It has been an embarrassingly long time since I've last written, my apologies. With a HUGE baseball trip right around the corner, I figured there was no better time then now to continue writing.After starting off our tour of baseball stadiums with two of the best in the game, we continued the tradition with none other than Wrigley Field in Chicago. Wrigley is the second oldest stadium in baseball, behind of course, Fenway Park. While it seems each organization is trying to outdo each other by building this unbelievable fancy (and mostly beautiful) new stadiums, its the original stadiums that will forever stand out in my mind. My sister and I went to Wrigley during its 98th year of existence, there has been  A LOT of baseball played there. It's incredible to go to a game and know that nearly 100 years ago, someone was sitting in your exact seat with the same exact view. That's what makes baseball, well, baseball. There are two things that really make Wrigley stand out over the 29 other Major League stadiums. The most noticeable, the ivy that goes along the outfield wall. It is such an unique twist and one of many things that makes Wrigley beautiful. The other thing that is unique to Wrigley is, they have no giant video board! Which means, no replays, no annoying contests and announcements being rammed down your throat during commercial breaks like every other stadium. Within the next few years, there are plans in place to add a giant video board. While it's convenient for the fans to see a replay of the action, it's nice to go to a game and JUST watch baseball, no silly videos or promotions, just the game itself. There are other things that make Wrigley stand out too. They are one of two remaining stadiums that use manually operated scoreboards. The other of course is Fenway Park. They have guys hang out IN the scoreboard and manually change the score of not only the Cubs game, but every other game going on in baseball. It's another great piece of nostalgia for a sport that revels in nostalgic moments. My other favorite thing about Wrigley is the big board outside of the stadium. It's such a welcoming sight and it's so iconic, as is everything else about Wrigley Field. Even for the most casual of baseball fans, it's a must see stadium.One of my favorite things about Wrigley is how old school it is, they used to play strictly day games until 1988 when they FINALLY joined the rest of the big leagues and put in stadium lights.They still play an immense amount of day games even with the lights and I would imagine it's a quintessential baseball experience to see a day game at Wrigley.

My sister and I didn't get a chance to see a day game there, and in fact, we probably saw one of the worst night games we could possibly catch. We saw the Chicago Cubs take on the Houston Astros, two of the worst teams in baseball. As fantastic as Wrigley is, the team that plays is there is, well, fantastically awful. The Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908, they came close in 2003. They were five outs from heading to World Series in Game 6 of the NLCS. The Marlin's Luis Castillo was up and hit a foul ball down the line and into the stands that a handful of fans tried to catch. One fan in particular, reached for the ball, and disrupted Cubs outfield Moises Alou from catching the ball. If the out was recorded, the Cubs would've only been 4 outs away from the World Series. Of course, the Florida Marlins ended up winning the game, the series and went on to win the World Series that year. Just another heartbreak to add to the long list in Cubs history.

By the time we saw the Cubs, they had no shot of making the playoffs, neither did the Astros. It was just a late August baseball game that quite literally meant nothing. My sister found AMAZING seats behind home plate. The people in front of us were absolutely wonderful, giving us tips on where to go after the game as well as where to go in the city. They even told us to move up in front of them to get a better view. It was two couples in front of us, and they had been season ticket holders for 30+ years. They loved the Cubs more than I will probably ever love any team and they were so excited that we had come from New York to experience Wrigley Field.

While the game was boring, everything about Chicago was fantastic. I absolutely love the city. My sister and did as much exploring as we could before my flight the day after the game and man did we do a lot. We went up to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) and I even ventured onto the Skydeck. As someone who is terrified of heights, this is a VERY big deal. Another fantastic part of this trip happened on the drive to Chicago. My sister and I made a little "music video" of our trip to Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." Remember, it was the summer of 2012, and it was pretty much the only thing on the radio. It all started while driving in what I think was Ohio and all we heard on the radio was "Call Me Maybe," a new Taylor Swift song and Christian Rock. My sister was complaining about how much she HATED "Call Me Maybe" but lo and behold, during what must have been our 20th listening of the song, she started singing along. By the 25th time, she was rocking out to it, so I started recording her secretly on my phone. When she realized it, she made me turn it off, then promptly changed her mind and we made a silly video of us rocking out to the song while driving. That ignited the spark that led to us dancing around Chicago to the song, ending in the final product. Embarrassing, ABSOLUTELY! But so much fun none the less, and a tradition we have (mostly) upheld.


Anyway, enough rambling about Chicago. The trip was amazing, it was sad to say goodbye to my sister but if it's possible, it brought even closer than we already were. I'm so glad I made it to Wrigley Field, it was everything I thought it would be and more. I would definitely go back in a heartbeat. This was our last trip of the season. Until 2013!

Game Information:

August 14th, 2012 7:05 PM

Harrell vs Volstad

Final Score: 10-1 Houston Astros defeat the Chicago Cubs

W: Harrell L: Volstad

Rankings:

1) Fenway Park, Boston Massachusetts

2) PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

3) Wrigley Field, Chicago Illinois

4) Citi Field, Flushing New York

5) Yankee Stadium, Bronx New York

Here are some pictures!

Next stop: Minneapolis in 2013