Wrigley Field Bleacher fans are a bunch of slobs
Posted by: Richie Rich in Ballparks, Cubs, Drunken Fans
Back in college, I knew someone who landed a gig working on the Wrigley Field grounds crew.
He used to always tell me how much work went on after the game to clean up after the crowd because there would literally be tons of trash to sweep up.
Especially out in the bleachers.
Millions of peanut shells, thousands of cups and wrappers, gallons of spilled beer and soda, half eaten food, vomit-soaked shirts (ewww – but real), beaten-up Cardinals fans, you name it.
And things I won’t mention at this family-based website. Oh what the heck …. soiled prophylactics.
Anyone else wonder if seeing all that trash will keep people from naming their kids after Wrigley Field?
I had no reason to disbelieve him … but I never realized it was this bad. Here’s some pics of the cleanup effort.
That guy is gonna be there all night if he doesn’t get some help.
Personally, I do not envy these guys’ job. Just when you think you’re just about done … there’s the whole lower section to do.
I always found the fact that we litter at ballparks to be odd. I spend hours every week trying to teach my kids to pick up their trash … but when I take them to a ballgame, it’s “Hey Kids, just throw that Hot Dog wrapper on the ground.”
Remember the kid who was drinking a beer at Wrigley last summer? I wonder what he did with his cup.
We spend millions of dollars every year to remind people to “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute,” to ”Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” and “Think Globally and Act Locally,” but when 40,000 of us get together to watch a baseball game … that crap goes out the window.
Of course, sometime Wrigley Bleacher fans DO help clean up the stands. Unfortunately, they throw their trash on the playing field when they do.
My friend hated that. Because some fans would pelt the cleanup crew with a second round of garbage.
Mind you … that’s not the only trash out in the Wrigley Bleachers.
But that kind staggers out of the ballpark sometime after the seventh inning stretch.
What do you think? Should we be such slobs at baseball games?
Entries (RSS)
June 12th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Wow, compelling commentary. I’m sure your college professor will be very happy with it. You obviously know nothing about baseball. You should pick up a copy of “Baseball For Idiots” to read when/if you graduate.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I have to say Cubs fans are the biggest slobs in baseball.
I’m in Atlanta and the biggest mess I ever saw was the playoff series when the Cubs were killing us with Wood/Prior. The drunks cleaned the stadium out of beer by the 5th inning and totally trashed the place. They even had the nerve to harp on the Braves only winning one World Series in the previous decade.
Have fun losing the next century slobs.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Slappy -
What the heck does my knowing nothing about baseball have to do with that post?
And “back in college” implies I’m done with college.
Seriously dude. Read the post. Have something to say.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Hey Jason was that the same playoff series that still had a zillion tickets left until Cub fans sold it out? Yeah it was? STFU, and have the people in your own city show up to the game.
June 12th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’m a Chicago resident, long time Cubs fan, frequent Wrigley attendee (~10 games a year), and I was at a 2003 playoff game in Atlanta – the one where Wood hit a homer.
There sure is a lot of characterization of Cubs fans as slobs, drunks, trash, idiots, what have you, and of course you have that element at any event where there’s drinking involved and over 35K-40K people in attendance, but I don’t really think the garbage being produced at an event like a Cubs game says much about the people attending. Yeah, there’s tons of trash left behind. There is at any ballgame in any park, or any other large gathering for that matter. I’m sure the cleanup after any large outdoor concert or festival ain’t pretty either.
This is not “littering” or an affront to recycling or anything else suggested here though. Little if any of the trash generated at a ballgame is recyclable (I’m thinking peanut shells, hot dog wrappers, waxy beer cups, etc.) and none of it is getting out into the environment. It’s all picked up after the game and disposed of, same as it would be if everyone collected all their peanut shells (in their pockets, I guess?) and took them out to the garbage cans. And the guys that have to do it? Yeah, that’s a crap job. But it’s a job, and they do not have to do it. Lots of people are employed to remove garbage.
As far as the Braves fan being upset about the behavior of Cubs fans at Turner Field? Come on man, if it really upsets Braves fans so much, they should buy some tickets. I’ve been to Turner Field many times and it’s never anywhere near full. Wrigely is packed to the gills every day. It’s gonna get messy. Nice run in the 90’s too – I’d take winning the division for a decade straight, and getting one WS victory out of it that’s for sure.
I will not defend those trashy chicks in the video here. All I can say is that Wrigley is also a tourist attraction – who knows what’s up with those chicks. I highly doubt used condoms are a frequently found item during cleanup though. It’s simply too packed out there to be able to get away with that…
June 12th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
[...] Straight up: Wrigley Field is probably the most disgusting place on earth. [Home Run Derby] [...]
June 12th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
[...] A recent post at homerunderby.com documents the efforts of cleanup crews at Wrigley Field to get the outfield bleachers ready for the next day’s game. It’s pretty disgusting/ridiculous/comical. [...]
June 12th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
The game with the trash being thrown onto the field was a cross town game where the those idiot fans from the south side came into Wrigley and trashed the field. I don’t know if you noticed what the crowd was chanting. As far as trash goes, all the stadiums (I have been to all NL except SD, AZ, Philly, and Pitts) they are all about the same. I can say that if it was not for Cubs fans ticket sales in the NL would be way down. How many road games do you see where the home team has less fans in attendance than the visiting team?
June 12th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Their mothers would not be impressed. Unless, of course, the mothers were littering too…
June 13th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Those chicks are hot as fuck
June 13th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Wow, what a dumb article. Your saying this about Cubs fans homo? I’m guessing you’ve never been to see the worst fans ever in Philly or to hell in New York.
