Frank The Tank
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I am on the south side of Chicago, outside Guaranteed Rate Field, initially called Comiskey
00:22Park and U.S. Cellular Field.
00:24Guaranteed Rate Field opened in 1991.
00:27And it was the last ballpark to open up before the wave of new era stadiums came out with
00:34the classic look.
00:35So this stadium was antiquated almost after it opened up.
00:40And the White Sox have had their ups and downs over the years.
00:43But one thing they're very proud of is their 2005 championship, which is honored with this
00:49beautiful monument right in front of the entrance to the stadium.
00:54They've only won three World Series, 1906 against the Cubs, 1917, and 2005.
01:00And of course, 1919, the Black Sox handled tainted baseball and put a black mark on the
01:06White Sox for years and years and years and years.
01:10But here we are outside Guaranteed Rate Field, and in some ways the stadium failed almost
01:16from the start.
01:18I don't think there's a worse sponsored name in sports.
01:31Guaranteed Rate Field, terrible.
01:34And look at that logo, arrow pointing down.
01:37And that's been a fortune to the White Sox many, many seasons lately, especially this
01:42year.
01:43This outside of the ballpark, a little bit of a bar, a team store located where the old
01:50stadium was.
01:51They have a nice statue and a nice plaza with the retired numbers and a little bit of brickwork.
01:58But the game day atmosphere, there's a lot to be desired.
02:01Tailgating is stuff you do on your own.
02:03The options for people outside the ballpark are slim.
02:08That's why I'm giving the outdoor atmosphere of this stadium a D-.
02:28Sadly, the White Sox do not put their trophy on display on the concourse.
02:33That would be a much better option, if you ask me.
02:36I've said here, outside the corporate offices, the team offices, it should be on display
02:41for the average, everyday fan.
02:43This is one thing I always feel strong about.
02:46Display your history.
02:48Oh, statues, statues, we got statues.
02:53Harold Bame statue.
02:56I don't care what anyone says, he don't belong in the Hall of Fame.
02:59Mattingly deserves to be much before him.
03:02Charlie Kaminsky, what a cheap bastard he was.
03:07His cheapness led to the White Sox throwing that series.
03:11Their best pitcher, Eddie Sycott, if he got 30 wins, he would have got a bonus.
03:15He ordered the manager to hold him out of the games, so he wouldn't get the 30 wins.
03:20He ended up with 29.
03:22I love the statues, love the statues.
03:24Look at this, Luis Albericio, Nellie Fox, they're throwing a double play here.
03:33I like the statues, how they displayed, and I like the fact that they honor retired numbers,
03:40clearly.
03:41But the fact that they took down their World Series Championship banners, a strange move
03:45for a team.
03:49I have to give the White Sox on displaying history a D.
03:52All right, what you notice about the concourses, there's not great sightlines, the views of
04:01the field on the concourses.
04:05This is the last of a dying era, when they built these ballparks, they didn't think about
04:10open concourses.
04:11The concourse is plenty wide, that's a good thing.
04:16Beggar's Pizza.
04:18You know, I have yet to ever have a good slice of pizza at a ballpark.
04:22White Sox Grill.
04:24Standard ballpark options here.
04:27I haven't seen much in terms of variety.
04:47The concourses up here, you can't see a ding, but they do have nice pictures up.
04:52But the game is a rumor.
04:55The concourses here at Guaranteed Great Field, they leave a lot to be desired.
04:59They're not open concourses.
05:01It definitely is a dated ballpark.
05:03But you come up to the 500 level, and you've got this magnificent view of the stadium.
05:08This is beautiful.
05:10It's just sad that they don't overlook the stadium.
05:13I hear that the White Sox have been thinking about getting a new stadium on the South Pole.
05:17If they get a new stadium, they better tilt it to this magnificent skyline.
05:21As for the concourse, I'm going to give this concourse a C-.
05:25It's wide, but the view of the field from the concourse is not good.
05:32Alright, I'm up here on the upper deck.
05:35If you're afraid of heights, this is not where you want to be.
05:38They had to fix the upper deck 20 years ago.
05:41They lowered the slope.
05:43The slope used to be even worse.
05:45People would get vertigo up here from how high up the upper deck is.
05:50Mikey, do you care to go up?
06:07Even after renovations have lowered the slope of the upper deck,
06:11the sightlines are still a little off.
