Wrigley's First Non-Rooftop Rooftop

New (2012-): RF Patio w/Scoreboard

Last weekend at the Cubs Convention the Cubs unveiled plans for a new patio section in the right field bleachers.  These are the first major changes to the outfield configuration since 2006, when the bleachers were dramatically expanded all the way around.  This renovation, however, probably reduces the total capacity of the area.  That's not to say it will make less money, however.  No way.  A ticket to the new patio will now come with an all-inclusive food and beverage package, a trademark principle taken from the rooftops across the street.  Oh yeah, and you'll probably have to buy 50 tickets to even get in.  But this new seating-and-standing-room-only section is unique to Wrigley and will be pretty cool to check out, if I get a chance.

The details have yet to be worked out, said Cubs resident non-baseball businessman Crane Kenney.  The section can hold a maximum of 150 total people.  The debate is whether to sell tickets individually, in three groups of 50, or one group of 150.  Kenney also described how the new section will intentionally bring a very rooftop-like environment into the actual ballpark for the first time.  It wasn't, however, modeled after the Fenway Park renovation of 2003 which saw the Red Sox rebuild the top of the Green Monster to include seats for the first time.  It does look similar, but the intentions are different here.  Over the past three years of Cubs mediocrity, the Bleacher Boxes have been increasingly empty, especially compared to the rest of the bleachers.  Why?  The Bleacher Boxes, while not only losing some of the awesome bleacher environment by having actual seats, have an obstructed view of much of the field.  The center fielder can't been seen from most of the seats.  The new patio raises the entire section, fixing this issue.

Old (2006-2011): Bleacher Box Seats

Doing an eyeball test of the old bleacher box seats got me a capacity number of around 200, so the loss in seating is minimal.  But the new section also comes with some new flashy toys that fans all around the ballpark can enjoy.  The new 75-foot LED screen will be the biggest electronic screen at Wrigley Field upon implementation.  It is very wide but not very tall so instant replay will be a challenge.  This board, rather, will be used mostly for additional scoreboard information, like player photos, pitch speed and count, and batting order.  None of those can be found on the old-school scoreboard in center field.  Fans have been clamoring for these statistics for quite some time, and they will be very pleased with this.  This is quite a pleasant surprise to me, a pro-Jumbotron advocate who didn't think it would be this easy to add an electronic scoreboard yet conceal it within the ballpark's style so well.

Old Old (?-2005): Very few rows of standard bleachers

In the artist's rendering of the patio above, the home run baskets stay in the same position even though fans will no longer have access to home run balls hit there.  This is something for Cubs fans to keep an eye on.  Both of our new power-hitting corner infielders are lefties, so moving the baskets up above scoreboard level or eliminating them completely will probably change the outcome of at least a few line-drives.  I hope the baskets stay at current position because I don't think this renovation should affect the field of play.  Besides, having a hitters' park is more fun.

This is a big step in the overall modernization of Wrigley Field.  Tom Ricketts can brag about renovating more women's bathrooms all day long but, unlike the bathrooms, this renovation serves more than 20% of the fans at the game.  So far fan reaction has been mostly positive but some are cautious, worried that this means more drastic, nontraditional changes are on the way this year.  I don't think that's necessarily true, but there will be minor changes continually throughout the season.  The design team for this project did a truly fantastic job of, like I said before, sneaking in this modern technology while still keeping it within the character of the ballpark all while redesigning one of the least popular seating areas of the stadium into the best within-Wrigley party zone within view of the field.