The first park on Chicago’s North Side, Wrigley Field cost $250,000 when it was built in 1914. Charlie Weeghman built the park to house his baseball team, the Chicago Federals (a.k.a. the Chi-Feds and, later, as the Whales) of the brand-new Federal League, which was challenging the established major leagues. The Federal League folded after only two years, so Weeghman, leading a ten man syndicate which included chewing gum magnate Willam Wrigley, Jr., purchased the Cubs of the National League. The team was moved from West Side Grounds to what was then known as Weeghman Park. In 1918, Wrigley took over Weeghman's share of the team and by 1919 had bought out the shares of the other members of the syndicate. The name of the stadium was changed to Cubs Park in time for opening day, 1920. It was renamed Wrigley Field in his honor in 1926.
The outfield bleachers went up in 1937 and the scoreboard was constructed the
same year by Bill Veeck. It is still manually operated, and it still has never
been struck with a batted ball, although Roberto Clemente and Bill Nicholson
each hit home runs that barely missed. Sam Snead hit it once with a golf ball
teed off from home plate. Veeck was also responsible for the ivy that gives
Wrigley its distinctive look. In 1937 he planted 350 Japanese bittersweet plants
and 200 Boston ivy plants. Eight Chinese elm trees were also planted on the
bleacher steps to complement the ivy, but the wind from Lake Michigan kept blowing
the leaves off and after multiple attempts at replacing the trees, they were
removed.
The first permanent concession stand in baseball was built here in 1914. The
custom of allowing fans to keep foul balls hit into the stands started here,
as did the custom of throwing back home runs hit by opposing players. "Take
Me Out To the Ballgame" has been sung (off-key) thousands of times by venerable
announcer Harry Caray (1914-1998), and countless fans have watched the game
from the porches and rooftops of the houses on Waveland Avenue (behind the left-field
fence) and Sheffield Avenue (beyond right field).
After 5,687 consecutive day games played by the Cubs at Wrigley, the lights
were finally lit on August 8, 1988, for a game with the Philadelphia Phillies.
That game was rained out after 31⁄2 innings, and the first official night
game took place the following evening against the New York Mets. The Cubs won,
6-4. Lights had actually been placed in the ballpark for installation in 1941,
but Wrigley instead donated them to a shipyard for the war effort the day after
Pearl Harbor. In the late 1980s, however, Cubs management insisted that the
team was in danger of leaving Wrigley if lights weren’t installed, and
Major League Baseball threatened to make the Cubs play postseason games at Busch
Stadium in St. Louis.