Wrigley Field, 2006
(or Cooler by the Lake)
May 6, 2006 (Saturday)
)
As part of my thirty-somethingeth birthday, my loving wife purchased tickets for one of the Wrigley Field tours offered during each season. Being a fan of both the ballpark and the Cubs (occasionally only the ballpark) and a member of that most endangered species, the baseball fan, I was excited to visit the second-oldest Major League ballpark in the nation on a warm spring day.
Saturday came, the sun shone brightly, we made sure we had our tickets and our camera, and off we went to Evanston to catch public transportation down to Addison and Clark. Of course, the sunshine, 60-or-so degree weather, and the utter lack of a breeze in near home convinced me to go without a jacket.
On the local weather reports, you hear the phrase "cooler by the lake" enough to become inured to it. It's like broadcast white noise. When we parked in Evanston and started walking toward the Davis Street station, the 10-degree drop and prevailing 15 mph breeze was a reminder that the weathermen keep saying "cooler by the lake" for a reason. We made the El by 11:00 a.m., transferred at Howard to the Red Line, and made the Addison stop comfortably by 11:45 for the noon tour. By that time, I was thankful that we had a few minutes in the gift shop before starting the tour; I bought a Cubs zippered sweatshirt to keep from freezing in the stands.
The tour started in the stands behind home plate. Our guide was enthusiastic—I believe she said this was her first time leading the tour—but the ambient noise of Wrigleyville and the lack of any amplification made it difficult (sometimes impossible) to hear her. On the bright side, she did have a good rapport with the group of about 50 people, and she definitely had some good asides about the ballpark. We sat while we got the house rules of the tour and a general history of Wrigley.
)
Wrigley was originally constructed as Weeghman Park in 1914 by Charles Weeghman, owner of the Chicago Federal League franchise (known as the Federals and the Whales). Weeghman built the park in just two months at a cost of $250,000, with a seating capacity of 14,000. The first major league game in the park was played April 23, 1914 between the Federals and Kansas City; Chicago won 9-1. When the Federal League dissolved, Weeghman, leading an ownership group that included William Wrigley Jr., bought the Cubs franchise from the Taft family and moved it to 1060 W. Addison for the 1916 season. The first National League game in the ballpark was played April 20, 1916, with the Cubs beating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings.
Wrigley bought out Weeghman in 1918, and by 1919, he had assumed sole ownership of the club. The field became known as Cubs Park in 1920. The ballpark was renamed in 1926 as Wrigley Field, in honor of its Cubs owner. Wrigley also added the upper deck in 1927, which, along with previous renovations, increased seating capacity to nearly 40,000. The Cubs shared their venue with the Chicago Bears from 1921-1970. It remains the second-oldest ballpark in use behind only Boston's Fenway Park (built in 1912), and is the only surviving Federal League ballpark.
)
The ballpark also has become a symbol of futility. The Cubs have never won a World Series in their history at Wrigley Field, losing six times in the Fall Classic between 1918 and their last NL pennant in 1945. The 1969, 1984, and 2003 seasons stand as bitter monuments to that futility. But that was all set aside for the moment. Apparently we picked the one day that the Lakeview neighborhood association gets invited to spend a few hours on the field. We were told in no uncertain terms that running around the infield was positively not a part of our tour. Also, due to the recent bleacher renovations, we won't be able to tour the bleachers (they were being resealed that day). More on renovations later. After the initial spiel, we were ushered into the mezzanine boxes.
) |
) |
The mezzanine suites were first constructed in 1989, with the press box and broadcasting booths moving from the mezzanine to the upper deck behind home plate. Further renovations from 1994-95 increased the private boxes to 63 total. The view from the box itself wasn't impressive, but the view from the outdoor seating was pretty darn good (you get padding for the coin you shell out). The suites can be rented, but I believe I heard that the packages range from $2,100 to nearly $10,000, depending on the package and the game date.
) |
) |
) |
From there, we headed to the Upper Deck Food Court, which was one of the few spots I had no idea existed prior to the tour. Here's another bit of trivia: Wrigley Field was home to the first permanent concession stand in baseball, dating back to 1914 (as do, someone snickered, some of the hot dogs). From there, the tour led through the booths to the press box. On the way, we got to see the organ booth, the radio and television broadcasting booths (Pat and Ron must be awfully cramped up there) and the media food court. Unfortunately, the bright day outside and the dim shade inside the corridors made for some genuinely crappy picture taking. The only one that came out reasonably well was the press box interior.
