Dean Clement
Dixon Bynum
English 102
Feb.17, 2001
The Baseball Palace of the Free World
“It is impossible to feel blue at Wrigley Field, even though your beloved Cubs are losing again.”, said Sports Illustrated’s Richard Hoffer. In the same article that this quote was published Hoffer ranked sports venues throughout the country, he put Wrigley Field at number six(Hoffer 24). What is it about this stadium that is so endearing?
The Cubs have the all time worst record in the history of baseball, but they are America’s third favorite team in the National Baseball League (behind the Braves and the Yankees). So there must be something more to the Cubs. There is, it is called the “Friendly Confines”. It is the atmosphere and the feeling of nostalgia that a fan gets when they go to 1060 W. Addison for an afternoon of baseball. Baseball fans are looking for that old fashioned baseball. A baseball without free agents, signing bonuses, corporate sponsored billboards, and owners who care more about money than providing fans with the nation’s pastime. Wrigley Field gives them this. It was the second major league park to be built in 1914, after Fenway Park in Boston (cubs.com/ history). It was named after the Cub’s first owner William Wrigley Jr. of Wrigley’s Gum fame and fortune(cubs.com/history ). The scoreboard that was built in 1937 has not had any improvements made on it since 1941(cubs.com/unique). The innings, score, hits, etc. are still changed by hand, and the batter, ball, strike count are lit by eyelets(cubs.com/unique). Even though the scoreboard was built almost sixty years ago, no player has ever hit it with a batted ball(cubs.com/unique). One of the most distinguishing features of Wrigley is the ivy that crawls over the outfield wall. The ivy has hung on the wall since 1937 when Bill Veeck planted the vines at the base of the wall (cubs.com/unique). Who thinks of baseball and does not think of that cheesy organ that can lead fans in cheers of all sorts? The Friendly Confines has the honor of being the first ballpark to install an organ in 1941 starting a trend that goes hand in hand with baseball as much as peanuts and player’s midfield jockey adjustments (cubs.com/unique). When stadiums started adding lights to play more night games, many baseball purist fans were upset. Well they cannot be upset with Wrigley, it was the last major league ballpark to put up lights in 1988(cubs.com/unique). Budweiser had to go across Wayland Ave. to put a billboard atop the adjacent building’s roof, because Wrigley is still billboard free.
The stadium itself has such a unique history that it can sometimes overshadow some of the important events in baseball’s history that have taken place there. In game three of the 1932 world series when the Cubs played the Yankees for the world championship, perhaps the greatest moment in baseball history took place in Wrigley. Babe Ruth’s “called shot”, when he allegedly pointed to where he was going to hit the next pitch (cubs.com/history). Some say that he was simply jeering and taunting the Cub’s dugout, and that it was pure luck, but no one can deny the mystique that surrounds that moment. A moment that might only could have happened in such a historic setting. Baseball great and Chicago Cub, Ernie Banks, hit his 500th career home run on May 12, 1970 out of Wrigley(cubs.com/history).
With so many historic events and connections associated with the friendly confines, it seems like the Cubs would have a championship dynasty with years of winning pennants. Well, they do not. In fact, if you were to rank the NBL’s teams from best to worst, the Cubs would come out on the very bottom. They have not won a World Championship title since 1908, before Wrigley was even built(Walker, 3). So the Cubs do not win games, but people love them? This obviously has to do with people wanting to root for the underdog and pulling for the runt. It goes a little deeper than that though. Popular sports writer Jerome Holtzman hit the nail on the head when he said, “Cubs fans don’t care if the team wins or loses, they just want to have a good time.”(Walker 3). There is something about the Cubs, it is a feeling that you get when you go to ride the “Ell Train” up to the north side of Chicago and sit in the afternoon sun with a bag of peanuts. If you look around you do not see astroturf or Hooters ads, you see what baseball is really about, the fans. So many fans who genuinely love the game and love the feeling that they get when they walk into the Friendly Confines. It is the reason that baseball became the nation’s pastime. It is the reason that grandparents still remember their first trip to Wrigley, and parents remember their’s. You do not need a customized De Lorian and a flux capacitor to travel back in time...you only need a ticket to a Cubs home game.
Works Cited
Hoffer, Richard. “Our Favorite Venues.” Sports Illustrated issue 23 vol. 90 (6/7/99): p.24
Walker, Sam. “In the Cubs Bleachers, A Loss Means Little.” Christian Science Monitor. Issue 191 vol. 89 (8/27/97): p.3
Wrigley Field Historical Information.
http://www.cubs.com/wrigley/history.htm Wrigley Field: Unique Features.
http://www.cubs.com/wrigley/wrigley2.htm World Almanac and Book of Facts. Published by World Almanac Education Group Inc. Mahwah, NJ. 2000