The days of spending $2 for a coffee and a fried egg sandwich at Yum-Yum Donuts seemed like eons ago as the Cubs opened their home season Tuesday on another chilly afternoon at Wrigley Field.

The iconic ballpark has been swallowed up by new buildings on the south and west sides, and the cost of progress means everything around Wrigley is nicer, shinier and much more expensive than it used to be.

Perhaps that’s why they’ve installed an ATM in the visitors’ tunnel to the dugout, knowing the players might need some extra cash for a $4 scoop of ice cream at the new, premium ice cream shop across the street.

Some of the changes are for the better.

It’s always nice to have more food and drinking options outside the ballpark, and as much as we like to wax nostalgic about Yum-Yum, the longtime greasy spoon wasn’t really good for anyone’s digestive system.

And inside the park the Cubs’ players and coaches were mostly happy with the new, spacious dugouts, which give everyone a little more room to maneuver. They’re also farther from home plate, which isn’t beneficial for watching the hitters.

Photos of the ongoing renovations at historic Wrigley Field, the second-oldest ballpark in major league baseball. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

“It’s different where we’re at, but we’ll get used to it,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s different design things about it that (we) might be able to alter to make it a little bit more functional.

“We needed a couple of games to find out, so we can give (business management) positive feedback. But the work done is fabulous. The design, the attention to detail, the way it looks.”

What are the functional issues?

“Just movement in the dugout, in and out, absolutely,” he said. “Hand rails might be moved a bit. My perch is different. Of course it’s OK.”

For all the hype, it should be better than “OK.” Maddon said he felt sorry for third base coach Brian Butterfield, who gets signs from Maddon in the dugout.

“Poor ‘Butter,’” he said. “You think he’s really close, but he’s always (turning his neck). I apologize for that. I’ll go verbal (signs), or just throw sunflower seeds. One seed (is) bunt. Two seeds — hit and run. He’s that close.”

The Pirates also were satisfied with the changes on the visitors’ side, including the bigger dugout and the expanded batting cage outside the clubhouse.

“It’s much more accommodating,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “I’ve always loved to come to Wrigley. However, now it has caught up to the times. There are so many nice parks around. For a while, you had to go hit out in the (bleacher batting cage). So when it rains or the weather is rough …

“It’s just a change. Now you have ample room in the dugout. You have video room. You have ample space everywhere. It’s really nice. It has made a jewel with one blemish pretty much an all-around jewel now.”

Pirates first baseman Josh Bell said the changes make a big difference for the visiting players, who tend to like Wrigley, blemishes and all.

“It makes the preparation that much better,” Bell said. “It makes sitting and watching the game that much more enjoyable. But regardless, it’s still Wrigley. I feel like we all still get chills every time we come out here. It’s a special place.”

Yes, it’s still a special place, but not all of the changes are for the better.

The new photo pits are so small some of the photographers had to shoot the game from unfamiliar positions around the park because they couldn’t all fit. And fans sitting in Aisle 6 near the old home bullpen down the left field line were shocked to see the width of their seats had been reduced in the renovation.

When the Cubs decided to move and enlarge the dugouts and build a swanky, exclusive club behind home plate, they also changed some of the seats down the left- and right-field lines, making them smaller.

Some complained those aren’t big enough for regular-sized fans. One said they were built for “middle school students,” and another wondered if they were modeled after middle seats in the back of airplanes. One fan called it the “120-pound or less section,” and another called the section “the Spirit Airlines of stadium seats.”

“It’s a huge difference (from last year),” said Don Cameron, a Cubs’ fan from Barrington who was wedged into a seat rubbing shoulders with his son. “I suppose it’s better now than it’ll be in August when it’s 95 degrees and we’re all sweating.”

That’s an issue the Cubs will have to deal with as the year goes on. Some of the season ticket holders said they already have lodged complaints.

But it’s too late to make the seats any bigger, so they’ll just have to suck it up, literally and figuratively.

No one said change was easy.

psullivan@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PWSullivan

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