I could spend this entire post writing of seasons that came and went (usually with a whimper!), but I’ll hold off on all of that for a future post. What the Ken Burns documentary brought back to me this week was the aura of the ballparks and those places and various nooks and crannies that lent themselves to making the parks and the surrounding neighborhoods unique.
While watching Ken Burns’s section about Babe Ruth, I immediately thought of that special place across from Comiskey Park, on the south side of 35th Street, known as McCuddy’s Tavern, a place that had been there since the park’s inception in 1910. McCuddy’s was closed in 1988 to make way for the new stadium, but everyone was under the assumption that a “new” McCuddy’s would open right along with the new park.
Never happened! And that has always been a shame. Any longtime Sox fan will remember the legendary status McCuddy’s held down through the years. The old tavern was truly a wonderful place before and after Sox games. Usually, shoulder-to-shoulder, we’d gather in there and drink cold beer, eat those terrific hot dogs, and look at the big bat on the wall that was a gift from Babe Ruth.
Legend has it that Ruth would often run across during games and grab a hot dog (or three) and quaff a cold beer. Whether or not that is true, I never heard for sure. But it
was always fun to speculate about it while having a pre-game beer and hot dog.
McCuddy’s was a piece of Sox history, and not to have it around as a Sox gathering spot is a sin. I miss those days and the friends I met in there. I wonder if any of them still attend Sox games and remember–as I do–those summer afternoons and evenings in the friendly environs of McCuddy’s.
See you at the ballpark…
All Things White Sox... 