Comiskey Park
From Ballpark Roadtrip
Comiskey Park
Seattle Mariners @ Chicago White Sox
August 10, 2000
Contents |
The Road Trip
We spent the night at an Econolodge near O'Hare, relatively clean and enough insulation to allow us to sleep despite the airplanes screaming overhead. This was a day game so we headed down to
Comiskey fairly early, we planned to get some groceries and cook out in the parking lot. We drove down to the stadium and scoped out the scene. We cruised the neighborhood and found an old style supermarket, the kind right on the street with no parking lot, small carts, and certainly no price scanners at the registers. We picked up some burgers, buns, soda, and charcoal. They had no beer so we stopped at a nearby liquor store, tossed everything in the cooler and headed for Comiskey. Nearby the stadium there was a guy waving us into a parking lot; it wasn't an official stadium lot but was a bit cheaper. For all I know, this guy had no affiliation with the lot and could have just been scamming some money out of us. I've always thought about doing that, just walking up to an empty lot at a big event and start selling spots, make a few bucks and then walk away. Fortunately, the car was still there when we came back from the game.
So we parked at the lot and broke out our supplies. We bought some cheapo charcoal instead of the Match Light and had a heck of a time getting the grill lit, eventually we were ready to start cookin'. We had the picnic table set up and before long burgers and beer were served. People were looking at us like we were crazy with this folding picnic table and all but we knew they were just jealous.
The Stadium
Comiskey was an OK stadium. Nothing new and fancy (like Jacobs Field) but nothing cool and historic (like Wrigley). It shows some of the style of the new parks in that the concourse is very wide, there are plenty of concession stands, plenty of restrooms, and you can see the game from most areas of the concourse. The crowd was kinda bland and not the most supportive, maybe it was because it was a day game. None of use had been to the old Comiskey so we couldn't compare. The area around the stadium is pretty burned out, you want to just get out of there after the game, fortunately it lies right along side the interstate. So after the game, we made like a tree, and got the hell out of there...
The Game
This game would quickly set an important trend for our trip. In the 4th inning,Dauber got up to get a program, and while was gone, The Big Hurt put a big hurting on Aaron Sele when he put a bomb deep in left field. We started heckling Dauber when he came back for missing the homer while getting his program; this will prove significant in later installments.
Pros: New stadium with the expected amenities, Chicago is a town with history, stadium is close to highway for easy escape, chance to see a fan with an 80's era Sox jersey (you know, the one with the Atari 2600 looking batter on it)
Cons: The White Sox, Michael Jordan never made it past the Birmingham Barons, still plays a distant second fiddle to the Cubbies
