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Sit in the Bleachers at Wrigley

2013
05.02
Right Field Bleachers

Right Field Bleachers

On a warm spring night there are few better places than finding yourself in the bleachers at Wrigley Field and hanks to @DreFlair, I got some free tickets!  With a cool breeze you’ll find few more entertaining baseball experiences no matter where your baseball allegiances may lie. I’ve been going to the bleachers since the massive heatwave of 1995 when the temperature hit 106 and sweat stains could be seen on the faded bleachers.  Since then, the @cubs have built more seating, added a Toyota sign, a lounge in center field, and made the line for getting a wristband longer than the line to Hot Doug’s.

Despite these things, here’s why I love going to the bleachers:

The view

The view

When you’re watching baseball on TV, the view is always from the center field cameras.  Behind the mound, you get to see where the catcher is setting up, if a runner is out or safe, and catch when the bullpen is warming up.  Watching the outfielders shift every so often lets you know where they think the ball is going to go.  I love taking pictures from the bleachers!

You can try to feed the players

You can try to feed the players

For whatever reason, Cubs fans make no sense.  Half come to the game unprepared to pay any attention, while the vast majority drink until they can’t think, throwing food and sometimes drenching players in a cold cup of beer.  Whether you are a diehard fan of baseball who shudders to think of missing a play or someone more interested in tweeting on the ignorance of the fans all game, you’ll nary find a crowd that reacts with no sense of logic in baseball.

Fans with a deathwish

DO NOT DO THE WAVE AT WRIGLEY

Call me old school, but back in the day Cubs fans prided themselves that the Wave did not and could not happen in Wrigley.  You save that nonsense for the other foo-foo ballparks around the country.  In the past three games I’ve gone to I’ve seen one wave go through the stadium umpteen times, at another game a set of fools attempted the Wave and were shouted down, and last night’s Wave which stopped as soon as it went up. Totally unacceptable fan behavior.

Maximum leg room in the latter innings

Maximum leg room in the latter innings

If the Cubs are losing heavily, you’ll have no trouble finding that extra legroom you’ve always dreamed about. Fans trickle out each inning as the Cubs will likely face another 100-loss season.  As the “L’s” start piling up, you can rest assured that new seats will open up after the seventh inning stretch.

The bleachers are as glorious as they are obnoxious.  Regardless of the circumstance, I would make sure to stop for a bleacher game if I ever had to leave Chicago for good.

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To Do List

2013
03.09

1. New Kuma’s (666 W Diversey)

2. Dinner at Ruxbin

3. Catch Too Much Light Makes the Baby Goes Blind

4. Attend Cubs Opening Day

5. Throw a big birthday bash

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October Baseball at Wrigley Field

2012
10.03
Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field

October baseball is a metaphor for playoff baseball but with the Cubs dropping a whopping 101 games this season (and counting), the playoffs are likely a few years away.  Despite the lack of playoff hopes, it’s still a fun experience to go to the ballpark at cut rate prices.  Tickets these days for for $1 on StubHub and $25+ for Club Box seats – not bad, considering some of these Club Box seats go to triple digits in the summertime.

Having forgotten the football schedule, I got myself two 4th row seats behind the bullpen for $30 each. September baseball in Wrigley is usually freezing but this year’s warm weather meant no coat and no complaining except for $7.50 beers.

Cubs Bullpen

Cubs Bullpen

Game highlights were surely absent as the Cubs were 2-hit and shut out by the worst team in the league.  The game still had attendance of 32,167, but there were more empty seats than I could remember.

@lenandbob Sing the Stretch

@lenandbob Sing the Stretch

Tradition still stay alive  in Wrigley as @lenandbob sand the stretch.  What was worse than watching that 100th loss was spotting unruly fans in the center field bleachers successfully start the Wave.

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe the Wave has no place being in Wrigley.  The last game I attended in the summer, 5 fans sitting two rows in front of me attempted to start the Wave.  I immediately began shouting at them to sit down and desist in their buffoonery and others joined in to successfully prevent the Wave from hitting the stands.  Unfortunately for me, this time I was too far away and could only watch in shame as the Wave made its way around Wrigley Field round after round.

Five years from now maybe we’ll see real October baseball in Chicago, until then – Epstein, you’ve got a lot of work to do! Please note, if you ever see the Wave at Wrigley yell at those responsible and refuse to participate!!


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#77 – Pig Roast at Frontier

2012
09.27
Pig Roast @FrontierChicago

Pig Roast @FrontierChicago

Roasted pig is a fine delicacy taken to great heights at Frontier - recently, I was fortunate enough to feast on the beast on a fine autumn afternoon.  Entering Frontier in the early afternoon we were the first people in the bar but there was roasted pig waiting for us.

