Baseballwise, the best thing that happened to the Cubs in this final home series against the Pirates, was to avoid being swept on Wednesday. But regardless of the elimination (around May in reality) of the Cubs, and any hopes of a miraculous playoff run, there was of course still great fun to be had at the Wrigley. 6 dollar tickets, final Old Style beers, and meeting internet friends in person seemed to be the order of the final days and nights at the nearly century old ballpark.
Monday night, I spent the evening sitting next to some Pirate fans, who, I guess I'm rooting for this year. Even though their long suffering fanbase hasn't really shown up until now, any team with 20 straight years of losing baseball, is worthy of a cheer or two from my mouth. Behind me sat a Mexican contractor and some of his team (possibly family), sitting with a young white man supplier, who to my ears, had the accent of a first generation American. They did drunken business all night, discussing materials, costs, and a bit of gossip over numerous cervezas and a little baseball watching. That game was 1-0 Pirates, and one of the quickest games of the year. I didn't even go out to smoke until the 6th!
Let's go Bucs? Sure. Why not....
The first time the older gentlemen came to Wrigley was in the 1960's. According to legend, he took a train with a buddy of his from Central Illinois, but was too drunk at the time to remember much of his experience. He fondly recalled Cubs players from the time like Glenn Beckert and Randy Hundley, in addition to your Ernie Banks's and Billy Williams's. Remember when the Cubs had stars on the team?They were nice people, and I hope they are still cheering the Bucs deep into October. Anyone but the Cardinals!
Unfortunately for the Cubs, even the closed circuit TV system has given up on our Cubbies!
Tuesday, I was able to meet up with a Twitter friend Josh, @jmorg17, and his buddy Ryan. I had seats up in the balcony, but sat with these guys for 4 or 5 innings behind a pole.
These guys were huge fans, but I still managed to win a dollar off of Ryan by betting him the skyboxes were full operational in the 80's not the 70's. My sister and I used to run from wherever our seats were to watch Harry Caray moving from the TV booth to radio and back after the 3rd and before the 6th innings, from high up in Terrace Reserved. Thats was before the skyboxes, and it was definitely the mid 80's. Either way, I ended up a dollar richer. The answer was 1989. I barely squeaked out the victory.
Tuesday night was also my last Old Style at Wrigley, unless of course the online petition works out for them. You can sign it here if you care. Old Style is a crappy beer, but it's our crappy beer. And you know what? All the beers at Wrigley are relatively crappy. Major brand beers like Becks and Dos Equis don't even serve up their signature brands, with Dos Equis being the Lager, not their regular brew, and Becks is called Sapphire, which has a malt liquor flavor to it. The Sapphire is your highest alcohol content for the money, topping 6%, just in case you were looking to get sloppy. Don't even get me started on Bud and Bud lite. These beers don't give much of a buzz at all, unless you count diarrhea as a buzz.
But of course the Rickett's family in their infinite quest for cash had to go with the highest bidder. I'm fine with it all if they spend money on the team, but that doesn't seem to be their plan. It's all about savings and trying to make a team work without spending the money. That's what Money Ball's all about! I'm doubtful that approach will work in Chicago no matter what kind of beer we're drinking. Not holding my breath, but hoping the concessions are upgraded next year, especially the beer selection. There are so many delicious micro brews in the area, couldn't there be one stand somewhere with some Belgian beers like Duvel or how about a Sierra Nevada, or even a real Becks Pilsner! Additionally, the only food worth eating is the Stanley Burger, the Chicago Dog, and Uncle Dougies pulled pork. Unfortunately, save the Chicago Dog, you really have to go searching for the other two sandwiches.
The food and beer at Wrigley are crap. They could do better, but the almighty dollar speaks louder than the all mighty taste bud.
My final day at Wrigley started with a Champagne brunch with some actor friends from Trapdoor Theatre, at my apartment, a mile north of the ballpark. I made breakfast burrito's for everyone and we walked down to the bleachers on what proved to be a beautiful day for all of us, including the Cubs who won the game 4-2 on a surprise Darnell McDonald 3 run homer. I met up with the guy who sold me his season tickets on Sunday, a Bostonian named Adam Polegreen, and his son, who had a sack full of balls, some of them signed, attained during batting practice. Adam's a super nice guy, and he loves his Cubbies, and his Red Sox. I wish I liked another team that was any good, but unfortunately my other adopted team from nearly two decades of living in NYC, is the Mets. Hell, I could never be a Yankee fan!
Unfortunately, I was drinking my last crappy Old Style the night before, as the bleachers ran out of the stuff. In fact, premium beer after premium beer ran out as the game went on. I drank Pabst. It was the perfect day for it all. A great way to end out my season at the shrine, but somehow, whoever runs the sound at Wrigley managed to louse up Go Cubs Go. Is this a harbinger of doom for next year? Or just the final series in St. Louis. Or as Pat Hughes annoyingly says...."St. Lou".
Listen at 2:20.
As a musician, producer, and engineer, the sound at Wrigley has been run horribly this year. Feedback, Weird Gary Pressey organ rhythms, and inconsistent volumes throughout the game have me thinking someone's stupid nephew got the job, and not a professional. This final screw up is just icing on a bad cake. Maybe it's all on purpose, to have us all accept thundering scoreboard sounds as an upgrade from the mediocre sonic vision that currently flatly falls on the patrons ears of the Friendly Confines.
Well, 3 more games, then the long dark winter. Makin me feel like this...
Buy Son Ranto Tix and Beer. Use the Amazon Search Bar at http://www.rockettradio.com
It won't cost you a dime, and goes a long way to keeping this Diehard fan's life above the water....
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