the landmark, right?
They would just need to give a couple of years notice due to how devastated the neighborhood buisness would be w/o the Cubs.
MikeJW - February 14, 2012
what i was going to say
is they need to shut the park down for a year if they are gonna do it right. I believe they should knock the entire park down except the bleachers from foul poul to foul poul and start over.
I would assume they can’t do that with the landmark, right?
If they do leave for a year, they need to give two years notice as it will devastate area bars for at least a year.
MikeJW - February 14, 2012
I don't think they NEED to knock everything down.
Most of the structure is in good shape. Renovation is the way to go.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
I don't know
it’s such an old structure though, there is so much work to be done. You must get rid of all the poles and the bad views. It would be nice to have a stadium that is mostly in sunlight, unlike Wrigley. I can’t stand the roof and the huge lights on them look bad too. You look at these new parks and it would look so much better, IMO.
MikeJW - February 14, 2012
poles
they create a bad view for a few seats..but bring people so much closer than they normally would be.
cozmotaylor123 - February 14, 2012
Right.
There’s no way the posts are going away.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
Spoken like a good SBNation employee... ;-)
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
don't you wonder
why kind of renovations they can really do w/o knocking it down? Can it really last another 50 years?
MikeJW - February 14, 2012
Absolutely, it can.
The upper deck likely has to be significantly altered. But the lower deck was almost completely rebuilt in the late 1960s. There’s no reason to tear that down, just shore it up.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
Screw 1/3 of the people sitting in the lower deck
so 1/2 the people in the upper deck can be somewhat closer to the field. The posts and low hanging upper deck where an engineering necessity when the park was built almost 100 years ago. Technology has advanced. You can take the upper deck off and rebuild it so everyone can see the entire field, AND be able to watch a fly ball that gets higher than 20’ in the air. If you are going to renovate the park, do it right. Don’t half ass it like the city did with Soldier Field. If that means watching games in a park with ample parking, fantastic sight lines, and great food options for a year, so be it .
Mister Zero - February 14, 2012
How about you don't buy tickets you think are crappy seats?
Don’t worry – I get that you simply don’t like Wrigley Field, but you may want to realize that they aren’t going to do anything close to what you’re looking for.
bdlugz - February 14, 2012
I never said I don't like Wrigley
I look at Wrigley the way I look at a 1961 corvette. Absolutely beautiful to look at and can be fun to sit in as well, but as for comfort, creature features, and just performance overall, a new ZR1 just blows it away with no contest. BTW, I love your “hooray for me” attitude when it comes to the seating at Wrigley. Don’t buy one of the 10,000 seats with a crappy view of the game. Maybe those should be reserved for those who just go to the game for the “experience”. Those of us who actually care about the team and can tell you the score at any given time during the game get to choose from the rest.
Mister Zero - February 15, 2012
I don't get it
It sounds like you’re actually taking both sides of the argument.
You imply that things like comfy seats, more food options, more bathrooms and concessions, and more sunshine makes your gameday experience a better one. Then you say that people who aren’t locked into the game 100% at all times don’t deserve a positive gameday experience (or at least, not as good as yours, since you “care about the team”).
If you want to watch the game at Wrigley, you get what you get. If you really want to have the best view of the game and all the comforts of home, then JUST STAY HOME. Where and how people choose to watch the game doesn’t make anybody any more or less of a fan. It doesn’t mean anybody is wrong or better or anything. It’s a matter of personal preference, and that’s OK.
TL;DR
You just need to decide what you enjoy the most, and do that.
CJK - February 15, 2012
Pure hyperbole
Yes, let’s destroy the ambiance of Wrigley and take the same intimacy that made Hawks games at the Stadium so great and turn it into the cavern that is the United Center just because every now and then you have shift your head a couple inches to follow the ball.
The idea that 1/3 of the seats are bad is such unmitigated crap. Yes, each section has a few obstructed view seats that suck to be stuck in, but in exchange, Wrigley, in general, offers an unparalleled intimacy that can’t be replicated without support posts, regardless of how modern the engineering techniques employed.
Yes, the food needs upgraded, but if that’s why you’re going to Cubs games, please sell your tickets to someone who appreciates baseball. As for parking, only a pampered suburbanite would prefer to drive into the wasteland surrounding new Comiskey rather than risk rubbing elbows with the great unwashed on the L and take in the excitement and vibe of the surrounding neighborhood.
Hopefully, when the time comes to do long-term maintenance on Wrigley that makes it possible for it to continue as the home of the Cubs for another 50+ years, the Ricketts will choose to preserve what makes the place special and unique and ignore people like you who have to grossly exaggerate the minor sacrifices it takes to keep it from being just another sterile pleasuredome for spoiled corporate elites who don’t even notice there’s something going on 300 feet below them while they blow thru the expense accounts and each other.
GrizzledCynicalVeteran - February 17, 2012
Loud, sustained applause.
Al Yellon - February 17, 2012
So you think they need to start from scratch because you don't like the stadium as is...
Not because you feel like the structure can’t hold up for considerably longer.
I personally love the little intricacies of Wrigley that separate it from every park in baseball.
bdlugz - February 14, 2012
Never...
If it ever needed to happen, they should have done it now, year one of the rebuild.
Imagine, just imagine, if the Cubs finally reached the World Series, and it all happened at US Smellular field. Cub fans being taunted and harassed in Bridgeport on their way to games.
The idea of this is so ugly, I have to stop thinking about it. It’s as ugly as a Sox fan attacking an umpire.
These are big boys with millions of dollars. They can figure out how to do this in the spare weeks and months.
KO Stradivarius - February 14, 2012 via mobile
Some projects can't be completed in small blocks of time
If the plans for Wrigley end up being major (like Yankee Stadium in the 1970’s), they will be completed more quickly and cheaply if construction can proceed uninterrupted. If the Cubs need to play on the South Side for a year or two to do it right, that’s what they should do.
ClarkFan - February 14, 2012
Kane County then
Anywhere but Nu Comiskey.
Or build a newer bigger Wrigley down the road. On top of Graceland Cemetary. We need to undo the curses with more curses.
KO Stradivarius - February 14, 2012
Hmm, where else could the Cubs play baseball in the Chicago area?
Comiskey is ultimately the Cub’s alternate site if they ever needed one because it is a MLB caliber ballpark, but what are the other possibilities?
(pulls out map)
* Kane County Cougars. Their ballpark is based in Geneva, has a 14,000 seating capacity. Probably could get a little boost, but still would be low.
* Schaumberg Flyers. Based out of Schaumberg, looks like they have an 8100 capacity.
* Joliet Jackhammers. Deep in the heart of White Sox territory, has a capacity of 6000.
* Windy City Thunderbolts. Based out of Crestwood. 3200 capacity.
* DePaul University & Northeastern Illinois University campuses are close. Do they have softball fields? What kind of, ultimately laughable, capacity can the Cubs get by renting it?
* U of I @ Urbana-Champaign. The Bears played down there in 2002. Of course, football stadiums always have bigger capacities than ballparks. Checking… 1500 capacity, 3000 with lawn seating included.
