Despite all of the money that the Cubs have poured into Wrigley Field to make it a more modern park, with more comfortable amenities to help continue to draw fans, until Wednesday I hadn’t seen the “new” Wrigley Field.My absence hadn’t been based on moral grounds, or any strenuous objection to the changes that have been made the past few years. I don’t have a good reason for not going. Life gets busy and complicated and it goes by fast, and before I knew it I hadn’t been at Wrigley since Ryno the Rhino Build-a-Bear day on June 23, 2013.Things have changed in four years.First, the Cubs are World Series Champions. That still seems a little odd to me, but in a good way. At one point I looked out toward center field from our seats in row 17 of section 228, and saw some flags where there never used to be flags before. It took me a few seconds before I realized that those were symbols of postseason success.Wow!Most of the changes I noticed didn’t drastically change the feel of the ballpark, but they just sort of looked odd. It’s like when someone has always had messed up teeth, and then one day they get veneers or false teeth. They don’t look bad, and the new teeth probably don’t really change your opinion of them, but you can’t stop staring at the teeth because it’s not the image you’ve known for so long.I won’t spend many words on the big changes. The video screen is big. The board in right field is less big. The advertisements are big. It’s weird not seeing the bullpens.I’ll spend even fewer words on concessions. It’s expensive. No surprise.The more interesting changes to me are the subtle things that have changed, and a couple that I thought changed, but haven’t. Or maybe they’ve just changed back.First, the bathrooms. I went into two different men’s rooms and I couldn’t believe how clean they were. They’d obviously been remodeled, and although pee troughs are still there, these aren’t the pee troughs of yore. Is it possible to design nice pee troughs? If so, that’s what Sloan, the company that seems to have outfitted the bathroom with every fixture, (and is also a sponsor on Cubs radio) seems to have done.The old troughs looked like they’d been there since the ballpark opened in 1914. And they sometimes smelled like it, too. But these new troughs look almost modern. Or at least as modern as a bunch of men huddled together and peeing into the same trough can seem.Gone are the circular sinks which required stepping on a lever at the bottom to turn on the fountain of water. I loved those things. (Side note: When I was a kid back in the 1980s, my dad peed in one of those sinks, mistaking its purpose. But really, if everyone accepts old, stinky troughs in which pools of urine collect until they’re flushed, aren’t all bets off anyway?)The bathrooms smell clean now. There’s got to be some device that’s pumping Febreze into the air. And the sinks are individual, motion censored, and situated next to motion censored soap dispensers. Wrigley bathrooms have yuppified.When I was a kid I loved getting a scorecard and trying to keep score. Inevitably, I’d end up having to go to the bathroom in the third inning, and I’d miss some action, which would result in a screwed up scorecard. Often I’d hang out near the players parking lot after the game to have someone sign more scorecard. Mark Grace (his autograph looked like it said Mr Jose), Dwight Smith (he had wipers on the headlights of his Mercedes, which I thought was awesome), and Doug Dascenzo were among the players who signed.At some point they stopped selling scorecards. Instead they incorporated them into an overpriced program. Gone was the familiar refrain from some cantankerous old guy: “Programs! Scorecards! Yearbooks!”
So I was entirely too excited to discover that scorecards have returned. They’re almost exactly how I remember them, and for $1.50 they’re a steal! Throw in a $.50 pencil, and you’re good to go. As always, I missed a couple of plays for concession runs and bathroom breaks, but I’m pretty damn happy to have a scorecard!I love watching the grounds crew get the field ready before the game. One of the things I always looked forward to was watching them put down the foul lines. Two men would carry a long chalk box, put it on the ground, pound on the box simultaneously, move it down ten feet, and repeat the process. A perfectly straight, bright white line remained.The chalk box has disappeared. Instead the lines are painted on now. The box looks the same, but instead of pounding on the box, a guy uses a can to paint the line. I’m sure there’s a good reason for this, and it’s rather insignificant in the grand scheme, but I enjoyed the chalk box.But some of the best things—and the smallest things—still remain.My son had to lean in his seat to see around the section 228 support post. Otherwise he couldn’t see the pitcher. The ivy looks great. The centerfield scoreboard is gorgeous. Some of the vendors are entertaining.My favorite small, on-the-field moment of the day came on a foul ball. I can’t remember who was hitting, but he fouled one off the wall behind third base, and the ball caromed back toward third, landing in between C.B. Bucknor, the third base umpire, and Kris Bryant, the Cubs star third basemen. Bryant took a step toward it, but it was closer to Bucknor, so he picked it up. Then he tossed it to Bryant, who then threw it to a kid in the first row. Bucknor obviously knew that it would mean more to a fan to get the ball from Bryant than from him.Three of my kids came with me, and sitting with them in the stands on a perfect summer afternoon was worth a four-year wait.Wasn't that well-written and fun to read? You should subscribe to my blog and we'll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
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