When my brother was in town (at the end of May, which feels like a million years ago), H and I took him and his roommate, Mark, to Wrigley Field for a tour.
The marquee (I remember it best from that flashback in Sleepless in Seattle).
The view from Waveland, near where everyone stands around in hopes of catching a ball. 
The Chicago Bears played at Wrigley until 1970 and it's been used for soccer (Chicago Sting), concerts and they even had a ski-jump competition.
Originally it housed 14,000 fans and now can seat up to 41,000. We were a little mesmerized about how weird it looked all empty like this.
The place was the first to have an organ (the original is now in the Hall of Fame).
It's also the first baseball field where they allowed fans to keep foul balls as souvenirs.
No one has ever hit the scoreboard--with a baseball. Sam Snead hit it with a golf ball, teeing off from home plate.
If you look closely, home plate and the pitcher's mound don't line up with the "400" sign in center field. When they wanted to add seats, they cut left field and rolled it all back. The pitcher's mound now is where home plate used to be. 
AC006299: "After Championship, it's been zero years since their last division championship, it's been 62 years since they won the pennant and it's been 99 years since they last won the World Series. The latin roughly translates to "Let's go Cubs." 
People hang out on rooftops during games, too. Sometimes they light up that spinning Harry Caray wheel. 
We got to sit in the pressbox. It's a real nice view.
Radio booth, where they might possibly sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch. Or not. I don't remember.
We got to go into the locker rooms. This one's for visitors.
This is how you're supposed to wear the uniform.
Don't forget your bats, either.
Don't forget your bats, either.
Professional athletes need a LOT of products to look good on the field. And this was the visiting bathroom.
Squint and you'll see a wedding party. Apparently people like to have their photos taken at Wrigley. (Sounds like something my brother would want). 
We went on the tour right before the Dodgers/Cubs series at the end of May, and we went to a couple of games. H got a bunch of shots of himself with this dodgers round identifier thingy. It's huge; this photo is from the pressbox. (And I've been informed that it's called the "on-deck circle.")
When we were at the game the next day, these cute old guys would entertain the crowd with their impromptu band.
H caught Derrek Lee's home run. (In fact, he took most of these photos--the good ones, at least.)
Personally, I go to ballgames for the hot dogs and beer. And the peoplewatching.
The Dodgers didn't fare too well in that series. They got swept, and Murphy's Bleachers rubbed it in. Sorry, H. But at least they made a grammatical mistake in their rush to gloat.
The famous ivy.
10 comments:
Look at all that goo for the athletes in the bathroom. I wonder if they wear makeup too, y'know, to make sure their features show up on the tellie with all the bright lights.
Why is the ivy famous?
That looks pretty sweet. I wonder what they're going to do with that sign when the Cubs don't win the world series this year? There aren't enough spots there for a three digit number...
The tour looks like a lot of fun.
Just remember: when Ernie Banks retired, he moved to Pasadena...
Great pics. I will never forget my first baseball game ever, which was at Wrigley. I was little and probably bored and I sat there like an obnoxious kid kicking the seat in front of me because I was so jittery on sugar. The lady in front of me turned around, grabbed my legs, and held on for 5 minutes or so. Needless to say, I've never kicked another chair since.
Whenever I hear "Wrigley", I think gum, not baseball. Which is weird, since I practically never chew gum.
Those are terrific pictures. And congrats to H on catching a home run ball. I've always wondered - if a fan catches a ball, is the player out?
That's a LOT of product in that bathroom. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who needs obvious reminder notes.
You used to have to give foul balls back?
Man old time baseball sucked. :-)
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press box! fancy!
and i'm with you on the hot dogs and beer and people watching. sports come last.
The tour looks like a lot of fun. I'll have to look into doing it myself. I'm surprised no one has ever hit the scoreboard. Go Cubs!
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