Legendary Chicago Cubs first baseman Ernie Banks was the one who came up with the nickname. He called Wrigley Field “The friendly confines,” and the name stuck. Signs, t-shirts, sportscasters- you’ll see and hear the clever turn of phrase all around Wrigleyville. The last time Cas ad I were in Chicago, we had a tour of Wrigley, but there were no home games on while we were in town. This time, we remedied that, returning to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field to see the Chicago Cubs take on the St. Louis Cardinals. We went all in on a fully Chicago experience too. We went to the station for the red line train, where we were greeted by a Cubs-logo branded crowd of people waiting to head the same way. There was a man singing for tip money at the station, and when his song ended, he loudly announced which direction the train to Wrigley Field would go, telling everyone that the train the other way would take you to a Sox game, and they were not playing any home games for several days, if you went that way, he warned, you’d have to wait quite a while to see a baseball game. The train came and we all piled in. Every seat was full as we pulled away, but at subsequent stops, I saw the passengers uniformly exhibit kindness. Here’s an empty seat- would you like it? No, I’ll move so folks can sit together. Sir, here- have this seat; my stop is coming soon. The sense of community that I felt all afternoon at the ballpark was there on that train. There is some magic about the friendly confines- I felt like part of the community during that game.
And what a game! The complaint I hear over and over about baseball is that it’s too slow. This game kept the whole crowd interested. It was dramatic, bringing the crowd to its feet on several occasions. The last inning had me holding my breath. The score never got lopsided. There were great, amazing plays in the outfield that you thought were impossible followed by a series of drops and misses that I called a comedy of errors. The Cubs starting pitcher was followed by four relievers. Four. The whole time, the game kept us guessing. There were two home runs- the ball went way out into the stands, which I honestly haven’t seen that often in my baseball-watching life. The Cubs fans were good-natured, too. There were plenty of folks in the crowd wearing St. Louis jerseys and t-shirts, but they were subject only to the gentlest of ribbing and sass.
And of course, there’s Wrigley FIeld itself. The second oldest ballpark in the Major Leagues, it felt like baseball is supposed to feel. I big-puffy-heart-loved the old ballpark in Arlington where the Rangers played for years, and when the team announced they were building a new one, I was both puzzled and devastated. I suspect the players are appreciating the retractable roof and the climate control these days, but Wrigley is a lesson in preserving what is good and proper. Wrigley felt as cozy as a 40,000+ seat ballpark could feel. And for a Friday afternoon, regular season game, it was pretty full. There were over 38,800 people there with us. Entering was hard. Exiting was crowded. Being there in our seats, though, was magical. We were on a row where the family with lots of kids apologized on the way past our seats for the number of kids they had along and the inevitable bathroom trips that would come. The couple next to us was all decked out in Cubs gear. The family in front of us were in Cardinals attire, but nobody seemed too bothered. They just cheered at the wrong times, that’s all.
We stood for the National Anthem, and a local woman sang it beautifully. I don’t love it when folks put too much flare and warble into the rocket’s red glare. She was good. We got hot dogs- proper Chicago dogs. I found myself referring to the Cubs as though they were my team. We need this out! We’re changing pitchers again. In the seventh inning stretch, we had a former player lead us in Take me out to the ballgame, and that was great, too. At the end, when the Cubs won, it was after a very nail-biting top of the ninth where the last out was at the plate, and he got a base hit! The next batter was poised to really screw things up for Chicago, but the ball was caught in the infield and the batter was thrown out at first. This would normally bing a crowd to its feet, but we were already there. What I didn’t know was the song- not that it was hard to learn- but the whole crowd sings along and most folks stay put until it’s over. They lyrics are
Go, Cubs, go / Go, Cubs, go / In Chicago, what do you say / The Cubs are gonna win today
Sure, it’s not Shakespeare, but the poetry of the song lyrics wasn’t the impressive part. The impressive part was that the entire crowd was on its feet, singing along and for the most part, not moving toward the exits until the song ended. I caught a little bit of audio here, have a listen: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rdQKNY6s05-4PnPZrcouYq6cqgZqp8gq/view?usp=drivesdk
We streamed out after that with the rest of the crowd. What a game. In the words of Harry Caray, Holy Cow.
I jumped right into the Cubs game, didn’t I? Sorry, but it was pretty great. I failed to mention breakfast. We started our day at Lou Michell’s, which is nearly as old as Wrigley Field. The breakfast was good, the atmosphere was exactly perfect, and the portions were way too big. It was a proper diner- booths and counter service, check and check. The waitress we had did her job with such fluid motions that it seemed she may have been born there. They bake all their own pastries, boast the best coffee (In Chicago? In the world? I can’t remember.) and do it all very well. The sweet roll came highly recommended, and with it, Cas and I have had all of the sugar we need for the rest of July. Maybe August, too. We shared that and a breakfast sandwich, and everything was great. Lou Mitchell’s boasts it location at the end of Route 66, which was interesting, as we had been to a much farther down the line point of Route 66 on our spring break adventure heading to the Grand Canyon. Very cool.
I need to wrap for now on this entry and leave you hanging about the pirate ship. It’s not a deliberate effort to build suspense; it’s just time to work out and shower so we can get to the next thing. I promise, I will tell you all about our pirate adventures on Lake Michigan soon. We have a three hour drive to Crawfordsville coming up in the late morning, so that should be plenty of time to hoist the sails and tell the tales.
For now, here are photos: https://tinyurl.com/DunlapChicago
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