Savage: The view from Section 416 at Wrigley Field has never been better
From SABR member Bill Savage at ESPN.com on June 7, 2016:
Come sit with me in section 416 at Wrigley Field.
Put the carnival of bars that surround the park behind you, and enter at Gate K, opposite the Firehouse on Waveland Ave., just around the corner from the iconic marquee at the intersection of Addison and Clark streets.
Weave your way through 2016’s dense crowds. The hype for the Cubs this year is higher than their run differential, a crazy number that reads like votes stolen per precinct by former Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley’s old Democratic machine. So far, the team is exceeding expectations, despite the loss of slugger Kyle Schwarber and the occasionally merely human performance of reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta.
Security personnel will direct you to the Metal Detector Kabuki Theatre, new to the park this year. The security honchos at MLB gave the club a break in 2015, due to the construction of the bleachers and the new video boards. There weren’t enough toilets, much less room for metal detectors. Be early; this is not a fast process. Pick up whatever promotion is being given away. Buy a scorecard and a pencil.
Then take a hard right to climb up four flights of stairs. Before the current Wrigley renovation, this was a gentle circular ramp, but progress takes its toll on both ballpark aesthetics and your knees.
Read the full article here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15994336/the-view-section-416-welcome-wrigley-field-2016
Originally published: June 7, 2016. Last Updated: June 7, 2016.