To my surprise, this game was a sellout. The White Sox are second sisters to the Cubs in Chicago, but when they are winning, they are well supported. I was asked to show my ticket before they would let me in the parking lot.

This was really the last of the old type ballparks before Camden Yards broke the mold. The outfield is symmetrical, no unusual corners, the rake of the seats in the third deck is not sufficient to guarantee sight lines and the width of the seats leaves a little to be desired. Management altered the seating in the upper deck by lopping off the top 8 rows all around and putting on a roof. The result is a stadium that now seats only 38,000. It is hard to believe that a stadium this massive holds only 3,000 more fans than Fenway.

I was very surprised at the animosity shown towards the Cubs. CUBS SUCK T-shirts were as prevalent as Yankees Suck T-Shirts are at Fenway. I haven't seen that in any of the other two team towns (N.Y., L. A., Bay Area).

The scoreboard is old but adequate. When the White Sox hit a home run (three times in this game) fireworks go off in center field. They have all the Mickey Mouse promotions between innings, but as much as I despise these things, the fans seemed to enjoy them. Perhaps they were gambling on the outcomes.

I haven't been to a single park and not seen another Red Sox cap and today was no different. In fact, the other Red Sox cap was sitting right next to me. Rick from New Jersey writes sports for a local New Jersey newspaper and has been a Red Sox fan for years.

One other inequity to mention. If your ticket is in the upper deck, the rest of the ballpark is off limits. I was unable to go out to the bleacher area to get a feel for it.

The park deserves an 8, but no more.