Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs

Atlanta Braves 11, Chicago Cubs 6 Ben's pregame pick: Cubs Pick record 0-2 Nick's pregame pick: Braves Pick record: 1-1

Date: July 12, 2014 Home team record: 1-1 Overall trip rating: 8.3 Tour firsts: Player multi-HR game; reviewed play; overturned play; pitcher HR

Pregame

The second stop on our tour of all 30 MLB stadiums was Wrigley Field to see the Chicago Cubs host the Atlanta Braves. Our journey started on Thursday's red-eye trip of the Megabus — an adventure we vowed to never embark on again. Sleep was at a minimum, as was comfort. It didn't help that the bus was sold out, crunching everyone together, which only made the excursion last longer.

To add salt to our unpleasant wounds, Nick realized he had left his debit card and extra cash back at home. Needless to say, it was a good start to the trip.

The one good thing about taking the night ride was that it put us in Chicago in the morning with plenty of time to experience the city. The bad thing, was we were running on fumes. *Cue Five Hour Energy stop*

 We started our time in Chicago with breakfast with Laura and Tyson at the West Egg Cafe. To say the least, we had mixed reviews on the restaurant. One thing we both thought it was missing was an order of mimosas.

After breakfast, it was decided that a short cat-nap was needed in order to enjoy the rest of the day. Instead, the nap turned into a three-hour sleep. Thanks Megabus.




Once we had awoken from our slumber, we walked downtown to take the Architectural Tour of Chicago, which ferries you down the river and gives an interesting perspective on the significant structures in the city.

The tour was very insightful and is highly recommended. Not only is it an fun way to see the different designs of some of the city's coolest looking buildings, it's a great way to learn some of the history of Chicago.

The river tour costs $30, and when you purchase your ticket, you have the option of buying drink tickets at $4 — a saving of $1 per drink. On the boat, the lower level features a bar, which you can visit at anytime on the tour. There aren't many options, but it's still a nice touch to enjoy the tour with a drink in your hand. We had the River Shandy — apparently Miller Lite, whiskey and shandy. If you purchase this beverage, you may want to stir it and maybe even let it sit for a while (It's strong).

For dinner, we wanted to get some famous "Chicago style" deep dish pizza. We knew of two popular pizzerias in the area — Giordano's and Geno's. Thinking the crowd would surely be done eating by 8:30 p.m., we waited until then to try our luck. It did not help. The wait at Geno's was an hour and a half, while Giordano's had even more people waiting outside.

Nonetheless, we were determined to have some of this pizza. So, like true adventurers, we went back to where we were staying and ordered it to be delivered. The wait wasn't much better; we finally got our dinner at 10:30 p.m. By the time 11:30 p.m. rolled around, we were barely conscious from our food coma. We decided an early night would help us get ready for Saturday's game.

The game

We awoke to dark skies and a slight drizzle in the atmosphere. The streets looked as though it had rained harder during the night. The terrifying thought of a rainout slowly crept into our heads.

Around noon, we walked to the Red Line, which we had planned to take to Wrigley Field. You purchase your train tickets through an electronic station — Travel Tip: Be sure to read all options. Rather than buying an all day pass, it is cheaper to buy a one-way ticket on your way to the stadium and back. One of the station attendants made sure to point out how stupid we were for not doing so.

The train was decently crowded, but that was to be expected. It didn't take long to get to our stop (Addison), and almost immediately we were struck by the historical aura that is Wrigley Field.

We started the festivities by going into "Wrigleyville's Sports Corner". The bar and grill features an awesome rooftop deck across from the stadium, which overlooks the mass of fans scrambling below. Beers are almost at stadium prices, but the selection is nice. And there's something about enjoying a cold beverage with a great view that makes the price seem worth it.

Fortunately for us, Saturday's game featured a giveaway, as Billy Williams number was retired. Fans received a flag resembling his jersey with his name and number on it.

First thing we did was get a hot dog and a beer. The dog was nearly $6, while the beer was $7.50 — again, a pretty average price for a stadium. With beer, hot dog and flag in hand, we made our way to our seats: Sec. 229, Row 6, Seats 3-4.

Childhood memories were swirling about as the game started with an epic first pitch thrown by Thomas Ian Nicholas, who played Henry Rowengartner in the movie "Rookie of the Year" (IMDB's rating of a 5.8 is simply ridiculous).

The Cubs struck first, scoring two runs in the opening frame, but the Braves tied the game with a two-run homer from Chris Johnson. Both teams added another run before Johnson became the first player we've seen on our tour to record a multi-homer game. Three batters later, Atlanta's starting pitcher, Mike Minor, became the first pitcher we've seen hit a home run.

Johnson and Minor's homers, along with a three-RBI double from Justin Upton, sparked a six-run inning for the Braves, who took a 9-3 lead.

