As noted in Event 3, Part 1, this trip to Wrigley Field was going to be special. It was my first trip to Wrigley Field with my father since sometime in the 1970s (I’m going with 1974 or 1976 but who knows for sure).

Once we left the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, IN, I chose to eschew the freeway drive up to Wrigley, choosing rather to head up Lake Shore Drive. It afforded us views of McCormick Place, Soldier Field, the Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium, Grant Park (which was hosting Lollapalooza!), Navy Pier, and Lincoln Park. All places, I later learned, my dad had not seen in decades and my cousin, Griffin, had little recollection of seeing either.

Of course there was traffic – always traffic in Chicago, right! – and as we made our turn onto West Addison I was really glad I’d reached out to another Cubs fan (and Chicago-area resident), Laura Dennis about how to handle parking. My most-recent trips to Wrigley all involved taking The L. Laura’s advice, download the app Spot Hero, find a spot, and book it in advance. Check, check, and check. We were about a block and a half east of the stadium off Addison and for $30 I felt it was a steal. Aside from the medical emergency on the corner upon our arrival (police cruiser and ambulance blocking the area I figured the spot was at) all worked well.

I’ll be honest, this event was the most personal to date and – quite likely – will remain so even after I’ve completed this entire Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project.

Arriving in Wrigleyville

^{The Cubbie Bear bar at the corner of Addison & Clark; Cubs and Cardinals fans living in harmony; Wrigleyville banners adorn lightpoles on Clark Street; and Gallagher Way is the place to be during pre-game. (Banner photo by Griffin Hill)}

For a 1:20 p.m. game, gates open a bit before noon. We arrived shortly afterward and the area surrounding Wrigley Field – known as Wrigleyville (listen to the Wrigleyville podcast here) – was already a bubbling with activity.

We lingered for a bit at the corner of Addison and Clark to secure a group photo with the famous Wrigley marquee in the background and generally milled about, soaking up the ambience and the sunshine (and midwest humidity;-), as well as the electic mix of Cubs and Cardinals’ garb throughout the area.

The Gallagher Way Experience

A recent addition to the Wrigley Field experience (2017) is Gallagher Way, a plaza-like set up along Clark Street in front of Wrigley. It’s open to the public every day of the year, but on game days it’s available only ticket holders.

There’s music, lawn games, beverages, a splash pad, and, among the highlights for our group, the statues of several Chicago Cubs’ National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees: Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Santo, and Billy Williams.

^{Clockwise from upper left, the Billy Williams statue, Fergie Jenkins statue, the view up the gathered on Gallagher Way’s green space, the Ron Santo statue, the Ryne Sandberg statue, Griffin and Jerry flanking the Ernie Banks statue.}

Sandberg Pop Up Museum

The longtime Cubs’ secondbaseman is the most-recent honoree with a statue in Gallagher Way. The Cubs commemorated the 40th anniversary of his performance against the Cardinals on June 23, 1984 (aka the Ryne Sandberg Game, here’s Harry Caray’s take) by unveiling his statue earlier this summer.

As part of this “Summer of Sandberg,” there’s a free pop-up shrine to Sandberg in the Gallagher Way area. There was plenty of artifacts from Ryno’s career with the Cubs and it was totally worth the five minutes it took to stroll through.

^{Displays showcase Sandberg’s Gold Gloves as well as his Silver Slugger awards.}

Our Seats

As alluded to perviously and presumably visible through the images, a Cubs-Cardinals matchup virtually assures a capacity crowd. It certainly felt that way as we made our way to our seats behind the Cubs’ dugout.

As my friend Sara Earleywine predicted, our seats were as perfect as could be (a touch more leg room would have been ideal, but why quibble!?!). Section 111, Row 15 was in the shade for the game’s duration (thank heavens), it had a slight bit of cover from the second deck should precipitation became an issue, and it was just one step down into the section so it didn’t require much stair work for my father.

^{A couple of views form our seats, first back toward homeplate and the other one looking at the leftfield foul pole, the bleachers, and rooftop seating.}

The Game

Spoiler Alert: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! (boxscore here).

That was, perhaps, the best part of this magical day. Not only did the weather clear from the early-morning fog and mistiness, but we also got to see 2016 World Series MVP and hometown hero, Ben Zobrist, throw out the ceremonial first pitch and sing the seventh inning stretch tradition, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” And, because the Cubs won, we got to see the flying of the ‘W’ flag which dates to 1937 and hear the singing of “Go, Cubs, Go” which was released in 1984 and has been a victory anthem for about the past 20 seasons.

It was a day full of allof the emotions you might expect, going with family to a place that holds special memories for two of us and might well hold similar ones into the future for the other two. To be able to spend a day with three generations baseball fans in our family in a stadium that’s 110 years old and watch a baseball team that dates back 149 years … well, I’m uncertain any words I can put down would do it justice.

^{Clockwise from upper left, bratwurst with kraut and mustard for me; the busys concourse during the game; the view from the rightfield line through the ivy; the scoreboards (both of them!) say it all post-game; three generations of Hills in our seats at Wrigley Field; one of us kept score; and the marquee may as well say we all win.}

Though a long day – we didn’t return to my dad’s place until after 10 p.m. – I’m fairly certain it’s a trip we’d all take again if presented the opportunity. Here’s hoping that opportunity comes along.

Sing the Song!

• Previously: Wrigley Field Bound