I’d like to see the White Sox get a new stadium, but I don't want to pay for it
It was April 1992. I was living in Southern California and was visiting Chicago for a family event. With a free afternoon, I decided to cruise down to the South side and go to a Chicago White Sox baseball game. I didn't care about the game or the teams playing, I wanted to check out the one-year-old stadium.
When I lived in Chicago after college, I loved going to games at old Comiskey Park. In addition to baseball, my friends and I would sit in the bleachers, drink beer and try to pick up girls—the keyword is try because I don't ever remember being successful in that activity. It was a fun way to spend a summer night.
But, I realized that Comiskey Park, despite its history, was a dump. It was falling apart and needed to be replaced if the Sox were to remain in Chicago.
It didn't almost happen. The team was heading to St. Petersburg, Florida. This wasn't the first time the Sox had flirted with relocating, but it was the most serious. This was minutes away from being a done deal. It took all the political and deal-making skills that former Governor Jim Thompson had to get lawmakers to agree to finance a new stadium in Chicago.
Construction began when the ground was broken in May of 1989. A little less than two years later, new Comiskey Park opened a new era of White Sox baseball—the cost was one hundred eighty-seven million taxpayer dollars.
My feelings about the park remain the same as they were from my first visit more than three decades ago. It's a nice place to watch a baseball game. Yeah, it doesn't have the charm of a Wrigley Field, Fenway Park or even old Comiskey, but it's comfortable, easily accessible by train or car, and has good food. What more does a guy need?
But, recently there’s been talk that the White Sox are looking to build a new stadium. The location for this would be in Chicago’s South Loop, off of Roosevelt Road. This was started after it was reported that team owner Jerry Reinsdorf was in Nashville, Tennessee, meeting with that city’s government leaders.
Sound familiar? Does this bring you back in time? Is Michael J. Fox getting in a DeLorean to head back to the late 1980s?
Do the White Sox need a new stadium? No, absolutely not. The current building is in great shape. So why are we even having this discussion? One reason and it's the obvious one—
MONEY!!
Jerry Reinsdorf looks at what happened to Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhood. He wants the same thing. He wants a day at the ballpark to actually be a day at the ballpark. Jerry wants you to come early, stay late and spend money that will go into his pocket. For that to happen, he needs bars, restaurants and shopping opportunities. He can't get that in Bridgeport. Maybe he can in the South Loop.
But, how is he going to get this done? Reinsdorf isn't known for his willingness to spend money. You know he will try to work a deal like he did with Jim Thompson. His problem is the current Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker isn't acting like Thompson. He seems to think there are more important needs in which to spend the state’s money. I agree.
I admit it’s exciting whenever a city gets a new sports facility. It brings new interest to the team playing in the building. Even casual fans will come out to see what the excitement is all about. It also brings money that the team can use to invest in the team to make it better. It sounds great, doesn't it? Win/win! It'll be an even bigger win if the residents of Illinois don't have to pay for it!