A wild pitch and a double from Chicago's Chris Coghlan cut the lead to 9-6, but that was all the scoring the Cubs had in them. Unfortunately, Atlanta scored two more in the ninth, eliminating the opportunity to see the Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel pitch. Atlanta won the game 11-6.

Postgame

After the game, we went back to the Sports Corner for a couple of beers, hoping that the line for the train would go down. While we were on the roof, the Braves' bus pulled up next to the stadium. It was fun to see the players get on the bus as the fans who stuck around after the game cheered.

The line had finally gone down to get on the train, so we left our rooftop paradise and got on the Red Line with the intent on making our way back to Wrigleyville for the night. It did not happen.

After another round of Fiver Hour Energy drinks and some leftover Giordano's pizza, we decided to stay in the downtown area. As we were wandering around in the light rain, we decided to get cash, just in case anywhere we went had a cover charge. Ben attempted to withdraw money from his account, and after several unsuccessful attempts, it was discovered that his bank assumed his card was stolen due to all the spending so far away from home. A lengthy phone call to the bank finally fixed our problems, and we were all set for the night.

We had seen the sign of a piano bar earlier on our trip, but we could not find it. Instead, we found our good ole friend from Denver, "Howl at the Moon".

There was a long line outside the dueling piano bar, but we decided it would be worth it. As we neared the door, a girl cut in front of us, dragging a friend with her. She explained it was for the good of the bar that they go in before us. Then she asked if the rest of the bachelorette party could join her. A little more than slightly annoyed, we allowed the rest of the party to join, assuming it would be a few more — 12 more girls walked in front of us in what must be the world's largest bridal party. Once they were all ahead of us, the original line jumper compensated us with a pass to get into the bar for free. The gesture erased most of the feelings of animosity towards the situation.

Getting into the establishment was an adventure in itself. Everyone could only move inches at a time. But we finally made our way to the bar.

Once again, the entertainment was great. The piano players were excellent and played a wide variety of music. However, after a long day, the two of us were in the mood to just sit down and have a few beers — sitting was not an option with the amount of people at the bar. Despite the awesome entertainment, and the fun atmosphere, we reluctantly left in search of another bar.

On our walk, we finally found the sign to the original piano bar we were looking for, but there was no evidence of its location. It was as if the bar itself had vanished and forgot to take the sign with it. Having not planned accordingly, we were unsure of what bars, if any, were around us.

Being nearly 1 a.m. and not knowing where to go, we decided we'd pick up a couple six-packs at 7-Eleven and make it a Netflix night (Yes, we are slightly embarrassed by the fact).

Sunday morning, we cleaned up our temporary place of residence, and prepared for round two of the Megabus. This time, was much better. We traveled during day, and got a table seat, which made thing immensely better. We got to share tales of our journey with a pair of young ladies, who helped make the trip go faster. Of course, they thought our adventures were national attention worthy.

Standings

Wrigley Field moves into the top spot of our Stadium Standings with an overall rating of 8.3. When it comes to the ballpark, the aspect that trumped all others was the tradition and the quarks of Wrigley Field.

This year marked the 100th birthday of the stadium. Cubs fans have a rich baseball history, and while Chicago may be known for having not won the World Series since 1908, Wrigley has been a bright spot of the Franchise's history. Having said that, it could use some cosmetic work. We know renovations are being planned, but until they are complete the sex appeal of the stadium will be bit lacking.

One of the unique features Wrigley offers is rooftop seating around the stadium. Fans can purchase seating on top of surrounding buildings. Another historical element the ballpark features is the old-fashioned scoreboard in center field, where workers replace each inning's score by hand.

When it comes to food and beer, the options were virtually endless. Vendors had typical ballpark foods like hot dogs, hamburgs and pretzels, but venturing inside the stadium opened such possibilities as deep dish pizza, Chicago Dogs, and even a Wrigley Field brewery — our biggest regret is not trying the beer. The ballpark averaged a rating of an 8.0.

When it comes to the nightlife, we were surprised it outscored the ballpark rating with an 8.5. There were endless bar opportunities, the crowd was great — with the possible exception of the snotty sneaky bachelorette party-goer — and transportation was mostly excellent. Just about anything you could want was within walking distance, and whatever wasn't was easily accessible via taxi cabs (which were pretty much everywhere) or the train.

Rank	Stadium	Rating
1.	Wrigley Field	8.3
2.	Coors Field	7.1

Schedule

We have a little more time before our next trip, which will be Kansas City, Mo. where we'll see the Kansas City Royals play at Kauffman Stadium. It's going to be a busy trip, but as always, let us know in the comments any food places, bars or attractions that you enjoy around Kansas City. And again, if there is something we are not doing at each stadium or something you want see become involved in our rating system, let us know.

As always, thanks for traveling through this journey with us. Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@MLBjourneymen) and be on the lookout for our new Instagram account, which will be available soon.