Wrigley Field

• 1. Origins And Early History

  ›

  The first game at the new ballpark took place on the 23rd of April 1914. Charles Weeghman hired architect Zachary Taylor Davis to design the structure for his Chicago Whales of the Federal League. The team finished second in the league standings that year before winning the championship in 1915. Weeghman's Federal League folded later in 1915 after a single season of play. He formed a syndicate with chewing gum manufacturer William Wrigley Jr. to purchase the Chicago Cubs from Charles P. Taft for approximately $500,000. The Cubs played their first home game at the park on the 20th of April 1916 against the Cincinnati Reds. They won that contest 7, 6 in eleven innings. Wrigley acquired controlling interest in the club in 1918 and renamed the facility Cubs Park from 1920 to 1926. In November 1926 he officially changed the name to Wrigley Field. An upper deck was added in 1927 to increase capacity.

• 2. Architectural Features And Design

  ›

  Bill Veeck planted ivy vines against the outfield walls in 1937 after being inspired by Perry Stadium in Indianapolis. The original English ivy was replaced by Boston ivy or Japanese ivy which can endure harsh Chicago winters better than the former species. Cuttings from the ivy were sold by local vendors before the team abandoned plans to grow it on the outside. A long chain-link fence strip runs the entire length of the outfield wall about two feet down from the top. Players call this feature "the Basket" because any ball landing within it is ruled a home run. The basket was installed one month into the 1970 season to inhibit field rushes and injuries. Spectators would jump off the wall onto the field after wins so the team wished to curb that tradition. The scoreboard was installed in 1937 when Bill Veeck built new bleachers. It has remained in place ever since with only minor technical modifications. The clock was added in 1941 and a fifth row of scores appeared in 1961. A sixth row arrived by 1969. Light stands facing the scoreboard were added in 1988 for night games.

• 3. Modern Renovation Efforts

  ›

  The Ricketts family revealed the 1060 Project during the annual Cubs Convention in January 2013. This privately funded rehabilitation cost $575 million and took five years to complete. Phase one began on the 29th of September 2014 when the bleachers in both outfields were expanded. The stadium footprint extended further onto Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. A Jumbotron scoreboard was added to the left-field bleachers while another video board went up in right field. Parking lots along Clark Street were excavated for underground players locker rooms. Exterior renovations sought to restore design elements present before the 1960s including ornamental muted-green grillwork. Red Ludowici terra cotta roofing returned to the structure during phase two work after the 2015 season. Phase three finished before the start of the 2017 season. Left- and right-field bullpens moved to enclosed areas under the bleachers. Brick walls extended toward the field with new seating added in vacated bullpen areas. A visiting team batting tunnel appeared alongside partial façade replacement and concourse restoration along Addison Street. The fourth phase began at the conclusion of the 2017 season moving dugouts farther down foul lines. Hotel Zachary opened across Clark Street for the first home game on the 9th of April 2018.

• 4. Multi-Sport Usage And Legacy

  ›

  The Chicago Bears played at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970 before relocating to Soldier Field. They transferred from Decatur and retained the name Staleys for the 1921 season. The team renamed themselves the Bears to identify with the baseball club then a common practice in the NFL. An East Stand portable bleacher section spanned the right and center field areas raising capacity to about 47,000 seats. The football field ran north-to-south from left field to the foul side of first base. The corner of the south end zone sat literally inside the visiting baseball team's dugout filled with pads for safety. A special ground rule sliced off that corner of the end zone which was only eight yards compared to regulation ten yards. Five NFL championship games occurred here including 1933, 1937, 1941, 1943, and 1963. The Chicago Cardinals called Wrigley Field home from 1931 to 1939 before moving to Normal Park Comiskey Park and Soldier Field. Northwestern University hosted its first football game there since 1970 on the 20th of November 2010 against the Illinois Fighting Illini. The field used an east-west configuration running third base to right field. Goal posts hung from the right field wall because the space was too tight otherwise. The Red Wings won the 2009 Winter Classic 6, 4 with attendance at 40,818. The stadium also hosted the 2025 NHL Winter Classic between the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues.

• 5. Cultural Traditions And Atmosphere

  ›

  Fans stand or sit on apartment roofs across Waveland and Sheffield avenues to watch games from above. The Sky Box on Sheffield opened in 1993 catering primarily to corporate groups. It now features a two-tier roof deck indoor clubhouse and fully staffed bars on three levels. Rooftop owners began organizing more formally as businesses in the mid-1980s seeking revenue by updating rooftops with bleacher-style grandstands. In 1998 the city started requiring rooftop owners to have licenses and regulate venues. Relations worsened in 2003 when the team put up a large screen blocking views known as a spite fence. The Cubs sued most rooftop businesses that year claiming they were stealing product and unjustly enriching themselves. An agreement reached in 2004 required owners to pay the team 17% of gross revenue until 2023. A sign reading Eamus Catuli! appeared across Sheffield Avenue displaying a counter labeled AC for Anno Catulorum. The counter read AC0871108 before the 2016 championship indicating years since division titles pennants and World Series wins. The Lakeview Baseball Club updated the sign to AC000000 after winning the title. A flag with either a W or an L flies from atop the scoreboard masthead indicating daily results. Blue and white lights mounted atop the scoreboard in 1978 further denote wins and losses. The flags were replaced in the early 1980s reversing color schemes so the win flag became white with a blue W.

• 6. Media Presence And Pop Culture

  ›

  Elwood Blues listed 1060 W. Addison as his fake home address on his driver's license in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. This tricked police and Illinois Nazis listening on radio into heading for the stadium. The 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off featured a scene where the outside marquee read Save Ferris. Director John Hughes originally wanted to film at Comiskey Park but the team was out of town during production. All other baseball action scenes in The Natural were shot at Buffalo New York's War Memorial Stadium rather than Chicago. Fans inside and sometimes outside the park throw any home run ball hit by an opposing player back onto the field. This ritual appeared in the 1977 stage play Bleacher Bums and the 1993 film Rookie of the Year. The ballpark served as the establishing tryouts scene in A League of Their Own released in 1992. Garry Marshall made a cameo as Walter Harvey Wrigley's fictional alter ego in that film. The sign behind the scoreboard was temporarily redone to read Harvey Field during filming split between Wrigley and Cantigny Park near Wheaton. Many television series have made featured scenes set here including ER Crime Story Prison Break Perfect Strangers My Boys Chicago Fire and Mike & Molly. An episode of Family Guy parodied the Steve Bartman incident with a scene at the stadium.