06:13I'm going to give the sightlines a C.
06:21I was told the food here is great.
06:25You know, I don't see a lot of variety here.
06:29Citi Field has a dozen different food items.
06:33This place doesn't.
06:35But we're going to review the hot dog.
06:37Now, a ballpark hot dog has to be reviewed on a different scale.
06:40You're never going to have a home run.
06:42So we're going to call it the ballpark scale.
06:45The hot dog feels good.
06:48The hot dog feels good.
06:50It's not warmed out.
06:52There's a little bit of charring on here.
06:55Fundy dog ratio is good.
06:56Jumbo dog.
06:58Let's see how it actually tastes.
07:03This is a good hot dog for a stadium.
07:07It might be one of the best stadium dogs I've ever had.
07:10On the curb scale, it's a triple.
07:14Now here's the Polish sausage.
07:16A lot of excellent grilling on this thing.
07:19Let's see how this tastes.
07:24Tastes like another hot dog.
07:26It's hard to really tell a Polish sausage from a hot dog.
07:30I'm going to give the Polish sausage a double.
07:33While the hot dogs were excellent,
07:36the lack of variety at guaranteed rate in the field
07:40kind of puts a damper on the food items.
07:43They recently introduced a super sugary shake
07:47that's grabbing the White Sox nation by storm.
07:50But long lines make it not worth even trying to get it.
07:56I tried.
07:58I had someone even trying to get it for me,
08:00and they couldn't do it.
08:02The lines were just too long.
08:04And they only sell it at one location.
08:06If you have an item that well,
08:08you should have at least two, three locations.
08:10In 2024, we need more options.
08:12So for food options at this stadium,
08:15I have to give it a C.
08:17I didn't see much of Southpaw today.
08:19I met him two years ago.
08:21He gave me a nice bag of goodies.
08:23I like Southpaw.
08:25Even though it's just a generic fuzzy looking mascot.
08:28Southpaw, great name for it.
08:31Didn't see much of him on the field today.
08:33His presence was not overwhelming at the ballpark.
08:37As far as mascots go,
08:39I got to give him a B on this.
08:43Here we go! Here we go!
08:58Fan-fucking-tastic!
09:02In 1960,
09:06Bill Beck came up with the idea
09:08to celebrate home runs in a unique way.
09:10He attached fireworks and pinwheels.
09:15And it was the first exploding scoreboard.
09:18Pyrotechnics!
09:20Years and years and years
09:22before anyone else did it.
09:24The White Sox did it first.
09:26And it is the symbol
09:28of any White Sox game.
09:30It is their pinwheels
09:32and their exploding scoreboard.
09:34And probably the highlight of the ballpark.
09:41All right!
09:43I stand where
09:45Comiskey Field Park
09:47originally stood.
09:49They tried in some ways
09:51to replicate it
09:53with the lookouts outside
09:55the park's windows,
09:57but they failed.
09:59They missed.
10:01And just one year later,
10:03I'm standing here
10:05in front of Comiskey Field Park.
10:07They missed.
10:09And just one year later,
10:11after 1991, Camden Yards
10:13changed the ballpark forever.
10:15This stadium never had a chance.
10:17And the White Sox
10:19are now looking at moving to the South Loop.
10:21Hopefully when they build
10:23a new stadium, they'll do it right.
10:25This one,
10:27even though it's only 33 years old,
10:29feels outdated
10:31and antiquated.
10:33I'm going to give the overall score
10:35of the guaranteed rate field
10:37a C-.
10:39They've got to get better food options,
10:41more variety.
10:43The hot dogs are great,
10:45but variety
10:47really makes
10:49your food score go higher.
10:51The sidelines are good.
10:53The concourses were poor.
10:55The way they honor their history
10:57is terrible.
10:59They hide the trophy.
11:01They don't have banners.
11:03When you go up
11:05at a White Sox game,
11:07you go up.
11:09And I mean up.
11:11In fact, the gate to St. Peter
11:13is just below us.
11:15Take me out to the ballpark.
11:19Take me to each one.
11:23I'm hitting the road
11:25and I'm reviewing everything.
11:27Inside, outside,
11:29even the game.
11:31Of course, there will be
11:33a raw dog
11:35plus the ballpark specialty
11:37as I review
11:39each ballpark
11:41in the MLB.