Cubs Game 6/11/15: Friendly Confines and Nasty Rookies

In all honesty, the trip to Chicago was fueled by a desire to see Wrigley Field. I mean, it's one of the most beloved ballparks in America. It's a rite of passage for anybody claiming to be a diehard baseball fan. And, funny enough, it marked the tenth of thirty baseball stadiums I'd been to, giving me two-thirds left to conquer.

But yeah, I knew I needed to hit wrigley, and I was not disappointed whatsoever. The game we attended was against the Reds, and it was a very nice one.

I took a tour of the stadium before the game. Not a lot of touring. Lot of stories though. That works, I guess.

It was a cloudy day, with rain in the forecast, but, for the most part, it stayed away. Before the game I felt I needed to blend in, so snagged a Rizzo t-shirt and a snazzy retro-ish hat, and I was all set.

My seats, contrary to the photo I took on the tour, were on the third base side, a bit farther back than the Sox game, but closer to the right, towards Kris Bryant. Pretty nice, actually, as we had a nice view of the guy everybody was fighting for a view of.

I did, actually, attempt to snag an autograph of Bryant, but the people in charge told us to sit back down...and then ten minutes later, Bryant came out and started signing. My luck, right?

The pitching matchup that night was kind of blah. For the Reds, it was Anthony Lorenzen. For the Cubbies, it was Tsuyoshi Wada, who barely lasted too long into the game before being pulled and replaced with Travis Wood. Hey, here's a bright idea. Switch Wada and Wood. Wood can obviously start games.

The Reds were without Brandon Phillips, Billy Hamilton and Marlon Byrd, as well as most of the rest of the bulk of their lineup. Votto, Frazier and Bruce were there, of course. As for the Cubs, Jorge Soler, one of the guys I was most excited to see, was off. But, the core infield of Rizzo-Russell-Castro-Bryant were ALL there, present and accounted for, as well as their everyday catcher Miguel Montero. David Ross was around though, signing a few balls for a girl that was next to me against the fence.

I came to this game, essentially, to see what kind of stuff Kris Bryant had in him. I was not disappointed. The guy had a couple of nice hits, played some pretty nice third base, and I could definitely see why everybody was going insane about him. I'm happy with that whole infield, actually. I love Rizzo, and Castro has always been pretty nice. Russell wasn't hitting as much as he did early on in the season, but he could heat up.

Dexter Fowler was a guy who I'd loved with Colorado, and still really liked. In this game he hit one of the many pivotal home runs, along with Miguel Montero. I'm glad he's still hitting.

What I loved about the stadium was the serenity. It was just a very cozy, laid-back place to watch a ballgame, a lot like Dodger Stadium. Very laid back, and the fans are pretty fun. The food's nice, too. I had a bison italian sausage, which I did not know was a thing, and was pleasantly surprised.

The Cubs ended up winning 6-3, and it ended up being a much more exciting game than the Sox one. I think the team was better, too. The Cubs right now have a ton of momentum, and the fans are 100% behind them. Plus, Wrigley was PACKED. The Sox game had a lot of seats open, but Wrigley was packed.

I think I enjoyed this game the best out of the two. There was a lot more to it, and it was a lot more interesting to watch. Plus, Wrigley's awesome. I doubt I'll be forgetting this one.