U.S. Cellular Field

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U. S.   C E L L U L A R

F I E L D

August 13, 2011

Kansas City Royals v. Chicago White Sox

6:10pm

Chicago 5, Kansas City 4

WP:  Crain (7-3, 2.55 ERA)

LP:  Hochevar (8-9, 4.89 ERA)

S:  Sale (4)

Attendance: 24,854

Time:  2:58 (2:07 delay)

68 degrees, cloudy

 

U.S. Cellular Field replaced old Comiskey Park in the Armour Square neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.  It opened in 1991 and actually was known as Comiskey Park, until the naming rights were sold.  It’s capacity at opening was greater than 47,000.  Through multiple renovations, its capacity has been decreased to 40,000.

Gates here open 1-1/2 hours before game time.  I had an upper level ticket for this game, and it’s a fiasco to have an upper level ticket.  First off, I went to the wrong gate, and they didn’t tell me until I got through security and up to the ticket lady.  There was nothing at the gate that said I couldn’t go in there and nothing on my ticket that said where to go.  Once I found “my gate”, I quickly realized I was in prison, much like Dodger Stadium.  You can’t go anywhere below the upper level without a lower level ticket.  Only the second stadium so far like this.  This is a big disappointment and would be very disappointing for others because there’s a lot on the lower level to see.  I wanted to get to the team store and asked a guy in guest services how to get there.  He asked where I was from and escorted me to an elevator and told them to send me to the first floor.  I was lucky.  I got to hang out on the lower level and check it all out during the pregame and during the almost 1-1/2 hour rain delay.  I went up to my seat when the game started.  There was no BP.  Just rain.

The Atmosphere:  Well, like I said above, if you have an upper level ticket, you’re stuck...unless you’re from out of town and know who to talk to that is.  That bites a chunk out of the atmosphere for me.  Otherwise, it’s be a descent place for baseball.  It looked fun here during the 2005 season when they captured their first title since 1917.

The Scorecard:  $1.  Good Card.  Wide open squares!  Really no complaints here.

The Hot Dog:  Great dog!  Same brand as Wrigley...Vienna Beef.  Grilled hot and topped with onions!  Taste!  Spice!  Eat and repeat!

The Broadcasters:  Well, one of them was full of sarcasm.  A little too much for me, in fact.  Some shots at the opposing team that weren’t always necessary.  Otherwise, they called it okay.  Just don’t need all the negativity.

Entertainment:  Not a lot here.  The scoreboards are smaller here so the video doesn’t jump out as much.  I’m not sure what the mascot is.  His name is Southpaw, and he’s some sort of green shagged animal.  Again, I don’t get it.  He’s not white and he’s not a sock.

The Scorecard.

Vienna Beef brand Hot Dog.

They have few authentic items here.  They have $50 balls but no clue what game they are from.  The lady said I can look it up on MLB.com after I buy it.  Right...  They have a $1000 game-used base from a random game.  $1000?  Crazy.

Views from Around the Park:

Other words:  Cook County Jail.  Let the fans move around!

Gripes:  You’ve got to let people move around the stadium.  The simple solution is eject people who sit in a place that isn’t theirs.  It’s as simple as that.

U . S .   C E L L U L A R   F I E L D

C H I C A G O ,   I L L I N O I S

H O M E   O F   T H E   W H I T E   S O X

The Sox are within striking distance of the Tigers in the NL Central.  Still, only just under 25,000 showed up.  The Royals had the early lead but the long ball became the Sox friend and eventually helped lead to their 5-4 victory.  I left this game early...at the top of the 7th...because it was already getting late, I had a long drive, and more rain was coming.  Another delay happened in the bottom of the 8th.

The Crowd:  Small considering they are in the hunt for postseason ball.  The ones there were loud, however.  No scorecards.  No radios.  They did hang around through the initial rain delay.  Not sure what happened after the second.

The Stadium:  In a neighborhood but I didn’t notice any restaurants or bars like there are at Wrigley.  They have a lot of statues out in centerfield...Fisk, Baines, Thomas, and a lot more.  Oh, and this is a place you can’t get to if you don’t have a lower level ticket.  Best way to get here is to go via the train.  They do have descent parking, however, but you gotta fork over the cash.  They do excellent fireworks after homeruns!

Konerko went deep.

S T A T I S T I C S   U P D A T E

MLB Games Seen

17 of 31

Days

43 of 86

Driving Miles

10,427 of an estimated 18,735

States

21

Estimated Gallons of Gas

552 of an estimated 1,102

Hot Dogs Eaten

Too Many

Border Crossings

0 of 2

P R E D I C T I O N S   U P D A T E

(AFTER 16 OF 30 GAMES)

Runs

144 of 249

Hits

282 of 512

Errors

23 of 36

Home Runs

36 of 65

Doubles

54 of 101

Triples

7 of 10

Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)

14 of 31

Strikeouts

247 of 415

Walks

92 of 189

Home Team Wins

11 of 17

Complete Games

1 of 1

Shutouts

1 of 2

Saves

9 of 15

Blown Saves

2 of 7

Balks

1 of 2

Wild Pitches

5 of 19

Hit Batters

4 of 18

Walk-offs

0 of 2

Stolen Bases

18 of 40

Caught Stealing

7 of 15

Ejections

1 of 4

Smallest Crowd

18,640

The Coliseum, Oakland

July 27th, Tampa Bay v. Oakland

Largest Crowd

44,111

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim

July 9th, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim v. Seattle

B A L L P A R K   R A N K I N G S

The Stadium 

1.  PETCO Park, San Diego

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Target Field, Minneapolis

4.  Wrigley Field, Chicago

5.  Safeco Field, Seattle

6.  Minute Maid Park, Houston

7.  Chase Field, Phoenix

8.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

9.  Coors Field, Denver

10.  Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

11.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

12.  U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

13.  Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

14.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

15.  Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim

16.  The Coliseum, Oakland

The Atmosphere

1.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

2.  Target Field, Minneapolis

3.  PETCO Park, San Diego

4.  Wrigley Field, Chicago

5.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

The Crowd

1.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

2.  Target Field, Minneapolis

3.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

4.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

5.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

The Scorecard

1.  Target Field, Minneapolis

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

4.  Minute Maid Park, Houston

5.  Safeco Field, Seattle

The Hot Dog

1.  Coors Field, Denver

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Wrigley Field, Chicago

4.  U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

5.  Safeco Field, Seattle

The Broadcasters

1.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

4.  Target Field, Minneapolis

5.  The Coliseum, Oakland

They have quite a few of retired numbers.

View of the city from the stadium.

Tony was not making pizza here.  They also did not serve beef.