DanMargarita.com

A Chicago vacation isn’t complete for me unless I make it to a Cubs game, and it was even better since I managed to attend two contests.

Even playing weekday games, the team draws exceedingly well between students and business types playing hooky, vacationers and the aforementioned people without a job. Yet, a single ticket is pretty easy to get and I opt for a shady seat about 30-40 rows behind home plate. Having spent two and a half hours the previous day on a boat cruise down the Chicago River and out on to Lake Michigan in 93 degree heat, it seems like the prudent choice. Not anticipating the climate, I hadn’t thought to bring a hat, sunblock or even a pair of summer shorts on the cruise (or the trip) and wound up with what we Bostonians call a “wicked” burn.

Entering Wrigley Field, the Cubs home, involves nothing like the security measures of Fenway Park which usually includes a pat-down, retina scan, and cavity search. Like Boston, the Cubs are a big-market team and spent a tidy sum this past winter to rebuild the team. Unlike the Red Sox, the Cubs haven’t felt the need to raise that cash by selling every inch of free space within the ballpark for advertisements. The lone concessions are a corporate logo on the utility doors amongst the ivy covered walls in the outfield and the rotating sign behind home plate which partially obscures the beautiful brick work. Despite their best efforts to lose the game, the Cubs manage to hang on for the victory.

There are no shortage of taverns to hang out after the game to avoid the crush of the train, so I opt for Merkle’s, named for a New York Giants first baseman, best known for a botched play that led to the Cubs winning the pennant and later, the World Series. The year was 1908 and as any Cubs fan can tell you, they have not won it since. So in essence, 1908 is their 1918. Besides getting a tavern named after him, the mental lapse of the play has long been dubbed as “Merkle’s Boner” by baseball scribes. To that, you may supply your own joke. Later, I get to the ESPN Zone which I manage to a lot where the multiple TV’s give me a chance to catch-up with the Red Sox, who have been stumbling as of late. If watching millionaires whack a ball with a stick isn’t your cup of tea, other viewing options include: three soccer games, a WNBA game and a rugby match. If tea isn’t your cup of tea, several types of beer, hard drinks and food are available, but be warned: The ESPN Zone is a tourist trap, i.e., it’s expensive.

On Saturday, there is also a large crowd, probably larger because Cubs fans who are employed are able to attend, and the only ticket available for me is near the left field foul pole, completely in the sun. Still not having bought a pair of shorts, it seems I may roast again as the temperature continues to hover in the low 90’s. Fortunately, as the game starts clouds and a breeze from an approaching storm roll in to give some relief.

Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus throws out the first pitch and later leads the crowd in a chorus of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch. Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano gives up just two hits. However, the second hit is a home run in the ninth inning and the Cubs lose 1-0 as a driving rain sets in.

National League games are usually quicker than American League games and indeed, this contest takes about two and half hours. This includes a ten minute delay in which a beanball incident leads to a brawl and the ensuing ejections. That doesn’t include the ejection of the drunken young woman who keeps eluding security and somehow popping up in our section despite a constant pursuit.

This is perhaps one consequence of beer being sold in the stands at Wrigley Field, a practice that the Red Sox abandoned about 25 years ago. Also, if one wants to purchase a beer and a hot dog, they don’t have to go to two separate lines as they do at Fenway Park. They can be purchased at the same concession stand. The last time that happened at Fenway Park was in a scene from the movie “Field of Dreams” with Kevin Costner. Concession stands are plentiful and provide a wide variety of food options.

So I’m guessing that if Wrigley Field is heaven for me, it’s probably also heaven for Homer Simpson.