| Chicago & Wrigley Field | |
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August, 2002 - Arizona Diamondbacks Waterfront |
| Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs, the baseball team of which I have been cursed with being a fan since my family moved to the Chicago area in 1950. My Dad was a great baseball fan and a Cubs fan since he saw the "Black Sox" throw games when he was a teenager around 1919. Wrigley Field has always been a special place for myself and my brothers. No family get together in Chicago is complete without taking in a game at the "Friendly Confines". | |
| One of the pictures above was taken in 2002, when the Cubs were in last place, the other was taken in 2003 when the Cubs were in first place. Can you tell the difference and which is which. No matter the standings the Cubs always draw a crowd. Still it's just a lot more fun to be in the stands when they are winning. Having been a Cubs fan for over 50 years I've had a lot of days at the "Friendly Confines" enjoying the ambience more than the results. For the record the picture on the left was taking on May 9, 2003 at the Cardinals' game when the Cubs were in first place. The picture on the right was taken on August 16, 2002 at the Diamondbacks' game when the Cubs were playing god awful. The Cubs lost both games. No one can accuse me of being just a good luck charm. | |
| August, 2002 | |
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The pictures above were taken the August 16 & 17, 2002 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks. |
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| May, 2003 | |
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The pictures above were taken at the May 9, 2003 game with the St. Louis Cardinals. |
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| August, 2008 | |
| The pictures below were taken at the August 6, 2008 Houston Astros game. The Cubs are once more in 1st place in the NL Central Division. | |
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| This was a Wednesday day game. As you can see the stadium is nearly full, actually standing room only in the Bleachers. | |
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Then in the 3rd inning all hell broke loose. The first two Astros were easy outs, then Matsui hit a double followed by a walk to Pence. Matsui scored on a single by Berkman. When Carlos Lee hit a homer the Astros were up 4-1. It looked like my luck for the Cubs was holding strong. I hadn't seen them win a game since 1994. |
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In the picture on the left Aramis Ramirez swings at a pitch and either missed or fouled the pitch. He hung in there and worked a walk. I'm somewhat amazed by the quality of my Sony CyberShot camera. If click on the picture to open it in full resolution you can actually see the ball out in front of Ramirez. |
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Jim Edmonds walked to fill the bases. |
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Still with 2 outs the Cubs were not done for the inning. After DeRosa's homer Fukudome hit a double and Soto walked. The pitcher, Jason Marquis, then hit a double to score Fukudome and Soriano followed with a 3-run homer to left. The Cubs were now in the lead 9-4. |
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CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! 11-4 In the picture on the left the Cubs take the field to celebrate the victory with the fans. |
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| The pictures below show more of this capacity crowd for a mid-week day game. The picture on the right, below shows a couple of the private bleachers on the building tops across the street from Wrigley field. Even these seats are nearly half-full. They normally fill up only for weekend or night games. | |
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| August, 2011 | |
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For most of this season the Cubs have been god-awful. A few weeks earlier they started to play better and started winning. Too late, though, the season is nearly over. |
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| Scenes Around Chicago | |
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The pictures below were taken around the Chicago water front. |
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| Michigan Ave, "The Miracle Mile" | |
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On the left is the Wrigley Building, which is north of the river, as seen from Michigan Ave. |
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| Along Michigan Ave is the latest public park in Chicago - The Millenium Park. The pictures below are of the open air concert hall designed by Frank Gehry. | |
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| The Art Institute | |
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| One of the exhibits we wanted to see was a tapestry made in Madagazcar from spider webbs. That tapestry is shown in the pictures below. | |
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