* United Center. Maybe they can try, somehow, to fit a ballfield in that dome. I think that’ll be like using a hammer to fit the square block into the circle peg.
* Des Moines. The Chicago Cubs have been accused of being nothing more than the Iowa Cubs playing in a bigger ballpark the past few years. Perhaps they should become the Iowa Cubs and play in Des Moines. If you build it, they will come… right? Capacity is 11,500.
* Fielders Stadium? In Zion, 7000 capacity.
* O’Brien Field in Peoria (Peoria Chiefs) seats 7500.
Or maybe…
* Los Cubs? Following the path set by the Montreal Expos, they could play part of their season in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
* Dolphins Stadium in Miami. If the Cubs rush, they can play there before it gets torn down. Can’t think of any other current unused ballparks (if it could even be called a ballpark). White Sox in 1968-69 played a portion of their home games in Milwaukee where the Braves used to play (County Stadium) to prove there still was a baseball fanbase there. Depending on the timing, there’s the Oakland Coliseum. Damn! How could I overlook it… Olympic Stadium in Montreal!
* Cashman Field in Vegas. Little under 10,000 capacity. The A’s used it for a short time in 1996.
.
.
.
Looks like the best bets for the Cubs all around are:
1. Comiskey Field
2. Kane County Cougars ballpark in Geneva
3. Iowa Cubs ballpark in Des Moines
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
The objections to Comiskey/Cell aren't about rational
In the thinking world, if the Cubs do need to move out of Wrigley to allow a redo, Comiskey is really the only choice.
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
Not sure if serious...
…and too lazy to post image.
daver - February 15, 2012
Half-serious with some
With others…
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
Every time I wonder why I don't come here more often
I run across a comment like this.
Yeah, we reach our first WS in over half a century and my first thought is that I hate the White Sox.
Sometimes, I really really hate this fan base.
Allie - February 15, 2012
Really? I've never met a Cub fan who would refuse to go to the Cell
I’ve met a lot of Sox fans who refuse to go to Wrigley, but living on a numbered street as I do these days, I find lots of bitter Sox fans. They seem to define themselves more as Cub haters than Sox fans. Its a pretty common attitude down here.
But I dont know ANY bitter Cub fans. The appropriate attitide to take toward the other team in town is to treat it like a minor league team…. an amusing trip to the ballpark – but it really doesnt mean anything in the larger scheme of things.
Champ Summers - February 14, 2012
Crawdad attack is coming!
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
Champ is begging for it.
shoemile - February 14, 2012
I fully expected it when I just logged back on now
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
He must've crawled into his shell for the winter.
We’ve had multiple White Sox discussions around here lately and not a peep out of him.
daver - February 14, 2012
where did you get that quote from?
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
The quote in my sig line?
daver - February 14, 2012
yep
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
I think it was from an article...
…that came out when Quirk was first hired. Lemme see if I can find it here….
Oh, yeah…here ya go.
daver - February 14, 2012
Thanks
I don’t think I read that before
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
You don't know any bitter Cubs fans?
Or any Cubs fans?
Many Cubs fans would find a genie in a bottle, and then bitch about not having a fourth wish.
Tat14 - February 14, 2012
That could be said for almost all sports fans :)
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
I disagree.
I think we’re a special breed; cast from the fires of despair and good ’ol Windy City cynicism.
I’m not saying I’d change anything. Maybe an extra smile from time to time? One less boo?
Tat14 - February 14, 2012
I don't know about anyone else, but if I ever find genie in a bottle and get granted three wishes...
…first thing I’m going to wish for is a hundred more wishes.
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
Please; run for office.
Tat14 - February 14, 2012
Yeah
That is probably the greatest weakness of the White Sox fanbase, a bloc of baseball fans who hate the Cubs more than they love the Sox. They define themselves by being the not-Cubs, which is why their attendance is more strongly tied to on-field performance than any other team. Cubs fans are known for their loyalty, showing up when some horrible teams were fielded, so they contort themselves to be the complete opposite. In the end, they are more Bizarro Cubs fans than White Sox fans. Part of it is not really a fanbase for the Sox, it’s an enemybase for the Cubs. It’s too bad because the Sox have or recently had a number of respectable players (Thomas & Thome, Konerko, Buehrle) and on the whole, their bullpen seemed more competent than the Cubs of the past few years (Buehrle, Danks, not so much Jenks who was trying to aspire to be Marmol).
Cubs fanbase’s greatest weakness is the Cubbie koolaid, constantly thinking “this’ll be the year!” (with the exception of a few years like last year, this year), not really caring as much about the on field performance because a trip to Wrigley is often more than just watching a ballgame, there’s the atmosphere, Federal League ghosts…. Basically, irrational exhuberance, that like any economic bubble, it clouds reason and the ability to try and process the team’s performance objectively. Of course, koolaid tends to inocculate one against bitterness, jadedness because “it’s just a small setback… on the road to victory!”.
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
IT ISN'T HAPPENING!!!
Fukudometer - February 14, 2012
So if this ever WERE to happen, here's how I feel
From a convenience standpoint, it’s not a bad idea. I’m definitely NOT a fan of the White Sox, but that aside, the logistics of playing a season anywhere else would be immense. It’s not like the year the Bears played their home games at Champaign, that was probably 6 or 7 games, I don’t remember. The Cubs can have 6 or 7 home games in 10 days. I’d have to know that the money I spent there went to the Cubs though. I wouldn’t want to support, in any way, the White Sox.
Fonzie2178 - February 14, 2012
Logistically, it's pretty straight forward
When the sox are at home, the Cubs are on the road. and vice versa. Check the schedules and you’ll see that they pretty much do that today. Rarely are the Cubs and sox at home during the same weekday or weekend series.
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
It could happen, occasionally.
If it did, you’d just have one team play at noon and the other at 7 pm.
It would allow the Cubs to play more home night games, if they chose to.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
But it usually doesn't
And that’s with normal scheduling. I’m sure MLB would take care not to let it happen if the Cubs played at the Cell.
I saw this rumor refuted by both Fox news at 9pm and NBC news at 10pm last night.
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
On a related note
And this would not be a reason alone to oppose the transition….
But having the two teams share a park would make rescheduling rain out make ups a little more challenging.
fsuapollo - February 14, 2012 via mobile
Yes, it would.
Day-night doubleheaders galore!
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
AL-NL split dates, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together....
ClarkFan - February 14, 2012
And if either team needs a doubleheader
could that rare beast the tripleheader (for the ballpark) return?
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
I'm sorry, I should have written that better...
What I meant was, playing home games anywhere OTHER than the Cell if they were renovating Wrigley. It’s nice and close given the 50-some home games Major League teams play per season.
Fonzie2178 - February 14, 2012
You mean 81 home games, right?
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
whoops, yes. My typing sucks today...
Fonzie2178 - February 14, 2012
it's really not that bad if you live in the city
it’s a 25 min trip on the redline from wrigleyville. I’m all for it if they do the rehab right and knock down the entire grandstand and start over.
MikeJW - February 14, 2012
The Yankees and the Mets managed it without computers....
