Wrigley Rooftops: Part of the Field or Part of the Douche

Recently I was invited to go to one of the legendary Wrigley Field rooftops to watch a Cubs game.  This was the first time I had ever watched a game from a rooftop and needless to say it was a different experience then being at the actual game.  So are these famous building tops part of what makes Wrigley the greatest place to play baseball or do the add to the douchebagishness of Wrigleyville.

Kevin:Before I went to that Cubs game I never really gave the rooftops that much thought.  I never considered them part of Wrigley Field.  When I thought of Wrigley I thought of the ivy, the bleachers, the $6 beers, the bullpens down the foul lines, and so on and so forth but whenever I thought of Wrigley, the rooftops were never part of it.  The only rooftop that really stands out in my mind was the Bud rooftop but that wasn’t so much a rooftop as it was simply a roof.  Anyway, when I went to the game I didn’t really know what to expect, but then again I really didn’t care because I was getting a free ticket to the game and they were having free food and free beer!  So who gives a shit what the seats are like?!  Who cares if you can’t see what the hell is going on in the game?!  I was going to eat and drink a shit ton because it was free and the rest didn’t really matter, right?!  WRONG!  That was a test to all you douchebags out there.  Of course it matters if you have a good seat because if you don’t care if you can see what’s going on or not you might as well just go to a bar to watch it.  Now this particular rooftop was the farthest one on Sheffield Ave.  It’s angled in towards Wrigley to give you the best view.  From the inside of Wrigley it looks like you wouldn’t be able to see anything and that the people who built it were morons, but that is incorrect.  You can see 95% of the field(a small part between the mound and home plate is blocked by a poll), you can track the ball really well when it’s hit to the outfield and you can see everything on the scoreboard.  The only thing you can’t really see is the strike zone since you are so far away and at a bad angle but then again you can’t tell that from most places at Wrigley.  At this point I must say that I loved the rooftop.  I got a free ticket to watch the game, I got free food, free beer, and they had WGN 720 on in the background so you knew everything that was happening in the game. 

However, there were a couple of things that were a concern.  First, they stop serving alcohol at the end of the 7th inning.  This is the same inside Wrigley so it doesn’t really lose points but it doesn’t give it extra points.  The game I saw went into the 13th so we had a few innings of no beer.  Another concern was that the rooftop gave you the option of going downstairs to watch the game on TV and going to the bathroom.  While the the bathrooms were far nicer then Wrigley (then again the troughs at Wrigley are far faster then a urinal), the ability to go downstairs to watch the game on TV was upseting.  Particularly when so many patrons did so because the were sick of sitting in the hot sun.  Part of the fun of a baseball game is being incredibly uncomfortable and hot and having to releive that with loads of beers.  These are all minors things that I can look past.  In fact, all of these things you can do inside of Wrigley.  The main problem with the rooftops is the feel.  You don’t feel like you’re in the game.  You sit down and watch the game, but it’s different then being inside Wrigley.  It’s almost like you are watching the game on a really big TV on your front lawn.  It’s something that’s difficult to explain but not hard to understand.  It’s like the first Christmas after you’ve been told that there is no Santa (sorry to break the news about Santa to you, Kyle).  It’s just not the same.

So while the rooftops are enjoyable and fun to go to, they aren’t the same as going to Wrigley.  They add just as much to the mystic of Wrigley as they do to the douchebagness of Wrigleyville.  If you can get invited to go to one and you don’t have to pay for shit, then definitely go, but I wouldn’t pay the astronomical prices to rent one out.