Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo vowed the team would finish No. 1 this season. This is probably not what he meant.
Wrigley Field is undergoing a mammoth $575 million renovation project to bring the 101-year-old stadium into the 21st century. I say "undergoing" because the renovations are far from finished, a point made clear during Sunday's Opening Night matchup between the Cubs and Cardinals.
Though an enormous new jumbotron was up and running, the Cubs had to mask entire sections of unfinished bleachers. Worse, new bathrooms remained unfinished — there were only two functioning restrooms in the entire main concourse, according to USA Today — forcing fans to wait in winding, innings-long lines just to relieve themselves.
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For those unwilling or unable to hold it, random cups sufficed in lieu of a proper loo. As Yahoo's Jeff Passan reported, the stadium had a concerning number of "stray cups filled to the brim with something that looked like beer but wasn't."
"With 35,000 fans showing up in the ballpark tonight, we were simply not prepared to handle guests during peak periods," the Cubs said in a euphemistic statement after the game.
Chicago promised to get new facilities installed as soon as possible. If they can't meet that goal, a once-hopeful season could quickly go down the toilet.
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