Of course, now it is more complicated with the Oil Spill Cup, because both teams have to play in the same park at the same time. The mind simply boggles at the intellect required.
ClarkFan - February 14, 2012
What I hate about this idea
Is paying rent to either the Illinois Sports Facilities or the the sox. screws those bastages.
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
I'd rather they played at Wrigley North.
Miller Park is much better for me to get to.
katie casey - February 14, 2012
And the trip up I-94 - Cheese, ammo, and adult videos!!
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
brats, man... you forgot the brats!
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
Beer.
katie casey - February 14, 2012
will you adopt me?
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
She's married
Which means she already has at least one juvenile delinquent to deal with.
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
Only if you are through with college and have a job.
katie casey - February 14, 2012
check and check
3.7 gpa, two jobs
JOVE23 - February 14, 2012 via iPhone app
Showoff!
My GPA unfortunately shows that I had a lot of fun in college….
Luckily I’m good at what I do so I don’t need to supply that number anymore.
bdlugz - February 14, 2012
Oh, I was through with college before I even started...
…but I still went. ;-)
And yes, I’m gainfully employed, at least for now. These days, one never knows when “The Turk” will stop by…
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
Well, my husband could use more heir.
katie casey - February 14, 2012
Would rather the money go to the state than one of our rivals. The Cubs will have to pay rent. For the cell it goes to State of Ill.
Miller Park is more inconvenient for most Cub fans.
puckishcubsfan - February 14, 2012
For you, sure.
For Cubs fans not living in the far north suburbs — not so much.
Also, it would be much more difficult to arrange a schedule where the Brewers and Cubs were never home on the same dates.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
Also Cell a big chunk of rent goes to Springfield.
Miller Park does anyone really want to give Brewers mioney
puckishcubsfan - February 14, 2012
The public transit situation is far better to the Cell than to Miller Park.
the nth - February 14, 2012
Miller Park as 2nd Option
I wouldn’t rule out a handful of Cubs home games being played in Milwaukee. Let’s say that the Cubs and White Sox are scheduled to be at home at the same time. The Brewers just happen to be on the road, when the Cubs and White Sox are scheduled to be at home at the same time. I could see the Cubs playing in Milwaukee as a home team under those special circumstances. Of course, that wouldn’t happen that often. I’d be okay with 75 home games at the Cell and 6 home games at Miller Park. The arrangement would only be for one season anyway. The Marlins have played home games outside of Florida. The Expos played home games outside of Montreal.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
I don't see the Cubs agreeing to play a split home schedule.
Tough enough to play a year outside your normal home ballpark. To have TWO home ballparks? No way. The Expos did it because baseball in Montreal was becoming non-viable.
Not sure which Marlins games you’re talking about, unless you mean the two rescheduled ones at the Cell in 2004.
The last team to play a partial home schedule (outside of one special series, like the ones played in Mexico or Japan) was the 1968 and 1969 White Sox, who played some home games at County Stadium in Milwaukee. There was talk at the time — this was before the Brewers moved there from Seattle — that the White Sox might move to Milwaukee.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
The White Sox and Milwaukee?; Potential Games at Miller Park
That was before my time. Wow! So, the White Sox played a few home games in Milwaukee back in 1968 and 1969. Was the White Sox attendance suffering? Do management want a new ballpark even back then more than 20 years before new Comiskey was built?
I would not expect, nor should MLB, make any special arrangements in the schedule to have the Brewers and Cubs at home at different times, should the Cubs elect to leave Wrigley for a whole season. Those arrangements should certainly be made between the White Sox and Cubs to be at home at different times. It would be just be a situation, in which, if the Cubs just happen to be at home, when the Brewers are away, that the Cubs might consider playing those select games at Miller Park. It would just be a happenstance situation.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
It simply would not make sense.
Logistics would make it difficult for players to get to Milwaukee. Essentially, you’d be asking them to make several additional road trips a year. Not fair to the players.
Regarding the White Sox, yes, their attendance was suffering and Bud Selig was heading a movement to get a team back to Milwaukee after the Braves left.
White Sox attendance at County Stadium was OK, but not great. They probably would have continued doing it if the Pilots hadn’t moved to Milwaukee in 1970.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
Field Conditions At Shea in Mid-1970's?; Would Cell Hold Up?
Were there any complaints about the field conditions in the mid-1970’s at Shea, when the Yankees and the Mets both played there? I know the Jets still played football there back then. I can’t think of when the NFL’s Giants moved to New Jersey. That field must have taken a lot of punishment.
Could The Cell hold up with 159 regular season games in a season? Ultimately, because of the uncertainty of weather over the offseason, it would be best for the Cubs to go ahead and plan to play all of their home games away from Wrigley for a whole season. Perhaps, luck could be one of the Cubs’ side and Chicago has a mild winter, when the renovations are started. Maybe, the Cubs would only have to be away from Wrigley for only part of a season. I wouldn’t be counting on a mild winter in Chicago happening, however.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
The Sodfather laughs at your lack of faith.
South Side Expat - February 14, 2012
Agreed, actually.
Roger Bossard is probably MLB’s best groundskeeper.
He’s also responsible for supervising the resodding of Wrigley a few years ago.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
That's Good News
I suppose for one season the Cell can survive with having games virtually every day of the season, but I know it’s going to be a tough job for the grounds crew. Just think of how it would be to have the Cubs and the White Sox both make the playoffs during the season the renovations take place. We still don’t know if the renovations would necessitate the Cubs going to the Cell. We still don’t know how long the renovations will take.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
The Sodfather
love that title.
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
Absolutely not
The Cubs are the only team since the inception of major league baseball to play from day one and have their home games in one city.
dmlichte - February 14, 2012
How could I forget that!?
You’ve convinced me. I’ve been living close to the border for too long. I wanted Miller for the same reason eths wants Munich.
katie casey - February 15, 2012
Leaving Miller Park is a disaster
No fun knowing that after the game you’ll have to deal with 45 minutes of waiting to get onto the highway.
Hammer - February 14, 2012
Then do like my dad with the 4th of July fireworks
and leave during the grand finale, running with the folded up fold-out chairs, looking over your shoulder back at the dazzling display stunning the crowds back to the car to beat the crowds and prevent that normal 7 minute drive from turning into a 25-30 minute drive.
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
When we've got work the next day, we do something similar to get out of the games quicker.
As said below, we park at DeVry. We’ve found that the best thing to do (since we refuse to leave the game early) is to leave our seats in the upper deck for the last half inning and sit somewhere downstairs. This was no problem last year since attendance was so low. Then depending on the score we’ll head down to the concourse for the last few pitches and run out the door to catch the first shuttle. If you catch the first one, not only does the bus beat the traffic, but so does your car once you get back to DeVry. It can save us almost an hour off the ride home, not to mention embarrassment to those with me. If I’m squashed standing on those longer shuttle rides I’ve been known to break out singing a chorus of “Go Bus Go.”
katie casey - February 15, 2012
True, but we have faced similar timing getting to the 90 from Wrigley.