Caesar Salad

Caesar Salad

Start off with a caesar salad with your leafy greens except add in one small twist: add fried thingermerbobbers filled with cheese.  I couldn’t tell you what these things were but they were a perfect replacement for crouton and were stuffed with pure deliciousness.  We housed this salad with great ease.

Mixed Vegetables

Mixed Vegetables

Next up was a mixed vegetable bowl cooked in lots of oil and/or butter.  Being polite, I took one giant serving spoonful and dabbed some on my plate.  The buttery deliciousness of these veggies became apparent quite quickly and the food glistened and left a fine buttery trail on my plate.

Johnnycakes

Johnnycakes

Next up were Johnnycakes.  What are Johnnycakes (besides tricky crossword puzzle clues)?  Never having a Johnnycake before they looked like mini-pancakes which confused me since it definitely was not brunch. The cornmeal flatbread was just what the doctor ordered and it was hard to resist engulfing the johnnycake one-bite one kill style.

Mac n' Cheese

Mac n' Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is a tried and tested recipe that we’ve all learned how to make by reading the directions on the box.  At Frontier, they serve up a golden crusted mac n cheese served on cast iron and the cheesy deliciousness can’t be denied.  The combination of appetizers and craft beer was making for the perfect afternoon.

Pork Belly

Pork Belly

While watching the carving, I never knew how much oil and grease could flow out of a freshly roasted pig. The first plate off the pig was the pork tenderloin, which was soft tender and chock full of flavor.  Luckily my dining companions were all-in on the pig and we feasted vociferously as pork tenderloin, pork shoulder, pork leg, pork ribs, pork jowl, pork tongue and pork cheek were all rolled out. My favorite was the pork belly and ten of us barely put a dent in the giant amounts of roasted pig.

In summary, if ever you and a group of friends are looking for a fun dining experience, take a stab at the pig roast at Frontier.  It will be a feast for the ages if you can finish an entire roasted pig and your taste buds will thank you for it.


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9/11 – A Look Back

2012
09.11
Johns Hopkins Quad

Johns Hopkins Quad

In the fall of 2001 I was enrolled at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, waiting for Statistics class.  Introduction to Writing & Fiction 1 just wrapped up and I was sitting on a bench writing in my poetry book on the quad.  The sky was blue and the sun was hot enough to make me break a light sweat.  Waiting for class, the only thing I was thinking about was the girl I stayed out late with the previous night in the president’s garden.  The president’s garden had water lilies and a giant pool of water and the moonlight cast a bright light down that night and I could see her reflection despite the water lilies.

Sitting in the quad that morning, I overheard a different girl sitting on the bench next to my bench on her cell phone.  She told everyone she spoke with that a plane had crashed into a building in New York.  I didn’t think much of her comment and she didn’t seem too bothered by it either and I kept writing into my poetry book trying to find the right words to capture just how I felt from the night before.

Eventually, it was time for class.  I packed up my poetry book, zipped up my backpack and headed to Mudd Hall.  While walking over another student and I saw a signed taped onto the glass doors of the hall.  The signed said that classes across campus were cancelled for the remainder of the day.  With much jubilation and excitement, I high-fived the other kid and yelled, “This is awesome! Can you believe it!?”  Cheery, we both went on our merry way and I had an even extra hop in my step.

What had started of as an idyllic day became much more sinister the second I reached the library. TVs were showing the ensuing disaster that happened in New York.  The plane as it turned out had been a terrorist attack and the situation was dead serious.  I thought of my parents and picked up my monochrome phone, but the lines were busy.  I went back Ivy which was my old dorm to pick up posters I had left behind so I could put them up in my new apartment.

In my old apartment I saw one of the tallest kids on campus sitting in a chair hunched over watching the news on TV.  He was crying.  He told me that he knew people in the building and that he couldn’t call them and he didn’t know what happened.  I had no words for this and we all stared blankly at the TV with words in our mouths but no voices to speak them.  Eventually I grabbed my things and headed to my fraternity house were everyone was on the couch shaking their heads watching as the worst terrorist attack in American history played itself through.

One thing that still worked was the Internet.  I was able to instant message a friend on AIM who said that she saw the Pentagon burning outside the window of her classroom.  Eventually my parents were able to get a hold of me and I am sure they were relieved to know that I wasn’t in DC surrounded by the madness.  Feeling drained, I turned on some Gregorian chant, curled up into a ball and put myself to sleep for the rest of the day trying to forget everything that I saw on TV.

Once in a generation a national tragedy strikes, freezing the entire memory of the nation once and for all time.  Our time was 9/11 and I will never forget.  As for the President’s Garden, every 9/11 I look back and read the poem I wrote on that quad that morning:

the president’s garden

the rippled waterlillies bouncing
on the midnight water
the floating face of me
stares at her moonlit visage

leaves drift from their branches
and crash gently on the ground
like hopes.

the ragebeast has flown away
without me.

and I am still staring.

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