Twenty Years Of New Comiskey Park

The 2011 season will mark the 20th anniversary of New Comiskey Park, now known as US Cellular Field.  The Park has seen a lot over it's 20 years.  It has seen two no hitters, a four home run game(by an opponent), an All Star Game, a World Series title, three MVP players(one a World Series MVP), a Cy Young winner, and three managers of the year.  It has gone through several changes and renovations since it was opened.

Old Comiskey as it has come to be known, saw it's last game on September 30th, 1990.  The Sox won 2-1.  The next season, Opening Day for New Comiskey Park was not such a good day for a game.  The White Sox had to wait 10 days after the season started to play their first home game.  They got trounced by the Detroit Tigers 16-0.  The Sox could only manage a 0-7-1 box score.  The starting lineup for the White Sox in the first game of the new stadium was: C - Fisk, 1B - Thomas, 2B - Fletcher, SS - Guillen, 3B - Ventura, LF - Snyder, CF - Johnson, RF - Sosa, DH - Raines, SP - McDowell.

The White Sox kept some features of Old Comiskey, such as the exploding scoreboard, but overall the ballpark looked completely different.  Many people complained about how this park looked and initial reception was that it was an eyesore.  To me, looking at the old photos, it looks like a big blue spaceship.  Not the cool spaceships like the one E.T. came and left in, but the crappy spaceships from some 1950's B-Movie.  It had no character, no feel.

Since 1996, there have been several rounds of upgrades and renovations to the stadium.  One of the nicest changes was adding the multi-tiered batter's eye.  This is now one of the best parts of the park, allowing for a cool vantage point for watching a few pitches of the game as well as the monument statues we have erected for various players and Charles Comiskey there.  Another nice change was to add a better video screen to the scoreboard, and the addition of LED ribbon boards around the upper deck area.  During these changes, the bullpen was also moved to a better location, allowing for more seats to be installed and a better view of pitchers warming up.

Probably the best change to the overall feel and look of the ballpark was to replace everything that was cheap "Walmart" Blue, to a solid Green color that made our park look much nicer.  Each outfield section has an archway to each set of steps leading down to seats.  The archway has flowers hanging from each side.  Little changes can really spruce up any place, and US Cellular Field finally has a look today that gives it much needed character and life.  

One of my favorite parts of the park is the outfield concourse.  The park is completely accessible.  You can walk around the entire park and get a view of each vantage point.  Most parks do not allow you to walk around the park, as you would normally be inside walking around each section in the outfield before reaching your section and walking out to find your seats.  US Cellular Field makes the most of the outfield concourse, putting up things to do such as a pitching speed booth and other activities.

Another one of my favorite aspects of this park is the gigantic parking lot.  Most parks have little parking or even no parking at all.  I have been to many ballparks and at most, you have to walk a bit from where you park to reach the ballpark.  The parking price is a little bit steep ever since the Sox won the World Series, but basically it's worth it for us of the out of town variety driving our cars around town.

One of my least favorite additions to the park is the Pontiac Fundamentals Deck.  It was built to give kids a small ballpark with which to come up and have a little bit of fun before or during the game.  It may be fun for the kids, but it takes a little bit of the fun out of the game for the fans in their seats.  If you are sitting anywhere beyond third base down the left field line, you will have parts of the video boards in left field obstructed from your view.

A good addition to the park for the 2008 season was located outside of the park.  That year they unveiled the Legacy Brick Plaza and World Series Monument.  The Sox offered fans the chance to purchase a brick to be placed in the legacy brick area with a brief message.  I purchased one of the basic bricks and it is pictured above.  As part of my purchase, they also sent me a brick in the mail that is exactly the same as the brick in the legacy plaza.

An aspect of the park that can go overlooked but should not, is the food.  Comiskey has great food.  You can get anything from typical ballpark food, to fajitas, deli sandwiches, cheese quesadillas, barbacoa and carnita nachos, and even PB&J's for the kids.  One of my favorite things to take advantage of is the Buy one get one free hot dog deal before the games.  Those hot dogs are Ball Park brand, but US Cellular Field introduced me to Kosher Hot Dogs, which are definitely my favorite kind.  I have also ordered several slices of Connie's Pizza, especially when I went with my dad to three games in 2005.  They even have gluten-free beer.  Overall, out of all the ballparks I have been to, I would rate the food an A-, which is definitely good enough.

The Sox announced that they would be building a multi-level restaurant at US Cellular Field, opening in April 2011.  The Sox have stated that it will be named "Comiskeys", and serve a variety of food.  It will only be open for the baseball season, but they plan to at some point have it open during the offseason as well.  I welcome this, and think it's a great idea.  Many ballparks are starting to have restaurants attached to parks that are open year round.  New Yankee Stadium has a few restaurants, one of which is a Hard Rock Cafe.  This will be a great thing for the stadium, and I plan to eat there at the next home game I attend in the future.

The outfield wall is one of the aspects of the park that really stands out.  When the park was first built, it was an ultra bland blue wall that only posted a few foot numbers on it.  Now, it has been replaced by a really nice looking wall with a yellow stripe on top.  The fence covers the bullpens on each side of the park and features the picture of each player who's number we have retired.  Billy Pierce, Luis Aparicio, Minnie Minoso and Luke Appling's portraits are pasted across left-center.  Frank Thomas was added last year at a ceremony on Frank Thomas day.  The words "The Catch" appear on the spot near the top of the fence where DeWayne Wise made his amazing catch to preserve Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009.  Jackie Robinson is also retired(by all of MLB), and appears on the wall in right center.

New Comiskey/US Cellular has seen some pretty good moments over the years as I stated before.  On April 18th, 2007, Mark Buehrle threw the first no hitter in New Comiskey Park history.  He allowed one walk, then promptly picked off Sosa whom he'd given a free pass.  On July 23rd, 2009, Mark threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, highlighted by an amazing catch made by DeWayne Wise.

One of the greatest moments seen at New Comiskey was made by a player of an opposing team.  On May 2nd, 2002, Mike Cameron tied a Major League record by hitting four home runs in a single game vs. the White Sox at New Comiskey.  In his fifth at bat, he hit a fly ball that reached the warning track, coming up just short of setting history.

In 2005, the White Sox made a run to the World Series, giving New Comiskey its first World Series game to host.  Both games were dramatic, exciting games.  In Game 2, Paul Konerko hit a grand slam.  After blowing the lead late, unlikely hero Scott Podsednik hit a walk off home run to win the game.  The White Sox now have a World Series banner raised at the park which was actually won in games featured at the park.

Two times since it opened, a White Sox player has hit for the cycle.  The first was on July 6, 1999, when Chris Singleton hit for the cycle.  The second was Jose Valentin on April 27th, 2000, against the Baltimore Orioles.  Jose Valentin's cycle was natural, tallying his single, double, triple and home run in natural order.

Overall, I believe the park is a lot better than when it opened.  It has a lot of renovations that make it look like a real park with its own character and features that make it unique.  It has features of the old and new in baseball ballpark trends.  The seats are more comfortable and spaced out than most parks I have been to and the vantage points from anywhere are unobstructed, which is always a plus.

Being 26 years old, and not growing up in Chicago, this is the only park I've known associated with the team.  I can't imagine having any other park to call the home of the Chicago White Sox.  Here's to another twenty years of great baseball on the Southside in our great park, US Cellular Field.