Old Comiskey

by The Deacon on Feb 20, 2008 9:38 AM CST Comment 36 comments

http://ballparks.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?username=ballparks&album_id=338350&section_id=- 1

I posted this in the Colon thread, but not everyone may see it. It's a nice slideshow of the Old Comiskey that I think all sox fans should check out. I'm currently only 25 years old, but I did take in a few games there when I was younger, however, I don't remember much about the games except the old seats and yellow railings. It's crazy to look how worn down that stadium was from the outside. I do miss seeing the highlights of sox players and opponents putting the ball into the outfield upper deck and how can you not love that scoreboard!

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Thanks, Deac...

Lots of memories in that slideshow, especially of the summer of '77. It's kind of what I'm hoping for this year: just a fun, entertaining season even without making the playoffs.
Thanks again.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Feb 20, 2008 10:12 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

My emotional cathartis

Loved that! Many of my most vivid childhood memories took place at that ballpark. That picture of the left field seats reminded me of chatting with Ivan Calderon DURING games. He was awesome! The pictures of the walkway to the scoreboard reminded me of being up there and having Nolan Ryan yell from down below "How'd you get up there?" Good times.

Also saw a Baines roof shot there in I believe '86.

"This is the year!" is for Cub fans.

by oscar gamble on Feb 20, 2008 12:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

winningugly = Buzz Kill

Deac, someone posted this last year, but it's still nice to reminisce.

I also liket hat you are "currently" 25 years old, and will in all likelihood be changing ages at some point. Not like "Highlander" - it's too lonely to watch the Sox and only see a win every 88 years, and have to watch ALL 88 years.

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 20, 2008 1:15 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

hahaha

i figured some had seen this, but i knew there were probably a good amount who hadn't. and yes, i hope to change age some day too....

12/12/07- We'll miss you Andy Gonzalez

by The Deacon on Feb 20, 2008 1:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you for remembering

Still cool to have it posted again though - brings a tear to my eye

So instead of a big splash, there were ripples -- enough to change the tide, Williams believes

by Brush Back on Feb 20, 2008 1:40 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

BB, don't go "Oprah" on us,

big man. This IS SS Sox, after all.

;)

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 20, 2008 1:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

lol

So teared up I didn't post under you comment

So instead of a big splash, there were ripples -- enough to change the tide, Williams believes

by Brush Back on Feb 20, 2008 1:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

lol

So instead of a big splash, there were ripples -- enough to change the tide, Williams believes

by Brush Back on Feb 20, 2008 1:52 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Man I never saw the ballpark

because I'm a Michigan transplant. I always learned about how cool Tiger Stadium was (and saw a few ballgames there, so I can attest to the cool), but my dad was a Tiger fan all the way. We moved to the Chicago burbs when I was six and I met a kid and his family and through them I became a Sox fan. But I was too young to know anything other than that the Sox played in New Comiskey. That implied something came before it, but I never saw what.

What a cool yard. The Cell, especially now that they've cleaned it up, has its charms, but that old way of making those yards, with the column/roof structure, just makes for something beautiful.

dude, that was totally not swish you saw on rush street last night. swish was at home playing xbox.

by colintj on Feb 20, 2008 2:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Especially with the chunks of cement

falling from the upper deck onto the lower deck seats. Man, the excitement!

Seriously, I've never had a better time in my life in any ballpark than Comiskey. (Except maybe this past month in Tucson...but I'll shut up now.)

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 20, 2008 2:59 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Lest we rewrite history too much...

Hampered by a limited budget during his second term of ownership, Veeck was forced to sell the team. After the new owners, Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, installed a new Diamond Vision board, luxury suites, and improved front office facilities with the proceeds of taxpayer-subsidized bonds, they proceeded to campaign for a new stadium, claiming that the old one was dangerously deteriorated. A grassroots group called Save Our Sox sprung up to fight for the old ballyard, and suggested that it be the working centerpiece of an urban national park devoted to sports. Read more!

