So on Wednesday we went to our first sports game – we are now paid up and hoodie-d up Chicago Cubs fans! (Despite technically being the wrong side of the river – traditionally the south supports the White Sox, but I just can’t cope with that spelling… urgh!) Last time we were in Chicago, the Cubs made the final for the World Series and the atmosphere around Wrigley Field was electric (and the rest of Chicago that night to be honest!) This time though we were excited to be able to actually get inside the stadium…
Getting off the train at Belmont we walked through Wrigleyville, finding very colourful houses and a very accurate sign of the times…
I originally thought the sign at the top said Trader Joe’s and thought I had found the most colorful supermarket ever!
Then we finally got into the stadium, initially thinking it was very quiet! We had a great view, right at the top and close to the batter – even came very close to catching some stray balls at times! The evening sky was also beautiful- I took far too many pictures trying to capture it!
Anyway, the game started after the longest ever note from the man singing the National Anthem! Men also started walking around with beer at this point – some shouting out ‘Goose Island!’, ‘Insert brand of beer here!’, which another guy just yelled ‘Beer’ and shook cans at everyone! There were also wandering hot dog men and a line Ben and Jerry’s seller who much to my disgust gave up early!
What can I tell you about the match?
- It’s basically rounders for guys
- The New York Mets were the opposing team
- The scoreboard looks like they stole it from the Oval.
Also, my favorite player for the Cubs is Ben Zobrist simply because he has a silly name and he wears glasses to play baseball…
Baseball is a long game. The first three innings were rather dull – no scoring, but then it got interesting when Kris Bryant started to score home runs! You understand why he’s the only player I’ve heard of at that point! We made it to the 7th inning – longer than we have ever stayed at a match before, and all to hear the 7th inning stretch – the traditional sing-along to ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’
Next time we’ll have to learn the words…
Overall, I can’t say that I know anything about baseball, but the experience of a game is so much fun. The food was expensive, but tasty – from the Hawaiian Sandwich to Max’s Italian beef sandwich (or more accurately- handful of meat and bread!). Now for hockey!
The Wayfaring Baker 