Bush League

by Clark Addison on May 24, 2009 11:43 AM CDT

Was anybody else offended besides me last night, as the Padres celebrated their 1984 pennant with the Cubs in town? I watched the fiasco on San Diego TV because I refused to go to the game.

With their ridiculous friar mascot, scoreboard exortations to the fans to make noise (they don't know when to do it?), and the Pod Squad shooting t-shirts into the crowd between innings, the ballpark experience is arguably the most bush in the majors.

And it doesn't seem to be working, because attendance was consistently below 20,000 until the Cubs came into town.

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Thats the same stuff they do at PNC.

I’ll bet it is like that in a lot of stadiums. They shoot hot dogs, t shirts, and race pierogies in between innings.

"They say we don't look good on paper. Well, we don't play on paper." Joe McCarthy (1926)

by Bricks and Ivy on May 24, 2009 11:47 AM CDT reply actions

Yes, the noise is like that almost everywhere.

Chase Field and the Cell are two of the worst offenders. Petco’s no different.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on May 24, 2009 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions

GABP

every half-inning break has a promotion replete with sponsorship and festival barker. dont forget Kiss Cam!

most MLB ballparks give the old minor league carnival experience.

"We're going to Adonis, son"

jch24

by obc2 on May 24, 2009 12:01 PM CDT reply actions

The K

Yep, the Royals have something going on between ever half-inning as well.

by polly on May 24, 2009 5:45 PM CDT up reply actions

Busch is awful about it too.

From “Every-body-clap-your-hands!” to the Kiss Cam to shooting t-shirts into the crowd to dance competitions between innings, etc.

That’s why I love Wrigley. It’s just baseball. No one telling you when it’s time to clap, no stupid songs when the players come to bat, no mascots. Just baseball.

by kanderber on May 24, 2009 12:16 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

+1

“The Cha-Cha Slide” is played out. It needs to go away. And it can take “Gonna Make You Sweat” with it.

"I'll never forget how I felt last October." ~Kosuke Fukudome

by Goodie1969 on May 24, 2009 12:33 PM CDT up reply actions

All that garbage at Busch reminds me of a minor league game. What’s funny is when you complain about it, Cardinal fan will jump on you about needing entertainment between innings… Because the game isn’t entertaining enough?

by Mike Martin on May 24, 2009 1:31 PM CDT up reply actions

I wasn't offended

They won. We lost. They have every right to celebrate it. The Padres have won two NL pennants since 1969, which is two more than the Cubs have won.

Most stadiums do that kind of thing now. They need to bring in money any way they can in these times.

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on May 24, 2009 1:33 PM CDT reply actions

Not offended at all

They have every right to celebrate and I’m sure if we won the Word Series that year there would have been similar celebrations a few weeks ago.

by ak123 on May 24, 2009 1:53 PM CDT reply actions

I doubt the Cubs would have specifically had the celebration when the Padres were in town.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on May 24, 2009 7:39 PM CDT up reply actions

Regardless

I personally see nothing wrong with it if they did.

by ak123 on May 24, 2009 8:33 PM CDT up reply actions

Point being...

… the Cubs really wouldn’t care about who the opponent was if they had such a celebration. The Padres decided to stick it to the Cubs. I’m sure you can see the difference in attitude.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on May 25, 2009 4:02 AM CDT up reply actions

atleast no one does

bring your dog to the game durign the dog days of summer, or a promotion where they will blow up some disco records post game on the field…..

oops, those have been done before

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 24, 2009 2:47 PM CDT reply actions

If you insist

on spending your life searching for offense, then you’ll be offended.

Be an adult and get over it.

WOXY.com - The Future of Rock and Roll

by Gibbon Jockey on May 24, 2009 4:11 PM CDT reply actions

This is S.O.P just about everywhere

Dodger Stadium isn’t as bad, but it’s getting there.

“Added Value” is now a part of the baseball experience. Every minute MUST contain entertainment for the fans. Thankfully, Wrigley is immune from this type of experience.

They can celebrate their 1984 Pennant — but they could have done that any weekend.
To keep this kosher, they’d better celebrate their 1998 Pennant victory when Atlanta comes to town in 2013.

If they don’t this is a kick in the face to Cubs fans. This is a petty organization that pulls off crap like this..

Uh, Cubbie Tim, it’s Petco Park. They too, have a dog day.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on May 24, 2009 4:12 PM CDT reply actions

Unfortunately...

…Wrigley is not immune to this type of behavior. They just don’t have the screen to broadcast it on. They have their races on the LED board under the scoreboard and all the giveaways between innings. It’s nowhere near as bad as most parks but it’s merely due to the facilities and not some inherent respect for the game by the Cubs organization, IMO.

by jolietconvict on May 24, 2009 10:38 PM CDT up reply actions