)
From the press boxes, we headed into the interior of Wrigley to visit the visitor's clubhouse. Over the years, I've heard the complaints by various opposing players that the visitor's clubhouse in Wrigley is one of the worst in the majors (Ozzie Guillen's tirade before the Crosstown Classic last year was an extended riff on the subject). You can't fully appreciate that sentiment until you see:
- The cramped confines.
- The cheap-looking lockers and folding chairs.
- The hastily tacked-up sign at the entrance to the showers that says "Don't use! No hot water!"
Don't expect new digs until the Cubs are playing in a new ballpark. And considering that Wrigley Field is often the only thing selling tickets—they don't call it "the Wrigley experience" for nothing—don't expect a new ballpark unless a stray meteorite makes a crater out of the intersection of Clark and Addison. Before you start laughing, the chances of the meteorite strike are statistically greater than the Cubs winning the World Series. Okay, maybe not statistically greater, but much more likely.
) |
) |
The tour continued outside into the right field club boxes, where I took a good shot of the center field grandstand, including the ivy-covered brick of the outfield wall and the giant manual scoreboard. Both the ivy and the scoreboard are the work of Bill Veeck, dating back to 1937. The ivy is Boston Creeper, and the scoreboard has never been hit by a batted ball in the history of the ballpark. The center field bleachers have posed a unique problem since the ballpark was built; spectators on sunny days tended to wear white shirts, which made it extraordinarily difficult for hitters to pick up the baseball as it was pitched. The section was closed off for Cubs games by the early 1950s, covered with green Astroturf in 1967 to create a "batters eye" background, and planted with juniper bushes in 1997. The bleacher reconstruction of 2006 created approximately 1,700 new seats, a new camera well, and the Batters Eye Lounge in dead center. To illustrate the differences, I've included a "before" picture of center field.
Our guide also talked about the lights, one of the biggest changes in Wrigley Field history. Apparently owner P.K. Wrigley was prepared to install lights at the ballpark in late 1941, but Wrigley donated all the materials to the war effort the day after Pearl Harbor. The tradition of day-only baseball at Wrigley would continue until the late 1980s, when a combination of threats forced the issue.
The Tribune Company was rumbling about potentially moving the team, and Major League Baseball made the decision that without lights, any postseason games would have to be played—of all places—at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Imagine the Red Sox being forced to play postseason games in Yankee Stadium and you get the picture. Lights were installed in 1988. The first night game was slated for August 8 against the Phillies; it was rained out after 3½ innings. The first official night game happened the next evening against the Mets, August 9, 1988. A streak of 5,697 consecutive home day games had come to an end.
Underneath the left field bleachers is the security center, a.k.a. "Cubbie Jail." When you see the drunks being escorted from their seats by security, this is where they're headed. This is the only place where we were explicitly told that pictures were taboo. The most interesting thing I learned from this visit was that virtually any spot within the ballpark and a surrounding five-block radius can be filmed via the plethora of security cameras installed in and around Wrigley.
)
We proceeded from there into the Cubs clubhouse. It's still relatively small, but compared to the visitor's clubhouse, this is a cathedral. After seeing how close the lockers are, however, I couldn't help wondering why it took 12 years for someone to take a baseball bat to Sammy's boom box. I certainly pity whoever his immediate neighbors were. Unlike the visitor's clubhouse, the tour didn't let you have free rein in the home digs. We stood right next to Carlos Zambrano's locker near the entrance; I couldn't convince Helene to distract the attendants long enough to grab a jersey. If it had been Maddux's locker, I might have risked it anyway.
) |
) |
The tour finished after nearly two hours around the first base dugout. Helene snapped a picture of me in my snazzy new Cubs gear, sitting in the dugout and looking like a hapless tourist. Before leaving, I snapped a field-level shot from behind home plate. This was where it would have been particularly nice to have been there without a bunch of Lakeview folks running rampant around the infield and taking pictures of themselves at all the bases. But as we wandered out of Wrigley, I couldn't help thinking how cool it would be to take a mitt and ball and make a few throws across the diamond.
They don't make 'em like this anymore. That's why this place and Fenway are the churches of sports. And since Hell has obviously frozen over with the Red Sox and White Sox winning titles in consecutive years, can a Wrigley World Series be far behind? Just keep a sharp lookout for stray meteorites.