We park by DeVry. The shuttle can take very long after a game. Sometimes it’s quicker and more fun to just walk the 2 miles. By the time we get to our car the traffic from the game can be pretty awful getting back to the expressway.
katie casey - February 15, 2012
I'd rather...
they play at Soldier Field if they have to move somewhere for a season.
kanderber - February 14, 2012
Bears and cubs playing on the same field?
Full circle!
Arbusto - February 14, 2012
Soldier Field
… would be completely unsuitable for baseball. It would be like the LA Coliseum, where the Dodgers played for three years while Dodger Stadium was being built.
You’d have to shove the diamond into one corner, then have a huge screen in one of the outfields, because the seats would only be about 250 feet from the plate, in order to prevent cheap home runs.
It would be a disaster.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
Ahhh... the LA Coliseum - birthplace of the baseball term "moon shot"
From Wally Moon’s wikipedia entry
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
Also
… the Coliseum might have ruined Duke Snider’s career.
Early in the 1958 season, Snider, who was 31, and Don Zimmer, were daring each other to throw a baseball all the way out of the Coliseum from the field. If you can picture what the Coliseum looks like, that’s a long and high throw.
Eventually, Snider did it, but he hurt his elbow doing so and was never quite the same hitter as he had been in Brooklyn. He’s in the Hall of Fame, but he might have hit 500 or more career HR if not for that injury.
Check out Snider’s numbers before and after the Dodgers moved to LA.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
uh, that's just him making bad decisions
hard to blame the coliseum for that. It would be like blaming the car for a fatal drunk driving accident.
pb5689 - February 14, 2012
Point taken.
Still, if the Dodgers had played in a normal baseball park, it wouldn’t have happened.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
The food, parking, drive time all suck
but Dodger Stadium is a nice stadium. Tickets can come cheap and moving around the ballpark is very easy.
Hammer - February 14, 2012
Interesting tidbit about Snider
I’d always wondered why he seemed to decline so suddenly. I never knew it could have been injury related.
So what was Ralph Kiner’s excuse?
bluekoolaide - February 14, 2012
Kiner Had Back Problems
That was mentioned on MLB Network’s Prime 9 countdown of the greatest left fielders in history.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
Imagine how many HR's Snider would have if the Dodgers has played four years...
…in LA Wrigley Field, which O’Malley owned, and where he originally announced the team would play in 1958. However, the seating capacity at LAWF was only 21,500, the surrounding neighborhood was rough, and that 100K+ capacity at the Coliseum was too great to ignore, not only for the Dodgers but for those six National League teams that in ’58 had to make cross-country flights on props in order to share in the gate receipts.
ernaga - February 14, 2012
They never drew 100,000 at the Coliseum.
So many of the seats were so far from the field that no one wanted to sit there.
The biggest crowd they drew was 93,103, for an exhibition game played to honor Roy Campanella. They drew over 92,000 for the three 1959 World Series games played there.
The first regular season game played there drew 78,672. They drew over 70,000 only one more time before they moved out, and drew more than 50,000 27 times in four seasons.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
Oh wouldn't that be a site. Cubs baseball at Soldier Field.
A completely unsuitable baseball field would make it all the more fun to go to a Cubs game.
Let’s just say the Cubs did play at Soldier Field, I think it would be fun to make the diamond layout similar to the old Polo Grounds in New York. You would have cheap home runs down the lines, and then Herculean home run distances to the power alleys and dead center field.
Plus, Soldier Field is right off Lake Michigan, which would turn the stadium into a windy “gust bowl” in the spring season. It would be just like Candlestick Park, except worse. Maybe the wind factor would push the cheap home runs back onto the field, or push them out.
#1 iowan cubs fan - February 14, 2012
Actually, you'd have almost zero wind factor.
The design of the stadium keeps most of the wind out. I’ve been there a couple of times on windy days, and you feel almost no wind in the stands — I imagine on the field, there is virtually no wind effect.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
Have you never seen
what happens to a football on windy days in Soldier Field? I haven’t noticed any change with the new stadium design. However it’s not every game either.
And of course, we’re talking about different seasons and weather.
Tat14 - February 14, 2012
Wouldn't the wind create more of a "swirling" effect since Soldier Field is more enclosed than Wrigley?
#1 iowan cubs fan - February 14, 2012
It could, I guess.
It’s just not nearly as open to the wind as Wrigley is.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
The Coliseum has a full track around it so it's much bigger than the playing field at Soldier Field.
the nth - February 14, 2012
Hmm.... Can we make the screen soft and in Left Field?
If so, that may be how Soriano becomes a plus fielder in the last years of his contract. No field to patrol and a soft backstop to cushion his fears.
Get Moon to teach Soriano the big upper cut swing and we may have a winner.
N Oakley - February 14, 2012
Let them play in Munich... Oh, never mind...
eths - February 14, 2012
That could be fun!
katie casey - February 14, 2012
We got better beer and the food ain't bad either... ;-)
eths - February 14, 2012
hey, baseball is all about the beer and dogs
cooliogirl47 - February 14, 2012
???
eths - February 14, 2012
the second week-end of May we will hopefully be visiting extended family
Rotz so I’d be able to take in a game that week-end :)
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
I know that dude...
daver - February 14, 2012
We're likely to have an open stadium up here in Minneapolis.
Just sayin’.
Arbusto - February 14, 2012
I wouldn't mind for a year...
In fact, doesn’t 2013 seem like the perfect time to do it. If the consensus is that we won’t compete until 2014, then 2013 seems like a fine time to play at the Cell. Personally, it cut my games in half (at least), cause I enjoy walking to the ballpark. However, it’ll make my commute home easier and in the long run raise my property value. Count me in.
Mak19 - February 14, 2012
You wanna know how I know Spring Training can't get here soon enough?
When Al is writing articles about what it means if the Cubs were to do something they’ve already said they won’t do.
Nunyabidness - February 14, 2012
I vote to start this IMMEDIATELY.
As in….. this season.
It’s a rebuilding year on the field…. it may as well be a renovation year at Wrigley.
Since it is a more or less “lost” season, what better year to take the Cubs’ “talents” to the South Side for a season??
fsuapollo - February 14, 2012 via mobile
I vote for Puerto Rico!
Bud already did it once!
Nunyabidness - February 14, 2012
Is Hiram Bithorn still open?
Tat14 - February 14, 2012
Yes.
And having attended three MLB games there nine years ago, I can tell you it is not suitable for major league baseball. Wasn’t really then, certainly isn’t now.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
So...
maybe Guam?
Northern Mariana Islands?
U.S. Virgin Islands?
American Samoa?
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
or the Navajo Nation?
Just head N-NE from spring training. Maybe they can temporarily be the Kayenta Cubs or the Chicago Kachinas.
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
They should come play in LA for the season
Id get season tickets then
Hammer - February 14, 2012
A lot of people who I know who are Cub fans who hate the cell have never actually been there. I kind of like it. I belong to a Chicago baseball fan group that goes to 1 game at each park every year (we never go when they play each other). I just don’t like the loud music sometimes.
