May 05--Well, well well...
The Cubs finally revealed renderings of the new bleachers on Monday, including new patio-type sections in left and right fields called the "Well" and the "Porch."
Tribune reporter Chris Hine writes that tickets for the group sections will cost between $22-$85 in the Well, which is in front of the front row of the left-field bleachers, and between $52-$115 for the Porch, which is under the left-field video board. A right-field Porch under the right-field video board will open in June.
The Cubs took the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," to another level in their long-standing battle with rooftop owners.
Not only did Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts beat them by getting everything he asked for from the city in terms of signage and video boards, he joined them in bringing the full-metal rooftop experience to the bleachers.
The difference is that fans going to rooftop parties know that paying attention to what's going on at the ballpark across the street, where players look like ants, is secondary to the mingling. Fans standing in the Well ignoring the game will be front and center, perhaps even blocking the views of fans sitting in the front rows.
According to the Cubs' news release, the Well "offers guests the best view in the bleachers to catch all the action on the field and is perfect for bachelor/bachelorette parties and special events." Look for some "mingler" to get hit with a home run ball, which may be even better than catching the garter belt.
I used to sit in the left-field bleachers back in the day, and even had the privilege of being ejected from a game in 1983. (Long story, but I was ultimately exonerated).
It was a much more raucous crowd back then, and I vividly recall the time some Bleacher Bums in the front row put a baggie full of flour on a fishing pole and dangled it in front of Cardinals outfielder Lonnie Smith, who was part of a cocaine scandal that rocked the game in the early 1980s: "Here you go, Lonnie. Just for you."
Those days of verbal abuse are long gone, of course, and now the Wrigley bleachers are pretty much as antiseptic as the bleachers in any other ballpark, albeit closer to the action than most.
The concept of making space for corporate events isn't new, even for Wrigley. The Cubs already had the patio section in right field where fans sometimes sat with their backs to the game. It's the patio-ization of baseball, where corporate and group gatherings are popular revenue-enhancers, and watching the Cubs is an afterthought.
"One of the things we heard loud and clear, especially from our corporate partners and our season ticket holders who use suites, is they like group spaces," Cubs presdent of business operations Crane Kenney told the Tribune. "The idea of bringing 20 to 100 people and being able to visit with each one of them, instead of the person on your left or right, is attractive."
Of course, the Cubs have the right to corporatize the bleachers, and the more revenue, the better the chance of signing a David Price next winter after Kenney's so-called "wheelbarrow of money" is dumped at Theo Epstein's feet. Finding a way for the Bleacher Bums and the patio dwellers to get along is going to be difficult, but that's what security guards get paid for. "Down in front" is a slogan just waiting for a T-shirt.
For years the Cubs undervalued their bleacher tickets, which were selling at four or five times the ticket price outside the ballpark. Then they jacked the prices so high that no one could unload them when the club entered the rebuild phase.
Now that the Cubs are finally showing signs of becoming a real contender, with Jon Lester, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo as the faces of the new era, it'll be interesting to see how popular the tickets will be this season. They're still great seats, after all.
Despite the loss of bleacher revenue from the renovation delays, the return of actual fans to the bleachers will be a happening, and at least coincides with better weather. If the Cubs' bullpen doesn't implode like it did on Monday night in St. Louis, the team should be fun to watch this summer.
Anyway, the grand reopening is Monday night against the Mets.
Don't bring a fishing pole.
