January 12, 2015

CONTINGENCY PLAN?


The Cubs will announce soon "contingency" plans if the bleachers are not completed by
Opening Night.

I thought, maybe that contingency plan is to move the games to the Cell.

Because, based upon the construction photographs I have seen, the brick outfield walls
are not structurally sound - - - meaning an outfielder racing to catch a deep fly ball
may actually bend, break or tumble through the bricks like an old Charlie Chaplin movie.

And since the brick and ivy is THE most important landmark feature at the park,
why risk it? Perhaps the Ricketts do not believe any damage to the brick facade will
do any more damage to their own reputations as gravediggers, oh, caretakers, of Wrigley Field.

And what city inspector is going to approve games in an active "construction site?"

Construction safety standards require fencing and hard hat areas to be secure from
the general public, which during games would include the players on the field.
It has all the foresight of the failed Northwestern football game at Wrigley, where the
conference and officials on game day said the field was unsafe to play because the end zones
were too small (and players could get hurt running into the brick walls).


With the harsh aspects of Winter in Chicago bearing outdoor construction to a crawl, it is really doubtful that the debut of the "new" Wrigley on national television is going to be the glittering success that the Cubs PR department had hoped for. . . and as I had said before, and now confirmed by a few die hard baseball fans who visited the site during the holiday season, that the gut fan reaction is going to be negative.