Wrigley Never Felt So Good

Pretty cool experience this past week, even if most of it all took place in my head. I had an appointment to visit with a client. I knew she lived a couple of blocks from Wrigley Field so I decided that if I had time I would have to do a fly-by and check the old girl out (Wrigley, not my client).

I set my GPS for my client’s address and by luck, GPS decided the best way (certainly not the fastest) would be to exit I-90 at Addison. So I’m driving along and when I get on Addison the GPS said “turn left on Sheffield”. My keen baseball acumen kicked in. “Clark/Addison/Sheffield/Waveland”. Addison to Sheffield? I’m going to be turning AT WRIGLEY FIELD!!! No need to work in a fly-by, the satellite gods have programmed it for me!

I’m driving along Addison getting more and more excited in anticipation. All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, there she is. Tall, beautiful and silent (off day for the Cubs). One second I’m driving past homes on a tree lined street and then all of sudden Wrigley Field – BAM! – appears. Now the memories come flooding back. All the times I took the ‘L’ from Forest Park; all the times I drove down with my family and parked on Irving Park Road (when you could still park on Irving Park Road) or parked in the lot run by the nuns.

Then I’m thinking how special Wrigley Field is and (stupid as it sounds) wanting to get out of the car, touch the walls and tell the passersby “THIS IS WRIGLEY FIELD! Let me tell you how special this place is.” Then it hits me, it’s special to everyone. No one has a unique experience of Wrigley Field and THAT’S what makes it such an amazing place. You saw your first baseball game at Wrigley as a child? I saw my first baseball game at Wrigley as a child. You saw an amazing game at Wrigley? I saw an amazing game at Wrigley. You had a drop-dead gorgeous woman wink at you in the 4^th inning? I had . . . uh, I saw a game at Wrigley. You could go into Murphy’s Bleachers or The Cubby Bear, sit at the bar and strike up a conversation with another Cubs fan and match them story for story about your experiences seeing the Cubs play at Wrigley.

I had to, had to, drive by, not just turning down Sheffield, but circling the park. Driving really slow and having a constant battle at looking at Wrigley, checking my rearview mirror to make sure I wasn’t holding up traffic and checking in front of me to make sure I wasn’t going to run over a pedestrian.

That brings me to something else. I’m driving by, slowly, lovingly and yet I see people walking along the walls of Wrigley, or jogging, or talking on cell phones. It’s all I can do to not jump out of my car and say “DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE? HOW CAN YOU NOT STOP IN AWE?”

I pulled out my cell phone and snapped shots of the marquee, the statue of Harry, the statue of Billy and the statue of Ernie and if I were more technology astute I would share them with you here. I turned down Waveland and parked next to the gates down the leftfield line so I could get an angled shot of the scoreboard. I’ve done that a few times over the years, not taken a picture but park by the gates and just stare at the scoreboard. I’ve done it in July, I’ve done it in February. Doesn’t matter the time of year, it’s an awesome view.

So I’ve just risked losing my Man Card by admitting that I get emotional driving past a building. But here’s where I regain my Man Card – because I know every one of you have done the same thing.

The (NL) Future's So Bright, We'll Need To Wear Shades

With the arrival of the All-Star Game, we are reminded of the true stars in the league (and the ones that get to attend the game anyway). It also helped crystallize in my mind the up and coming stars.

The National League (we only cover the Major Leagues here at the Monroe Doctrine) has been inundated with the Under 25 Jet Set.

There is A TON of solid young ballplayers that, barring injury or Joe Charboneau-itis, should be in the line-up for years to come.

Jason Heyward (21) – Had a breakout rookie year last year by hitting a homerun on Opening Day and finished the year with 18 homeruns and a .393 OBP. This year he started like last (homerun on Opening Day) but has since struggled with injuries and sophomore adjustments. Still a good, could be great player in the future and more importantly a solid, mature human being.

Starlin Castro (21) – Set a record by driving in six run in his first game ever in the majors. My one complaint isn’t so much about him, can we get Keith Moreland to stop calling him “Starling”? I feel like I listening to the audio track of Silence of the Lambs whenever Moreland talks about him. Castro has huge upside and his power hasn’t even arrived. He needs to mature out in the field and not make pointless throws, but as a fantasy owner, who cares? 2011 All-Star

Buster Posey (24) - No this isn’t the guy who recorded “Hot, Hot, Hot”. It’s the guy who won the National League Rookie of the Year Award last year. 18 homeruns, driving in 67 while playing the toughest, most demanding position in baseball. Oh yeah, he also had to catch the best rotation in baseball, no simple task in general, let alone for a 23 year old at the time. Led the Giants to the World Series where he batted .300. We can only hope that he completely heals from his ankle injury.

Andrew McCutchen (24) – Ahh, Andrew. My personal favorite. Gold Glove potential in centerfield. Offensively can hit for average, power and runs like the wind. He’s been moved all over the lineup; leading off, batting third, batting cleanup. Solid .365 OBP his first two years and all he does is improve his homerun, steals, RBIs and run numbers each of his first three years in the league. More importantly, he has his team challenging for a Division title well into July. Something that hasn’t happened in Pittsburgh since 1992. Probably the best player the Pirates have seen since Clemente. 2011 All-Star

Mike Stanton (21) – A mountain of a man. More power than a semi on supercharged diesel. Is among the league leaders in homeruns – he’s 21 folks – and he missed part of the year with eye issues. Strikes out way too much, but the raw power and talent he possesses could make Florida happy for years to come.

Jair Jurrjens(25) – Another in a long line of solid Atlanta pitchers, and arrived in Braves attire by way of Detroit, not unlike John Smoltz. Five years into his career he’s already nineteen games over .500. With pitchers there’s always the question of when they’ll break down. He missed some time last year, but has rebounded to have an incredible start to the 2011 season. 2011 All-Star.

Carlos Gonzalez (25) – Had a breakout year last year fighting Pujols and Votto to the very end for MVP. He’s having another solid year this year, though not at the same pace as his MVP worthy year last year. Still, he’s putting up solid OBP numbers as well as another 20/20 season.

Drew Storen (23) – The less heralded Washington National pitcher that debuted in 2010. He’s quietly collected 28 saves in 98 games while posting a WHIP under 1.00 and a K/BB ratio of amost 3.00 this year.

This list isn’t meant to be comprehensive and admittedly it doesn’t even include Stephen Strasburg (22). Freddie Freeman (21) or Bryce Harper (18) due to such a small, or non-existant, sample size.

There’s always the next “player of the century” but in this case, it looks like the National League has a lot of young talent with staying power.