Cubs Locker room, Chicago, IL
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Monday, May 27, 2013
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Wrigley Field Tour
You know the saying, when in Rome do as the Romans do? Well I decided to do that in Chicago, so I went on a tour of Wrigley Field (there were no games when I was there). I enjoy a baseball game from time to time, but I am not a big baseball fan, even living near Yankee Stadium, so I was a little bit concerned I might not enjoy this tour, but I actually loved it.
My baseball stadium experience is the old Yankee Stadium when I was a kid, Shea Stadium and the new stadiums: Yankee Stadium, Citifield (Mets) and PNC Park (Pirates) - you'll notice I have been to a lot of new ball parks. That is probably why the first thing I noticed about Wrigley Field is that it is old, it is almost 100 years old. You will not find the comforts of a new stadium here. That gives the stadium a certain charm, but probably isn't as wonderful if you're at a game that's going into a 12th or 13th inning.
The tour had about 20 people on it and we had 2 guides, they were very nice, informative and accommodating to our group. They also had a sense of humor and made us laugh.
The tour starts with us being seated behind the Cubs dugout and getting the early history of the stadium. We did learn about some of the innovations that came out of Wrigley Field, such as the food vending behind the seating, instead of just people walking around the stadium selling food.
From there we moved to the original press area, which is now where the boxes are, and then moved to the new press box. The most shocking thing here was how little technology there was here, just some chairs and tables. Heck, it doesn't even have air conditioning or heating! Here we learned about the bleachers on the tops of the buildings across the street from the park, some of the announcers, and having lights installed. These seem like little things, unless you're talking about Wrigley Field.
After that we got to the coolest part of the tour, the locker room and the field. The locker room was nice, but small. But during the game it doubles as a bull pen. There is no bull pen with field access so they use the lockerrom.
When we finished in the locker room we walkout out to the field through the dugout. I was surprised how low the dugout was, and then the bench was really high. I didn't expect that. But it did have a padded bench, which is more then I can say for the visitors dugout. We were given about 15 minutes here to take photos and explore. We were only allowed on the dirt area of the field by the dugouts, but it was fun to be on the field and get some pictures.
Maybe it's the history buff in me, but I really enjoyed this tour, the guides were personable and made the tour fun and the stadium come alive. I would recommend this tour for anyone, including children. It was a good way to get a piece of Chicago history. If you're wondering about what they were building in the stadium, it was a stage for a concert later in the week.
My baseball stadium experience is the old Yankee Stadium when I was a kid, Shea Stadium and the new stadiums: Yankee Stadium, Citifield (Mets) and PNC Park (Pirates) - you'll notice I have been to a lot of new ball parks. That is probably why the first thing I noticed about Wrigley Field is that it is old, it is almost 100 years old. You will not find the comforts of a new stadium here. That gives the stadium a certain charm, but probably isn't as wonderful if you're at a game that's going into a 12th or 13th inning.
The tour had about 20 people on it and we had 2 guides, they were very nice, informative and accommodating to our group. They also had a sense of humor and made us laugh.
The tour starts with us being seated behind the Cubs dugout and getting the early history of the stadium. We did learn about some of the innovations that came out of Wrigley Field, such as the food vending behind the seating, instead of just people walking around the stadium selling food.
After that we got to the coolest part of the tour, the locker room and the field. The locker room was nice, but small. But during the game it doubles as a bull pen. There is no bull pen with field access so they use the lockerrom.
When we finished in the locker room we walkout out to the field through the dugout. I was surprised how low the dugout was, and then the bench was really high. I didn't expect that. But it did have a padded bench, which is more then I can say for the visitors dugout. We were given about 15 minutes here to take photos and explore. We were only allowed on the dirt area of the field by the dugouts, but it was fun to be on the field and get some pictures.
