Another long day, but baseball started at Comiskey and I felt that "clock" that moves move life start ticking again. We were pretty excited to see what the new renovations looked like at the Park. There was four things that were done over the winter - the first we wouldn't be able to see, and that was the enclosure and rehab of the Club level concourse and concessions. Another renovation was minor, but was put to the test during the game - a new backstop. This one is a much finer mesh and it's just a vertical screen - there is no longer a net to cover the people behind the plate. If there's a foul ball behind the plate, people now must pay attention because the net won't save them!
The other two renovations were hard to miss. The old black aluminum "Batter's Eye" in center field was torn apart and rebuilt to include plantings (bushes and IVY). On top is a large plaza area that had a series of picnic tables. To block any distraction of the fans from the batters, is a large green nylon "screen" that lined the plaza area. It's difficult to see people moving behind the screen, so the batters shouldn't be distracted. The problem is that the screen is pretty hard to see through. You can sort of see the field, but it's almost impossible to see the ball.
The biggest renovation and the one that we were really excited about was the main concourse. Everything was redone in brick and aluminum, with new lighting, signage and new designs for all the concession stands - it totally changed the feel of the park when you were walking around. It was amazing. It's gorgeous, and it's in the right "direction" to change the over all look of the park. And then I heard on the radio the one thing that I've wanted for years that I think will be the biggest change to the look of the park: in the future, the seats and padding on the walls will be changed from blue to dark green! YES!!! You'll see more pictures of the rennovations in the next couple of games. For some reason, they've named most of the concession stands after former White Sox players
So, what about the game?, Oh yeah, the Sox won 5-2 over the Orioles. Mark Buehrle pitched 7 innings of 2-hit ball (he's now 3-0 with a 0.95 ERA). Home runs by Jose Valentin, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Ray Durham. Kenny Lofton was 3-for-3 with a walk. Keith Foulke got another save, but he's still looking shaky - he gave up 2 hits in the 9th, and his ERA is still high at 6.35, which isn't good for a closer. There were a lot of questionable calls from the entire umpiring crew, that almost made it feel like there was a conspiracy against us. Weird. And, in typical White Sox fan fashion - not a sell out, but 41,128 were there. The game lasted only 2:24, which was great. (ESPN Boxscore here)
After the game, we drove out to Riverside to have dinner with our Season Ticket buddies Janie & Gary (who we were sitting with during the game). First we made our flight reservations - we're going to Detroit to see the Sox play the Tigers at Comerica Park on July 14th. Should be fun, and I really enjoy seeing new ballparks. We went out to dinner at a restaurant called the Choo Choo Cafe in Riverside. Now, when I heard the name of this place, I had this thought of old women serving coffee in gingham dresses and aprons to patrons sitting at red & white checkerboarded oil clothed tables. Not so. This is a bit "upscale" and the food was great. Carol & Gary and lamb shanks, Janine had some encrusted chicken thing, & I had a New York Strip that was one of the better pieces of meat that I've had in a while.
Long day but a good day.
2006- Volcano Rabbit
- This Day In Space
2005- Quick Return
2004- Sick
2003- Finch Girl
- Michael Palin's Sahara
- Tax Man