Wrigley Field

Some History

In my opinion, there has never been -- nor will there ever be -- the equal of this great edifice.  Built on the site of a former seminary (which is appropriate, since I've always felt that attending a game there was akin to a religious experience) at the corner of Clark and Addison, it opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park, named after the owner of Chicago's Federal League franchise.  It had only 14,000 seats and took a scant two months to construct, at a cost of $250,000.  After the Federal League went under after the 1915 season, the Cubs moved in.  The "Friendly Confines" have been their home ever since.

Here's a brief chronology of the changes to Wrigley Field over the years.  In 1915, additional outfield bleachers were added.  The upper deck on the first-base side was built in 1928, with the one on the third-base side being added the next year.  At that point, the stadium could accommodate over 40,000 fans.  In 1937, the ivy was planted at the bottom of the outfield walls and the triangle-shaped centerfield bleachers were added.  The concrete exterior of the main seating bowl of the park (that is still in place today) was added in 1958.  Thirty-one years later, a new press box was built on the upper level behind home plate, and luxury boxes were constructed on the underneath side of the upper deck.  Those additions cost $14 million.  Prior to the 2006 season, the famous bleachers were enlarged and the facilities under them enhanced.

You probably know that for the first 74 seasons, Wrigley Field had no lights -- but did you know that it wasn't supposed to be that way?  After Crosley Field in Cincinnati inaugurated night-time baseball in 1935, many other teams wanted to cash in on this new phenomenon . . . including the Cubs.  So the story goes, in 1941 the lights had already been purchased to install at Wrigley Field, but the team decided to donate them to America's World War II effort instead, delaying the first night game at the Friendly Confines until August 1988.  The cost of adding the lights ended up being $5 million -- twenty times as much as it cost to build the original stadium in 1914!

According to Philip Lowry in the original Green Cathedrals, while the installation of lights diminished some of the tradition of this grand old ballpark, it also helped save Wrigley from the wrecking ball, since night games are an economic necessity these days, and because they are required for post-season play.  Thank goodness, because I, for one, never want to see the day (or night) when there is no Wrigley Field!

More changes came to Wrigley through the middle of the first decade of the new millennium. The 2006 season saw expanded bleachers, more parking and, hopefully, no more falling chunks of concrete!

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