Stadium Tour #2: Wrigley Field
- lindsbelam
- Feb 19, 2019
- 2 min read
Home of the Chicago Cubs and one of the oldest and most iconic stadiums in MLB history.
Wrigley Field Background Info:
Location: Chicago, IL
Address: 1060 West Addison St.
Opened in 1914 making it the 2nd oldest stadium in the MLB
Cost: $250,000 (in 2019 that's equivalent to $6.25 million)
Capacity: 41,649
Throwback Facts:
The original scoreboard from 1937 is still intact in its original place and still manually operated.
Wrigley Field didn't add lights for night games until 1988
The famous ivy that lines the outfield was planted in 1937
Chicago's NFL team the Bears played at Wrigley from 1921-1970
Top Moments at Wrigley:
If you're like me at all, I love to watch sports montage videos. This is according to Sports Center, Wrigley Field's top 10 best moments, check it out.
"The Babe", "The Great Bambino", "The Sultan of Swat",
"The Colossus of Clout":
No, I'm not quoting The Sandlot, I'm talking about Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth didn't play for the Cubs, he played for the Yankees. October 1, 1932 Game 3 of the World Series the score was tied 4-4 in the fifth-inning. Babe Ruth was batting with 2-balls and 2-strikes on him. It was then after the last pitch that he pointed two fingers toward center field and the next pitch was history, literally. Ruth hit a home run in dead center field. Now, Cubs pitcher Charlie Root says that Ruth was signaling that there were two strikes on his count but, Ruth confirmed that he was calling his shot. May only the baseball Gods know the truth. The picture below is Babe Ruth calling his shot, poor quality but hey, its from 1932. You can get the idea.
Poor Steve Bartman
Okay so I couldn't talk about Wrigley Field without talking about The Steve Bartman Incident..... Lets go back to 2003. It's Game 6 of the National League Champion Series, Cubs are playing the Marlins at Wrigley. Whoever wins this game is going to the World Series.
The Cubs are winning the game 3-0 and two games ahead in 7-game series at 3-2. It's the eighth inning and pitcher Mark Prior is on his way to a three hit shut-out. The Cubs were so close to their first World Series since 1945, we're talking 5 outs away close.
Luis Castillo is batting and has a full count on him. Prior pitched and crack goes the ball to the bat and the ball is going, going and almost in left fielder Moises Alou's glove until Bartman reached out completely interfered with the ball!!!! The ump didn't rule the call as fan interference and instead of making the out the call turned into a ball.
Watch this video of The Steve Bartman Incident:
and then the Marlins went on to win the game 8-3 and actually went on to win the World Series that year..... poor Steve Bartman.
Fun Facts:
"Take Me Out To The Ball Game" being sung at games was a tradition started by Cubs announcer Harry Carey.
The area around the field is called "Wrigleyville"
Wrigley was the first stadium to allow its fans to keep foul/home run balls.
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