Wrigley Field (Chicago, Illinois)

September 4, 2016 – our last day in Chicago, our 13^th wedding anniversary, and our visit to Wrigley Field (23^rd Baseball Park) to see the Cubs play the San Francisco Giants. (Of course we were hugely rooting for the Giants, and considered ourselves quite lucky to be in town for this occurrence!) The stadium was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park, but chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. acquired complete control of the Cubs by 1921, and by 1927 the park became known as Wrigley Field. Located on the north side of the city, in the Lakeview community (part of the Wrigleyville neighborhood), Wrigley Field is now just one of nine parks whose name isn’t reflective of corporate sponsorship.

Getting tickets was a little tricky; with none to be had from the Cubs website, we had to resort to third party sources. Seating capacity for Wrigley Field is 41,268 and attendance that day was around 41,000. We ended up getting a couple of good seats using StubHub, and although we paid more than normal, I guess you could say we got our money’s worth – the game went 13 innings! It looked like the Giants might win it, but at the bottom of the 9th, the Cubs tied it up at 2-2, finally wrapping it up in the 13^th inning with a final run. Call me superstitious, but might there have been any connection between this day being our 13^th wedding anniversary, and the game going 13 innings? Nah, probably not!  

Here are some fun facts about Wrigley Field:

• The famous ivy in the outfield was planted by former Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck in 1937
• No baseball has ever hit the Wrigley Field scoreboard (installed, like the ivy, in 1937)
• There’s a big gate in right field commonly called the “elephant’s gate,” because it was built to bring elephants into the field for the circus
• Wrigley was the first park that allowed fans to keep foul balls
• On June 13, 1956 a fan’s car, parked outside the ballpark on Waveland Avenue, was hit by by TWO home run balls. Cubs Eddie Miksis and Giants Willie Mays both hit the parked car—while the fan was inside watching the game.

 

Chicago Skyline

Of the many notable things about Chicago, the innovative and experimental architecture is among the most intriguing. In the city where skyscrapers were invented, there are 1264 high-rises, with 44 that stand taller than 600 feet. To learn more about this unique conclave of modern construction, we took a guided architectural boat cruise down the Chicago River. Our tour guide was a Chicago native who studied architecture in school, and was quite passionate on the subject. He was able to provide us in-depth knowledge on the names of buildings, the architects who built them, the years they were built, interesting bits of trivia, and his own interpretation of what many of the structures conjured up in his own mind. He pointed out how the balconies on one building looked like hundreds of open filing cabinets; another set of two buildings that looked like corn cobs; one building shaped like a three dimensional clover towering skyward – if you looked at it from above. His observations were interesting, entertaining, and knowledgeable, and I came away with a deeper appreciation for these brilliant constructions from some of the most notable architects in the world.

At first there can appear to be a sameness to the structures, a sense of being overwhelmed with so many buildings all towering to the sky. But then, all of a sudden there appears a deep red building in a sea of mostly blue and white reflective glass; out pops the 40-story Loop Building with its own “You Are Here” map engraved up one side; there is the whimsical Aqua building that looks like it is covered with tiny waves or fins; and the not-very-tall, but very ornate, Water Works building. Every building has its own history, something unique and interesting to add to the overall landscape. Here are just a few pictures of the many we took during this highly recommended cruise. 

U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago, Illinois)

The third day we were in Joliet we took the train into Chicago to catch the White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field (our 22^nd ballpark!). Getting to the field was so easy using public transportation, with one of the stops directly across the street from the stadium. Not having any loyalty to the Chicago teams, and having more of a west coast persuasion in general, we were secretly rooting for the Seattle Mariners. But, this time the home team did win, with a final score of White Sox 4, Mariners 1. Still, it is always fun visiting each new ballpark, and learning a little about the teams. Here are some fun facts about the White Sox:

The Chicago White Sox franchise began in 1901 when the American League first began. The White Sox and the Detroit Tigers were the only American League teams to go through the entire 20^th century without changing their team name.

How did the Chicago White Sox get their name? In 1990 Charles Comiskey moved the St. Paul Saints to the South Side of Chicago. The team adopted the former nickname of its future rivals (the Cubs) and became the White Stockings, which was shortened to White Sox a few years after the club joined the American League in 1901.

The White Sox have won three World Series titles, two in the early 1900s (1906, 1917) and the third 88 years later, in 2005. They are often referred to as the “South Siders,” a reference to their location in relation to Chicago's other major league team, the Cubs.

Here are some pictures from our visit to U.S. Cellular and the game.