More (But Different) Ballpark Talk

And as far as playing a year in the Cell...  It'd be weird but I'd deal if it meant more time with Wrigley later.  The neighborhood would suck for that spring and summer though...

I suppose a year in the cell could best be described by Garth from Wayne's World: "It's like a new pair of underwear. At first it's constrictive, but after a while it becomes a part of you."

the stadium owner would want to spend capital to rebuild the only new part of the stadium.  The bleachers are part of the ambiance and help create the magical feel of the park.  

because they realize they are dealing with sacred ground.  If you look at the previous renovations or additions--lights, skyboxes, new bleachers, etc.--none it really took away from the Wrigley aura.  But I agree that the outside of the grandstand and the inner concourse are looking pretty bad.  I doubt they would change much in terms of appearance, but everything would be new, and I'm sure there would be more skyboxes somewhere and maybe a restaurant/bar somewhere in addition to or instead of The Stadium Club.  I think they would do it right.  

It might have something to do with the Olympics, but since the main site is supposed to be the Washington Park area and along with south lake front, I would imagine that from a convenience standpoint, they would probably use The Cell for any baseball/softball events.  But you never know.  They may want to show off the new Wrigley Field to the world.  

...are on the schedule.

They have a little TV icon when the game is shown on MLB.tv.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/index.jsp#20080226

... they'd have their people running things during their home games. Precedent: When the Marlins played two home games at the Cell in 2004 due to hurricanes, they brought their own marketing stuff, mascot, scoreboard videos, etc.

I doubt the Cubs would have all the "noise", though they might make use of the Jumbotron, at least for more information.

There's no way the Cubs would ever play home games at Miller Park. First, it would be logistically impossible to create a schedule where the Brewers and Cubs were never home on the same dates. And while yes, they could "double up" on a few dates, they couldn't do so dozens of times a year. Finally, although a fair number of Cub fans live within an hour's drive of Miller Park, that wouldn't be fair to the rest of us who don't.

The Cell makes sense IF they had to close Wrigley for a year for renovations. However, I have also heard it proposed that the renovations to the main grandstand could be done in sections, over several offseasons (or partly, even DURING seasons) so the Cubs wouldn't have to move at all.

it'd have to be the cell for logistics and planning purposes.

Soldier can't possibly have foul lines of any length even if the plate is in the middle of the field's width near one goal post. Even CF won't be that long.

Miller is too far and scheduling would be a nightmare. There's no olympic stadium within hundreds of miles.

Does U-of-I Champaign have a baseball stadium, yikes...

They'd only have to play elsewhere if the plans are to rip the 2nd deck down and rebuild. That hasn't been determined as needed has it?

Isn't this all predicated on Zell getting his way and selling the ballpark to the state? What would BudLight and MLB have to say about this?

there was recently a story in one of the Chicago papers in which former MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth revealed that had the Cubs won the NLCS over San Diego (which they felt sure would happen after the first two games), the WS games in Chicago would have been played at Comiskey, because the TV contract with ABC guaranteed all night games and playing at Wrigley would have meant a breach of contract by MLB.  Apparently, the Commissioner's Office was working on how to announce what they knew would be a very unpopular decision, but as it turned out, they never had to announce it.  

he should learn and quickly. He will have at his disposal from now on; an extra 4' of track.

Perhaps the coaches should show him the clip of Fuld running, catching, crashing, turning and throwing last year, to complete a 9-3 DP.

And put some padding back there.  The ivy could grow on padded walls.  

I don't blame him one bit.  It's called protecting our $136 million investment.