Better than playing in St Louis or Milwaukee for a season. Bears fans will remember the year they played in Champaign what a stupid thing (Still don’t know why they didnt play in Evanston at Ryan Field)
I have also always wondered what would happen if one of the parks sustained damage from a fire or tornado or something and couldn’t operate for a length of time. I think they would share a park for that time.
puckishcubsfan - February 14, 2012
Everything the Bears did in regards to Soldier Field
they screwed up. It takes 20 minutes to take a leak.
Hammer - February 14, 2012
It used to be 40 at least for women.
puckishcubsfan - February 14, 2012
I just cannot get over the fact that
I got up to go at the start of halftime. By the time I got back to my seats there were only 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Unacceptable. The tipping point was when I got up and it was my turn and I realized everyone was peeing in the sinks.
Hammer - February 14, 2012
Ugh.
But you’re right. Soldier Field’s renovation is a disaster.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
and the walk to the L takes about 15 minutes which is too long IMO
That happens though when you are pinched up against the lake like that
Hammer - February 14, 2012
Soldier Field's renovation is not a disaster as far as the actual seating bowl goes.
The old Soldier Field was one of the worst places to watch football in America. The majority of the seats were in the end zones. Very few rows along the side lines because the seats ended at the pillars. Wrigley Field had far more good seats than the pre-renovation Soldier Field.
As for restrooms, it’s just like Wrigley, you’ve got to beat the rush. Waiting until the Cubs have made their third out or until the whistle for halftime at a Bears game will doom you to a long line.
But the location does suck. Too far from everything. But that’s what you get when the owners don’t want to build their own stadium and instead partner with the Park District.
the nth - February 14, 2012
I can get up at the start of a pitching change
And be back in my seat within 1-2 outs of the same inning. It helps that Cubs attendance was down last season.
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
Ask the Cubs
they had their ballpark destroyed by a fire in the past. They went on hiatus for 3 years. It was a little thing called the Great Chicago Fire.
Wasn’t the Phillies ballpark (Baker Bowl?) condemned by the city while they were playing there and they needed to share Shibe Park with the Philadelphia A’s? Didn’t the Cardinals share the same stadium with the Browns too?
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
That wasn't the Cubs.
That was the Chicago team in the pre-NL National Association. Completely different franchise.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
Really?
I know MLB officially profiles the National Association as not quite major league just because they want to proclaim the National League the first truly major league but the NL was formed from some NA teams. Unless I’m missing a big piece of the puzzle…
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
The Cubs as we know them today
… date from 1876, not 1871.
Al Yellon - February 16, 2012
Ryan Field Capacity: 47,130
Memorial Stadium Capacity: 69,249
22,000+ reasons to have it in Champaign.
Doshi - February 14, 2012
If size matters
it will be Comiskey, then Kane County, then Des Moines.
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
Des Moines? May as well partner up with the Reds in Cincinnati - more hotels, more seats
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
I worry about piecemeal construction
Leads to rushed and incomplete work, which is the last thing Wrigley needs.
NobodySpecial - February 14, 2012
Ok, enough with the Hendry bashing... ;-)
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
But all that backloaded concrete is a real problem.
daver - February 14, 2012
Isn't most concrete back loaded? And unloaded, too...
ClarkFan - February 14, 2012
Still a problem.
daver - February 14, 2012
Not all of it.
My son-in-law freaked the first time he saw one of these coming toward hm on the highway. They are fairly common in NE Indiana.
cub in louies nest - February 14, 2012
if you're ever in the mood to be a complete ass
Do this. If a family/friend is sleeping in the front passenger seat. Look out for a car being towed on the highway which will obviously be facing you going down the highway. Pull up behind it and scream bloody murder. It’ll make the person wake up look up and freak.
Thanks to my Dad for that one.
Hammer - February 14, 2012
OK, so
can we have a picture of a street sweeper whenever the Cubs sweep a team? And an excavator when the Cubs have a losing streak like the Blackhawks are having now. And flapjacks!… Too early for flapjacks?
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
That is brutal.
daver - February 15, 2012
zing!
shoemile - February 14, 2012
Well played :)
scottsdalecubs - February 14, 2012
Anniversaries
I think playing at the cell for a year was an option if they wanted to be done by 2014 the parks 100th birthday.
But I think the goal is 2016 the Cubs 100th anniversary there.
It would be weird of course if they played for a year there and won the world series that year. Weird but still wonderful. Some fans wouldn’t like it and it would be a tad very tad bittersweet to see it happen there but at this point in my life they could win the series on a ballpark on Antarctica and I’d be happy.
puckishcubsfan - February 14, 2012
Karma?
If the relocation does take place, would it be possible that some 2005 pixie dust will blow from the rafters at the Cell and land on the 2012 Northside club? Stranger things ( a goat, a black cat, a Bartman) have happened to the Cubbies.
King Kelley - February 14, 2012
Considering the White Sox have made the playoffs once since 2005...
…I’m going to go ahead and guess that said pixie dust has long since blown away.
daver - February 14, 2012
I would be okay with the one year move as well. But for those fans that would NOT like the idea...
Would they rather do a temporary move to Miller Park / Wrigley Field North? I mean, it worked real well for the fans and the Cubs for two games in 2008 (even though the Cubs were technically the “away” team).
Of course, I’m not being serious here. But in the end… Happy Valentine’s Day.
#1 iowan cubs fan - February 14, 2012
2 games for the Astros v. Cubs
in Milwaukee (thanks to Ike), 2 games for the Marlins v. Expos at Comiskey (thanks to Ivan). I-canes have a thing against baseball.
Better for Cubs fans? Says the #1 Iowan Cubs fan? If they were in Des Moines, it would be alot easier for Iowan Cubs fans to watch the Cubs. Of course, there are a number of small ballparks in the northern suburbs and a token one or two in the western & southern suburbs. It really looks like the northern suburbs is some kind of baseball hotspot.
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
The funny thing is
My commute to and from many games might be better. I work downtown, across the street from Union Station. I commute to work on Metra and I’m a 10 walk from my house to the train station.
For a night game, I’d walk over to the Red line and be at the cell in 15 minutes. And then it’s just the reverse – red line, walk to union station, Metra train, walk home. It would be cheaper because I have a Metra monthly pass.
But no Ian’s pizza. So, NO.
RiskyBusiness - February 14, 2012
I like Bacci pizza
Hammer - February 14, 2012
Art's
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
The businesses
around Wrigley are certainly breathing a sigh of relief. I imagine they get a bit of an economic bump during the season that they rely on.
Personally, I don’t care either. If it HAD to be done, then, so what? The only thing I wouldn’t exactly look forward to would be the majority of Sox fans complaining non-freakin’-stop.
HawkVision - February 14, 2012
Good Point About the Wrigleyville Businesses
You know that they would be hurt severely with the Cubs being away. It’s very difficult for a lot of businesses to survive even one bad year.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
The businesses around Comiskey
aren’t breathing at all. What kind of businesses do they even have down there?
I had heard Chinatown wanted to expand and was trying to get some land that would bring them pretty close to the White Sox’s area. Could in the future the White Sox carve a little piece of Wrigleyville into Chinatown?
ddoubleheader - February 14, 2012
How can you make a statement about how the businesses around the Cell are
doing if you don’t know what’s down there?
