As The Winds Blows: White Sox, Cubs Execs Talk Chicago Ballparks

Reinsdorf Discusses Wrigley Field During CSN Chicago Appearance

White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdorf, Cubs Chair Crane Kenney, White Sox Senior VP & GM Kenny Williams and Cubs VP & GM Jim Hendry appeared on a special primetime edition of CSN Chicago's "Monsters in the Morning" last night in advance of the White Sox-Cubs series that begins tonight. Reinsdorf compared Wrigley Field to the Red Sox' Fenway Park and said, "Wrigley Field is a much better place to watch a ball game than Fenway Park. Fenway Park has an awful lot of obstructed seats. Wrigley Field really doesn't have any obstructed seats that I know of, except where there's a post, but that's what all the old ballparks are like." Reinsdorf said of his club's U.S. Cellular Field, "We absolutely guessed wrong when we built the ballpark. I thought what people would like was something totally modern, all seats unobstructed, and it turned out that they wanted something that was cozier and they wanted some obstructed seats. So we put some obstructed seats in, just to make people happy." Kenney said of the future of Wrigley Field, "We're a 95-year-old, almost 96-year-old facility. To keep that thing running and add new amenities, like the (year-round restaurant) Captain Morgan Club or the bleachers -- we rebuilt them -- we put $10-15(M) in a year just to keep it going. We want to do a lot more than that and with a new owner (we can do) some of the things we have in mind." Kenney said he did not believe the team needed more seats, but said he would love to clean up the back of the house." Kenney: "I'd love to have the concourses and the concession space flow a little easier, the restrooms."

INTERLEAGUE ACTION: CSN Chicago's Mike North said he thinks MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has "done some wonderful things" during his tenure, including the addition of interleague games. North said Selig "takes a bad rap because baseball has become a better game I think under his tutelage. The attendance figures prove it. The TV ratings prove it." Reinsdorf said he still is not a fan of interleague games, but noted, "The fans like it, and this is all about the fans." Reinsdorf: "We're not in this for what I like . ... There's no question that attendance is better. We have three automatic sellouts, but I think it takes a little bit away from the World Series" ("Monsters in the Morning," CSN Chicago, 6/15).