Ever since I was a little kid, baseball has been one of my true loves. I had a playing career that spanned from the days of T-ball to early in high school, and I was born into a family that loves the Chicago Cubs. So even though I am not playing competitively anymore, the love I have for the game is still there.
As a Cubs fan, I have taken the pilgrimage to the north side of Chicago to see several of their games. And they happen to play their home games at historic Wrigley Field, which to me is the best ballpark in baseball.
But why? What makes Wrigley Field the best field to play on in the game? Doubters may say that it is too old or that the lines for the bathroom are way too long. While the latter may certainly be true, I am here to say that there are certain characteristics of Wrigley that cannot be beaten.
I remember the feeling I had when I walked into Wrigley Field for the first time. First, a little background information. It was a game in 2009 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and my favorite pitcher, Ryan Dempster, was the Cubs' starting pitcher. It was a warm summer day, which made it even better.
When I saw the field in person for the first time, I was blown away by the beauty of everything I saw. The scoreboard in center field, which happens to be a registered historic landmark, looked even bigger in real life than it would have on television. The atmosphere was exciting and the smells of hot dogs and hamburgers were other-worldly.
The Wrigley Field marquee was also a sight to behold. It is the first thing you see upon entering the ballpark, and it gives information on who the Cubs are playing and what time it is at. If the Cubs win, the marquee lets all the Cubs fans in the area know by saying "CUBS WIN!". And if they win at Wrigley, which is quite often, the song "Go Cubs Go" will blare across the ballpark, audible from the streets outside. Now, how many teams can claim that they have their own victory song?
It was the ivy on the outfield walls that really got me the first time I was there. The ivy is a defining feature of Wrigley Field, and it seems to glow on a sunny day. Many baseballs have gone missing within the ivy, which I believe adds to the park's mystic charm.
It was in 2014 that Wrigley Field exuded a different feeling for me. Late in that season, the Cubs were playing good baseball, something that they had not done for a few years; they were in a rebuilding phase, but there were signs that they were finally coming out of it on the strength of their young players. I was at a September game with my dad, the last home game at Wrigley for the year. The moment I stepped into the stadium, I could feel like something big was happening. My team was good again, and I was here to watch them play the Cardinals, their arch-rival. The sky was a dark blue, almost purple in a way, and the lights were on. Now, Wrigley did not have lights until the late 1980s; it was actually the last stadium to install lights for night games. But when the lights come on and the field becomes more colorful and bright, it is truly a sight to behold.
I appreciate Wrigley Field so much. It is the home of my favorite professional sports team, and the beauty of it always leaves me speechless. I hope it never leaves, for as long as I live.
