For north-siders who miss the sweet nadir of the Chicago Cubs—those glory decades when the team’s inferiority meant you could haggle a scalped ticket down to five bucks and later drape your legs over the empty seat in front of you—there’s a way to recapture some of that feeling. Now imagine this: five diamonds bustling on a muggy midsummer Tuesday night with games of 16-inch softball, the homegrown recreational (beer-drinking) sport that’s about as Chicago as the Cubs. Some might consider such a backdrop a crackerjack substitute for Wrigley Field. I’d suggest bringing your own seat; there aren’t likely to be any bleachers.
Brian Irving, the vice president of operations for Chicago Sport & Social Club—which organizes 16-inch leagues across the city—believes the best bets for rec-league action during the week are at Grant Park’s Upper Hutchinson Field (Monday through Wednesday, 6-8:30 PM) or Lincoln Park South (Tuesday or Wednesday, 6:30-10:30 PM). The former offers four fields of 16-inch softball, the latter five. A little farther west, Union Park hosts leagues on Mondays and Wednesdays.
