The fine folks at away.com have come up with a list of 30 Things Every Traveler Must Do Before They’re 30. Of those 30, I’ve managed to accomplish 12 of them, or roughly 40% of them, some of which was even before I turned 30. Today we look at #20 on their list, see a game at a classic ballpark. Thankfully, I’ve never had to travel far to do this.
From my birth in 1974 until the end of the 1990 season, I was lucky enough to have two classic ballparks right here in my own backyard. Comiskey Park was at one time considered to be the “Baseball Palace of the World”, although it had fallen on hard times by the time I was old enough to enjoy it. Struggling White Sox ownership groups over the years had put off necessary repairs and preventative maintenance so that, by the time the group led by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn purchased the club from Bill Veeck, the stadium needed a lot of work. After deciding that it would be prohibitavely expensive to repair the park, the new owners worked at getting funding for a new stadium and, on September 30, 1990, the White Sox defeated the Mariners in the last game ever in what is now known as Old Comiskey Park.
The almost exact opposite was happening on the other side of town. The Cubs were also under new ownership in the early 80s, but instead of telling everyone who would listen how run down their stadium was, they sold the history of the ballpark and the experience of it to great success. The lore of the Friendly Confines was born, and, thanks to the superstation status of WGN television, people came from all over the country to be at Wrigley Field. For some of them, the game itself was unimportant. Wrigley Field in general, and the bleachers specifically, became Chicago’s biggest (and most expensive) beer garden. Time, however, doesn’t care how much fun people are having or how much Old Style is flowing, and Wrigley Field has shown its age in recent years. As we sit here one month into the 99th year of baseball at the corner of Clark and Addison, the Cubs are working hard on a plan to renovate the stadium so that it can be used well into its second century. Maybe the Cubs will even win a World Series there.
I’ve been able to identify 12 games that I attended at the Old Comiskey Park before they tore her down, including the final night game on September 29, 1990. My Wrigley Field attendance is currently at 312 games and counting.
