Wrigley Field

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Wrigley Field

If you haven't been to Wrigley Field you have missed one of the greatest venues in sports. The "Friendly Confines" is one of the cornerstones for Cubs Fans. To watch a game there is an experience that is very difficult to put in to words. It is a feeling that is part of the reason Cubs Fans become Cubs Fans for life.

Background

Wrigley Field is the second oldest ball park behind Fenway Park in Boston. It was built for $250,000 in 1914 by Charlie Weeghman. It was later sold to William Wrigley, Jr, owner of the chewing gum dynasty of the same name. Wrigley first named the park Cubs Park but it was changed to Wrigley Field in 1926.

The ivy covered red brick walls are also unique to the ball park. The ivy was originally planted by—Bill Veeck—in 1937. When the season first starts in April the ivy is brown and dormant from the winter giving it a very unusual appearance.

The ivy can be a problem with balls getting stuck in there from time to time. The ground rules indicate that if a ball goes into the ivy and it can't be seen it matters if the player goes looking for it or not. If he throws his hands up indicating he can't see it then it is a ground rule double. If the player goes digging for it then all bets are off and the base runner(s) can advance as far as they want.

Wrigley Field is known to be a hitter's park. Being close to Lake Michigan the prevailing wind has a big impact on fly balls. Pitchers and home run hitters will look at the flags to see what kind of day it is going to be. If it is blowing off the lake then the wind blows in. If the wind is blowing out on to the lake it means the wind is blowing out.

A little known fact is that the ball park is 600 feet above sea level changing the atmosphere. This fact and that most of the games are played during the day means the ball carries better because of the heat.

The famous Chicago Cubs Scoreboard was built under the direction of -believe it or not-Bill Veeck. It was manually operated then and still is today. Definitely part of the mystic of the park is the scoreboard. It is one of the few scoreboards that will show all the teams by inning and pitching. And all done manually. The balls, strikes, batter and outs are kept electronically, which is recorded in the press box behind home plate.

Wrigley Field currently has 41,118 seats. They broke the 3,000,000 mark in attendance in 2004 and each year since. This basically means they sell out each game. The days when I was a kid when if you wanted to go to a game on the day of the game you could go. Back then the only tickets sold in advance were box seats. Grandstand and bleacher seats were always available on the day of the game, first come first sold.

Some say that one of the reasons the Cubs haven't been to the World Series in over 100 years is that they play day games in the hot sun and as the year progresses they run out of gas. All Cubs home games were played during the day until August 8, 1988. That was the first night game ever at Wrigley Field. It started out with just 18 night games but that has increased to 30. Negotiations with the neighborhood continue as additional night games are being discussed.

A tradition at the ball park is to raise the white win flag with a "W" after a Cubs win. A blue flag with an "L" after a Cubs loss.

There are 6 other flags that fly. They represent the retired numbers of 6 Cubs. They are Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Fergie Jenkins on the left foul pole. Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg and Greg Maddux are on the right foul pole.On each foul pole is the saying "HEY HEY" in memory of Jack Brickhouse. It was his saying when a Chicago Cubs home run was hit. Harry Carey has a statue outside Wrigley Field.

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