November 24, 2008 [LINK / comment]
Such a beautiful ballpark on such a beautiful day! And such a sad occasion... I have just added seven (7) new photos taken during my brief visit to Chicago early last month to the Wrigley Field page. Three of them are similar to photos I took at Wrigley Field ten years ago, which was the last time I visited there. (Man, time really flies!) For comparison's sake, I have kept the old photos for the time being, but the only one worth keeping for the long term is the pre-renovation back-of-scoreboard shot. I will also be making a few minor revisions to the diagrams before long...
The "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field, from the southeast, at the corner of Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue. (Oct. 4, 2008)
In ironic contrast to the bright, sunny skies, the mood in Wrigleyville that day was understandably somber. Once again, the Cubs suffered a crushing playoff game disappointment the night before, losing -- at home! -- to the Dodgers, 10-3. (Curses!) I was told by a guy in a Cubs apparel/souvenir store that it was virtually silent as the 39,000+ fans left the stadium. That must have been an eerie scene. One day after my visit, the Cubs lost Game Three of the NLDS in Los Angeles, and were thereby eliminated from contention.
After the Grey (not "Gray") Cup CFL Championship game last night, I watched the Colts vs. Chargers game being played in San Diego, and realized that there were actually two football games being played simultaneously at stadiums that used to house major league baseball teams: Olympic Stadium (Montreal Expos) and QualComm / Jack Murphy Stadium (San Diego Padres). I wonder if that has ever happened before?
One of these days I might come up with a proposed renovated football version of QualComm Stadium, with improved sightlines. (At present, fans in the front rows can barely see the field.) That would require costly rebuilding of much of the lower deck, but it's certainly a better idea than building a new football stadium from scratch.