With the Cubbies pounding the competition on a regular basis at Wrigley Field, tickets are harder to come by than ever before.
Gone are the days when you could show up to the park at 1:19 and catch an afternoon ballgame in the shaded comfort of the upper deck. Even the worst seats in the house were sold out by April this year.
So what's a game-craving Cubs fan to do? Well, if you'd rather not shell out to StubHub or a Wrigleyville scalper, you should make like the Drifters and go up on the roof.
You still might have to break the bank to do this, but you'll get an unbelievable Cubs game experience, not to mention the fact that all of your food and drinks are included (and unlimited).
Honestly though, the view alone is worth the price of admission. Get 10 friends together, pool your resources and take the stairway to Heaven.
When one of my best Cubs fan friends was getting married earlier this summer, we wanted his bachelor party to be both unforgettable and Cubs-themed. Strippers wearing Cubs uniforms lost in the coin toss, so we ended up catching a Cubs game at the Skybox on Sheffield.
Click through the following pages for a photographic tour of the rooftop experience.
All photos by Matt Paolelli
Skybox on Sheffield is the rooftop right next to the ever-changing Miller Lite sign (nee Torco) and has a massive sign peddling itself. You can't miss it.
As you climb the winding staircase up to the top, the walls are decorated with the faces, places and events that made the Cubs the team they are today. The historical tour includes a very frog-like Harry Caray and a nearing-the-end-of-his-Cubs career goatee-ed Mark Grace.
In addition to providing an excellent view of the Wrigley festivities, the Skybox also has a full refund policy if your game is rained out. Sadly, this is not the case for most of the Wrigleyville rooftop companies, so buyer beware!
When choosing your rooftop venue, be sure you know exactly where the building is located and if it has decent sight lines to the field. Skybox on Sheffield was perfect, but we were almost in line with the right field foul pole, so the view from the adjacent rooftops couldn't possibly have been as good.
The Skybox has two outdoor sections, an upper section with Wrigley-style seats and a lower section with mostly standing room. The rooftop opens a half hour before the game, so if you want seats, you better get there then.
The massive grill is near the lower section, where the skybox staff awaits your all-you-can-eat order of roast beef sandwiches, burgers, brats, and hot dogs. The food was fantastic, by the way.
Yes, that's my friend in the veil. And, yes, he had a lot of explaining to do to the denizens of Wrigleyville.
The interior of the building is a nice respite from the afternoon sun, with plasma screen TVs, various drinks on tap, a pool table and comfy couches. You can also look out the window and see the game, but that eight-second TV delay gets pretty surreal.
As I keep mentioning, the view is pretty spectacular and comparable to what you would get in the bleachers, but food and drinks are included and no one is splashing you with beer. The experience cost our 10-person group $150 each and I found that to be money well spent.
Your other option is to work for a company that rents large blocks of rooftop tickets. Based on the number of people in corporate t-shirts who left early, I'm guessing this wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them.
Sadly, the Cubbies suffered a rare home loss at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, so I didn't have the experience of belting "Go Cubs Go" from the rooftops. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day at the ballpark.
All photos by Matt Paolelli
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Matt Paolelli
Matt Paolelli has been root, root, rooting for the Cubbies since before he could stand on his own during the Seventh Inning Stretch. More
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