Listing Through Life

A friend picked me up at 9:00 and drove us down to the New Comiskey Park. We arrived early because we’d heard there was limited parking near the stadium. We had an hour to kill before the gates opened, so we walked around the new park and watched them knocking down the old park.

We were among the first 100 or so people in the park. My friend was the first person to buy food at one of the concession stands. We watched former Illinois governor Jim Thompson playing catch right in front of our seats. After we ate, I wandered around a bit.

During Tiger batting practice, one of the players lined a foul into the seats near where we were sitting. Nobody was going for the ball, so I walked over and reached for it. Just then some girl kicked it down a couple steps. I followed and got it in my hand. Another guy grabbed my hand and scraped it across the concrete, then began raking me with his nails. I ended up with bruises, scrapes and cuts all over both hands — and a beat-up batting practice baseball.

Pregame ceremonies (which included a benediction by a priest)

The first pitch ever

We weren’t the only celebrities at the park. If you look carefully at the next photo, on the far right, you’ll see Illinois Governor Jim Edgar sitting next to U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. On the far left, behind the bunting, Jim Thompson is sitting next to Fay Vincent, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

In the bottom photo, Jim Thompson has left and Vice-President Dan Quayle is sitting next to Vincent.

It was bitterly cold, our seats were narrow, the lines at the food counters and bathrooms were (literally) hours long, and the game quickly got out of hand. But the park was impressive, the food (which we had the fortune to buy early) was tasty and the two guys sitting next to me left in the second inning and never came back, allowing me to spread out and enjoy a clear view.

The White Sox lost 16-0. The game got so bad that the Tigers allowed their pitcher, Frank Tanana, to bat.

I attended three opening games this year (two at brand-new ballparks) and saw the Chicago-area teams lose all three by a combined score of 30-1.

This was the first game in the Cougars’ first season. My family went with a group of friends. The game was scheduled to start at 4:00, but we got there early to take advantage of the opening day festivities. They were supposedly handing out T-shirts and key chains — but even though we arrived just 15 minutes after the gate opened, they were out of both. A jazz band was supposed to be entertaining the crowd — one guy played a couple songs on a saxaphone. Parachutists were supposed to jump out of an army helicopter — there were no parachutists, and the helicopter was parked in the parking lot.

The park was nice, with backs on the seats and everything. We were in the 16th row just to the third-base side of home plate.

But it was cold. My wife had brought a blanket, and she wrapped herself and our daughter in it so only their faces stuck out. Four o’clock came and went with no game. Finally around 4:15 a bunch of dignitaries came out and began talking about how wonderful they were to get baseball in Kane County.

Opening ceremonies

Front gate

First Pitch

The game began around 4:30. After half an inning, my wife and daughter took a walk. They found a warm haven in the ladies’ room and spent half an hour in there. By the time the game ended, there weren’t more than 600 in the park.

Mr. Tidy. We were told to save our garbage, then pass it down the row when he came around. Yea, right.

The Cougar mascot

The game was so bad that an infielder came in to pitch for the Cougars. As White Sox after White Sox reached base, it began to be rather funny. The Cougars lost 13-0.

The 350 or so of us still there waited for the post-game fireworks. And waited. And waited. A freezing rain began, and we got colder and colder. But still we waited. About half an hour after the game the show started. It lasted about five minutes. But what it lacked in length, it made up for in excitement. The wind carried the fireworks right over our heads where they went off very low. As they exploded and expanded, we felt like they would land in our laps. At times they filled the entire sky. Red-hot sparks were landing on the field and in the stands, but the sense of danger just added to the thrill. We got home around 9:00, just as we began regaining feeling in all our body parts. We saw in the newspaper the next day that the fireworks had done major damage to the $5,500 tarp on the infield.

This was my first opening day at Wrigley Field. I hope it will be my last. I went with a friend, a guy I worked with, and his wife. We parked about six blocks from Wrigley Field and walked through the cold rain looking for a place to eat. We passed a string of crowded, slimy-looking bars and picked a Mexican restaurant. The place was clean and almost empty — and the food was excellent

About 45 minutes before game time, we headed to the park and found our seats. And delightful seats they were — way down the right-field line, half the infield blocked by a pillar, and surrounded by the sort of people who get free tickets from beer vendors. We were unprotected from a wind that swept across the field and blew cold mist into our faces. Our seats were coated with water that we wiped off as best we could with an old blanket.

It was miserable. I was freezing, soaked and packed in too tightly to move. About the time the game started, the beer vendor himself showed up and began tossing around boxes of Cracker Jacks and bags of peanuts. After getting hit on the head a couple times, I decided to load my pockets and bring them home.

The rain continued for the first couple innings, and we were thinking seriously of leaving. It finally let up, and we decided to tough it out. I let my friend keep score, then borrowed his scorecard and filled mine out at home. The Cubs lost 4-1. (My joints were still stiff the next day.)

The final game in Comiskey Park.

My friend picked me up at 9:30 am. There was no traffic, and we arrived an hour before the gates opened. The parking lots were already filling up. We bought some souvenirs and put them in the car, then wandered around outside looking at the new park being built next door.

The gates opened at 11:30, and we were among the first fans to enter. We bought some awful, greasy hamburgers and fries and went to our seats. There were no scorecards for sale. The White Sox took their regular program, which usually sold for $2.00, put a different cover on it and sold it for $5.00. It ticked me off.

There wasn’t much pregame excitement. Some of the Sox players threw baseballs into the stands. The only one thrown into the stands on the first-base side missed my outstretched fingers by about an inch.

The park wasn’t full. There were 42,849 in attendance. Some people stayed home because they heard unused tickets were selling for $20.

The game was fun. Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey, Junior played side-by-side in the Seattle outfield and batted second and third. They’re both in this photo (above), but you might have to take my word for it.

I managed to photograph the final pitch. There were two outs, with a man on first. Harold Reynolds, the Seattle second-baseman, was batting. I pointed my camera toward the infield and waited. On the first pitch I could see the batter wasn’t starting to swing, so I didn’t push the button. It was a ball. On the second pitch, I saw him begin his swing, so I took the shot. Reynolds hit a ground ball to Scott Fletcher, the White Sox second-baseman. Fletcher fielded it cleanly and threw Reynolds out at first.

When the game ended, the field filled up with cops on foot and cops on horses and even cops in a truck. Everybody stood up, but nobody ran on the field or got unruly. The White Sox came out and took a lap around the field, waving at the fans. Long after the rest of the players were in the showers, Carlton Fisk was still out signing autographs.

The White Sox won 2-1.