It is already known that I do not care for Wrigley Field. I thus collect quotes from ballplayers who share my disdain for the dump. One such player is All-Star Lance Berkman (photo left) who plays for the Houston Astros.
“If they blew up Wrigley tomorrow, it wouldn’t bother me at all. That ivy is nasty, the infield grass is waist high, and they definitely have the most vulgar fans.”
For me that sums it up nicely. Sorry Cub fans but the place is a dark and dank old dump and the drunks are exceptionally rowdy. It didn’t get its reputation as a the world’s biggest _____bar for no reason at all. I hate it.
And while I am at it on this Labor Day 2008 let me congratulate the Cubs for a great season. Of course "it ain’t over till it’s over" but they should make the post-season without any doubt. Now the real "curse" kicks in once they start playing important games for the big prize. Will they win their first World Series in 100 years? Anything is possible, especially in Chicago where we have "a miracle mile." But it wouldn’t bet on it just yet. Cub fans will continue to boast and scream but down deep their are nervous for good reason.
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Right on! The only ballpark worth visiting in Chicago is on the south side! GO SOX!!! Maybe the “miracle” will be a Cubs-Sox World Series.
Sorry John, but I love the old parks like Wrigley and Fenway. I love to sit there and imagine the old time players who have played there. The new parks have no history or tradition — they are like going to the mall. [And for the record, there are roudy fans in every ballpark these days, even in Atlanta!]
Sorry Dave, my friend, but my experience trumps your “emotional” tug toward Wrigley and nostalgia. I have been to 27 of 30 MLB parks and will get to No. 28 in two weeks when I go to Shea in NYC. Wrigley is a dark, smelly place with too many fans out of their minds and too full of their brew. I did not feel this way until the 1980s so I did not begin with a decided bias at all. Remember, when I first went to Wrigley, for several decades, I was for the Cubs except when they beat up Atlanta, a very bad team then. And in 1969, when I was new to Chicago, I rooted for the Cubs down the stretch buying into the losers need to win one theme. I will never forget my first day there in the summer of 1969. And I will never forget seeing Mr. Cub hit No. 500 there. (I like Ernie Banks a lot, but who doesn’t?)
I came to dislike both the Cubs and Wrigley by seeing more than 150 games there over the last 39 years. The fans are like no others and many think this is cool. I find it over the top since they have nothing at all to boast about so far. And the ushers are the “worst” in all of baseball. Have you ever been in a park where the ushers check your ticket every time you go to the concession stands or to the restroom? I have and only in one park—Wrigley Field. Not at Fenway Park or at Yankee Stadium, both “old” parks. And if you appeal to a member of the Cubs staff they act like you are indebted to them for the privilege of being at their great shrine. The whole organization makes me sick. But the fans just keep believing and spending their money. And next to Yankee Stadium it is now the highest priced ticket in the sport. No thank you, you have the park and then blow it up as far as I am concerned.
I once wrote the VP of Operations a kind letter about an issue with an usher and he never answered the letter. Why? He doesn’t need to. They always sell out. If the Cubs make the postseason I will seek to buy as many tickets as possible and then sell them. I will make some good money since these fans are crazy for this team!!!
Lance Berkman got it right. Wrigley is worth seeing once but then see some great parks and forget the over-crowded tourist trap.
I think the Cubs make the post-season this year but then they find a way to lose again. This is the Cubs folks, the Chicago Cubs for heaven’s sake. Who can forget the Bartman game, a perfect display of Cubs’ fans and their foolish ways, saying a man who reached for a ball in foul territory cost them a chance at the World Series. And does anyone remember what the fans did to that young man, a die-hard Cubs fan? It is despicable stuff. No team more defines futility than this one, no team. And no management is as out of touch with fan-friendliness as the Cubs management.
My favorite team is the Braves. My second favorite team will be whoever plays the Cubs in the post-season.
Dave,
One more word. There are few rowdy fans in Atlanta this year since the team is no good, the worst since 1990. I was there and believe me the fans are not rowdy at all.
I was at the new Busch Stadium a weekend ago. The fans are zealous, great and loyal. But they are nothing like Cubs fans. Not one treated me badly or uttered any profanity at me for rooting for the Atlanta Braves. I have never been to Wrigley Field when this was the case, ever.
John,
That you didn’t have your ticket checked every time you got up last month in San Francisco is a recent development since Bonds is gone and the crowds are smaller. When they built the new park in 2000, a transition occurred from friendly, helpful usherettes (all female) to aisle nazis. In the several seasons post-9/11, it wasn’t uncommon to wait in line at the top of the aisle for an inning just to have your ticket checked every time, and I’m a season ticket holder who the usher has seen hundreds of times.
Yes, success has its way of ignoring fans, and I believe you about Wrigley. I’ll visit there to enjoy the ghost of Hack Wilson, but there’s no way I could be a Cubs fan. They’re just too weird.