
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 11, 1990                   TAG: 9007110113
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Medium

NEW COMISKEY A LOT LIKE OLD ONE

On the day Chicago showcased its famous ballpark on the North Side, officials showed off the new ballpark on the South Side - even though it won't be completed for nine months.

A blue pickup truck was parked on the first-base side of the non-existent pitchers' mound and a red earthmover was positioned just behind home plate. The baseball field was a quagmire, as if it had been torn up by football players in the rain.

Near second base, workmen had constructed a podium, and Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley were congratulating each other and just about every elected official in the state.

"I've stood in the old Comiskey Park in the snow to sign legislation authorizing construction of the new Comiskey Park," Thompson said Tuesday, his voice echoing around the stadium.

The new Comiskey Park, scheduled to open April 19, 1991, with a game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers, resembles the White Sox's current home in many ways.

Most of the officials who spoke used the word "tradition."

There will be an exploding scoreboard, just like at the old ballpark. The contours will be almost the same. There will be grass and the stadium will seat 43,000, just about the same capacity as the old Comiskey across the street.

If the new stadium had not been built - at a cost of $120 million - the club almost certainly would have moved to the Florida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jerry Reinsdorf, one of the owners of the White Sox, threatened to move the American League team before the Illinois legislature approved the ballpark just before the deadline of midnight June 30, 1988.

The new Comiskey, the first baseball-only stadium to be built for a major-league team since Royals Stadium opened in Kansas City, Mo., in 1972, is much taller than the old Comiskey. The park's exterior is beige concrete with arches, a throwback to the old days.

The new Comiskey has three decks, one more than the old park, and includes 88 luxury boxes and a 700-seat stadium club and bar down the right-field line.

There will be the usual number of concession stands and escalators, amenities that didn't exist when the first Comiskey Park opened 80 years ago.

The White Sox, who had the worst record in the American League West in 1989, hope to bring a new attitude to their new home. They have taken a big step in that direction, heading into the All-Star break just a game behind first-place Oakland in the division.

Keywords:
BASEBALL

by CNB