Those of you who follow the site’s Twitter feed found out on Sunday that the train I was taking from St. Louis to Chicago accidentally hit a car on the tracks a few miles south of Joliet, IL. It happened shortly after 11 AM at a crossing with no gates to prevent cars from roaming onto the tracks. The driver, a young woman, was the lone occupant in the car. It took 19 minutes to extract her from the vehicle, after which she was airlifted to a local hospital. I haven’t heard anything about the story since, but I was told that her vitals were good, which seems almost miraculous given that cars and drivers don’t normally do well in such accidents.

Not to sound shallow, but the hour-plus delay pretty much killed any chance I had of making the White Sox game that day. When I finally got there it was the bottom of the 5th and the Tigers appeared to be on the verge of blowing out the White Sox. Lo and behold, the Sox mounted a major comeback to pull ahead 8-7, but the Tigers came back themselves and finished the Sox off 13-8.

Downcast from the day’s events, I still went to The Cell to take some exterior photos, if not check out the interior, which I had done more informally a decade ago. My initial thoughts then were that it was a larger, newer, yet worse version of Kauffman Stadium. Since I didn’t enter the ballpark, I can’t appraise the changes that were made a few years ago. For all intents and purposes, this day and ballpark review were shot.

Getting there

One thing that hasn’t changed is transportation access. The “L” Red Line runs along the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-95) and stops one block from the LF corner gate. For $2.25 each way, it’s a steal. The Red Line also runs through the loop downtown, and also stops near Wrigley Field and Midway Airport. Skip the $23 parking and go with the “L.” It just works.

Ticketing

Nothing to report.

Concessions

Nothing to report.

Circulation

Okay, I can write about this. The original vision for the New Comiskey Park was to be an updated version of Kauffman Stadium, with added luxury amenities. Access would be severely restricted, as is the case in Dodger Stadium. It took 15 years for the team to correct much of these mistakes, which they did by lopping up several rows of the upper deck, installing a proper metal roof, and putting in some kid’s entertainment in the outfield. The place is still somewhat segregated, which can’t be helped given the three-story wall of club seats and suites dividing the lower deck from the upper deck. The seats up top are still much too steep.

Other observations

• The limestone exterior has held up well in the last 20 years. It’s easily the most handsome feature of the ballpark.
• I tried walking around the entire exterior of the ballpark but ran into a fence behind centerfield. There’s certainly enough room to do it. The fencing and security here is rather aggressive, in keeping with a location in the South Side.
• sdffsd

Wrap-up

Historically, US Cellular Field has been overshadowed by the retro trend leader, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, since that ballpark opened in 1992. Now that the retro fad has faded, it’ll be interesting to see how long the trend of building more modern ballparks lasts. The Cell might have received some praise – if they hadn’t retroed the place up in the meantime. Oh well.