Postcard tour: Comiskey Park, where you have to work for your fun

Wrigley is always fun, but I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the Southsiders and Comiskey Parks, old and new.

Maybe it’s a second-team-in-the-city kind of thing, and bond between the Mets and Sox.

Look, anybody can embrace Wrigley and its traditions. It’s always going to be cool to go there. But the Sox make you work a little for it.

Even recently , when Will and I attended a game at the park that used to be called New Comiskey, we had to charm our way past the ushers just to escape the upper deck to see some of the cool statues and other things on the lower level.

But we’ve also had some awesome adventures on the South Side. From hanging out with Bobby Valentine at the batting cage to having John McNamara meltdown during an encounter under the stands to Scott Radinsky answering questions only after giving me hard time to Ken Griffey Jr. making sure we weren’t taking unauthorized photos, we’ve had some memorable encounters.
And there are not as many Comiskey postcards out there compared to Wrigley cards. You have to look for them. But like the team and the park, you are rewarded for the effort.

My favorite is the blue-bordered postcard that I found on the epic road trip with Rich that resulted in the meetings with Valentine and McNamara, the former Red Sox manager who was not quite over the 1986 World Series defeat.

Will and I were present for the final two games at that glorious old yard, and watched the construction of New Comiskey across the street. That leads to one of the most unusual cards in the collection, showing two views of the new yard still under construction.

The aerial views of the new park are neat, especially the one showing the famed Chicago skyline off in the distance.


And, finally, I’ve found one and only one postcard with the ballpark’s corporate – and likely temporary – name of U.S. Cellular Field.