The End of the Wrigley Curse

July 30, 2012

You may ask yourself, how did he end the Wrigley Curse? The World Series hasn't even happened yet, and the Cubs are long out of the playoffs for this year. Well, if that was the curse you thought I was referring to, you would be wrong. It is my own Wrigley Curse. Previous to this night, I had seen two games at Wrigley Field- once against the Nationals in 2005, the other against the Orioles in 2008- both losses for the home team. I have seen the White Sox win at the Cell, but I had never seen a win for the Cubbies at the Friendly Confines. Well tonight was the night, or rather July 30th was but that tale will come shortly.

In the morning, we had all the best intentions to wake up early, but we ended up going out  around 9:30am if we were lucky, and made our way up Michigan Avenue, checking out the shops and scenery along the way. Andrea was intent on clothes shopping but I could not be bothered for the most part. I am rarely in the mood to do clothes shopping, as it is hard to find something that I like that will fit me. I stopped in a Teavana at the North Bridge Mall, and tried a sample of some Mate/White Tea blend and was sold on buying a cup to take along with me. I also got some tourist advice from the helpful staff. They recommended that we skip the tour at the John Hancock Center, and just go to the Signature Lounge for a drink, and they if we were going to a museum in Chicago, we had to go to the Museum of Science and Industry.

After some more shopping,  we headed up to Oak Street and tried to take a look at the shops there.Andrea did not feel dressed up enough to get in these ritzy establishments, so we got out of there quickly. Before heading upstairs to the John Hancock Center, we stopped by the historic Drake Hotel for a quick look. It was beautiful in there, definitely got the feeling that it would be really expensive to stay there but the hotel staff did not give us any trouble for just looking.

We got up to the top of the John Hancock Center with little time to spare before we had to head back to the hotel. The view was pretty impressive from up there, but the drinks were a little steep. Word to the wise, you can buy a non-alcoholic drink and it is much cheaper, and still fulfill their "one drink minimum". A brief stopover to take in the view and we were back to the hotel, to drop off Andrea's purchases, and freshen up before heading to Wrigley.

There was no time for lunch. We were so pressed for time that we missed the "L" that would have to go to us to our Wrigley tour on time. They were able to rush us to the group as they hadn't started the bulk of the tour yet. I was expecting some ribbing at our expense from the tour guide but none came. By this time in the day, the air in the stadium was oppressively hot and hunger started to set in. Andrea thought the Fenway tour was better but I think they were equally as good, and where else would you find out that Wrigley Field was the first stadium to ever have a concession stand. Well maybe, the internet.

After the tour, we head to the closest restaurant we could find, which was The Sports Corner. The food was good- we had shared a Jalapeno Stuffed Pretzel, Andrea had the Chicago Style Hot Dog and I had another Chicago classic- the Italian Beef. My sandwich was at first disappointing as they did not put anything on it despite the menu offering a choice of peppers and cheese. I brought this to the attention of a waitress, and they made up for it by bringing me some sweet peppers and au jus.

GAME TIME

I love the Blue Jays, but my National League team has always been the Cubs. Chicago feels like a 2nd home town to me, even though I am from Winnipeg, lived in Hamilton, and now live in Toronto (which is my real home now- sorry 'Peg). Maybe I'm a sucker for lost causes too, and that's probably why I bought a 1908 Chicago Cubs shirt (to celebrate their World Series from 104 years ago) and an old style Cubs hat at the Cubs official store.

The game was slow to start but then it exploded. The Cubs had 9 run 5th inning, which put the game way out of reach. Rizzo, Barney, and Castro all had multi-run homers during the game, and we got to see the last at bats of former Cubs' Reed Johnson and Geovany Soto- they got traded to the Braves and Rangers that night. Little did we know, the Pirates had also sent their reliever Brad Lincoln to the Jays for beloved LF Travis Snider.

In addition to enjoying the many Cub runs, we grabbed some souvenir cups- which were discounted 25% off, as all concessions are for the first hour after the gate is open. Mid-way through the game, I grabbed some chili-cheese tater tots (what is with Chicagoans and their tater tots?) which were surprisingly delicious but messy. Also, I grabbed some caramel corn that Andrea had been craving. I asked if I could have a refill on my souvenir cup for a reduced price, and the concessions people gave me a weird look. I guess that's the one good thing they have at the Skydome (aka Rogers Centre). When all was said and done, the Cubs gave a smackdown to the Pirates to the tune of 14-4.

And that is how the curse was ended...

Next blog..."It's Still the Sears Tower to Me"