The Quintessential Baseball Experience

This is very simple: If you care about baseball on any level -- die-hard fan, casual observer, your boyfriend is obsessed, etc -- you must make the trip to the north side of Chicago, IL and take in the majesty of Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs. There are probably only two (maybe three) places left in the entire country where you can show up and immediately think, "This is what baseball is supposed to be". Wrigley Field is definitely one of those places.

When approaching the ballpark, you definitely want to come in from the intersection of Clark and Addison Streets, where the first thing you see is:



It's one of the most welcoming sights in the world. The stadium looks really small from the street, and the quaint red sign is akin to one of those welcome signs you might see on your friendly neighbor's front door. Sure, the gates look somewhat small and uninviting, but you're not at Wrigley to look at gates. The real prize is what's inside:



Unlike modern 41,000-seat baseball stadiums, even the last row makes you feel like you're on top of the action. The exposed steel in the peaked roof, the green seats, the brick and ivy walls, and the hand-operated scoreboard will give any baseball fan the feeling of being home. One of the greatest aspects of the park is that, unlike the remaining cookie-cutters in Washington, Toronto, and Miami that were built 50 years later, Wrigley does not show its age. Instead of disdain for the age and condition of the stadium, the fan feels respect for the history and condition of this place.

It's hard to imagine for a 20 year-old what it might've been like to take in a game at Ebbets, Griffith, Crosley, Yankee before the renovations, or the Polo Grounds, but thanks to the devotion of the Tribune Company to keep Wrigley Field standing, us youngsters can get an idea of what real baseball looks like.

Other ballparks on my list to visit: Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, New Busch Stadium, PNC Park, Miller Park, Dodger Stadium. I'll be hittin' up Yankee probably next summer, but I have no idea when I'll get to the rest of 'em.