Posted By:
andy beckeri am going to blast you.
broken down and musty perfectly describes the old comisky park. that's why they built the sterile "cell".
yes, wrigley is old (broken down is a stretch) and a bit musty and does remind me of a beer garden (guess that's why otis likes beer gardens 
).
but, it is those qualities (not faults) that make wrigley what it is.....the best baseball venue.
before the days of neil simon's "bleacher bums" play it was not "in vogue" to hang out at wrigley. listen to lea elia's tirade if you get a chance. he describes the cubs former clientele perfectly.
the simon play and the addition of harry carey and the fact that wgn was broadcasting games before you could choose from 1000 cable channels make wrigley a special place.
as a kid, if i was sick i would look at the newspaper to see if the cubbies were on tv. if they weren't i went to school....sick or not, school was better than soap operas.
if the cubs were playing, i was staying home.
i don't think this was a chicago phenomenon....it was a baseball fan thing to do. when i went to college, there were plenty of fellas who did the same thing. they hailed from arizona, new york, texas, etc.
my allegiance to the cubs is a lifelong tie, but i really enjoy baseball period.....cubs or not. i celebrated when the chisox won last year. i cheered when the diamondbacks beat the yankees. i watched, in awe, when reggie hit three consecutive pitches for home runs back in 1977. i still get goosebumps when i see replays of kirk gibson's shot off eck.
i'm rambling, but wrigley as a venue is the most pure thing left in sports.
that all being said.....the cubs sux this year (most every year, but) this year it is extra painful to watch them. dusty must go.