Thirty Years Ago Today...

[PaleHoser]

"The Baseball Palace of the World" hosted it's final game.

Time flies. Still seems like yesterday for me.

[tebman]

Wow -- I lost track of that date. My then very young boys were with me at that game and I remember it as if it really was yesterday. Got there early and wandered the park: the ramps, the space under the outfield seats, the bleachers, the remotest part of the upper deck, the grandstand, and finally settled in some seats on the lower-deck third base side. Stuck around to sing Auld Lang Syne with everybody. The park was done, and I understood that, but it was still tough.

[kingpin_rcs]

I still have the certificate and ticket stub from that game on my wall. 30 years? Wow.

[Chez]

I was there in the upper deck with my buddy. A bittersweet day. Lots of great memories from the old ballpark. It had it's own distinctive charm and aroma (a combination of stale beer, cigar smoke and urine).

[LITTLE NELL]

So many great memories, loved that place.

[LITTLE NELL]

I was there in the upper deck with my buddy. A bittersweet day. Lots of great memories from the old ballpark. It had it's own distinctive charm and aroma (a combination of stale beer, cigar smoke and urine).

You forgot the Union Stockyards, on a hot summer night with a light breeze from the southwest there was an aroma(?) that I have never smelled anywhere else in my 75 years.

[WSox597]

You forgot the Union Stockyards, on a hot summer night with a light breeze from the southwest there was an aroma(?) that I have never smelled anywhere else in my 75 years.

Oh yeah. I grew up in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. When the wind was blowing in the right direction, that was the smell. Darling & Co. was one of the main offenders back then along with the rest of the Stockyards.

[BigKlu59]

Yes, the Palace was one of a kind in its own idiosyncratic ways Always loved making the trip from the west burbs to see that glorious edifice. Dad worked on the Southside at 35th and King as Store Mgr and would take me to Hillmans to shadow him and help stock shelves, before producing tickets to the nights game. I guess that was his way of telling me hard work has its rewards. Always stopped at McCuddy’s for his Pre Game beers to cut down on Little Nells’s take on the action. I knew this would probably result in me hitting the motherload of Scorecard, pennant and other ballpark food and paraphernalia.

I too loved the ball park sights and smells. The field was always pristine and that behemoth scoreboard just waiting to explode at any moment of a Sox long ball off of a Sox bat.

Nostalgic thoughts of this gem is what brought me to WSI thru the internet. Had I not found George’s homage I would have never been able to meet such a bunch of Sox Savant’s this watering hole musters.

BK59

[Harwar]

Two things i miss about Chicago are Comiskey Park and St Agnes Church . both beautiful old buildings that were torn down.

[A. Cavatica]

Two things i miss about Chicago are Comiskey Park and St Agnes Church . both beautiful old buildings that were torn down.

And both holy sites.

[LITTLE NELL]

And both holy sites.

As was Chicago Stadium, without a doubt the greatest hockey arena ever built.

[BigKlu59]

As was Chicago Stadium, without a doubt the greatest hockey arena ever built.

That my friend is an undeniable fact. Glad I was able to shuffle my feet around that acreage as well as squirm in the seat and launch up into the rafters each time a Hawk Illuminated that glowing read light. Just one of many blessings being able to attend a game as an impressionable youth.