Engineering surveys sponsored by both proponents and opponents of demolition failed to document any serious structural hazards, but the owners' threats to move the team and other political hardball eventually doomed old Comiskey. New Comiskey Park, now US Cellular Field, now stands on a site just south of the old ballapark which was completely demolished in 1991, and is now a parking lot.

Read more of the history of the park here:

http://www.ballparktour.com/Former_Chicago.html

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Feb 20, 2008 3:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The operative word, subject

to diverse interpretation, is "serious".

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 20, 2008 3:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I miss the spilled beer downspout effect...

In something approaching proletariat justice, on a real hot friday night, by the 7th inning, enough beer would be spilled in the upper deck behind homeplate (typically by drunken Irish guys without shirts) so that the beer would gutter its way down to the lowest point (a crack in the cement somewhere as I recall at the railing about 40 feet in front of where Nancy Faust would be playing the organ) that would act as a perfect downspout for a micro-stream of beer down raining onto the box seat holders at field level.

That and the drafty and cold right field stands, heavily shaded on a the late Sunday afternoon double header, during another lost cause double dip in late September....

"Way to move the runner along Bucky!!" the old lady would yell derisively at Bucky Dent (then with the Sox) as he grounds out to deep 2nd in the 8th inning down by 6 or 7 runs, that unintentionally moves the runner on first along to second.

Canada's finest

by MarkD on Feb 20, 2008 3:19 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Yes indeed.

It got so bad that our rule was to never go to Friday night games. Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons were a little more genteel, and we were there to watch baseball, not try to avoid beer or brawls.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Feb 20, 2008 3:23 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

El Marko:

Dent foreshadowed Grinderstad/Pods. Pete Ward used to do it before that.
Risking the wrath if at least 50% of our posters, isn't "drunken Irishmen" a redundancy?

;)

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 20, 2008 3:27 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

at least on Saturday the shirtless Irish

were women. If only for a flash.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Feb 20, 2008 3:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

And Ralph "Gator" Garr

Foreshadowed "insert speedy, slap hitting, poor defensive leftfielder who had about one really good year (Garr's was in Atlanta)here (Pods).

And of course Rich Coggins was the equivalent of our current "young, speedy on the base paths, low OBP, center fielder of the future (Owens)".

And who could have been more grindy (and slow footed) than Eric Soderholm...

Canada's finest

by MarkD on Feb 20, 2008 5:42 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

And Luzinksi and Zisk

When you put it taht way, we are not unlike the snake that is swallowing it's own tail.

Jeez, I'm sounding like Toonder, fer Chrissakes.

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 20, 2008 7:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

dont forget Nordhagen!

Mosi Tatupu! Mosi Tatupu!

by Nordhagen on Feb 21, 2008 9:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Man, do I feel young

i was like 4 when that place went down. But, for those who frequented the place, would you rather have it up for the nostalgia and fame of being an old ass park, i.e. fenway/wrigley?

by parkermo on Feb 20, 2008 9:21 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Nostalgia, yes...but...

I started going to the old park as a young teen and loved the many explorable caverns and catwalks you were allowed access to. The fantastic smells of the food stands beneath the left field bleachers, a wonderous combination of Polish sausage, onions and deep-fried dough, was like nothing I've smelled since. As I recall, all bleacher seats were general admission, so if you got there early enough (believe it or not, the park was open for batting practice) you could sit wherever you darn well please...probably for about $4-$5. Additionally, when the team was sucking, as they often were, you could usually work your way past the Andy Frain ushers and "self-upgrade" to a box seat. Man, do I feel like a geezer writing about this.

I was sad to see the old girl go, as I had a great time there as a kid. However, change is good too, and while the new park may not have a whole lot of "charm," the Sox organization has been working on it over the last few years. I really love the new park too. Spacious concourses, lots of concessions (i.e. beer stands), great food selection, nice stores, and ya gotta love the "Club" level. Service at your seats...nice.

The constant that hasn't changed from park to park are those fun-lovin' die-hard fans. Hopefully '08 will bring us some thrills and pleasant surprises.

