77 Hitmen

Don't they already have direct flights from ORD to Tokyo? https://www.flightsfrom.com/ORD-HND

Wow - I didn't realize there is an MLB stadium that has tracks running under it like that. Now I can actually imagine a Sox ballpark fitting on the Amtrak land if they can build over those active train tracks similar to Target Field. They don't even have to build over the entire Metra yard, but it looks to me like they'd need at least 600 ft width from the river to fit a ballpark there. I realize that there are other examples in Chicago of things being built over train tracks: Millennium Park, the old Post Office Building, McCormick Place and even Union Station. The One Central megaproject would be over train tracks if that's ever built. But it's good to see an actual MLB stadium example.

At least he's not eligible for free agency until 2032. That gets us close to, and maybe into, the Ishbia era.

If Ishbia indeed intends to build a ballpark on the Amtrak site, it looks to me like building over part of the Metra property would be a must. An MLB park will need a MINIMUM of 600 ft width. Wrigley is at around 600 ft. Oracle Park is around 600 ft at it's narrowest where the RF fence is up against the water and it's wider in other places. Here's 600 ft at the Amtrak site. The green/purple/blue lines are the active Metra lines and west of that is the Metra yard, so the Amtrak property alone isn't wide enough. @Green Line is right, too - the main project they have in mind is that proposed One Central development, but it certainly can apply to the Amtrak site, too.

The IL House has passed the "megaprojects" bill. It now goes to the IL Senate for their vote. ABC7 ChicagoAmended 'megaprojects' bill passes Illinois House, could...Illinois lawmakers advanced a Chicago Bears stadium "megaprojects" bill out of the Illinois House Wednesday, and it will now go to an Illinois Senate vote.

This article includes some renderings of the new Royals ballpark. They want to have it ready for the 2030 season. https://fox4kc.com/news/first-look-royals-hallmark-share-photos-of-downtown-baseball-stadium/

Agreed. It must be maddening to Ishbia if he has to sit back and watch this franchise being driven further into the ground and lose more of the next generation of Chicago fans as good players continue to be traded away as soon as they get close to a big payday. JR could hold on to this team for up to another 8 years. That hole to climb out of to gain back market share in Chicago is going to be a lot deeper in 2034.

From the Crain's article: Wait, what? Ishbia and Reinsdorf are pursuing their own separate stadium plans? And the following is bad news for many Sox fans, but short-term good news for our resident soil/ingress/bridge expert and self-appointed representative of the entire Sox fanbase:

Just like last time in the late 80s when the City told the Sox the only stadium site they'd support is across from the existing ballpark? Look at how well that turned out for them. They have such a perfect site that people will only show up if the Sox are making a serious pennant run. Now the city should "make them" pick the same site again?

On the Bears stadium front, IL lawmakers plan to add an amendment to the proposed PILOT bill to include a property tax relief provision for IL homeowners. Kam Buckner says discussion on funding to transition Soldier Field to a post-Bears era is "part two" of this discussion and not part of the PILOT bill. Chicago Sun-TimesLawmakers sweeten pot to keep Bears in Illinois, with sta...The Bears continue to weigh whether to build a stadium in Arlington Heights or Northwest Indiana. A new property tax relief element to a measure that would allow the Bears to renegotiate their propert

That timeline certainly fits with team sale window (2029-34), which on its own seems kind of odd. If I had to guess on ballpark location, I'd say they're planning to put it just south of the Fire stadium on the 78 with the Amtrak land being used for a stadium district and parking as @soxfan18 illustrated earlier. This would allow them to get going on ballpark construction sooner since, as you pointed out and as mentioned in the latest presentation slides, it would take years to move Amtrak's facility and clear the tracks from their current yard such that we're looking at 2030 at the earliest to being construction on the west side of the river. And yeah, the Fire surely would be more than happy to have the Sox join them in this development. They only play 17 home games a year and the new MLS schedule actually has the league on an off-season break from June to mid-July, which is about half of the summer. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the amount of money involved here from the Ishbias in addition to what they'll be paying for the franchise itself. But then again, some other billionaire is about to plunk down $3.9B to buy the Padres whereas the Ishbia brothers are "only" paying about $2B for the Sox. So, it's not unrealistic to think that the Ishbias are planning to privately-finance a new stadium with state money being used for infrastructure work.

And as they say location, location, location. A well-designed ballpark and the surrounding stadium district could be a huge success based on its proximity to downtown. It also will be accessible to the River North area via water taxi. I wonder if they could add Metra platforms on both the west end (BNSF) and east end (Rock Island) of the sites for game-day train stops. It's probably not worth the added cost as they can provide shuttle buses for short pre and post-game rides to the Metra terminals. The BNSF line now has a 10:30pm express train to Downers Grove and beyond on Saturday nights. That could be attractive to fans in the DG/Lisle/Naperville area.

Yet, in the meantime, that stagging $3.9 billion just put a sledgehammer to the argument that the game isn’t prospering and needs an overhaul in the next collective bargaining agreement. I disagree. The Padres are definitely one of the "haves" in MLB. How does this take a "sledgehammer" to the competitive imbalance issue that MLB is facing? The Rays sold for less than half that amount. The Sox estimated valuation has actually dropped the last two years. Nobody has been arguing that the top 12-15 teams in MLB are doing very well.

Some mall that is 5 miles away from Petco Park is struggling. What does this have to do with the sale of the Padres?

Challenge accepted!! Joking aside, I see your point. Part of what puts many other ballparks in the elite status is location. Put Oracle Park in a part of SF without much to do around it, absolutely no exterior backdrop, and surround it with acres of parking lots and it's no longer an elite-level ballpark.

I agree. It'll need to be PNC/Oracle/Petco Park good. I don't think anything they do will turn people against Wrigley at this point. But there's enough room in Chicago for two "must see" ballparks, especially a well-designed one with its own unique features - right up against downtown, along the riverwalk, accessible by water taxi, etc.

Thanks for the illustration, that is helpful. What you summarize makes sense. Yeah, I'm not sure how feasible it would be to build a pedestrian bridge in the middle as you highlighted in red. Any bridge would have to be a drawbridge along that stretch of the river and wouldn't be as simple as ped bridges that we see everywhere across roadways. One of those new renderings suggests a ped bridge at the south end of the site at the St. Charles Air Bridge.

Oh yeah, I saw it. I was just pointing out that this is somewhat of a milestone anniversary - 35 years. We'll see if it makes it to 40 years.

35th anniversary of the opening of New Comiskey Park.

Sox on 35th has an article posted now on this latest news. It includes images of each of the presentation slides that were posted on "X" by CHGO Sports. Sox On 35thNew Details Emerge About Justin Ishbia's 14th Street Rail...New details emerged on Friday about White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia's acquisition of Amtrak's 14th Street Yard.

Incredible. With all the money Steve Cohen has thrown at their payroll, you'd think heads would roll over their continued floundering.

It'll be very interesting to get more details on where the proposed ballpark would actually sit on either the 78 or the Amtrak land. The renderings look great, but they're a bit confusing to me about the orientation of everything. That pedestrian bridge in the 2nd rendering looks it's actually a part of the St. Charles Air Line bridge. If I'm not mistaken, there are two bridge structures there. So, perhaps the plan would be to remodel the northern structure into a ped bridge. Any pedestrian bridge connecting the Amtrak site to the 78 would have to be a functioning drawbridge to allow boat traffic to pass through along the river.

Yeah, I'm puzzled as to who on this site is miffed about this sale.

....of course, different guy. Bad news, though, he owns a ........GASP...... private equity firm! I guess the Padres are just as doomed as the White Sox.