Baseball in the Windy City \"Chicago Style\"

White Sox and Cubs play at home on same Weekend

    Additional Reporting by
    icon Aug 22, 2011
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Baseball in the Windy City was a fever pitch this past weekend with both of the teams at home playing in front of large crowds.   The Chicago Cubs played their in state rival the dreaded St. Louis Cardinals in a three game series.  The Cubs playing at the Wrigley Field one of baseball's landmark stadiums on the north side of Chicago would take the first two games of the series that I attended.  The Cubs would win the opener on Friday afternoon 5-4 and then take the Fox National game of the week from the Cardinals on Saturday 3-0.   This would keep the Northsiders happy for the weekend. 

On the South side of town the White Sox would take on the American League West Division leading Texas Rangers also in a 3 game set.  The first two games would be played at U.S. Cellular Field on the Southside of Chicago located at 35th Street and I-94.  The Rangers would win the Friday night opener 7-4 with some long ball power starting with Ian Kinsler leading off the game with a home run.  The White Sox would come back to win the second game 3-2 on Saturday.

This provided the true baseball fan with the opportunity to see both the American League and National League play games in the same day in the same city for three days in a row.  This would be the only time this summer that both would be home in 2011 at the same time.  It would take a little bit of hustling around a big city and fighting some traffic and dealing with parking at both stadiums.  One however could take the public transportation to both places for reasonable price.  The CTA runs trains that arrive within a block of both Wrigley and U.S. Cellular ballparks. 

One of the treasures of both these ballparks are the statues of their most famous ballplayers located outside and inside their ballparks.  The Cubs have their statues located outside Wrigley with Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and broadcaster Harry Carey.   The White Sox have a nice area in dead center field with their statues including Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas, Billy Pierce and several famous Sox players from the 100 year old team. 

Be prepared to spend some money on tickets at both places because the Cubs even when they are not playing the best baseball still sell-out nearly every game.  The White Sox are doing fairly well this season and are drawing large crowd to the "Cell".  Parking is not cheap with the going rate at both places going to set you back at about 25 dollars.  Their is alot of tailgating that goes on at Sox games and the Cubs have all the bars in the Wrigleyville area to provide the fans with a place to eat and drink before games.   One can get a great selection of food and drink at both ballparks.  But once again one needs to bring their wallets along.  

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