Maybe it's the history buff in me, but I really enjoyed this tour, the guides were personable and made the tour fun and the stadium come alive. I would recommend this tour for anyone, including children. It was a good way to get a piece of Chicago history. If you're wondering about what they were building in the stadium, it was a stage for a concert later in the week.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Yankee Stadium vs Citi Field
I've recently been able to go to baseball games at the new stadiums here in NY. Citi Field is the new home of the Mets and the Yankees have moved to the new Yankee Stadium. I'm not much of a baseball fan but do lean toward the Mets, I have fond memories of the Mets winning the World Series in 1986. Although I prefer the Mets I'm not a Yankee hater either and jumped at the chance to go to a Yankee game when free tickets were offered to me. I've been to Shea Stadium several times, but I hadn't been to the old Yankee Stadium in years. My only other reference was PNC Park in Pittsburgh, which is a great stadium.
My seats at Citi Field when I went were Mezzanine level at 3rd base and my seats at Yankee Stadium were field level at first base. I like Citi Field better then Yankee Stadium overall, but both have some neat things. Overall as a stadium I liked Citi better because it felt cozier. The way the stadium is designed it is fairly closed in, Shea really opened up out as you went up, but Citi stays tighter into the field. This made it more intimate. Yankee Stadium also seems to open up wider then Citi does, though this could have to do with the difference in the location of my seats, but even just looking at the stadium I think this holds true no matter where you are seated.
Citi Field is family friendlier, there are some childrens activities there - wiffle ball and a dunk tank. My 10 year old nephew wanted to do both, but we only let him do the dunk tank. Citi Field is also cheaper to get tickets at, which is family friendly.
Food at Citi Field is also more convenient. Each of the levels (except maybe the 500 level seats) has its own private club for dining. The club on the Mezzanine level has all the regular foods which you wait on line for, but there are lots of tables and TV screens so it's a nice place to eat. In the walkways around the stadium there is also the typical food stations. Behind the outfield is a large eating area, I thought this area was overrated, there were a few tables where you would stand at, but no seating. It was quite crowded throughout the game too, but there is a large selection of beers here. But I liked that the option was here, and that you can watch the game on a jumbo tron.
I was in some pretty nice seats at Yankee Stadium, they were really well padded and a bit wider. The seats were the first row of the second section at field level, sweet! Here they would bring your food to you. Well you ordered it from your seats and it was brought to your seats, you just paid a 20% gratuity. Unfortunately, the menu wasn't that great so we didn't partake in this. The section in front of us had a better menu and got free bags of M&M's. So this is more convenient then anything that I saw at Citi Field but it's lack of selection made it not as useful. The atmosphere at Yankee Stadium was a little more serious and the environment was a little more hard core about baseball. And well there is something to be said for the Yankees players, they're all big names and with the right field being very generous to home runs games can be more exciting.
So if you're just looking for a fun baseball game then seeing the Mets and Citi Field will be fun, and you'll save a bit of money. If seeing the best players is your thing, then head to Yankee Stadium. But both stadiums will deliver a fun experience. Play ball...
 |
| CitiField |
Citi Field is family friendlier, there are some childrens activities there - wiffle ball and a dunk tank. My 10 year old nephew wanted to do both, but we only let him do the dunk tank. Citi Field is also cheaper to get tickets at, which is family friendly.
 |
| Yankee Stadium |
I was in some pretty nice seats at Yankee Stadium, they were really well padded and a bit wider. The seats were the first row of the second section at field level, sweet! Here they would bring your food to you. Well you ordered it from your seats and it was brought to your seats, you just paid a 20% gratuity. Unfortunately, the menu wasn't that great so we didn't partake in this. The section in front of us had a better menu and got free bags of M&M's. So this is more convenient then anything that I saw at Citi Field but it's lack of selection made it not as useful. The atmosphere at Yankee Stadium was a little more serious and the environment was a little more hard core about baseball. And well there is something to be said for the Yankees players, they're all big names and with the right field being very generous to home runs games can be more exciting.
So if you're just looking for a fun baseball game then seeing the Mets and Citi Field will be fun, and you'll save a bit of money. If seeing the best players is your thing, then head to Yankee Stadium. But both stadiums will deliver a fun experience. Play ball...
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