June 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Those idiots throwing trash on to the field are cubs fans after AJ hit a homerun to win the game a few years back. Sorry about your luck homo’s
June 14th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Cubs fans effect on ticket sales: Not Sure?
Yankees fans effect: Marlins have a different price scale for Yankee games. They don’t come down here but once every few years, yet they make specific signs that stay up all year at the ticket office with ticket prices for Yankee games and prices for All Other games.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Every ballpark has this kind of cleanup after a game. Get over yourself.
June 15th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Ok this article is a little ridiculous. Yes Wrigley Field is a mess after games, but I have been to other parks and it is the same everywhere.
As for that video, if you watch it closely it is just a bunch of random shots of girls at the stadium doing nothing out of the ordinary. Those shots are surrounded by the same group of girls doing stupid stuff. You are going to bring down a whole fan base off of four drunk girls? There is no test required to purchase tickets. If we are going to do this then I condemn all Sox fans for 2 guys beating up a 1st base coach.
And NYYinFL, the reason the Marlins raise prices for any NY team is because FL is NY’s retirement home. I’m pretty sure all of NY has some property in FL.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:03 am
hey cubs fans….it seems like your panties are riding higher than that chicks thong.
good article, he was just making a point about what his college friend told him. It wasnt a stab at the cubs, but the mess that is bleacher fans. the pictures prove he’s right.
what about new york?…blah blah philly?…blah..stop whining
How can you be mad after watching that video??…i can say that this made me actually want to attend a cubs game (ill take the old couples seats next to the blonde)
just start rootinng for the AL East as a whole….you’ll finally get a ring this year
June 16th, 2009 at 9:16 am
to all the Cubs fans telling Atl fans to buy tickets and the Cubs support, etc, etc… The Twins fans basically took over Wrigley last week, so don’t get to high on yourselves
June 16th, 2009 at 10:12 am
So far I’ve been to 23 major league parks and I’ve noticed a trend. All the older ones (Wrigley, Fenway, Yankees v.1) are filthy because they weren’t designed with our modern mindset in place. Back then, seats were more cramped and the concept of a nearby trash can didn’t exist. It’s not the people, it’s the lack of modern civil engineering practices.
When I saw Veterans Stadium give way to Citizens Bank Park, the volume of litter decreased immensely. One might think that more people in the stands would equal more trash, but it wasn’t the case.
ps: Yes, Cubs fans are drunks, but they’re fun drunks that appreciate the game! I can’t wait for them to visit in a few weeks.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Eric – if the intent wasn’t aimed at the Cubs, then why did he only show video of Wrigley? Did he even attempt to find similar videos of other parks? I don’t pretend to know, but have to believe fans in other parks behave about the same. Besides, what else are you supposed to do with the trash – I doubt very many people will miss part of the game to go find a trash can.
Philly – I was at a Cub/sTwins game this weekend and, while I wouldn’t say Twins fans ‘took over Wrigley’, there were more visiting fans than normal. If you saw/heard the crowd after the ninth inning win, you’d realize Cubs fans did dominate.
I don’t go to many Cubs games, but one thing impressed me. We hit several Wrigleyville bars after the game and the fans, much to my surprise were well behaved. There was a lot of drinking, but I didn’t see any over the top, falling down stupid drunks.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I’ve been to my share of games at Wrigley and the few trash cans they have are all full by the first few innings. I know this because I’ve tried to throw my garbage but there are not enough cans provided. I’m sure that they make a killing on all the stuff they sell and trash comes along with it.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
What can you expect after the Cubs spent years promoting the bleachers as a party spot. As you may imagine , very sucessfully. Many games feature fans(?) who have no idea what team the Cubs are playing . What inning? The score? Not a clue.
Even so , there is not a better place to watch a ballgame. The regular crowd accepts and even welcomes strangers, as long as they know baseball. Even fans of the competition. After all , it’s only a game and we know how to make the best of it.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Littering?
Its a confined space. When you dont bus your own table at Bennigans on Friday night date-night, is that “littering”?
Don’t feel sorry for the people cleaning up. They probably dont love their job but the freaking NEED the money. If everyone pockets their own trash, those hard working men are on the street searching for something else.
get a freaking clue
June 25th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I don’t really get why but there is a ton of Cubs hate out there. To all the people bashing Cubs fans, IMO, there are Wrigley fans and there are Cubs fans. If you want to avoid the Wrigley fans, your chances will be minimized by not going on Friday or Saturday. These people make me sick because they are there to get completely tanked and could careless about the game. They shout obscenities to their friends 15 rows up and occasionally at the players when they realize there is a baseball game going on. They are Wrigley fans and they give real Cubs fans a bad name. I’m a die hard Cubs fan from Central Illinois and when I make the drive to Wrigley, I am there to watch the game and maybe enjoy a hot dog along with a beer or two. It’s the perfect day that can be spoiled by some of these drunk fools. But to single out the Cubs on this issue is nonsense. You have drunk “fans” everywhere. There is garbage at any public event where thousands of people gather. I guess other baseball teams save money by not having to hire cleaning crews because their fans all use the proper garbage receptacles.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:10 am
[...] Wrigley Field, with your verdant expanses of green, your solemn waves of ivy, your … your horribly filth-stained bleachers. What in the name of Ernie Banks are you Chicagoans doing in those stands, huh? (Actually, based on [...]
October 31st, 2009 at 2:34 pm
[...] Wednesday This fan’s biggest crime: wearing a t-shirt supporting a guy hitting .177. MLB Thursday I threw a Pepsi cup on the ground at Wrigley once and felt kinda bad about it. Not no more. MLB [...]