Share the passion, show the swagger

by tailgater on Feb 20, 2008 10:03 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah I was only able to catch one game

last year, but I loved how I wasn't the only one making fun of JO and Pods.

dude, that was totally not swish you saw on rush street last night. swish was at home playing xbox.

by colintj on Feb 22, 2008 3:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

That place is pure

Old Comiskey came down when I was 12 and therefore is forever enshrined in my memmory as a holy place of careless joy. I remember watching Ron Hassy run(?), hearing the calls of Oz-zie! Oz-zie! Oz-zie! from the stands, seeing Steve Lyons make the flat out most amazing snow cone catch in center on a ball hit right over his head, watching Thomas' rookie year (he did hit the last homer there I believe), and the yellow railings.

Most of al I remember going there with dad and just being a kid.

Kinda sad to think how much the game and the stadium situation has changed since then. Its not cheap and not easy to sneak into better seats these days. But I shudder to think what the Sox would be like if we were still in Old C. So I gotta hand it to the Cubs on this one, they've kept their old ballpark and are still competitive.

by Dinger on Feb 21, 2008 3:26 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Don't hand anything to the Cubs

Wrigley still is a urinal. Call it nostalgic but a urinal is a urinal.

As to Comiskey, I miss the old men (at least to me at the time) smoking cigars who knew the game and made great comments that you could over hear. None of the squeals of a potential home run when it's a short fly a la Wrigley. They appreciated good play by both teams but loved the Sox.

Show mercy. I get to watch the Rangers.

by Tim from Texas on Feb 21, 2008 2:09 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Misogynist, Tim?

Or were you watching a Cubs game when the Vienna Boys Choir were (was?) in attendance?

;)

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 21, 2008 2:41 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Wrong ugly

I just miss the fans being knowledgable like those you could find at Comiskey and at this site. I generally don't find that at Wrigley where getting hammered is more important than the game.

I love women, since you asked.

Show mercy. I get to watch the Rangers.

by Tim from Texas on Feb 22, 2008 2:01 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Just messin' -

probably teenagers cutting school. And less-than- manly men (unemployed). Lee Elia was right.

Jeff Cox: I'm going to call you "FN".

by winningugly on Feb 22, 2008 9:17 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

A urinal is a urinal

Hallelujah!

I think we're the only two people in the world with that opinion because any time I say something to that effect, all I get are blank stares.

The truth hurts (bewilders?), I guess.

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

by rhythm on Feb 21, 2008 4:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Wrigley WISHES it had urinals

Last time I was at The Shrine, I had to whiz in a pig through.

It's just a building Cubs fans. Get over it. Blow up that dump and start over. It would give you the opportunity to get drunk and throw up in a whole new stadium!

Share the passion, show the swagger

by tailgater on Feb 22, 2008 11:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Um, through = trough

Share the passion, show the swagger

by tailgater on Feb 22, 2008 12:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Round Wrigley

Whenever I see Cubs fans outside "the shrine" going into the stadium, chugging beers and wearing sandals, I get a strange sense of satisfaction knowing that they will be wading in piss up to their ankles when the time comes to relieve themselves.

Good times.

I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

by Hazymania on Feb 22, 2008 12:53 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, and screw Fenway too

Yeah, there stadium sucks just b/c I don't like their team. Yeah!

Seriously, cubs donkeys aside, its a cool place. If Wrigley was filled with Sox fans it'd be a great, ol' timey stadium.

by Dinger on Feb 22, 2008 1:35 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

that's their grammer police

by Dinger on Feb 22, 2008 1:36 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

grammar

sincerely,
the grammar police

I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

by Hazymania on Feb 22, 2008 1:50 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Parts of Fenway are cool

But yeah, the fans out there suck as well.

I never said I didn't like Wrigley, just that it's a urinal. It's an old building, kinda cool looking, in the middle of a residential district, but I'm not super nostalgic and I tend not to overvalue things just because they are old. A minority opinion in this country, I assure you.

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

by rhythm on Feb 23, 2008 3:31 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs