Chicago Recap - Day 2 - Hello U.S. Cellular

Continuing on my recap of Chicago '07, Day 2 had me and the brother trek down to the South Side to catch the White Sox play the Indians on a very cold afternoon. I went last year to see the Cubs/Sox game the day after the whole Pierzynski/Barrett thing, so I wasn't expecting it to be as exciting. Though I must admit, it didn't dissappoint.

Chicago traffic is horrible almost ALL the time. It took us about 90 minutes for a drive that should take about 25. I thought Toronto was congested, this place was mad. Their stadium people are real strict too, as they would not let my brother use my ID to pick up tickets in my name. I had to park my car and stand as proof that my own brother (who looks like me as you can see) didn't steal my license.

The seats were pretty nice. They were in the club level, which upon entering Zan immediately thought that we were in the wrong place. It's definitely a step up from the Rogers Centre in terms of displays and ambience. Then again, it was new to me so maybe the magic dust was making me giddy.

As for the game, well it started off with a humorous bang. I've been tormenting Zan in our baseball video games with Grady Sizemore for the last year and joked that it would be amazing should he smash one right off the mark. Guess what happened ? Yup, he hit a leadoff HR. And after a few minutes, we decided to walk around the stadium to see everything.

They have every corner full with something interesting. Be it the tributive names of their restaurants (i.e. Big Hurt's Pizza, La Russa's Kitchen, etc.) to their make-your-own shirt store, to having statues in center field of their legends (something which I really want the Jays to do). As an example, here's a picture of me making Mr. Comiskey a little more hipper...


The actual game was a scrap-fest. with Mark Buehrle being pulled in the 2nd after getting hit on the thumb from a come-backer. It was somewhat back-and-forth until the bottom of the 9th when the Sox loaded the bases for AJ Pierzynski to get "hit" by a pitch which didn't even come close to touching him. Sox won, and we heard their fight song, which I'm still trying to find online.

Oh, and like my Detroit trip, parking isn't exactly a luxury to be enjoyed after the game. Within 45 minutes of the games conclusion, our car was alone in a lot that was full before the game. Still not as scary as the Motor City though.

That was the highlights from the Sox game. The other cool thing I recall is seeing ads for the team all over the local community. Even in the gully's connecting streets we managed to find a way to take a snap of me in the car above an ad...


I definitely am forgetting to mention the odd point or two, but it was a fun day. Oh, and we finally had traditional Chicago pizza, though not deep-dish. And yes, our dessert was courtesy of the Cheescake factory!

If anyone's still reading, Day 3's notes are next (the famed Milwaukee trip).