Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (82 page)

If you plan on sitting in the outfield, the seats in right field are farther away than in left because the patio area in right
pushes the seats back about twenty feet. We recommend left-field Sections 157–159 over any in right field. Section 159 is prime, as it is lower to the field and closer to the action. The bullpen in left field is elevated and a see-through outfield fence allows the pitchers and fans seated near ground level to see through the mesh. Though initially against the idea, it did add to the experience for Josh. The benefit of chain-link is that it diminishes what would be an obstructed view.

Situated just beyond the right-field fence, the Bullpen Sports Bar is located behind the visiting pen and separated by a glass wall that also offers a view of the rest of the field. You can have an Old Style and watch the relievers warm up. We found it amazing to hear how much snap is on the ball from this close. But honestly, the setup smacks a bit of the monkey cage at the zoo. The players know you’re there but won’t look at you. It’s awkward for both sides and probably should be altered a bit.

Inside, a wooden bar sits in a cinderblock locker room. There are plenty of tables and places to sit, but not all of them offer views of the field. They should. And the place lacks the warmth that a bar should offer. Picture putting the bar from
Cheers
inside your high school locker room and you’ve got the idea. Now this may have seemed like a great idea when you were sixteen, but when Kevin was sixteen he also thought it would be cool to cut the roof off his car to make it a convertible—unfortunately, he was living in rainy Seattle at the time and his upholstery got ruined.

Both the Bullpen Sports Bar and the Patio in right field have been dubbed “the Party Area” by the signage. If you have crappy seats, by all means head on down. Even if you don’t pop the $10 extra to get from the Bullpen Sports Bar to the Patio area up above (which provides much better access to the players to snag autographs) you’ll be upgrading your seats. But beware. The Patio has only eighteen tables with seats at each that cannot be seen from inside the Pub, so if seating is a priority for you like it is for us, scope it out from up above before you pull out the green down below.

The seats in left-field home run territory are actual bleachers benches, but on the plus side they have contoured seat backs and there is enough space in between the numbered sitting spots to give your rump some room to breathe. All in all, these are pretty comfortable for bleachers, so we’re not sure why they’re two bucks cheaper than their right-field counterparts (Sections 100–103) that are the same distance from the plate. Just don’t expect the shenanigans of the cross-town team’s bleachers. That kind of funny business doesn’t fly on the South Side, except when Josh is using the public shower on the concourse.

Section 164 in left field has serious visual obstructions caused by the concrete of the batter’s eye, unless you’re in Rows 1–12, which are okay.

We learned a great deal about ballparks visiting U.S. Cellular Field. For the most part, the first levels of nearly all ballparks offer pretty good seats. It’s what the architects do with the challenges of the upper deck that makes a ballpark distinctive and makes up the criteria of how the park will inevitably be judged. If the upper deck hangs out a great distance above the lower, thus providing a steep but close upper level, it will then be compared to Yankee Stadium. If the upper deck is small, not terribly steep, and tucked close to the field, as on the North Side, a “Wrigley-like” quality will be observed. If neither strategy is employed and the upper deck is high up, not hung close to the field, and still very steep, the park will unfortunately be dubbed “U.S. Cellular-esque.” We cannot stress this enough: If at all possible, stay away from the upper deck at U.S. Cellular Field. The first row of these seats is farther from the field than the last row was at old Comiskey. Not only is there a level of luxury boxes and a Club Level, but also a level for the press in between the lower and upper decks. We do not recommend sitting in the upper deck at all. Between the decks is almost sixty feet of sterile cement. What the architects were thinking building an upper deck like this, we have no idea, except perhaps to keep it back and eliminate all overhang for the lower levels. Spend the extra two bucks and sit in the bleachers.

A sign outside the park reads, “Resale of tickets at any price is prohibited.” That said, we did see a few folks walking around, and we don’t think they were selling Girl Scout cookies. By now you should know the drill, but beware, it is against the rules. StubHub is always a good option, especially if you’re cruising toward town in your road trip mobile, the North Side nine are visiting, and you have access to a smartphone.

Way back when your dad was a lad, there used to be a neighborhood surrounding Comiskey, but it was torn down when the Dan Ryan Expressway was built and before the project buildings arrived. The South Side had an inner-city ball-yard neighborhood much like the one the cross-town team now enjoys. It seems urban renewal is not always a good thing. So, in an effort to recapture what they once had, the team has begun to develop the parking lot behind the left-field wall, making it inhabitable for a restaurant and bar scene.

There really isn’t any street parking during ball games in the residential neighborhoods. Don’t waste your time looking like we did. Folks have been scoping out the neighborhood for secret spots for more than eighty years. There aren’t any left. If you’re driving, U.S. Cellular Field is one of those places where drivers need to bite the bullet and park in the team lot, though it is very expensive. Because of the high cost, we recommend parking your car anywhere other than The Cell, and taking public transportation. But if you must drive, U.S. Cellular Field is located just off the Dan Ryan Expressway at 35th Street. You’ll see it from the freeway.

We took the “L” Red Line train to the game. Get off at the Sox/35th stop and U.S. Cellular Field will be on your right as you come up to street level above the Dan Ryan. If you’re leaving by way of the “L,” use the same protocol that you’d use in the Bronx. Get on the train soon after the game ends, before the crowd disperses.

L Train Info:
www.transitchicago.com/

The White Sox website claims that tailgating is encouraged in White Sox Parking Lots A–F. We don’t know if we hit it on a bad day the first time around or what, but we saw a lot more tailgating during our second tour of the ballparks. Maybe that’s because our first trip was in September when folks weren’t in a grilling frame of mind. But again, you’re going to spend some serious coin to set up that game of cornhole. Then again, if a lengthy pregame walk to and from a pub isn’t your thing, then tailgating might be the right option for you. Get those grilles fired up and expect to drop a couple more bills than seems reasonable to park close.

This sculpture/buy-a-brick tribute to the 2005 World Series is actually very nicely done. Look closely to follow great moments in White Sox history. And in case you might not be aware, the statues represent some of the heroes of 2005: Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Orlando Hernández, Geoff Blum, and Juan Uribe. But we all know it was a team effort, right? But we’ll talk more about the players immortalized in bronze at The Cell a little later.

Rather than tailgate, why not seek out some of the history of the old park that used to be right across the street? In the parking lot just to the north of the new park resides old Comiskey’s home plate. White lines mark the location of the batter’s box and where the baselines once ran, whereas yellow lines tell you where to park your car. Imagine the players that walked the grass of that once glorious park. Imagine the home run that Al Smith hit to set off the exploding scoreboard for the first time. Imagine the five glorious All-Star Games that were played here. No, you say? Your count is different? Well, there was the inaugural game played in 1933, the 1950 All-Star Game, the Negro League All-Star Game in 1933, the fiftieth anniversary All-Star Game played in 1983, and the seventieth anniversary game held across the street in 2003. If you want to imagine White Sox pitcher Ed Walsh winning forty games in 1908—a feat no one has matched since—it might be more inspiring to visit 39th and Princeton, the site of old Schorling’s Park, five blocks to the south.