The Best Block in Baseball Lives on Sheffield Avenue
If you’ve ever been to Chicago’s North Side in October, you know there’s something electric in the air. Playoff baseball has returned to Wrigley Field, and with it, the life of Sheffield Avenue. Just a few steps beyond the right-field wall, this stretch of street has been called the “Best Block in Baseball”—and it’s not hard to see why.
It’s only about ten steps from the ivy-lined walls of Wrigley to the east side of Sheffield, but that small distance creates something magical. Unlike many modern stadiums that sit on isolated “superblocks,” Wrigley remains stitched right into the fabric of the city. The ballpark doesn’t just sit in a neighborhood—it is the neighborhood. And Sheffield Avenue embodies that relationship better than anywhere else.
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Now, sure, there are other famous streets in baseball. Fenway Park has Yawkey Way, and PNC Park in Pittsburgh has those spectacular river views. Even Waveland Avenue on the other side of Wrigley has its legends, especially with the famous Engine 78 firehouse standing tall. But Sheffield feels different. It isn’t just an extension of the stadium. It feels like a genuine Chicago street that just happens to brush shoulders with one of baseball’s most iconic cathedrals.
Take a walk down that block, and you’ll see why. At one end, Murphy’s Bleachers has been serving fans for nearly a century, the kind of bar that feels like it’s soaked up as much history as the ballpark itself. At the other end, Sports Corner has been standing for decades, too. In between are old greystone homes—classic Chicago architecture built in the wake of the Great Fire of 1871—that still house local residents. That blend of city life and ballpark energy is rare. It’s neighborly, authentic, and it hasn’t been completely overtaken by tourist shops or rooftop seating.
And then there’s the view. From inside the ballpark, the 400 level along the third-base side offers glimpses of Lake Michigan shimmering like an ocean. Above the alley behind Sheffield, the CTA Red Line rumbles past on the “L,” reminding everyone that this is city baseball at its finest. One train stop carries fans straight from Wrigley, and if you ride it long enough, you’ll wind up at the White Sox ballpark on the South Side. Few places tie a sport so seamlessly into the pulse of an entire city.
Sheffield has its scars, of course. The towering scoreboard now blocks some rooftop views, and a few old buildings have been replaced. But the spirit remains. History is everywhere—the memory of Roberto Clemente’s legendary homer in 1959, or the old Hotel Carlos where Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges once lived. These stories hang in the air like ivy on the wall.
What makes Sheffield Avenue the best block in baseball isn’t just nostalgia or location. It’s the fact that it still feels lived-in, real, and woven into the city around it. It reminds us of a time when ballparks were designed to fit into neighborhoods, not the other way around. And in Chicago, during October, with the lights of Wrigley glowing and the street alive with fans, that truth couldn’t be clearer.
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