Cabrera: A Night at the Park

Growing up in Chicago’s Northshore, it is natural to play little league baseball. It is even more natural to be a Cubs fan. In fact, I could probably count on my hands and toes the amount of true White Sox fans I personally know.

This summer, I had been aching to go to a baseball game. From my house it’s easy: you hop on the L at Linden (Wilmette), take the purple line to the red and get off at…35^th. I didn’t have the desire to stop at Addison and check out the Cubs. I wanted to go pass the loop, to the south side, and see the Sox play.

Before I even reached kindergarten, I loved to watch the White Sox play. I’m talking Robin Ventura, Chris Snopek, Ron Karkovice, Ray Durham, Chris Singleton, Magglio Ordoñez, Jim Parque, and Ozzie Guillen (the player). As I grew older, the Cubs took precedence over the Sox. It could’ve been Sammy Sosa, maybe my friends, or Chip Caray and Steve Stone, with a little bit of Ron Santo on the radio.

I had been to plenty of Cubs games in recent years, but hadn’t seen the White Sox play since Comiskey existed (thanks to free tickets from a Bulls-Sox Academy baseball camp). I didn’t know what to expect walking from the parking lot towards the stadium, but I was in for a series of surprises (OK, maybe I didn’t take the L, thanks for the ride Kalen). My friend Will and I walked casually up to the ticket booth about 50 minutes before the game, expecting to land some fresh bleacher seats. I saw a sign on the ticket booth that read half price Mondays. I thought to myself, nice bonus, plus something you’ll never get at Wrigley. Apparently, the promotion worked because the game was sold out, so $16 standing room only tickets had to do.

Walking around the first level concourse, one already notices how great the stadium is. The open concourse in the outfield serves great for socializing, and the fundamentals deck in left field is a great place to bring the kids (Mark LaBelle, I know you are reading). So Will and I found some pretty spacious right field bleacher seats, only to be kicked out after the first inning. No harm, we moved down a couple rows…for one more inning. Now standing, we were starting to live up to our ticket description. This allowed us to check out the Fan Deck in center field—an elevated area for any ticketholder to sit, relax, eat, and view the game. There weren’t any seats there either, so we decided to scope out the upper deck. We found a block of empties, made our way up the ramp, and after a Paul Konerko homer, Carl Crawford inside the park home run, and a 4-2 White Sox lead, we were comfortably in section 548 for the remainder of the game.

Walking around earlier and then sitting down, I realized something—White Sox fans are diverse. You can’t say the same when you go to Wrigley and see an array of golf shorts and sun dresses. These fans may be diverse, but they all share a common passion for their team. The sold out crowd exploded when the Devil Rays’ Longoria went down on strikes to end the top half of the eighth with guys on first and second. Likewise, when Bobby Jenks struck out Jason Bartlett to end the game with the bases loaded to give the Sox a 4-3 victory. Then, it was the fireworks’ turn to explode. No matter how old you are, fireworks never get old. Finally, walking out of the stadium on the upper level ramp, we enjoyed a picturesque view of Chicago’s skyline.

I don’t know why I never made it out to “The Cell” until last night, but I’m glad I did. While seeing a game at Wrigley wears an incredibly different feel than a game at U.S. Cellular, both are enjoyable. Who says you have to be a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan? You can argue hastily about whether tailgating or barhopping before a baseball game is better, but regardless which side of the city you are on, North or South, a passion at and around the park is felt—a passion gleaming from many Chicagoans. That is why I am a Chicago fan.