I'm Retired! Now what?

July 2, 2026

When I first got the notion to visit the fine city of Chicago, I had two main things I wanted to do there.  First, I wanted some Chicago style pizza and second, I wanted to go to a Chicago Cubs game.  Am I a big Cubs fan?  To be honest, I pretty much knew nothing about the team, but I did know that the Cubs played in Wrigley Field, which is the second oldest ballpark in the country.  Opening in 1914 the stadium is a part of sports history.  So being a devoted history geek, I wanted to take it in.  While comparing the price of Cubs tickets to Chicago’s other team, the White Sox, I discovered that history comes with a price, but I wanted to see Wrigley Field, so I dished out the extra bucks and added the game to my things to do in Chicago schedule.

I know what traffic is like at any major sporting event in Dallas, so I gave myself plenty of time to grab a taxi or an Uber.  Somehow, I managed to book both of them, so during my trip to the field I was trying to figure out how I had scheduled two rides from one app.  Before I could confuse myself anymore, my cab driver informed me that the streets were blocked off, and I would have to hoof it the rest of the way.  “Just follow the people wearing Cubs jerseys?” I asked.  Okay, that would have been a great idea if I would have had any clue what a Cubs jersey looked like.  To be honest, I really didn’t even know what the team’s colors were.  I saw that red was mentioned so I slapped on a red shirt that just happened to be a Coca Cola shirt.  All the rest of my red shirts were Texas Rangers shirts, which I’m guessing wouldn’t be appropriate.  As soon as I got to the stadium, I discovered that white and blue were the preferred colors.

Globe Life Field, where the Rangers play near Dallas, is surrounded by parking lots, and I’m not sure if that’s what I expected to find here, but Wrigley Field in Chicago is surrounded by Chicago.  If there was a parking lot nearby, I didn’t see it.   However, I did see the fans.  They were there in a big way, but as a pregame party a lot of them were hanging outside the stadium watching the World Cup.  Watching soccer at a baseball game?  Is that even ethical?

My original plan was to grab a hotdog and maybe “buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks” as the song goes.  However, the stadium was already packed with the non-soccer fans, and I was way more interested in finding my darn seat than I was indulging in overpriced goodies just so I could live out a stupid song.  I figured that I could deal with the goodies later.  I did stop by a fan shop to pick up a Cubs cap just so I could fit in.  Quite frankly, I’m not even sure where the name Cubs originates.  Is it some kind of acronym or did the city really name their baseball team after a baby bear, wolf, or large cat?  However, I suppose the name sounds more intimidating than the cross city White Sox.  So after buying an extremely overpriced cap that I’ll probably only wear once, I was ready for the game!  As I nestled in next to a couple who were decked out in San Diego Padres shirts, I told them to feel free to yell for the opposing team all they wanted.  Considering my Cubs cap still had the price tag on it, I wasn’t looking too much like a hard-core Cubs fan anyway.

Although the Padres fans were great, the weather wasn’t.   I had traveled from Texas, but I was about to sweat to death in Chicago.  Suddenly I felt the need to yell out, “History be darned!  Give me a modern, indoor stadium with air conditioning!”  Because I was stuck in the middle of a row I didn’t want to move, so I thought I’d be able to pick up a bottle of water from a nearby hawker.  At Texas Rangers games one can pretty much get anything from the roaming hawkers.  Not so much at Wrigley Field though.  All they seemed to be dishing out for the game were hotdogs and beer.  As I started to feel like I just might pass out in the bottom of the fourth inning a hawker came by toting the blessed water!  Hallelujah!  Passing my credit card down the row, I have no idea what I paid for the lifesaving liquid, but hopefully it was less than the darn cap I bought.

Even though the Padres took an early lead, the game stayed pretty tight, and the home team managed to tie things up at some point during the game.  I say this because I didn’t realize what the score was until somewhere in the fifth inning.  Although there were boards telling me the RBI’s, batting averages, and even the age of the batters, I couldn’t find anywhere that displayed the game’s actual score.  In fact, I never did find the blessed scoreboard or even something that told me what inning we were in.  I’m sure it was up there somewhere, but I finally had to rely on my trusty cellphone to tell me the game’s score and inning.  The lady in front of me came with her own stat sheet that she filled out during the game.  I didn’t realize I needed to bring paperwork to keep up with the game.  Wow!  This place is really retro!

Around the fourth inning I finally found the board that kept up with the strikes, balls and outs.  Although Wrigley Field has a huge, modern screen that displays the video replays and all stat information EXCEPT the freaking score, there’s an old scoreboard in center field that’s been there since 1937.  Okay, that’s pretty nostalgic, and I wanted to relish in the history of all the baseball greats who had graced the famed field, but then I remembered that I don’t know squat about baseball.  Indeed, I couldn’t think of anyone.

As for the game, there were some pretty exciting plays, but I’m such a nonfan of baseball I didn’t realize that batters can dispute calls now, and it seemed like the batters were questioning nearly every call.   The worst part about this was the fact that they were right most of the time.  During every dispute a strike zone box would show up the screen, often proving that the batters knew what they were talking about.  The poor umpires were probably starting to think, “Why am I even here?”  Even the plays at the bases can be disputed.  Does this mean we can’t scream out at the bad calls during a game now?  Gee, AI is spoiling all the fun!  However, everyone at the game seemed to be having a great time, despite the sweltering heat.  Some young lady was seen on the big screen chugging down a beer in one mighty chug!  As she chugged and the fans cheered all I could think was how she was downing a fifteen-dollar beer in a mere few seconds while a good portion of it was running down the side of her face.  What some people will do for a little attention.

As the game lingered on into the ninth inning the game was still tied up 2 to 2.  I’m not sure if the heat was sucking up all the batter’s energy for the night, but none of those pro sluggers seemed to be able to knock any balls out of the park for the evening.  Maybe this was due to the fact that both teams were changing out pitchers like the Kardashians change out boyfriends.  I guess those fresh pitching arms were keeping everything tight for the game.

In the top of the ninth one of the Padres got called out at second which brought up the big controversial call of the night.  Even with the replay, it was hard to tell, and the out was confirmed even though everyone around me, Padres and Cubs fan alike, agreed that the guy was safe.  “You can’t overrule the umpires on every call,” the Padres fan told me.   He claimed such would deem the officials insignificant.  Judging by how many calls at the plate were being overturned, I’m guessing they already kind of are.

Regardless of how wrong the call might have been, the game was still tied at 2 to 2 in the bottom of the ninth, according to my phone anyway.  I still have no clue where the freaking scoreboard is in that historical stadium.  That score would soon change though.  The Cubs managed to put two guys on base, and as pitcher Seiya Suzuki knocked a line drive into left field, the game was over!  There was no replay needed here!  However, I was a bit taken by how the crowd broke out into song celebrating the victory.  Suddenly Wrigley Field filled up with, “Go Cubs go!  Go Cubs go!  Hey Chicago what do you say, Cubs are going to win today!”  Such was a song written by Steve Goodman, the same guy who wrote David Allan Coe’s big hit, You Never Even Call Me by My Name and the song City of New Orleans.  This has nothing to do with baseball, but I thought it was a cool music fact.

After the game I thought I’d take a few memorable photos, but other than the front Wrigley Field sign I didn’t really see too many photo ops available.  So after walking down the street a couple of blocks I ran into a cab driver who was from India, and during the twenty-minute ride back to my hotel that guy went on a wild rant concerning how AI was taking away all the jobs.  I guess that goes for the future of MLB umpires as well.  Oh well, go Cubs go!