Finally some good news for the media as it relates to press facilities.
According to the Cubs, the press box will remain in the same spot for the renovated version of Wrigley Field; detailed plans for the entire project were announced today. It currently is in the upper deck behind home plate. With Wrigley’s cozy confines, the press box is a great perch for watching baseball.
This decision hardly was a given considering what has occurred elsewhere. Across town, the White Sox shifted their press box from behind the plate to a position behind first base stretching down the right field line. They transformed the old press box, which had an outstanding view, into a premium seating area with all the amenities.
The Sox are hardly alone. The Los Angeles Angels have done the same thing, and you can expect other teams to follow suit. Meanwhile, several NFL football stadiums now feature press boxes in the corner as opposed to the 50-yard line, where teams get big bucks for luxury suites. In many arenas, elevated broadcast and writers positions in the rafters can induce altitude sickness.
Of course, as I wrote earlier today, Churchill Downs eliminated the press box for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
So it hardly would have been a shock if the new Wrigley featured a press box down one of the lines. Instead, not only is it staying put, it also will be redesigned.
Only the best for Paul Sullivan, the Cubs’ long-time beat writer for the Chicago Tribune.
Maybe they were afraid Muskat would get mad if they moved it.
I thought I had heard at one point that the Cubs were considering moving the pressbox. Did the Cubs ever install an elevator for the writers? I understand that was an irritant to the writers at one point.