Happy Birthday, Wrigley Field
One hundred years ago today, the first ever baseball game was played at what later became Wrigley Field. At the time, it was called Weeghman Park – so named after Charles Weeghman, the owner of the Chicago “Federals” professional baseball team of the short-lived Federal League. (The name “Federals” is somewhat of a misnomer. Though they were called the “Federals” or the “Chifeds” to distinguish them from the Cubs and White Sox, the team actually had no formal nickname in 1914. They were named the Chicago Whales the following year).
The Federal League folded after two years of operations. Weeghman at that point became controlling owner of the Chicago Cubs and moved the Cubs to the stadium in 1916.
Weeghman was forced out of baseball in 1920 due to financial troubles; the Wrigley family had become controlling owners of the Cubs in 1918. The park was renamed Cubs Field in 1920, and acquired its current name of Wrigley Field in 1926.
Wrigley Field is the second-oldest Major League Baseball stadium. Only Fenway Park in Boston is older – and only by two years.
Ground was broken for Wrigley Field on March 4, 1914. Amazingly, it was ready for the Chicago “Federals” home opener that year on April 23, 1914 – barely 7 weeks later.
Yes, Wrigley Field is a bit dated today. But it has something most other MLB stadiums doesn’t have: a century’s worth of history.
Category: Baseball
The military/patriotic connections to Wrigley are many. The 1918 season was shortened due to WW I. During the 7th inning stretch, a certain patriotic song was played for the first time at a major league ballpark: the Star Spangled Banner—a dozen years before it became our National Anthem. That game was a shutout, won by the Red Sox. The winning pitcher? Babe Ruth. (The home games were actually played in Comiskey Park, not Wrigley.)
Did you know that Wrigley was supposed to have lights installed in 1941? They were delivered the day before Pearl Harbor—and were donated to the government instead of being installed! And no mention of Wrigley Field can be made w/o reference to Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, who, by the way served in the Army (Germany) during the Korean War. But there is one fellow, one former Cub, that I am compelled to mention. His name was Grover Cleveland Alexander, a helluva pitcher who shares the NL record for most wins (373) and owns the record for shutouts (93). But that’s not what makes him special to me. Grover served in WW I. He was an NCO in France and suffered the affects of that experience the remainder of his career and life. He had been gassed and an exploding shell left him with seizures. He also suffered shell shock. As a result, when he returned home, he medicated with booze and was thought of as a drunkard, though his seizures were mistaken for his being drunk. In 1938, he was the only player inducted into the hall of Fame. A helluva soldier. A helluva ball player. He died in 1950 (aged 63) and Ronald Reagan played him in the 1952 movie, The Winning Team.
So, happy birthday Wrigley–but the Cubs still suck.
HEY! You take that back! The Cubs are 7-12… Uhmmm… Damnit.. Nevermind.
There is always next year…
Sorry, that first paragraph was a reference to the Sept 1918 World Series between the Cubs and Red Sox.
They should have let the goat stay.
Ace links to this Hugh Hewitt interview with George Will, which he titles “The Cubs won the Cold War”. http://www.hughhewitt.com/george-f-will-nice-little-place-north-side/
I guess I’m glad that they weren’t on some sort of good will tour of Europe in November 1989 or else they would certainly have dropped it somehow and blamed some farm animal for the loss.
Thanks Hondo. Love the history stories of great places in our great nation!
I’d care about Wrigley more if the Cubs actually won something…
Sorry, just a little jaded about Chicago sports teams. It seems only our hockey teams can get anything done. Which is fine, just…
Also, does the place really need to look like the Aliens have come, but they messed up their landing approach?