The White Sox experience; the polar opposite of the Wrigley experience

Tigers 6, White Sox 4
August 14, 2013

(Randy's Perspective)

Fresh off a terrific first day in Chicago - which included at trip to the top of the John Hancock Building, strolls up and down Michigan Avenue, a quick ramble on the Navy Pier, several hops on elevated trains and a night game at Wrigley – on Day 2 in Chicago we hit US Cellular Field for a White Sox day game against the Tigers.




By the way, regarding the John Hancock Building, we chose to go to the bar on the 95th floor instead of the tourist observation deck a few floors up. Same view, no cover charge and we enjoyed an adult beverage.

Anyway, we did all that afore—mentioned stuff before we went to Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Wednesday was White Sox day.

(I should mention here that Penny's entries from Chicago have great pictures. I have a few nice pictures of her, but her Chicago shots are excellent.)

Probably needless to say, with the White Sox in last place in the division and playing a day game, the park wasn’t exactly teeming with energy. Still, the experience was fun.

The White Sox do everything, it seems, polar opposite of the Cubs. I’d say that’s smart, because you’re obviously not going to duplicate, or even effectively imitate, Wrigley. That can’t be done anywhere, and certainly not in the same town as the Cubs. From appearances on the street and conversations we had with Chicago natives, it seems the ratio of Cubs fans to White Sox fans is about 7 to 1. (It also, for the record, appears that on the football front, that the Chicago ratio of Bears fans to any other pro team on the planet is about 10 million to zero.)

But regarding the Cubs vs. White Sox, it is certainly worth mentioning that the White Sox actually won the World Series in 2005. Find a Cubs fan who can top that.

I would assume the “opposite of the Cubs” strategy was part of the branding initiative of former owner, the late Bill Veeck, who was a “maverick,” as they say.

For example, whereas the Cubs have a nearly century-old scoreboard with absolutely no bells, no whistles - manually controlled, mind you – the White Sox have an incredible scoreboard. They have three of them, in fact. And the White Sox should have incredible scoreboards; it’s a natural evolution from 1960, when Veeck, ever the showman, introduced Major League Baseball’s first Monster Scoreboard. His 1960 gem included lighted pinwheels and fireworks that were ignited every time a Sox player hit a home run. In typical Major League Baseball fashion, the league and other owners condescended to Veeck and his monstrosity. And now … all teams have their versions of exploding scoreboards.

Well, wait … the Cubs don’t.

Here’s another major difference between the Cubs and White Sox. Food. Penny gives an excellent rundown in her blog about the cuisine at US Cellular, and everything she says is dead-on.

Wrigley was a great experience overall, but the food was pedestrian compared to other parks. US Cellular, on the other hand, was the State Fair. Anything and everything, when it comes to food.

A little more than an hour before the game, we were on The Loop in downtown Chicago waiting on a red-line train to the South Side when we struck up a conversation with a guy wearing a Cubs shirt and hat. With Penny looking spiffy in her White Sox tee, the guy asked if we were headed to the Sox game. We confirmed and he said, “Yes, it’s actually not awful down there. They’ve got great food.”

That guy’s attitude was a lot more charitable than one we encountered in a hotel near Gary, Indiana, a couple of nights earlier. We were checking in, and the clerk asked what brought us to the area. Cubs and White Sox games, we told him.

“I’m from the North Side, so I love the Cubs,” the clerk said. “I wouldn’t go to US Cellular Field if I were given free tickets to the last game ever played, and that’s where it was played. I will never go there, and I told my son he’s also forbidden.So, how do you really feel about the Sox?

I would say the clerk’s missing a treat. US Cellular was a cool experience. The park had a great feel. In fact, I would think US Cellular would be a “happening” place any time the Sox are still in a playoff race– and, I would guess, especially at night.

The game we saw, however, had an almost lazy feel to it, except for the titanic homer Miguel Cabrera hit. The Tigers won 6-4, and they looked solid top to bottom. The White Sox looked a year or two away.