Get EA SPORTS NBA Live Video Game for $49!  Subscribe to SI Give the Gift of SI
SI.com HomeA CNN Network SiteSI.com Home
MLB Ballpark Rankings: Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
Wrigley Field|Capacity: 41,118|Opened: 1914
OVERALL RANK
15
Wrigley Field
Chuck Solomon/SI
Category Rank (1-30)
27		Affordability
How would you rate the affordability of a trip to your hometown ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
18.3% 26.3% 34.3% 11.7% 9.5%
 
Ticket Costs
Average Ticket % Increase From 2007 MLB Rank MLB Average Ticket
$42.49 23.9% 29th $25.43
Courtesy Team Marketing Report, 2008
Category Rank (1-30)
22		Food
How would you rate the food at the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
4.7% 10.1% 42.5% 28.6% 14%
 
How would you rate the cost of food and beverages at the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
15% 18.8% 48.2% 13.7% 4.3%
 
What is the must-have food item offered at the ballpark and what makes it so good?
  • "Old Style, and if it has to be explained, you should go there and try it for yourself."
  • "Wrigley Field is known for its lousy beer and lousy baseball, and there's honestly nothing on the menu that's a stand-out. That's what makes Wrigley a fine opportunity to partake in a personal stand-by: pizza. Connie's pizza is good, even at the ballpark concession stands, despite the fact that it's not the unique and wonderful heart-attack-on-a-carrier you find in other parks. I skip the Old Style for a microbrew (something dark) if it's not too hot."
  • "Two things: the $2.50 hot dog, and the grilled hot dog at a kiosk, with only grilled onions. They are hot, fresh and what the ballpark is all about."
  • "The food at Wrigley Field is so mediocre, this is hard to answer. The best of a bad bunch is the Italian sausage sold from a cart under the right-field stands. There is always a huge line because it's nearly the only edible item in the park. The sausage itself, accompanied by grilled peppers, is great, but the experience is marred by their use of buns, which closely resemble cheap, stale Wonder Bread."
  • "Frosty malt -- a frozen malted milk cup. It's still there 40 years after my first game at Wrigley!"
Category Rank (1-30)
12		Team Quality
How would you rate the quality of the product currently being put on the field by the hometown team?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
1.7% 2.8% 12.8% 60.7% 22%
 
Which player on your team is the most worth paying to watch?
Carlos Zambrano Derrek Lee Alfonso Soriano Aramis Ramirez Kosuke Fukudome
33.5% 24.4% 17.4% 8.5% 4.6%
 
AP
Category Rank (1-30)
3		History & Tradition
How would you rate the sense of tradition and history at the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
1.3% 0.1% 1.8% 3.8% 93%
 
Category Rank (1-30)
6		Ballpark Atmosphere
How would you rate the atmosphere at the game?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
0.9% 0.8% 1.7% 7.2% 89.4%
 
How would you rate the level of personal comfort when you are sitting in your seat?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
4.4% 9% 36.2% 22.5% 27.9%
 
Category Rank (1-30)
8		Fan Intelligence
How would you rate the "baseball intelligence" of the home fans?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
3.5% 4.6% 18.6% 35% 38.4%
 
Category Rank (1-30)
24		Fan Hospitality
How would you rate the hospitality offered to fans of the opposing team?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
10% 16.2% 42% 20.2% 11.6%
 
What is the worst incident you've witnessed against an opposing fan or yourself?
  • "When the White Sox come to Wrigley, their fans are just brutally ignorant."
  • "Three words of wisdom for Cubs vs. White Sox games: BRING BODY ARMOR!"
  • "It depends on where you sit: by the opposing players' family section, it's very pleasant. By the bleachers, they are farm animals."
  • "A moron catching a pop-up foul ball, down the third-baseline. I think his name was Bartman."
  • "Frat boy bad behavior."
Category Rank (1-30)
16		Promotions
How would you rate the quality of the promotions/giveaways offered by the home team?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
3.7% 8.1% 45.1% 28% 15%
 
What is the best promotion/giveaway your team has offered? What is the worst? What is a promotion you'd like to see?
  • "Michael Barrett bobblehead and/or jersey two or three days after trading him. That's funny!"
  • "Best giveaway: Salute to 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off.' Also, Rick Sutcliffe signed autographs for people who arrived too late to make the cut on the field."
  • "Let's do a Turn Back the Clock promotion. It would be a fitting tribute to the 1908 Cubs."
  • "The rawlings jerseys are a great giveaway. I'd like to see more of those. I don't like the ones where they give 'Precious Moment' figures to the women -- I'd rather have more inclusive things."
  • "I still have the softside cooler I got at a game when I was 12. I don't like the drawings for autographed materials, I never win."
Category Rank (1-30)
23		Getting To The Game
How would you rate the traffic to and from the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
34.7% 24.4% 25.6% 9.2% 6.1%
 
How would you rate the parking availability/cost at the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
54.2% 23.2% 15% 4% 3.6%
 
How would you rate the public transportation options to and from the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
1.6% 2.2% 15% 26.8% 54.5%
 
Category Rank (1-30)
2		Neighborhood
How would you rate the dining and drinking options within walking distance of the ballpark?
Poor Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
1.7% 0.8% 5.5% 16.2% 75.8%
 

Agree or disagree with the rankings? Post your own comments and see what others had to say.

 
ADVERTISEMENT
More MLB
Latest MLB News
MLB Truth & Rumors
More from SI.com
Latest News
SI Writers
SI Photos
2000s: Memorable College Football Performances
2000s: Memorable College Football Performances
Cheerleader of the Week
Cheerleader of the Week
2000s: Top College Football Covers
2000s: Top College Football Covers
SI Vault
Featured Stories
Covers
12.11.09
12.11.09
Read All Articles
Buy Cover Reprint
12.14.09
12.14.09
Read All Articles
Buy Cover Reprint
12.21.09
12.21.09
Read All Articles
Buy Cover Reprint
SI.com
Hot Topics: Chris Henry Dies Danica Patrick Redskins Changes Tiger Woods
Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.
SI Cover Read All Articles Buy Cover Reprint