WRIGLEY
FIELD Chicago,
Illinois
Home of the Chicago Cubs.
Wrigley Field is the second-oldest ballpark in the majors behind Boston's Fenway Park (1912). The Chicago Cubs franchise is the only charter National League team still playing in its original city. It’s nickname is the “Friendly Confines.”
It hosted the 1929 World Series
Originally known as Weeghman Park, Wrigley Field was built on the grounds once occupied by a seminary. Weeghman Park was the home of Chicago's entry in the Federal League (then newly started and competing against the major league) and was the property of Charles H. Weeghman. The team was known as both the Federals and the Whales. The cost of building Weeghman Park, was $250,000. It had a seating capacity of 14,000. Today it has a capacity of 41,118.
Its first major league game was on April 23, 1914, with the Federals defeating Kansas City 9-1. When the Federal League folded for financial reasons after the 1915 season, Weeghman purchased the Cubs from the Taft family of Cincinnati and moved the club to the two-year-old ballpark at the corner of Clark and Addison streets.
The first National League game at the ballpark was played April 20, 1916, when the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings. A bear cub was in attendance at the game.
Weeghman, in 1916, originated the custom of permitting fans to keep balls fouled into the stands, now a universal practice. Wrigley also started the practice of throwing back opposing teams home run balls. Weeghman also placed refreshment booths behind the stands, reducing the number of vendors who plied the crowds, an innovation likewise extensively copied. The Wrigleys arranged to broadcast the club's games beginning in 1925; this was the first occasion on which the new medium was used for this purpose.
The park became known as Cubs Park in 1920 after the Wrigley family purchased the team from Weeghman. It was named Wrigley Field in 1926 in honor of William Wrigley Jr., the club's owner and the owner of the Wrigley chewing gum company.
The outfield bleachers went up in 1937 and the scoreboard was constructed the same year by Bill Veeck. It is still manually operated, and it still has never been struck with a batted ball, although Roberto Clemente and Bill Nicholson each hit home runs that barely missed. Sam Snead hit it once with a golf ball teed off from home plate. Veeck was also responsible for the ivy that gives Wrigley its distinctive look. In 1937 he planted 350 Japanese bittersweet plants and 200 Boston ivy plants. Eight Chinese elm trees were also planted on the bleacher steps to complement the ivy, but the wind from Lake Michigan kept blowing the leaves off and after multiple attempts at replacing the trees, they were removed. The 10-foot-diameter clock was added in 1941 to the scoreboard.
The first permanent concession stand in baseball was built here in 1914. The custom of allowing fans to keep foul balls hit into the stands started here, as did the custom of throwing back home runs hit by opposing players. "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" has been sung (off-key) thousands of times by venerable announcer Harry Caray (1914-1998), and countless fans have watched the game from the porches and rooftops of the houses on Waveland Avenue (behind the left-field fence) and Sheffield Avenue (beyond right field).
The Wrigley Field bleachers and scoreboard were constructed in 1937 when the outfield area was renovated to provide improved and expanded seating ... the original scoreboard remains intact. The score-by-innings and the pitchers' numbers are changed by hand. The numbers showing the batter, ball, strike and out, along with "H" and "E" to signify hit and error, are eyelets.
No batted ball has ever hit the centerfield scoreboard. Two baseballs barely missed - a homer hit onto Sheffield Avenue (right-center) by Bill Nicholson in 1948, and one hit by Roberto Clemente onto Waveland Avenue (left-center) in 1959.
One of the traditions of Wrigley Field is the flying of a flag bearing a "W" or an "L" atop the scoreboard after a game ... a white flag with a blue "W" indicates a victory; a blue flag with a white "L" denotes a loss.
Wrigley Field was the stage for the Cubs capture of the National League championship in 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938, but the Cubs lost the World Series in each of these years.
The bleacher wall is 11.5 feet
high. The basket attached to the
wall was constructed in 1970.
Ernie Banks' uniform No. 14 and Ron Santo's No. 10 are imprinted on flags which fly from the leftfield foul pole ... Billy Williams' No. 26 and Ryne Sandberg's No. 23 fly from the rightfield foul pole.
Wrigley Field added lights in 1988. They had bought lights in 1942 but donated the lights to the war effort. After the war was over they did not get the lights back and it stayed a “day game” park. The first night game took place August 8 against Philadelphia, but was rained out after 31/2 innings. The first official night game occurred August 9, 1988 vs. New York, when the Cubs defeated the Mets 6-4. In 2006, Wrigley Field will be celebrating its 19th year of playing host to baseball under the lights. The Cubs entered the season having played 310 home night games, going 160-150. Today only 18 night games a year are played here.
Following the 2005 season, the Cubs expanded the bleachers, adding a restaurant in the batter's eye and a window to Sheffield Avenue in right field.
Historic moments include:
Fun Trivia:
Retired
numbers:
10 Ron Santo (2003)
14 Ernie Banks (1982)
23 Ryne Sandberg (2005)
26 Billy Williams (1987)
The Cubs “Curse”
The Cubs haven't been in the World Series since 1945, and haven't won one since 1908. This is particularly unfortunate considering such recent playoff runs as 1984, 1989, 1998, and 2003. While similar to the "Curse of the Bambino" endured by the Boston Red Sox because of selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees, the Cubs suffer from an even stronger "Curse of the Billy Goat." The curse was placed on the Cubs in 1945 by William "Billy Goat" Sianis, then owner of the Lincoln Tavern, as part of a publicity stunt. Billy Goat was a Greek immigrant and went on to open the world famous Billy Goat Tavern. Sianis also happened to be a rabid Cubs fan and attempted to bring his goat, "Murphy," into game four of the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Murphy even had his own ticket and had successfully gotten into the Stadium earlier in the year to watch a Blackhawks game. As Sianis walked into Wrigley Field, the ushers prevented his entry, telling him no goats were allowed. When Billy Goat asked for an appeal directly to owner P.K. Wrigley, P.K. told them to allow Billy Goat in but not Murphy. When Billy Goat asked why, they said, "Because the goat smells." In retaliation, Sianis cast a "goat curse" over the Cubs by saying, "Cubs, they not gonna win anymore." Subsequently, the Tigers won the series and the Cubs have never been back