Thursday, July 5, 2007

Chicago

Day 7:
US Cellular Field
US Cellular Field, 2007
Question: When is segregation not segregation?  
Answer: When it is done at the ballpark.
Date: Thursday, July 5, 2007, 7:11 PM
Baltimore Orioles vs. Chicago White Sox
US Cellular Field
Chicago, IL
Major League Baseball, American League
Promotion: White Sox poster and discount coupon


Stadium & Fans:
US Cellular Field was nice enough, but it was saved from being generic by its Jumbotron, a re-imaging of the Veeck-era exploding scoreboard that was among his bag of flashing tricks to get asses in the seats.

However, the stadium itself was unique in that it had completely segregated upper and lower decks. If you did not have a ticket for the lower tier (as we were not able to get), once you enter the stadium, you are shunted to completely different entrances that only allow you to go the upper decks, and angry-looking bouncers stand guard at the lower decks to keep the likes of you out.

Now, I understand that unofficial seat upgrades can be a problem, but seriously, is this your answer?


The Game:
The White Sox jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. As homers kept flying out of the stadium and setting off fireworks displays, it got to the point that we wondered exactly how many charges they had in place. The White Sox strolled over the Orioles, 11-6.


Scorecard:
Orioles vs. White Sox, 07-05-07
Orioles vs. White Sox, 07/05/07. White Sox win, 11-6.
$1 for a cardstock fold-out. Especially for an AL scorecard, it was spacious, with plenty of slots for substitutes.


The Stadium Race:
Perhaps to make up for St. Louis, there were two races. The first was the Connie Pizza Race (won by Sausage), and the second was the McDonald's Race (won by McGriddle).


Travel & Other Non-Game Activities:
We had a lot of swapping around to do before the game, and the Chicago traffic was not helped by the fact that The Police were having a reunion concert on the North Side that night. We fought our way up to O'Hare to pick up my friend's car, then we got lost for a while trying to find where to drop off our rental. And then we had to fight our way back down to the South Side to get to the game. We ended up taking the back way in by going against the traffic and then swinging back northeast. We did manage to get to the game in time.


The Hotel:
Motel 6, Lafayette, IN
Motel 6, Lafayette, IN
With all the scoring, the game ended later than we would have liked, and we had a ton of road to cover to get to Cincinnati. We drove as far as possible, eventually bedding down in a very nicely-appointed Motel 6 somewhere.



2007 The Midwest

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