Our family visited our second Chicago ballpark in as many days with a visit to see our Boston Red Sox play their Chicago White Sox. The game took place at Guaranteed Rate Field, possibly the saddest corporate naming rights ever awarded to a sports venue. This was my second visit having previously seen the White Sox play the Rays in 2004 at what was then called U.S. Cellular Field. For that game I sat in the bleachers and remember having a generally favorable impression of the ballpark.
For this game, I made the mistake of buying cheap seats in the 500 level thinking we would enjoy having seats near the front of the upper rather than the back of a lower section. Turns out the 500 level was eerily empty for a close-to-elimination White Sox game on a Thursday night. The section also has a vertiginously steep rake. I grew up going to games at Shea Stadium so I had no problem with this, but my son has gone to most of his games at Fenway Park, so being close to the edge made him uneasy.
The game started well for the White Sox as Rick Porcello once again struggled while pitching in the early innings and Lucas Giolito shutdown the Red Sox potent offense. Avisail Garcia lit up the exploding scoreboard with a homer in the first inning and the Pale Hose were up 4-0 after two innings. Pitching dominated for the next 4 innings until the Red Sox were able to tie up the game with a 4-run rally in the 7th capped by Mookie Betts 2-run home run.
The Red Sox scored another five runs in a 9th inning rally, including a J.D. Martinez blast, but that time I was heading home with my punchy little girl. We cheered from the Red Line platform as we saw the Red Sox take the lead on the scoreboard alongside the highway. Meanwhile, Susan and Peter had snuck down to the field level seats for the final inning where Peter secured another baseball from Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel by way of a security guard. All because Peter said “please.”
Guaranteed Rate Field is a tough ballpark to judge, especially compared with Wrigley Field across town which has all the advantages. The White Sox ballpark was built right at the end of the “Modern” era when jewel boxes like Comiskey Park were still considered “old and outdated” rather than a classic ballpark that should be preserved, but just too early for the Retro ballpark boom of the 1990s which may have recreated Comiskey’s charms with modern ammenities. The baseball-only facility fortunately avoided the problems of the multi-purpose stadiums and domes of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but didn’t quite achieve the elegance of Dodger Stadium or Kauffman Stadium. While Wrigley Field feels part and parcel of its Chicago neighborhood, Guaranteed Rate Field is set apart by a massive 16-lane freeway and acres of parking (where Comiskey Park used to stand), with the South Side neighborhood basically invisible and the Chicago skyline an attractive – but distant – vista on the horizon. Ultimately it’s a tale of levels with the field level and bleachers being and enjoyable place to watch a ballgame while the distant upper levels are much less so.
Current ballpark rankings.
- Wrigley Field
- Fenway Park
- AT&T Park
- Oriole Park at Camden Yards
- Petco Park
- Citi Field
- Nationals Park
- Miller Field
- Dodger Stadium
- Citizens Bank Park
- Guaranteed Rate Field
- Yankee Stadium III
Former ballpark rankings
- Tigers Stadium
- Shea Stadium
- Yankees Stadium II
- RFK Stadium
- Stade Olympique
- Veterans Stadium
Panorama of the Mountains 