Old Style Sports

Too early for the 4th of July.

I was at the Angels vs. White Sox series last weekend & took a couple quick snapshots. All photos are courtesy of yours truly:

This park paved the path for today’s new ballparks. And since they shaved off a couple of rows of seating up top in nosebleedland, it’s not as cavernous. The concourses are pretty wide, the seats are comfortable (I was in the bleachers and had no problems!), and they of course have the bullpen bar, a restaurant, and the fundamentals area for kids. Apart from that, the grass is beautiful:

But Torii Hunter playing on it is even better. This guy is a tremendous athlete. He made a couple of great wide-ranging catches in the outfield. He handles hecklers well, too. This was my third time at the game, but here’s my lasting image of the park:

The kid to the left was obnoxiously drunk for the first inning before he and his girlfriend dehydrated in center field. Fans like these can more commonly be found in the outfield at Fenway. He was heckled much more than Torii Hunter by myself, and others around me. I don’t know what it is, and maybe I just pay attention to it more now, but I think the culture of going to a baseball game has changed. I’m guilty of it too - no doubt there.

Why do people who go to the game need to spend a hundred bucks on beer and get wrecked? Usually I just like to eat peanuts & have a couple beers at the game, but every so often it does get out of control… What do you like to do when you go out to the ballgame? Leave a comment!

The Chicago tribune’s Phil Rogers has declared the Cubs the best team in the majors, replacing the Red Sox at the top of his power rankings after the Sox had a bit of a rough week. So yes, the Red Sox are now ranked third overall.

Granted, ESPN’s power rankings were done on Friday, but they have the Cubs ranked second behind the Diamondbacks… AND THAT’S AFTER THE CUBBIES SWEPT THEM THE PREVIOUS WEEK!

The Sox are ranked 7th! …just an observation, I guess.

p.s. I think Detroit should be #1 overall (in an untruthful kind of way).

Photo: Joshua Pollock/oldstylesports.com

OK so I went to the Cubbies game on Tuesday night. One of the few losses of the past week or so. I had the pleasure of going with Brian McCabe of www.cubsonline.com, who captures the sights & sounds of Wrigley in this slideshow. Enjoy!

Bandwagoners are one of my most loathed entities sports has to offer. Fenway Park was not brimming with people until they became a perennial contender. Hell, look at 2006, when the Sox missed the playoffs. Check out the stands in September footage! Today, Jay Mariotti has called out the cubs for having “fickle” fans. The article is genius because everything is spot on. This, of course, is in relation to Cubbies fans being up in arms about the signing of Jim Edmonds. I was at the game on Tuesday night, and when Soriano cracked that huge homer, it was as if the month of April never mattered to them.

To the Cubs’ defense though, Wrigley has always been packed despite their lovable loser image. Which is more than the White Sox can say.

Cubs fans should rejoice with this one - a package deal for the ballpark and the team should be much more attractive to any team’s ownership. As Medill News Service Reporter Brian McCabe said to me last week, “Selling Wrigley Field without the Cubs is like selling Lambeau Field without the Packers, or Fenway Park without the Red Sox.”

$1 billion is a lot of coin though for a group of lovable losers.