BCB's David Sameshima visited Wrigley Field Friday evening and filed this report on preparations for the National League Championship Series, which begins tonight.
I attended a friend's art show opening after work. After visiting the gallery, I decided to stop by Wrigley. I arrived at 7:30 p.m. I was surprised to see so much activity around the park. The lights were on in the ballpark. The Dodgers were just boarding their team buses, so they must have just finished batting practice. Then I saw bright lights coming from Waveland and Sheffield. There were production people working around the FOX Sports broadcast stage there. There were also large stage lights set up, pointing toward the bleachers. Made for a great photo opportunity.
Then I noticed all the city barricades lined up along Waveland Avenue. I thought of how these would interfere with the activities of the ballhawks. Maybe they won't completely lock down the Waveland and Kenmore intersection during the game.
I then walked down toward all the activity around the broadcast lot, at Waveland and Clifton. The lot was so full, that a TV production truck had to park on Clifton Avenue just outside of the lot. Then a tanker truck approached. It arrived to refuel all the thirsty generators powering all the production equipment.
As I was leaving, I was surprised to see a line forming outside of the ticket windows. This was at 8:30. Fans hoping some tickets might be released at the last minute.