South Side Expat - February 15, 2012
What is around there??
Only thing I have ever done is get off the train and go right to the ballpark
Hammer - February 15, 2012
Head a few blocks West to Halsted,
there is just about any food or drink you could possibly want.
South Side Expat - February 15, 2012
Hmmm...didn't know that
Ill check that out next time I’m there.
Hammer - February 15, 2012
While that's true
… that’s a pretty good hike, about half a mile, not comparable to the places near Wrigley.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
Oh man.
That half mile is so difficult to walk.
U-God - February 15, 2012
That's not the only comparison to the places near Wrigley.
I’d imagine that quite a few of your readers walk at least that far to get away from the bars immediately surrounding Wrigley, and the clientele they attract.
Are you so out of shape that four blocks ends up being a problem? So, what is your Cutoff for what is considered “near” Wrigley? Two blocks? Three blocks?
South Side Expat - February 15, 2012
That's not the point.
The point is, that most people don’t know those places are there, and won’t do it. It has nothing to do with being “out of shape”.
Wrigley Field has bars and restaurants right across the street. The Cell doesn’t. That’s a fact.
Al Yellon - February 16, 2012
Who is this "most people?"
What, the Cubs fans on this blog? Don’t blame your fanbase ignorance on most people. Sox fans are well aware of what is available on Halsted and on 31st.
Also a fact- The Cell has a nice new bar/restaurant across the street from it.
South Side Expat - February 16, 2012
"Across the street"?
You mean the Bacardi place attached to the park? Yeah, that’s nice. Wish the city had not reneged on its agreement to let McCuddy’s reopen.
Al Yellon - February 16, 2012
I have to ask: Why do you keep calling it "Comiskey"?
daver - February 15, 2012
It was originally "New Comiskey"
“US Cellular” is just another passing corporate endorsement. When the contract ends or the company goes BK, the name goes away. Do the Astros still play in “Enron Field?”
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
OK, I guess.
Just seems like no one calls it that anymore – not even White Sox fans.
daver - February 15, 2012
My attitude is that "the cell" is not a place to watch a ball game
It is either something I carry so my wife can track me down, or a place where a judge tells me I have to live whether I want to or not.
Neither conjures up the attitude I’m after when I go to a ballpark.
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
Just anti-corporate sensibilities
Of course, how often did owners used to name the ballpark after themselves? (Wrigley, Comiskey). Some may be happy that trend is over or else we would’ve had Selig Field, McCourt Stadium, Supreme ***hole Stadium in Montreal, Angelo Park.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
"McCourt Stadium" may yet be "the cell"
ClarkFan - February 16, 2012
my biggest fear
is that, that would be the year the cubs win it all. Id rather lose another year than win it on enemy turf
munale - February 14, 2012
Ill take a world series win
in Myanmar
Hammer - February 14, 2012
Yep... this.
bdlugz - February 14, 2012
You may call it Myanmar
but she’ll always be Burma to me.
CJK - February 14, 2012
They have the world worst health care
so hopefully the training would come along.
BTW I learned that piece of info about Burma from another Cub thread this winter.
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
Id also take this
Hammer - February 14, 2012
FTFY
“I’ll take a world series win in
MyanmarBurma.”Vermont Cubs Fan - February 15, 2012
I just won;'t want to go to any of the games
Madison Cub Fan - February 15, 2012
They're a-changin
Saw a story in BBC about their parliament (basically all new to them) and their 20-lane highways. Think about it this way- you won’t have to worry about traffic if the Cubs play in Myanmar.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
Really???
You hate the White Sox that much…. that you’d rather see your team do poorly playing their stadium?
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
not hating the White Sox so much as the thought of,
not having ANY part of a winning season in our beloved Wrigley Field would be just a little bittersweet.
cooliogirl47 - February 14, 2012
Really?
So them winning the world series won’t trump EVERYTHING ELSE. You’d still have a complaint if Wrigley for some reason wasn’t involved?
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
I'm absolutely sure I would be as ecstatic as any one else here if the Cubs won the WS at the Cell.
But yes, I would also complain that it wasn’t done at Wrigley.
cooliogirl47 - February 14, 2012
Wow
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
Clearly you don't agree with that, and that's cool. But surely you can understand why some would feel that way?
I know, I know… your name isn’t shirley… ;-)
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
I know I'm not judging Coolio
If others have things they want with that it’s fine. There are a variety of people who likely have ways they want it won. Want to see them win it @ home or in a sweep or over a certain team.
I don’t want to put any disclaimers on what I’d want with a WS victory. I just want one, I don’t care how. I’m in the it could be in Burma crowd.
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
believe it or not, I'm also in the Burma crowd...
however, I know as I’m celebrating at some local watering hole, in Burma, with my rum laced Phaluda or warm beer or both, I’d most likely say, at one time or another, to whomever is at the bar next to me, that it really would have been nice if the Cubs had gotten to win at least one playoff game at Wrigley Field and then I’d have another drink and continue my rejoicing.
:)
cooliogirl47 - February 15, 2012
Who says there aren't bitter Cubs fans?
Technically, no championship has ever been won at new Comiskey. White Sox were on the road when they won. Cubs didn’t even play a World Series in Wrigley til the ’20s. They used Comiskey for 1918.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
I don't see what the big deal is.
Stay in Wrigley. Renovate the left side of the park one year and the right side the following. Leave the bleachers be.
As kids, we played sandlot baseball with just a few players per side on fields where left field or right filed was “OUT.” Defensive players clustered to the left or right of the ‘imaginary line’ running from home plate through the pitchers rubber into the outfield.
Everyone batted left handed or right handed and if a ball was hit the opposite way, it was an out. Pure and simple.
If the Cubs did this, they’d need three less fielders per home game. So lots of pinch hitters available on the bench.
Pitchers would work the outside corners of the plate to induce opposite field automatic ‘outs.’ Less pitches thrown. Arms rested for the playoffs.
Brilliant!
Of course, getting opposing teams to agree to sandlot rules might be a little rough.
What’s that? Less revenue potential for the Cubs? Have you seen how hard they are trying to sell tickets this season?
If they had planned ahead and used my idea, they could have gotten this done in the next two years and still seated the same number of fans that they will anyway for the next two years- just on one side of the grandstand at a time.
Batter up!
WHACK!!
“You’re OUT!”
“Aw, man…”
Zeke - February 14, 2012
That's how I honed my opposite field hitting skills as a kid
I was the only lefty in the neighborhood so while initially we had same setup as you described, it didn’t take long before everyone would complain about switching over to other side for just one batter (me). So I told them it was okay, I’ll just hit it to the left side.
Now at the time, I’m sure I was just trying to fit in and be accepted by ‘the gang’ so last thing I wanted to do was make waves and get everybody mad at me. But now, thinking back with the beauty of selective memory that comes with age, I’m pretty sure that inside I was thinking “FU, you lazy bastards. Go ahead and stay there – I don’t care. I’ll still hit it past your lazy asses…”
Yeah, little ballhawk had some anger issues as a kid… :-)
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
LOL. Here you are (cars are about the right vintage...)
