It was off to Chicago this past weekend to see the mighty 2-8 Detroit Tigers a
ttempt to take a victory from the lowly White Sox. While Mother Nature delivered a steady flow of light rain, it wouldn’t put a damper on our trip.
A couple weeks ago, I got in contact with a fellow GMAC employee from the Chicago office that I found out worked in the ticket office at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. He gave me some information on a local tavern near the stadium and said to stop by his booth before the game and he would try to give us an upgrade on the tickets we had. I was cautiously optimistic that he could do anything for us but it was worth a try.
The bar he recommended was a place called The Cobblestone. It was about a 1/4 mile south of
ttempt to take a victory from the lowly White Sox. While Mother Nature delivered a steady flow of light rain, it wouldn’t put a damper on our trip.A couple weeks ago, I got in contact with a fellow GMAC employee from the Chicago office that I found out worked in the ticket office at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. He gave me some information on a local tavern near the stadium and said to stop by his booth before the game and he would try to give us an upgrade on the tickets we had. I was cautiously optimistic that he could do anything for us but it was worth a try.
The bar he recommended was a place called The Cobblestone. It was about a 1/4 mile south of
the stadium and had the character/history that I like to see in a bar. The current owner advised the place had been around since around the 1920’s and was where the slaughterhouse workers across the street would go for nickel beers. She said the owners before her were a husband/wife duo that didn’t handle their money too well. Apparently they had some marital issues also and the husband ended up shooting the wife in the kitchen during a spat. She joked that the husband only got five years jail time for the shooting and that was probably the most efficient divorce ever. The staff at The Cobblestone were more than friendly. They asked how we heard about the place. I told them about my GMAC contact and they came back with “oh, you know Jimmy Costello.” Jimmy apparently was a regular there to the point where he gave up the bottle because of it. They advised he still comes in with his kids but doesn’t drink. They said nothing but good things about him. To top things off, they had gated parking at the bar that was free for customers going to the game.
We got to the stadium and went to Jimmy’s ticket booth. I gave him my three tickets that were in the right field corner and he gave me back three tickets behind home plate. Not a bad trade off!! I had been to the stadium about five years ago but hadn’t seen any of the amenities. We ventured down to the Miller Lite Bullpen Sports Bar which is built right into the bullpen and the right field wall. They have a patio area where fans can, on a first come-first served basis, watch the game pretty much on the right field warning track. We watched Justin Verlander warm up and had a cold beverage. A pretty cool place it was.
The game…well the game was great if you were a White Sox fan. We almost witnessed a no hitter for the wrong side. The Tigers didn’t get a hit until the eighth inning. Verlander pitched a heck of a game but it was all for naught. Those White Sox fans are very passionate about their team I must say. They were acting like it was the seventh game of the World Series after it was over.
Afterwards, we went to our hotel in the city to defrost our bodies for a few. Our room reminded me of the Huntington/Western Island apartment bedrooms at Central Michigan University. It was a small one but we didn’t go to Chicago for the hotel bells/whistles and the price was right. We had a great meal at Harry Carey’s bar, took in the views at the Hancock observatory, and ventured over to Mike Ditka’s restaurant after that. We saw none other than Mike Ditka at his place. He was sitting front and center in the upstairs bar area eating by himself, watching the hockey game. We were being kind and didn’t want to bother him with a picture request. Others, however, didn’t seem to mind. One lady had three shirts for him to sign; others threw their kids in for a picture when the kids probably didn’t even know who this guy was. Eddie chatted with him for a bit on the Tiger woes. I’ll bet Ditka and Jim Leyland would get along pretty well.
We got to the stadium and went to Jimmy’s ticket booth. I gave him my three tickets that were in the right field corner and he gave me back three tickets behind home plate. Not a bad trade off!! I had been to the stadium about five years ago but hadn’t seen any of the amenities. We ventured down to the Miller Lite Bullpen Sports Bar which is built right into the bullpen and the right field wall. They have a patio area where fans can, on a first come-first served basis, watch the game pretty much on the right field warning track. We watched Justin Verlander warm up and had a cold beverage. A pretty cool place it was.
The game…well the game was great if you were a White Sox fan. We almost witnessed a no hitter for the wrong side. The Tigers didn’t get a hit until the eighth inning. Verlander pitched a heck of a game but it was all for naught. Those White Sox fans are very passionate about their team I must say. They were acting like it was the seventh game of the World Series after it was over.
Afterwards, we went to our hotel in the city to defrost our bodies for a few. Our room reminded me of the Huntington/Western Island apartment bedrooms at Central Michigan University. It was a small one but we didn’t go to Chicago for the hotel bells/whistles and the price was right. We had a great meal at Harry Carey’s bar, took in the views at the Hancock observatory, and ventured over to Mike Ditka’s restaurant after that. We saw none other than Mike Ditka at his place. He was sitting front and center in the upstairs bar area eating by himself, watching the hockey game. We were being kind and didn’t want to bother him with a picture request. Others, however, didn’t seem to mind. One lady had three shirts for him to sign; others threw their kids in for a picture when the kids probably didn’t even know who this guy was. Eddie chatted with him for a bit on the Tiger woes. I’ll bet Ditka and Jim Leyland would get along pretty well.
As the day started in Michigan at 5 AM, we were pretty pooped by this time. We hoofed it back to the hotel tavern for one last beverage and called it a night. A great city Chicago is. It’s too bad Detroit can’t have at least a quarter of what that town has. With Kwame and our wonderful Detroit City Council, I don’t see it happening in my lifetime. Please leave Kwame, and take Millen with you.
Trail Head
