With the Cubs on the road, I had my second opportunity of the season the head over to the south-side of town to see the White Sox play the Blue Jays at U.S. Cellular Field.

One of my co-workers set up the outing for about 20 of us. It was a scheduled 7:10 start, but we started meeting a little after 5:00 in the parking lot for some pre-game tailgating. Not all ballparks are accommodating to tailgaters, but the Sox are fairly lenient when it comes to fans setting up grills and making room to play “corn hole/bags”.  The Sox have several big parking lots around the stadium and they let people start parking about 2 hours before the game.  (I brought my camera but forgot about it. Pictures would have told the story better……….maybe next time)

Tailgating is not something that happens around Wrigley. There are a few small “official” lots located in the area, but most people that go to Cubs games are taking public transportation, parking on neighborhood side streets, or parking in a local’s garage for a “rental” fee. The pre-game activities around Wrigley mainly constitute going to one of the many local bars and having a drink and some lunch.

So it was fun to get to the park early and grill our own food and drink our own drinks.

Our seats were in the left-center field bleachers. I’ve sat in the bleachers at US Cellular at least a dozen times and I think they are one of the best seats in the house, especially when the weather is nice. When an evening game starts, you still get that late-afternoon Sun that slowly transitions into an early-evening dusk and then on to a open star-filled sky above  you.  The concourse behind the bleacher seats are wide and provide plenty of room for people to get up, stretch out their legs, yet still have a great view of the field to watch the game.

As for the game itself, Toronto was in control most of the time. I don’t really want to bother with the details other than to say Colby Ramus had a great game (5 for 5 w/HR) and 2011’s biggest disappointment, Adam Dunn, continued his 2012 resurgence by hitting his 18th HR of the season.

Dunn’s HR did give me a chance to get one good photo. The White Sox shoot off fireworks just to the left of the center field scoreboard for each Chicago HR. I wasn’t ready to take a picture when AJ Pierzynski hit a HR earlier in the game, but when Dunn hit one I took a decent photo of the fireworks going off just behind me.

Long story short……….Toronto 9-5