The Trouble with Wrigley [UPDATED]

I'm a bit of a newbie around here, and given that I only hit the road once a summer for games, I hope you'll pardon my relative shyness. Of course, if anyone has questions about the Rogers Centre, feel free to pester me.

Last weekend I scratched two more stops off the bucket list - Miller Park and Wrigley Field. It was at the latter that I ran into my first real dumb situation in my fifteen stops to date. As wonderful as Wrigley is due to its vintage, its vintage also causes headaches - namely obstructed views. The Cubs do denote many seats as "limited view" at point of purchase, but my purchase carried no such designation.

So imagine my surprise when I sat down for what could well be my only game at Wrigley Field and had this as my view of the field:

...not much happens at first base right? I've since emailed the team to see if I can get any or all of that back, but I'm not holding my breath.

This ever happened to anyone else?

I did beeline it straight to the box office, and managed to exchange my ticket (and hand over an additional $27 for the privilege).

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with a rep from The Chicago Cubs. First of all - responding by phone to an email sent in less than 24 hours? Major points.

MLB's rules dictate that a park must list a seat as "limited view" only if the pitcher's mound or home plate are obstructed. Can't say I knew that before, but you better believe I'll be keeping that in mind going forward. The rep politely explained that with Wrigley being 98 years old, they'd have a pretty big problem if they started designating every seat like mine as limited view.

She also did point out that any first tier seat at Wrigley that is designated as a "Box" seat comes with the understanding that your view is completely unobstructed - so for anyone buying Cubs tickets for the first time, that's a handy tip.

The very nice customer service rep said that because of this, they wouldn't be able to refund me the $27 difference. However, she did offer to pack up some Cubs/Wrigley goodies and mail them to me as a make-good.

So from my perspective, this whole experience is one for the books. I was able to move to an unobstructed seat, I got a prompt response by phone less than a day after sending an email, and they've offered to send me some swag as an apology. Gotta hand it to The Cubbies - that's class.

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Comment by Darrell Elven on August 3, 2012 at 12:06pm: Just did Wrigley last week. The one big drawback we noticed is there seems to be no good way to get a wheelchair into a good viewing position. We actually paid attention and tried to find any handicap seating area or anyone in a wheelchair. No joy. My MIL is a huge Cubs fan and we wanted to take her to a game while she could go. Don't think that is going to happen.

Comment by Mary (17) on July 21, 2012 at 6:45am: We were at Fenway earlier this year, and one of four seats had home plate totally blocked out, with no warning about obstructed view. I like both Fenway and Wrigley but have no tie to either of them, and frankly, the parks being constructed these days, thanks to much better materials and engineering, are nicer for watching a game.

Comment by Bill Pritchard (29) on July 20, 2012 at 12:10pm: I actually liked the obstructed view seat I had for Opening Day at Fenway this year. It was an aisle seat and only blocked the warning track, so I had a great view of the field. Since there was no space for a seat in front of me, the remaining space was a perfect spot for my camera bag drinks, and souvenirs so I didn't have to move it every time I got up for people. I'm well aware of the other obstructions around the field, and I avoid them, but this one instance was not a distraction to my day.

As far as Wrigley goes, they suffer from the same setbacks Fenway does, and I also disagree about the obstruction policy. I believe Fenway tells you more often how much of an obstruction you will have, but Wrigley is a more laid back about it. The ticket office was more than helpful when I changed my seats, and that is really cool they are sending you stuff. Unsuspecting fans could get caught offguard by the seating arrangements, and I think the Cubs should do a better job of issuing a map or something to help choose seats. There is a webpage dedicated to Wrigley's seats, and it's a good tool to have. Not as good as Precise Seating (for Fenway) but it still helps out. Anyhow, if you are unsure about the seating at Wrigley, avoid the covered seats in sections 200 and 500. They have the worst obstructions, but if you have to sit there, use a map or try to sit near the center of a row.

Comment by Thequesters Too on July 19, 2012 at 9:40pm: Ryan, I would say you're actually lucky they are sending you out something to begin with. Of all the MLB there's some seat somewhere that has limited or obstructed view that doesn't list it on the ticket. Fenway has them, Old Monster-Candlestick's got em, and I know SF and OAK got them. And I know Miller has got the Uecker seats. Let's not talk about Football, Hockey (Glaring example to this is Nassau Coliseum where the Islanders play), and basketball. So chalk up the experience and be cautious at any park