Chicago Cubs Building a New Stadium in 2013!

Imagine this: It's 2014. Wrigley Field is officially 100-years old. Let's also imagine that in 2012, Boston decides finally, "Wow, our fan base is huge. Let's build a new stadium to capture more of it and sell more tickets."

This leaves the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the only teams with a "historical landmark" for a stadium.

Now, I'm going to be sacrilegious and piss of Cubs fans all over the country, including myself. On the 100-year anniversary of Wrigley Field, imagine hearing in the news that the owner of the Cubs has decided to build a new stadium, following Boston's lead in realizing that the Cubs would EASILY fill a 50,000 seat stadium. 

First question I want you to respond to: How would you react to hearing that the Cubs are no longer going to play at Wrigley Field?

Second question: There is no place to build the new baseball stadium in Wrigleyville. So, where would the Cubs play until the new baseball stadium can be completed on top of the grounds of the current Wrigley Field?

Third Question: What are your top three favorite baseball stadiums that you'd like to see the New Wrigley Field modeled after?

I'll answer my own questions now.

First off, I would be pissed upon hearing that Wrigley is being replaced. That place is baseball heaven. I'm from Nebraska, and I was furious to learn that the City of Omaha is building a modern, beautiful baseball stadium in downtown to replace Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series. I'm a baseball fan that believes in history, and a stadium is a shrine for baseball history.

Second: Here is my strategy for where the Cubs would play the 2013 season while a new park is being built on top of the existing Wrigley Field. I would use Soldiers Field in the same way the Oakland Athletics use the Raider's football stadium as their home turf.  It would be annoying, but it's just for one season. 

And there is now way the Chicago White Sox would share US Cellular with the Cubs. No chance in hell. The pressure would be on the building crew to complete the stadium in 1.5 years in a very unpredictable climate. Good luck!

Third: My three favorite stadiums, other than Wrigley.  1) Coors Field  2) New Busch Stadium 3) Pac Bell Park 

All of those stadiums are gorgeous, fan friendly, great for baseball, and provide great views. Oh, there lies the problem.

Imagine, this is the last time, having a beautiful new park smack dab where Wrigley Field is now. Imagine that it is made by the same company that made the three named stadiums.  See the problem: New and old don't go good together. 

You would have a Ferrari parked in a garage filled with Ford Pintos. The buildings around Wrigley show their age, and would look very awkward next to a brand new, shining gem of a stadium. Also, imagine what the architects would have to work with for a view!

Busch has the downtown skyline of St Louis and the Arch, Coors has the mountains and downtown Denver, and San Francisco's Pac Bell Park has the gorgeous bay, bridges, and mountains. 

The new Wrigley would have views of 1) three-story flat condos, 2) McDonald's on Clark, 3) bars everywhere.   

So, to sum it up. If the Cubs need to build a new stadium, don't expect it to stay in Wrigleyville. I don't see this happening anytime soon, but you have to be realistic, and realize that with age comes problems and costs, and at a certain point, it is more cost effective to start from scratch—Yankee Stadium. 

Go Cubs!

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