Comments on: A kid-friendly Wrigley Field?

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:13:54 +0000

Everyone’s going to become attached to baseball for a different reason, but winning teams when I was a kid didn’t help me become a Red Sox fan; Dwight Evans did. And the PawSox did.

I’d suggest, though, as the father of a 4- and 6-year old, that the best way to foster fandom would be to have a minor-league team close by and have the tickets to THAT be affordable. No reason to give away seats at the major league level that the Cubs would be able to sell for $40 a pop.

By: camacho2016

camacho2016 — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 02:09:09 +0000

kids love when their teams win – it’s no wonder Wrigley isn’t kid friendly

By: 11thstreetmafia

11thstreetmafia — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 01:32:45 +0000

Wrigley Field is great, the ushers are fine. I just wish the baseball was better. By the way, I don’t care about your kids, keep them out of the bleachers.

By: nothanksimdriving123

nothanksimdriving123 — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:26:50 +0000

sawx, the Nazis killed millions of people and stole all their possessions, among other crimes. Yes, I know you weren’t serious, but please don’t use that name lightly.

By: nothanksimdriving123

nothanksimdriving123 — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:24:22 +0000

histo: Indeed, and I suspect nothing would make them want to go to a ballgame more than telling them they aren’t old enough and will have to wait a couple of years. Seriously!

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:46:02 +0000

I told my nephew I would take him to his first concert at 13. That’s this year….he will be sorely disappointed, perhaps, when he learns that *I* will be picking the band.

By: If the Shoe Fits

If the Shoe Fits — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:44:08 +0000

Absoultely nailed it with Bleachy. In 2015, you can introduce his friends, Chugger and Buzzy, the oafish twins who scream nonsensical drunken taunts at the opposing team.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:42:20 +0000

I hear you Philiac. Which is why my (9 and 5) year old girls will be taking in their 1st Cardinals game this Summer. I have been waiting (9) years. It’s time.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:13:21 +0000

On point Dana. I have a good friend who lives and dies with each Reds game. He goes to Wrigley every year to catch the Cubs/Reds. The ushers at Wrigley seem to make it their business to let you know who they are…and how terribly wrong you are at several points leading up to the game. At Wrigley…you can’t watch BP at the field level unless you have a ticket in the lower section. Each year…he makes his way down to watch about 2 dude hit then they “usher” him back to his section. He in turn makes it a point of telling them there is nothing “friendly” about those confines.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:39:37 +0000

Ah yes, let’s foster the inability of the young to focus on a single thing for more than 5 minutes, great idea.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:08:07 +0000

This will probably make me really unpopular on here, but…Baseball is really wasted on the young. Until kids are old enough to follow a game, I really think you should view it as an age-inappropriate activity. Exposure for younger children really should be limited to watching part of the game on TV with the parents. When they are older, they are ready to go to a ballpark then.

Ok, fire away now.

By: jlovenotjlo

jlovenotjlo — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:56:19 +0000

What a great roasting of suburbia.

By: mybrunoblog

mybrunoblog — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:38:24 +0000

MLB games (especially AL) routinely last over 3 hours. Back in the day when games were over in 2 hours it was probably easier to gets kids to sit. Modern day kids who are used to iPads, video games, smart phones, on demand tv etc. get pretty restless after an hour never mind 3 hours. Like it or not that’s the reality. I suspect most parents will agree with me.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:36:17 +0000

The return of Andy Frain?
http://www.andyfrain.com/about.php

By: Alex K

Alex K — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:33:46 +0000

I went to dozens of games at Shea and never had any problems. Maybe it was just luck.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:28:45 +0000

Exactly! Since when did getting to go to a MLB game become a non-kid friendly thing? Expensive, sure…but the kids aren’t paying. The best way to grow fans is to watch baseball…not to distract them will bells and whistles.

By: gentbaseball12

gentbaseball12 — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:53:06 +0000

If you want to have young kids be Cubs fans, I’d recommend not finishing in 5th place in the division like you have the last three years. The only good news is that the Cubs can’t finish in 6th this year because the Astros have moved to the AL.

And then, when you actually make the playoffs, try winning an actual honest to goodness playoff game. It’s been damn near a decade since you’ve won one of those. I have a bunch of younger cousins in Chicago who are all White Sox fans, not Cubs fans, based on the Sox winning the 2005 series.

My recommendation – shoot a member of the Ricketts family out of a cannon at each game – the kids will love that, and the adults will be glad to get rid of the Ricketts family.

By: ireportyoudecide

ireportyoudecide — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:45:47 +0000

Dodger Stadium is the worst for me, I’ve been to 27 of the 30 stadiums. Last year when I went I had to buy an extra ticket during the game to get to the lower level to take a picture for my ballpark book. Old Shea stadium was pretty bad as well.

By: heyblueyoustink

heyblueyoustink — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:32:34 +0000

My experience with kids at Wrigley? The ones, young ones, that cussed me and a few pals out, unprompted while we were all sharing the urinating troths wearing our teams’ gear.

It was beautiful, the child telling us to eff off. Felt like home.

No need for fancy stuff, the kids at Wrigley are allright.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:26:13 +0000

I’ve never had a problem with Wrigley ushers. The worst for me was probably Philly.

By: sawxalicious

sawxalicious — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:17:11 +0000

US Cellular used to have cool ushers, bit they’ve been replaced by Nazis.

By: hojo20

hojo20 — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:16:20 +0000

“batting cages and radar gun zones, kids apps for smartphones and tablets,”

Whatever happened to sitting down and watching the game?

By: danaking

danaking — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:06:49 +0000

Wrigley Field is a beautiful place to watch a fame, but it’s not anyone-friendly. I’ve been to ballparks all over the country, and the rudest, surliest ushers anywhere work inside the Friendly Confines. It’s not a Chicago thing. I’ve been to as many games at US Cellular, when it was still Comiskey park, and was always treated very well.

By: dowhatifeellike

dowhatifeellike — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:06:16 +0000

The most kid-friendly thing any team can do is lower ticket prices for seats close to the action; it doesn’t matter how cheap the nosebleed seats are because kids get bored up there.