Why is The Cell pointed South-East?

[HuskyCaucasian]

If you're like me, it might have had something to do with that pretty good hitter the Sox called up right around then to play 1b. He was kinda tall, IIRC.

I've been wondering if it had something to do with the Big Hurt. I dunno.

[Harry Chappas]

If you're like me, it might have had something to do with that pretty good hitter the Sox called up right around then to play 1b. He was kinda tall, IIRC.

The 90 / 91 Sox were a whole bunch of fun to watch. If they hadn't let LaRussa go to Oakland you never know how things would have ended up for better or worse.

[hawksfan61]

He may be referring to the senior home that is currently just outside of right field of the stadium. Some people think of them as "projects".

 

Or, if you go about 4 more blocks south along Wentworth, you do in fact hit some row-homes that are indeed "projects".

 

This. Even now the neighborhood around Comiskey has a bum rap, imagine what the reputation was like 20+ years ago when the park was being planned. Projects is probably the wrong word, but I don't think the Sox wanted their fans having to wander into the neighborhood to get into and leave the park.

[Gregory Pratt]

Sox Park was a dump until the renovations a few years ago. Back in its blue spaceship days.

[hawksfan61]

I suppose, but when I think "projects" I think Robert Taylor, Stateway Gardens, Ida B. Wells, etc. all those high rise buildings in Bronzeville that are all gone now. Those were all close to the stadium but still on the other side of the 35th overpass and more or less separated for all practical purposes. Bronzeville is barely even recognizable from what it used to be back then.

 

It really is remarkable what has become of Bronzeville in the past 6 or 7 years. I started at IIT in the '99, and when I graduated a lot of Stateway Gardens was already vacant and had begun to be torn down. You never thought living in the area in 2001 that there would eventually be a Starbucks you could walk to.

[Steve9347]

But we as taxpayers deserved better.

You don't like the Cell? At opening it wasn't very good, but since the renovations I think it's quite spectacular.

[BigSqwert]

You don't like the Cell? At opening it wasn't very good, but since the renovations I think it's quite spectacular.

Yeah it's fine but it's just a middle of the pack, not very memorable venue.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I'd be more scared to go to a Cubs game at night than a Sox game at night.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

To this day, I have no idea how I became a Sox fan. All I remember is getting a 1989 Chicago Cubs team photo plaque for Christmas, but by 1991 I was a Sox fan.

 

Same here. Everyone in my family, and I mean EVERYONE (dad, grandpa, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins) are all Cubs fans. They used to dress me in Cubs things when I was younger, but at some point in the late 90's, I starting watching baseball and became a Sox fan. I actually think it was my dad's fault for taking me to Sox games when I was younger because he would get them for free from work, so instead of going to Cubs games, we would go to Sox games, and I think thats where I fell in love with Frank, Sugar Ray Durham, Buehrle, Royce Clayton, Joe Crede, Magglio, ect. I would say around 1999-2000 when probably when I really started to follow. I would have been about 9 or 10.

[southsider2k5]

You don't like the Cell? At opening it wasn't very good, but since the renovations I think it's quite spectacular.

 

It is one of my favorites now out of the mess of ballparks I have been too. Not the top, but definitely top 5.

[Harry Chappas]

Yeah it's fine but it's just a middle of the pack, not very memorable venue.

 

You get what you pay for.

 

The real disaster is Soldier Field.

[shago]

It is one of my favorites now out of the mess of ballparks I have been too. Not the top, but definitely top 5.

Couldn't agree more, every seat has a view, outfield is great. Loud when it gets going. Think it's a terrific park.... Only two things that need to be upgraded, the jumbotrons/graphics (which look like they are from a Commodore 64) and the cash parking, which is insane when it's a sellout.

 

Possibly having Nancy and her organ flying across the stadium Tommy Lee style during innings is about the only other suggestion

[aprec32]

I know its decades away, but would any of you like to have the stadium closer to downtown?

[LVSoxFan]

I hated the new Comiskey when it opened; as others here have noted, when you had Cleveland and Colorado building beautiful retro parks, it sucked.

 

The renovations kicked ass, though. I love it now.

 

And you have to marvel, as I did yesterday, at the view from CF UD, where you can see the South Loop and even the lake. Or how you can see the skyline from ramps as you exit that side of the park, or the view of the West Side from the other decks.

