17. Guaranteed Rate Field - August 8, 2018

Getting to Chicago was pretty easy. It's just a 90-minute ride between Milwaukee and Chicago. We could have stayed in Milwaukee if we wanted to. We actually stayed just outside of the city, a bit cheaper.

Guaranteed Rate Field was easy to get to. Right off the main highway. We could have taken the train but leaving our car in part of Chicago was not a good idea. We spent the extra time and gas to drive up to the stadium. Parking was annoying. There weren't many lots and the side street parking situation wasn't ideal. We paid $20 for parking. Not bad, I've paid worse.

The skyline, or lack thereof

Since we had plenty of time before the game, we went to this bar and grill right across from the stadium. It's called ChiSox Bar & Grill. They had a lot of beer on tap and their sandwiches were excellent.

If you don't have tickets for a game, you could spend all game in this bar. Highly recommended.

The outside of the stadium was nice. There were some statues of former players and a nice plaque display at one of the entrances.

We got into the stadium and there wasn't much to look at beyond the field. While there weren't three levels of seats in the outfield, there were LCD screens wrapping around the whole outfield. Guaranteed Rate Field does not have a skyline like the rest of these stadiums have.

The main LCD screen in center field is a nice display. It's not too big but provides enough information for both teams. There are these weird lollipop-looking things above the scoreboard. Not sure what those are about.

We got to our seats down the right-field line, near the foul pole. Like with Miller Park, my friends want to be as close to the action as possible. Not my choice. We had a good few of the action without having to turn our necks too much. The seats were angled a little bit towards home plate. But, with owners want to pack as many fans as possible, this is the compromise they made.

I don't remember what there was to do around the concourse. It's either because it wasn't memorable or because I'm writing this seven months after I visited this stadium. I'm going to go with the latter.

Giancarlo Stanton settling in the batter's box

What I do remember, though, is the Yankees winning 7-3. Luis Severino and Lucas Giolito served as each team's starting pitchers. Severino pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and eight strikeouts.

Giolito, on the other hand, went just five innings and gave up seven runs on six hits and three walks while striking out seven batters.

The White Sox got out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Jose Abreu had an RBI double and Daniel Palka drove him home with a single. The Yankees quickly answered back as Austin Romine and Shane Robinson each had RBI singles. Two batters later, Giancarlo Stanton hit a line-drive grand slam.

It was smooth sailing for the next couple of innings. Aaron Hicks added the seventh run with a solo home run in the fifth inning. Tim Anderson hit his own home run in the bottom of the fifth and that would be the last run to score for the game.

This game we did stay until the final out. We had to celebrate the Yankees winning.

We got lucky this game. It was dollar hot dog night. Not the best quality hot dogs. Multiple condiment tables ran out of diced onions. I had to walk around half of the concourse to find some. The things I do for onions.

The south side of Chicago is not a place you want to hang out. You'd be better off staying either north or just outside of Chicago and traveling to the stadium. It's a basic park but is open enough that you don't feel cramped or closed in.