It also comes equipped with zombie groundskeepers.

And I found the exact opposite of this. I thought the stadium was pretty minimalist (“Wait, this is your team store? Weak!”) and put a lot of emphasis on the game. All the fans in my area were pretty knowledgeable, and I really got a kick out of one guy giving Kenny Lofton shit the whole time. I thought the scoreboard was tasteful (though, yeah, two races are a bit much) and the videos were generally better quality than anywhere I had seen in baseball.

So I thought it was strange reading your post, because I actually like going to the Sox game in the South Side better than I liked going to a Mariners game at the Safe. Guess the crowds changed a bit.

Although I agree mostly that that sort of filler is lame and I personally pay attention to the game, I don’t see what is wrong with in beween innings contests/TV races, no matter how pointless they might be. It’s really not taking anything away from the game except watching the fielders/pitcher warm up. I usually just ignore the contests or realize what’s going on too late because Im oogling over Ichiro or Felix or something.

And unfortunately, Im sure that Cubs fan is like the Angels fans I run into down here who act like Dodger stadium was the one with the rat problem.

If not, I have a bunch f respect for White Sox fans. The Obey-o-tron needs to be stopped.

Wrigley Field is still my favorite park (I attended my first outdoor game there) and in a great neighborhood. There is nothing quite like taking the El to the Addison stop on a game day. The crowd is pretty mixed, so it is essentially a lottery whether you sit next to the mean drunks (of all kinds), the happy drunks (who are usually in the majority), the hardcore old-timey fan, the guy in a suit with his phone to his ear the whole game, a family from the suburbs, or other out-of-towners.

New Comiskey was built on the cheap and feels like a late 1980s mall. Sitting in the lower deck is not too bad, but the upper deck is steeper and farther removed than the old 300 level in the Kingdome — you look down, way down, on fly balls. Of course, in the cheaper seats, you also find more of the hardcore, old Chicago fans. One of my favorite game experiences was sitting near the top of the upper deck talking to a Teamster type (straight out of a 1950s movie) who gave a long oral history of the team. But when he got to what the Sox should do (and this was years before Moneyball or Baseball Prospectus), he basically outlined the concept of on-base plus slugging percentage without using those terms (“walks don’t slump” . . . “we need more guys like that Thomas kid because he doesn’t swing until you give him something he can crush” . . . “all Guillen does is make outs at the plate, who needs him”).

I saw one game at Old Comiskey during its last season. It was almost like visiting one of the lesser preserved castles in Europe — the place was a relic, but amidst the crumbling walls, some of the grandeur remained.

and say that my Cell Block experience was completely the opposite of yours. Sure, they had the scoreboard antics and some other fan interaction stuff that I didn’t pay to much attention to, but the overall crowd interest was in the game.

Grant it, they were playing the Angels in late May, which is a lot different than the Mariners in mid-August, which might be a good indicator of the fluff. They may have ramped up the scoreboard interaction and the on the field stuff in anticipation of the crap they figured the M’s were bringing with them.

Wrigley is a another experience. The atmosphere is amazing, although I do hear the fans can be a major pain in the ass in certain sections.

I have attended about 15 games at New Comiskey/U.S. Cell and 3 at Wrigley since ’94. The crowd at Wrigley was more concerned with beer than baseball, to a point where watching baseball was sometimes impeded. I never had that problem at Comiskey.

At one of my first games at Comiskey I saw fans over the visitor’s dugout give Albert Belle the praying-to-Mecca style we’re-not- worthy salute after he hit his third homer of the game. I was pleasantly surprised.

I also attended a game at Comiskey during which a crappy used car was given away every inning!

My favorite bit of baseball culture during my time in Chicago was a Sox radio station billboard near Wrigley field that read “Major League Baseball, 8.1 Miles South.”

New Comiskey did not seem like this at all. I went to a Thursday day game in I think 2000 where the Sox lost something like 13-2. My clearest memory was of some guy repeatedly trying to start the wave until someone behind me complained “We don’t do the wave in Chicago.” The guy immediately stopped. There were only about 10 to 15,000 people there, but they were watching the game.