 

I also like the fact that the outfield is open, i.e., it's not a 360 degree bowl, which allows for the view.

 

The only thing I don't like is the ugly McDonald's logo stuck in the middle of the CF board, but a small complaint.

 

It may not be the coolest park in the country, but hey: it's ours. Lots of great memories there. And don't forget the fact that it's literally right on the red line; in Chicago you can literally take the same line north or south and be dropped off in front of the ballparks (the convenience which became apparent if you've ever been to KC or Rangers Stadium, where you have to drive completely out of the city to go to the ballgame).

[BigEdWalsh]

This is one of those things that makes me feel old. I was a teen when all of this was going on, but a lot of people on here weren't even born yet. Ugh.

Don't feel bad. I used to go to games before there was a Dan Ryan. Ugh.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Or how you can see the skyline from ramps as you exit that side of the park, or the view of the West Side from the other decks.

I LOVE the view of downtown from he ramps. I take a picture there every time I'm at a game.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I know its decades away, but would any of you like to have the stadium closer to downtown?

Is there even space to move closer to downtown? There's some park space, but not a lot and probably not space residents would be willing to give up.

 

Personally. I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see a ballpark on Northerly Island, but I dont see that every happening.

 

[southsider2k5]

Is there even space to move closer to downtown? There's some park space, but not a lot and probably not space residents would be willing to give up.

 

Personally. I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see a ballpark on Northerly Island, but I dont see that every happening.

 

The ideal thing would have been to build in the south loop before it was the in thing to do. If they had built into the ground like the Jake or Comerica with the Chicago skyline as a backdrop in the OF, it would have been unbeatable.

[whitesoxfan101]

I'm pretty certain that stadiums have to point a certain way due to where the sun goes down?

 

It'd be pointed due-north, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but there had to be some legit reason.

 

Yeah I think a stadium has to be pointed at least somewhat to the east. However, that means we could have pointed the place northeast, and still had a better look at the skyline. I'm not sure if this is as big an issue as some think though. The Cell isn't in the middle of downtown like a lot of the stadiums with skyline views in the outfield, so the view wouldn't be nearly at the same at such a distance.

 

The one thing I have heard and seen is we should have built the place in the South Loop. But I'm not sure what the South Loop looked like in the late 80's since I was barely born, so I can't really comment on that.

Edited August 30, 2010 by whitesoxfan101

[HuskyCaucasian]

The ideal thing would have been to build in the south loop before it was the in thing to do. If they had built into the ground like the Jake or Comerica with the Chicago skyline as a backdrop in the OF, it would have been unbeatable.

Yea, I still think this would be pretty cool...

Build an elevated bridge over the harbor and you can share Soldier Field parking.

[BigSqwert]

The ideal thing would have been to build in the south loop before it was the in thing to do. If they had built into the ground like the Jake or Comerica with the Chicago skyline as a backdrop in the OF, it would have been unbeatable.

This. It would have been the mecca of baseball stadiums IMO.

[LVSoxFan]

I like the lakefront park idea, a la San Francisco--right on the water.

 

What would be crazy interesting is, if that ever happened, is to see what that did to attendance and who would remain "Chicago's team," as the park would become a tourist destination that it isn't now, compared to Wrigley.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I like the lakefront park idea, a la San Francisco--right on the water.

 

What would be crazy interesting is, if that ever happened, is to see what that did to attendance and who would remain "Chicago's team," as the park would become a tourist destination that it isn't now, compared to Wrigley.

What's to say the Cubs dont do it? I think it's a great place for either team.

[Allsox]

The real disaster is Soldier Field.

 

Agree 100%.

650 million and one can't navigate the west grandstand or end zone seating for crap or have more bathrooms/point-of-sale facilities at all. It's like they spent 649 million on the Cadillac side (Great views, excellent navigation pts, tons of bathrooms/concessions but at the price of your first-born) and left a million for the commoners' sections.

[LittleHurt05]

You get what you pay for.

 

The real disaster is Soldier Field.

 

This isn't the actual stadium, but the walk from Soldier Field to downtown/CTA, along the Field Museum, down below in the tunnels, is the worst f***ing walk ever. Every year I forget how bad it is until I go back for a game. There had to be some way to make that all more convenient.