The catcher’s a wuss though. A mask? Who the hell ever used a mask in sandlot? Our baseballs were falling apart & taped and the bats were cracked- held together with nails and glue. A mask? Give me a break.
Zeke - February 14, 2012
And give up 15,000 ticket sales a game? That's just dumb....
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
Couldn't you see the tongue firmly planted in my cheek?
Zeke - February 16, 2012
You needed
ClarkFan - February 17, 2012
I vote for Soldier Field
Been thinking about it all day. That would be SO cool…
And here is why:
Seating Capacity: 61,500.
The novelty of it is going to bring in a ton of fans and they would stand a chance of selling it out a LOT. And where does that money go? Well, a lot of it goes back to the team, I imagine. Depending on what they would have to pay to fit it out for baseball, plus rent, etc…
Thing is, once you get up over 30,000 fans a game, the rest is just gravy, you’ve already paid operating costs. If the Cubs sold an extra 30,000 tickets a game, well, just imagine the revenue.
KO Stradivarius - February 14, 2012
And the tailgating.
Just think about the tailgating.
daver - February 14, 2012
Drunk fans jumping into Burnham Harbor... Disgusting...
eths - February 14, 2012
I will bring the barbecue sauce
Instead of parking in that old Polish lady’s garage, there will be a BCB section of the parking lot every day, before and after. Hell, it could be like a Dead show for every home stand, we can pitch tents.
KO Stradivarius - February 14, 2012
Hm, that does sound pretty cool.
daver - February 14, 2012
"What a long, strange season it's been..."
ballhawk - February 14, 2012
Any one season in particular?
MN exile - February 14, 2012
I'll bring the tent
if someone helps me set it up. It’s decently waterproof too in case it rains as much as last year.
katie casey - February 14, 2012
Where are these 30000 extra fans coming from?
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
Novelty, man
Everybody’s gonna want to say they saw the Cubs play at Soldier Field.
The fair weather fans won’t come out when the team is struggling, but you can’t get a ticket anywhere when the Cubs are in first place. This is a different kind of novelty, but a major draw nonetheless.
KO Stradivarius - February 14, 2012
I totally disagree
with this rotton team…. won’t happen
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
Seems like a scheme Curly would think up.
Football and baseball, as history has proven, go together like spaghetti sauce and peanut butter. The Stay-Puft Metrodome was hated by every team but the Twins, even MLB itself. Oakland now has the most decrepit ‘ballpark’ in MLB. Dolphin Stadium made every Cubs-Marlins game look like the kinds of crowds that would watch batting practice.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
Only one I know of that worked at all was the old Mile High in Denver
One whole grandstand was essentially on rollers and was moved depending on the game played. And it still wasn’t close to ideal for baseball.
The Tidy Bowl stadiums (DC, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philly, Oakland) all had a bunch of bad baseball seats where you couldn’t see one OF.
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
That's why
baseball & football sought a stadium divorce after being sandwiched together from the ’50s/60s to the ’90s.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
Seating capacity: 61,500
Bad seats for baseball: about 30,000.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
You mean like...
the Rooftop seats?
KO Stradivarius - February 14, 2012
Rooftop seats aren't run by the Cubs.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
and that's too bad
Hammer - February 15, 2012
Bad field layouts for a baseball game: 1
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
I'm sure a lot of people...stoked no doubt by the local media...
…would go into apoplectic fits if this ever happened.
As for me, it wouldn’t bother me a bit.
bluekoolaide - February 14, 2012
How do you think they would of handled season tickets?
I would of still went to a few games, but being so far away I definitely would have liked the option of taking a year off without losing my seats.Not because of the Cell cause I’ve never been there,but mainly because I love watching games at Wrigley.But games at Soldier Field? That would be awesome
CubsWin2010 - February 14, 2012
nope.
not going back to that park. I hate it. I’ll never set foot inside it again.
drewishdrewid - February 14, 2012
how come??
Hammer - February 14, 2012
are you talking Wrigley or the Cell?
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
hmm now I don't know.
Which park will you never set foot in again??
Hammer - February 14, 2012
I've never been to the Cell
I have no objection to going, and I bet in the next couple years I will see a game there
Madison Cub Fan - February 14, 2012
I sense there's a story here.
daver - February 14, 2012
Maybe Ozzie verbally abused him
shoemile - February 14, 2012
how does one be verbally abused if you have no idea what the abuser is saying?
jesus christos - February 14, 2012
You can see it in his eyes.
shoemile - February 14, 2012
that's an odd place for a teleprompter
jesus christos - February 14, 2012
I just don't like the Cell.
I don’t like that so much of it is set aside for not watching baseball. I think it’s cold and unappealing. I’ve been once, for a work function. Left in the fifth inning. First time I’ve ever left a baseball game before it was over.
drewishdrewid - February 14, 2012
I can confirm that it's cold.
I was there for a bachelor party in May some years ago. Froze my ass off. I ended up buying a Sox t-shirt just to add another layer of warmth.
daver - February 15, 2012
You bought a T-SHIRT to add as a layer of warmth?
South Side Expat - February 15, 2012
I was desperate...
…and more than a little intoxicated. And, no, it didn’t really help much.
daver - February 15, 2012
Wrigley wasn't exactly a tropical paradise last spring
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
As opposed to Wrigley, where some seats are set aside to watch a steel beam.
Ozzie Montana - February 15, 2012
The number of seats completely behind steel beams is very small.
Compared to the total # of seats in the house, the # of seats with any obstructed view is also small.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
Hey! Those are among the finest seats
to admire 20th century steel. Just look at that galvanization.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
WRONG.
June 18-20
santoswoodenlegs - February 14, 2012
Read the headline again.
It says “2013”, not “2012”.
Al Yellon - February 14, 2012
I Suppose the Cubs Will Play At The Cell in 2013
(Ha ha) It’ll just be for three games against the White Sox. Actually, I would be fine with the White Sox coming to Wrigley for 3 games a year without the Cubs having to go to the Cell. I don’t think the White Sox would like that, though.
memphiscub - February 14, 2012
Being that Al's sources are usually wrong, I'm going to continue to view this as a possibility.
bluemagic9 - February 14, 2012
Are you enjoying trolling?
Because maybe you should stop.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
One of the best games I ever went to was at The Cell
…back when it was called Comiskey II.
1993 Division Clincher
It wasn’t a GREAT game, but Bo Jackson hitting a 2-out 3-run HR to take the lead was amazing. Though from my seats in the upper LF corner, I didn’t even see it land. The crowd reaction was obvious though.
PacificCub - February 14, 2012
Kaplan just said the renovation would be 500 million
and he thinks they should buy the land at Waveland Golf Course and build a brand new stadium, replica Wrigley, on the lakefront.
Personally, if the renovation is that much, it’s my firm belief they need to knock down Wrigley, don’t touch the bleachers, and rebuild the entire thing which means at least one year on the south side.
If Yankee Stadium can be rebuilt, so can Wrigley.
