Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a CubsDNA series where our staff visits other ball parks . Today, Tina takes you to Progressive Field in Cleveland.
I will admit I do not remember much about the food and drink here (well, maybe that the hot chocolate was super watery) because my visit to Progressive Field in Cleveland was in 2016 for Game 2 of the World Series.
Like all of Cubs Nation, I was ecstatic about the Cubs making it to the World Series for the first time since 1945. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to a game at Wrigley, since ticket prices were astronomically high. Tickets for this game were a quarter of the price than those at Wrigley, so I decided to head to Cleveland to see the game in person.
It was a solid 5 hour drive for me and my friend. We got into town a little faster than expected, so we had an nice, early dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company, which also offered a $1 shuttle bus to Progressive, while leaving my car at the nearby West Side Market (thanks for the tip, nice vendors at the Market!).
Left: Me at my seat in the upper deck seat. Like many other seats in modern stadiums, the Upper deck seats are set at a steep incline. Unlike Wrigley, no beer vendors went up there, foul balls hardly ever go up there, and seats had NO cup holders. What the heck? I need a cup holder!
Right: KB and Big Papi Ortiz receiving their Hank Aaron awards for outstanding offensive performances.
I was so excited to see Schwarbs in the line up again!!! He was booed at Progressive, which I thought was hilarious. Also hilarious was that the Cubs line up introduction was made to the Evil Empire theme from "Star Wars."
The fans there were pretty friendly. I sat amongst a bunch of Indians fans and we chatted about our players throughout the game. There was even a Heyward fan in front of me. He shot me the side eye when I predicted where Jason was going to hit the ball (ground out to 2nd). I was also so nervous watching the game that I had no idea Jake was pitching a no-hitter into the 6th inning until someone next to me was bemoaning the lack of hits.
It was a great Cubs win, and one I'll always remember.
