I know the renovations at U.S. Cellular Field are probably done, but...

[chisox77]

I love threads devoted to how the Cell could be improved.

[tebman]

Originally Posted by skobabe8

I agree. By knocking down those billboards, you can widen the scoreboard and even re-introduce the classic shape....



...except it would be completely LED. Plenty of room for ads along the sides and all of the info you need in the middle. Plus, a nice clock on top!

My thoughts exactly! Veeck's original in the picture was 1960 technology. Obviously a lot has changed since then, but the magnificent goofiness of the old board could be easily recreated with LEDs and well-placed lights, and have plenty of flexibility for ad space.

In Veeck's book he was upfront about the ad revenue the board created. If I remember right, it cost over $300,000 to build, but nearly all the money came from ad revenue generated from its billboards. There's no money reason preventing the construction of an imaginative and fun scoreboard.

Imaginative and fun are the key words in this.

[Frontman]

Originally Posted by geraldfritz

I agree with you on that. I do not think I have seen the clock since they built the fandeck.

There's a clock?

[anewman35]

Originally Posted by tebman

In Veeck's book he was upfront about the ad revenue the board created. If I remember right, it cost over $300,000 to build, but nearly all the money came from ad revenue generated from its billboards. There's no money reason preventing the construction of an imaginative and fun scoreboard.

The problem is, they already make revenue with the scoreboad and the ads. Let's say they decide to expand the scoreboard, and tear down ads that give $1,000,000 of revenue to do it (I have no idea how much they make off ads, it's just an example). Say the new scoreboard costs $10,000,000. They'd have to make a million in ads a year just to replace what they had before. To even pay it off in 10 years, they'd have to double their ad revenue. Obviously, the equation changes depending on what the numbers are, but obviously there's a reason they haven't done it - they aren't stupid, they know it's possible.

[TheOldRoman]

Originally Posted by Frontman

Considering that only a handful of homeruns have ever reached the Fundamentals deck, a right field "home run" porch would have to come down over the current concourse seats to ever have a chance at some upper deck home runs.

No homer has ever reached the Fundamentals deck. Only a handful of homers have ever made the concourse, and the fundamentals deck is at least 30 feet above the concourse. TIt would have to be a mammoth shot to reach the fundamentals deck.

[comiskey2000]

The exterior of the park should be something fans are excited to see. The Cell's arched windows are actually really good looking. However there huge structures of ramps block us from actually seeing the arches. I do not know a way of getting rid of the ramps though. Perhaps a much larger main entrance with escalators. Either way I would like to appriciate the already attractive exterior by actually seeing it.

[chisoxfanatic]

Did anyone check out the season ticket holder "Wall of Fame" they have outside of the ballpark to the right of Gate 5? That's a cool new feature!

[TheOldRoman]

Obviously, redoing the scoreboard (and actually making it a "scoreboard") would be great. That probably won't happen anytime soon.

One of the easiest things they could do, which needs to be done, is painting or bricking over all the exposed gray area. This is especially needed in the bullpens and behind the outfield fence. I think bricks would look great as a backdrop for the green outfield wall, but even painting it green would be much better than gray. They could still put ads on top of the bricks/green paint, so that wouldn't be an issue. The gray looks too drab.

[Frontman]

Originally Posted by TheOldRoman

No homer has ever reached the Fundamentals deck. Only a handful of homers have ever made the concourse, and the fundamentals deck is at least 30 feet above the concourse. TIt would have to be a mammoth shot to reach the fundamentals deck.

Didn't Dye hit one up there, or was that one that hit the concourse and Farmio embellished it on the air? (I do recall Farmio saying Dye hit the Fundamentals deck.)

[WhiteSox5187]

I think it'd be cool if they could somehow bring back something resembling a roof shot. A new scoreboard would be nice, as would some arched windows so you can get those cool beams of light that used to shoot into the old ball park. Also when I was little I was a big fan of the old ball park being white, it made so much sense to me "White Sox play in a white park!" Bringing that back would be cool. In short I think any rennovations should be made in an attempt to make this park look more like the old one.

[FourStarsTwoBars]

Originally Posted by Frontman

Didn't Dye hit one up there, or was that one that hit the concourse and Farmio embellished it on the air? (I do recall Farmio saying Dye hit the Fundamentals deck.)

I remember in 2004 Bonds hit a bp ball into the well of the farthest section of the UD (sec 506 i believe)
A lot of variables in between, the farthest I know of is Joe Borchard in 2004 in a makeup game against the Phillies which reached the concourse. Also, when Alex Rodriguez was on the Marineers, he hit a homer that hit the top of one of the blue tops to the old beer tents on the outfield concourse. But nothing fundamentals deck distance

[Frontman]

Originally Posted by FourStarsTwoBars

I remember in 2004 Bonds hit a bp ball into the well of the farthest section of the UD (sec 506 i believe)
A lot of variables in between, the farthest I know of is Joe Borchard in 2004 in a makeup game against the Phillies which reached the concourse. Also, when Alex Rodriguez was on the Marineers, he hit a homer that hit the top of one of the blue tops to the old beer tents on the outfield concourse. But nothing fundamentals deck distance

Gotcha. So I stand corrected.

So, again; why build a "Home Run Porch" that batters (even on the juice) couldn't hit the ball to? USCF is a lot deeper of a ballpark than the old park was.

On a side note, is anyone else just enjoying this season so far so that conversations like this are just fun discussions instead of "I'm so POed at this team I want to gripe about stuff?"

[kingpin_rcs]

The only thing that really bugs me about the scoreboard is how the fireworks do not shoot out of them. In the old park, roman candles would shoot out of the top of the spinners and the fireworks would appear right over the middle of the board. Not so with the current board. The fireworks are to the left and no pyrotechnics emit from the board itself at all.

Didn't the White Sox pioneer this? Isn't it our tradition? The Sox should be doing better than everyone else.

[RockJock07]

Originally Posted by SaltyPretzel

New scoreboard.

Maybe a one like in the new park the Nationals have, a massive HD screen. That would be my vote, and yes i agree with others about the out of town SB, it needs to be updated.

[soxfan21]

Originally Posted by chisoxfanatic

Did anyone check out the season ticket holder "Wall of Fame" they have outside of the ballpark to the right of Gate 5? That's a cool new feature!

I was wondering where they put that thing at. I'll have to check it out next time I get out to the park.