They also need to get the 20 million a year they deserve fo the naming right to the stadium, keep Wrigley Field in the stadium name, but to leave that much on the table for the name of the stadium is ridiculous.
MikeJW - February 14, 2012
not sure oif this was mentioned or not,
but the Cubs will play there…..for 3 games minimum
Cubbie-Tim - February 14, 2012
what if there is a rainout and it doesnt need to be made up??
Hammer - February 14, 2012
A theory...
…so you’re the Ricketts and you’re Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer right now…planning long term in building a winning team. Not going to be this year, and probably not going to be 2013. Altthough we all would love to see a championship in 2012 or 2013, they’re realisically thinking 2014 going forward as the timetable for meaningful pennant possible teams. With me so far? So they’re thinking to themselves, do we want to have the possibilty of bringing the first Cub World Series Championship in 100+ years, to THE CELL???. NO. So why not get this renovation thing going ASAP so we can minimize this possiblity and attempt to coincide a long term team rebuild with an already renovated stadium? Does anyone else see this as legitimate thinking that might be going on amongst the Ricketts/Epstein/Hoyer or am I way out on this one? I just think, knowing all I know thus far on Theo, there IS a plan and you better bet your last cup of Starbucks it is detailed and there is no stone left uncovered.
I’d be interested in other’s thoughts on this wild idea, maybe Mr. Yellon’s too?
jtcitrus - February 14, 2012
the cubs can win the WS in the world's biggest strip club and i won't care
jesus christos - February 14, 2012
Ok, that's a good point...
…I take everything said back and vote for the strip club too.
jtcitrus - February 14, 2012 via mobile
So I take it
the foulpoles will be stripper poles? Would they put a little crows nest up there and have the stripper dance around the foul pole up there?
It would have to be one hell of a strip club to fit a ballpark in there. Just imagine all the features. Instead of organ music, it would be stripping songs. Men buying hot dogs for the strippers to eat provocatively, the color commentators making remarks whenever a player gets on first/second/third base or goes all the way. Then there’s the ’score’board. My my, it would be a pun time there. I don’t dare to think what would be going on in the skyboxes.
Maybe it would inspire the Cubs’ bats? I dunno. Might not be the best of places for Starlin Castro though. He already has a hard enough time keeping his mind on baseball.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
The strippers will dance around the poles for HRs
That should make the Marlins jealous…
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
They're not going to renovate until they get money from the state.
shoemile - February 15, 2012
They may be waiting a while
for that payment to come in from the State of Delusion. And whereas Illinois is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, that state is bordered by Denial River.
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
Then I guess they'll wait.
They probably won’t get the 200 million they were originally asking for, but they’re not going home empty handed. The Ricketts family will see to that.
shoemile - February 15, 2012
When Ricketts asked for money from
the Illinois Sports Authority a year or so ago, it seemed like they turned him down because he was asking for way too much, so much it would tie their hands with giving out loans to the other teams for stadium repairs, too much for any single team to ask for (I recall people having sticker shock from the amount the Cubs were asking for). Seeing as they were built in 1990 & 1994 and maintenance is usually needed at what, 25-30 years later (?), the White Sox & Bulls/Blackhawks might need money from there for stadium repairs circa 2020-2025 (which I’m guessing the Cubs were expected to not have all paid back by that time).
ddoubleheader - February 15, 2012
Makes sense - the revamped Wrigley could also be an attraction for the new TV contract
ClarkFan - February 15, 2012
It's funny how this is on so many people's minds.
daver - February 15, 2012
If the Cubs do move to the Cell for a year or two, it likely will improve the team's performance...
…over and above the gains that are bound to occur in the Epstein Era. A full night schedule played in modern surroundings that match both field and clubhouse conditions in the rest of the NL might mean another five or ten wins for the Cubs in a regular season. Assuming the team reaches the playoffs, those postseason games then could be played in a more relaxed atmosphere, relatively free of Cubbie Occurrences.
Mission accomplished and back at the new and improved Friendly Confines the following April, would that pennant or championship flag look good high up in center field? Put it on the board, yes!
ernaga - February 14, 2012
Nonsense. Tell that to the 2008 Cubs, who won 55 games at Wrigley Field with the current day/night split.
I have said this before, but it bears repeating: Get the best players and they will win whether the games are at 1:20, 3:10, 7:05, or at four in the morning (if they wanted to play then). Blaming losses on the time the games are played is ridiculous.
Al Yellon - February 15, 2012
Perhaps, This Is Related About the Rangers
There was a long time that I heard that the Rangers didn’t win because of all the heat in Texas in the summertime. Granted, the Rangers didn’t play anything like the same number of day games as the Cubs. Still, you had to figure that many of the night games in Texas were just as hot as day games in Chicago. Therefore, for a lot of years, you could have used the argument that the Rangers couldn’t hold out because they wilted in the heat in the summer. Well, the Rangers have been in the World Series the last two seasons. I haven’t heard much about the heat affecting the Rangers lately.
memphiscub - February 15, 2012
Ah, yes...
…but they haven’t won the World Series, see? The heat is what caused them to give up all of those clutch hits to David Freese.
daver - February 15, 2012
Because excuses are for losers.
Winners never have to make excuses for why they won.
CJK - February 15, 2012
I saw the NBC 5 report
And while the team has to do what it has to do, I was prepared to take a year off from baseball if the Cubs played at cellphone field. Glad it isn’t so. The only way I would be remotely ok with it, is if they renovated the northern section of the redline at the same time.
TBru - February 16, 2012
Rebuild
One aspect of rebuilding Wrigley is making sure to take care of the neighborhood businesses that rely on the home games and help make the Wrigley experience extraordinary. To do that, the Cubs and MLB need to find a way to get Wrigley rebuilt and still play homes games there. I realize that as long as Pud Selig is the Comish, this is a complete pipe dream because it requires creative, win-win thinking, but here’s how they can do it.
Over a two-year period, the Cubs open Season 1 with all home games, and then hit the road. In Season 2, they open with an all-road schedule, and then return home to open the rebuilt Wrigley for the second half.
There’s no reason that a properly managed and incentivized project can’t be built in a year, barring perhaps an unusually bad winter. Several large infrastructure projects in the US recently have been completed way ahead of schedule because of a combination of cold-weather techniques, necessity to get them done as quickly as possible, and money. One solid year of 24-7 tear-down and rebuild, and it can be ready for the second half of Season 2.
Sure, it’s not perfect, but no solution will be. But the only team that suffers will the Cubs from the non-stop travel for two half-seasons; for every other team, it’s really just flipping a series between halves. The best part of doing it like this is that the area businesses will only lose a relatively small percentage of their income rather than having an entire year of low cash flow put their backs against the wall. Sure, a place like Goose Island will survive, but there are plenty of locals who really need the season – every season – to get by. They can get it – and the Cubs can stay in Wrigley – if TPTB are willing to create a schedule that makes it happen.
GrizzledCynicalVeteran - February 17, 2012
Impossible.
The Cubs aren’t the only team in baseball. Your scheduling idea would affect all 29 other teams. It’s just not feasible.
Al Yellon - February 18, 2012
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