Bill's Journal Entry #17

Comiskey Park

Date: August 26, 2002

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays

Travel companion: My dad, Marv Verkuilen

Link to my photos

Game Result: Frank Thomas and Aaron Rowand each homered in the third for the White Sox, but nothing they could do offensively could make up for the six runs the home team gave up in the top of the third. After the third, the Sox only got three runners to first base-and every one of them was erased with a double play. Jays 8, Sox 4.

Stadium Summary: New Comiskey Park is a nice, solid ballpark. However, it has a problem. Or rather, it has several problems. Those problems are located in Baltimore, San Francisco, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Seattle, Arlington, Houston, Phoenix, and Milwaukee. And more problems are coming, in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and San Diego. Compared to these new stadiums, which were done with a much greater sense of nostalgia and fan comfort than Comiskey, the South Side ballfield has trouble withstanding the comparisons, through no fault of its own. It just doesn't have the neighborhood setting, or nostalgic feel, or other extra glitzes that so many of those others have. But that doesn't at all make this a bad park.

One of the biggest issues Comiskey has is, believe it or not, its incredible cleanliness. It's not so much that it is clean, as it looks clean. Pale concrete and light blue seats are the dominant colors. It's such a light color setting that it makes the paint that is starting to peel from the bottom of the roof panels seem to be a glaring inconsistency. Actually, this pale setting provided an eerie feel to the pre-game-Batting practice was so quiet, except for some very slow organ music, that it truly felt more like a funeral parlor than a ballpark. But that had as much to do with the lack of a crowd at the time than anything else. And the lack of the crowd was mostly due to the far-poorer-than-expected performance of the White Sox this year. So in a way, I guess it truly was a funeral.

Worst seating-area vendors: Comiskey had far and away the worst vendors of any stadium. First of all, their quantity was amazing. There were only about 15,000 fans present, yet there were enough vendors to serve 150,000. Many sections had more vendors than fans. The traffic jams waiting for vendors to get their wide trays (and backsides) out of the aisles so people could pass them were nearly as bad as the Loop during rush hour. And to top it off, they had the singularly most annoying vendor, bellering "Miller Liiiiiiite" in a deep, falsetto, gravelly voice that sounded like his greatest goal in life was to get throat cancer so he can do that voice without the falsetto.

Worst on-screen "pick-a-winner" races: Most stadiums hold a race on the video screen between innings during the game, where three characters compete, hoping that the kids in the stands will cheer for their favorite. Some stadiums use the team mascot, some (like Milwaukee's sausage races) use concession items, etc. Comiskey didn't have one. They had FIVE. Or rather, they had at least five-there may have been more, I was doing my best to ignore some of them after seeing at least that many. They had racing planes, they had racing neon frogs jumping over bats and balls, they had people racing to use ATM's while administering cheap shots on their competitors, they had racing pizzas, and, probably most visually annoying of any on screen race in the Majors, they had jet boats racing around a flooded version of Comiskey Park. Even the six-year-old kids that usually love that type of thing thought that most of them after the first one were redundant and stupid.

Most apparent artifact of Old Comiskey: A home plate, batting boxes, and painted foul lines can be found in the parking lot north of New Comiskey, on the site of the old park. Definitely worth visiting and taking pictures with your best "at bat" pose.

Best way to cool off on a really hot day: The shower in the left field concourse. The day I was there wasn't hot enough for anyone to use it.

Most interesting way to keep in touch with Man's Best Friend: Comiskey Park is the only Major League Stadium to have a "pet check" area. I have no idea how much it's utilized, but it's there. Come to the game, tailgate with Fido, check him into the kennel just before the game. Just make sure you're sober enough as you're leaving to remember to pick him up again.

The All-Star Game comes home: The inaugural All-Star Game was held in Old Comiskey back in 1933, when none other than Babe Ruth hit the first ever All-Star Homerun. In 2003, for the first time since New Comiskey opened, the All-Star Game will once be in a park named Comiskey.

Stadium grade: C  Not great. Not bad. Definitely respectable.

Overall grade of my experience at the game: C+  Big Frank's homer, and the chances to see the exploding scoreboard in action, made up for the Sox' inability to touch the Jays' bullpen.