New Comiskey

An elaborate facade marks the new Comiskey Park, by then called U.S. Cellular Field, Aug-2014.

The seating bowl, as seen from near the outfield batter’s eye.

The exploding scoreboard is about all that mimics the old park.

Chronological Tour: Stop 31

• Location: 35th Street at Dan Ryan Expressway, Chicago, Ill. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1991 as Comiskey Park
• Additional names: U.S. Cellular Field (2003), Guaranteed Rate Field (2017)
• Home team: Chicago White Sox, American League (1991-present)
• Capacity: 44,321

Rating: 2 baseballs

Home plate of old Comiskey Park is preserved in the parking lot.

The crying started the next year, when the new Comiskey opened. People complained right away about the seating. Even though there were no longer any obstructed views, the seats at the bottom of the upper deck here were farther away from the field than seats at the top of the upper deck in the old park.

The new facility, though, did meet fire codes, and it also provided better amenities for the fans, as well as preserving the “exploding scoreboard” introduced by Bill Veeck in the 1950s.

All in all, the park is seen as a design mistake, one which was corrected in more recently built facilities like Camden Yards.

In January 2003, the White Sox announced that U.S. Cellular had bought naming rights to the field. The fee would go toward ballpark improvements. That agreement has expired, and Guaranteed Rate, a mortgage company, now has its name on the park.

Getting to the Game

Watching the Game

The highest seats here are, indeed, as high as those at any in the majors, and there are some really steep climbs in the upper deck. Exiting the stadium can be a hassle, too, as the stairwells common at most modern parks do not exist and so the primary means of egress is through a series of long ramps.

Enjoying the Game

While the scoreboard doesn’t exactly explode, it does light up and fireworks are set off just to its left when a White Sox player hits a home run (right).