Chicago Cubs

Wrigley Field named one of the happiest places on Earth by CNN

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:52 p.m. ET

Fansided, Luke Norris/Fansided

Wrigley Field has been named one of the happiest places in the world.

For those who have ever stepped foot in Wrigley Field, whether you’re a fan of the Chicago Cubs or not, it’s hard to deny what a special place it is.

Wrigley Field is one of the oldest ballparks in America, and despite the addition of the new video boards and the renovations that have taken and continue to take place, there’s still this old-time feel to it that can’t be matched anywhere else in baseball outside of possibly Fenway Park. When you walk up the ramp and see the old scoreboard and the ivy, you’re immediately transformed into your eight-year old self that just wants to sit in the bleachers with a hot dog and watch a ballgame.

While the product on the diamond at Wrigley didn’t always make Cubs fans happy, they still showed up in droves to soak up the summer sun for an afternoon of North Side baseball. People were just happy to be there instead of at work or school, and over the past couple of years, fans have wanted to be at Wrigley Field to be a part of history, which the Cubs made a couple of months ago by breaking their 108-year championship drought with a dramatic win in Game 7 of the World Series. And yes, I’m aware that didn’t take place at Wrigley Field, but I’m just trying to paint a picture here.

Wrigley Field is simply a happy place, World Series title or not, and to counteract “Blue Monday” earlier this week — which if you’re not familiar is said to be the most depressing day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere — CNN tried to combat the depression by listing 15 of the happiest places in the world. Wrigley Field was included on the list, and as you can see, the other 14 locations don’t really have a sports theme to them.

What’s great about the description of Wrigley here is that the World Series win wasn’t mentioned at all. Take a look.

“One of the last old-school baseball stadiums in America, Wrigley Field is a place to experience the up-close joys of baseball, rather than the spectacle of oversize sport.

“Wrigley Field, on a warm summer night when the breeze off Lake Michigan makes the flags flutter and your cheeks flush with relief from the damp heat.

“No matter where you sit, you are close to the field, which makes you feel both the intimacy of the game and the immensity of it.

“The players, standing just feet away from you, feel like giants. And the vendors in the stands hawking hot dogs and beers and Italian ice really are a study in that particular species of Chicago native.”

I think anybody that’s ever been to Wrigley Field would agree with all of that.