I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve walked over to Wrigley Field in the last year. Part of it was to get outside and get steps during the long night of the pandemic, but let’s be honest I could get those steps anywhere. The lakefront is nearby, wandering through Graceland and ruminating on the lives of those buried there is always an option, Chicago is a remarkably walkable city and there are a lot of options to get those 10,000+ steps each day. Yet the place I ventured more than anywhere else was the Friendly Confines.
I walked by the old park on what should have been Opening Day last year, when it turned into a local food pantry last spring, as the new organist practiced last May, during the fanless games in the shortened 2020 season, through the bitter Chicago winter and again, now as spring tries to take hold in the city as baseball will finally return to the 107 year old ballpark on the Northside of Chicago.