Get it out of your system, everyone.
All this grumbling over the Sox changing their ballpark’s name to Guaranteed Rate Field is entertaining, but it’s not the real issue.
The jokes are great (h/t to the Tribune’s Paul Sullivan for coining “the G-Spot”), yet anyone losing sleep over the end of the U.S. Cellular Field era needs a wake-up call (pun intended).
Two-thirds of the stadiums in baseball are named for corporations. For every Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium you have a Citizens Bank Park, a Progressive Field, a Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Safeco Field, Comerica Park, Target Field, Petco Park, etc.
Football stadiums are no better: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Qualcomm Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, MetLife Stadium …
One could argue basketball arenas are even worse: Smoothie King Center. Talking Stick Resort Arena. Vivint Smart Home Arena. American Airlines has its name on not one but two NBA venues.
In Chicago, we have the iconic (and seemingly untouchable) Wrigley Field and Soldier Field, and I’m not saying they should rush to change that, even for tens of millions of dollars. But we also have the United Center, Allstate Arena, Toyota Park and Sears Centre Arena. No big deal.
Don’t think the Bears are above sponsorships, either. Remember in 2003, when for a short time they were all about “Bears football presented by Bank One”? And as of 2015, they technically practice at the PNC Center at Halas Hall. Of course, no one calls it that, nor does it really matter to the average fan.
Does it sound silly to tell your out-of-town friends you’re taking them to a game at Guaranteed Rate Field? Absolutely. Yet they’re more likely to ask why you’re the only ones there.
That’s when Sox fans laugh awkwardly to try and hide the truth.
The name of the stadium is not worth freaking out about. You know what is? The fact that the Sox have gone 37-55 since starting the season 23-10. Or that the franchise has not made the playoffs since 2008. Or that many of the Sox’s high-profile free-agent signings turn into busts. (See: Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche. Even Todd Frazier was hitting an anemic .209 entering Thursday.) Or that the most efficient way to replenish their farm system at this point is to trade Chris Sale, an often unhittable starting pitcher who is only 27 years old.
Sox fans stomped their feet for a while when the park became U.S. Cellular Field in 2003. It was weird after having Comiskey Park for nine decades, but they eventually embraced it. They took to owning it and calling it the Cell.
Two years later, no one was talking about that. They were too busy celebrating a World Series championship.