The Chicago Cubs are playing in the World Series. Wait, let’s triple-check that. Yep, after a 71-year drought, the lovable Cubbies (pro sports ultimate underdogs) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to advance as favorites in the Fall Classic versus the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, the year Henry Ford developed his Model T automobile. Now they are the hottest ticket in town (sizzling more than the play Hamilton). As the team tries to slay past ghosts (and goats) with a championship before their faithful fans at Wrigley Field, let’s reflect. Here are 12 reasons to love Wrigley Field, the Cubs and Cubs fans.
Old-School Ballpark
Modern baseball “parks” are high-capacity stadiums disguised as intimate venues. Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park are glorious exceptions, the only two ballparks the World Series ghost of Babe Ruth would recognize. Wrigley Field is baseball’s quintessential old-school, neighborhood ballpark—designed by architect Zachary Taylor Davis, who also designed Comiskey Park for the Chicago White Sox. Built in 1914 as Weeghman Park and renamed in 1927 for former Cubs owner William Wrigley Jr. (the chewing gum magnate), the National League’s oldest ballpark retains its traditional character with a hand-operated scoreboard, adjacent rooftop seats, red brick walls, and an iconic ivy-covered outfield fence. The late, great Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks nicknamed Wrigley “The Friendly Confines.”
Restoration & Preservation
Chicago Cubs owners, the Ricketts family (whose members both opposed and supported Donald Trump’s presidential bid), channeled the GOP nominee’s building prowess—committing at least $575 million to modernize Wrigley Field over five-years while preserving its beauty, charm and historic features. The 1060 Project is a collaborative restoration of Wrigley Field by VOA, Harboe Architects, D'Agostino Izzo Quirk Architects (DAIQ), Pepper Construction and Icon Venue Group. The renovations include a newly completed 30,000-square-foot clubhouse (seen during the Cubs’ champagne celebration), a newly painted marquee, premium suites, luxury clubs, an upper concourse, broadcast center, a two-story entertainment and retail annex, Budweiser Bleachers, a catwalk platform, outdoor concessions, and new parking—most completed by 2018.
Wrigley Eventually Gets It Right
Wrigley Field and the Cubs march to their own tune. Routine playoff appearances. Nope. Night games. Eventually. National Anthem? Rarely. The Cubs finally gave in—night games (1988), full-time organist (1967), and the national anthem (1967). Former owner Philip K. Wrigley (like Colin Kapernick) protested the national anthem—albeit differently. Unlike other baseball owners, Wrigley thought routine playing of the national anthem in ballparks cheapened the importance of the tradition. Not anymore. The Cubs now happily flaunt their patriotism, as Chicago performer John Vincent’s recently praised Star Spangled Banner playoff rendition proved.
Ivy League
Wrigley Field’s ivy fence is a twisty, tangly ground-rule-double garden—where big hits play hide-and-seek with confused outfielders as runners round the bases. Clutch Cubs power hitters Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez are beneficiaries. Wrigley’s distinctive ivy was planted on the walls in 1937 by Bill Veeck (son of a Cubs executive and eventual owner of the White Sox)—well before popular green wall trends. Lost balls aside, the ivy offers a uniquely gorgeous aesthetic that spares players the agony of crashing into the underlying brick wall.
Lights, Camera, Action
Once upon a time, the Cubs only played day games. The team’s 1942 plan to install lights was scrapped when materials were diverted to the World War II effort. In 1984, it was nearly lights out for the team’s home field advantage as Major League Baseball (concerned with primetime World Series ratings) threatened to move Cubs home games to St. Louis if the team advanced to the Fall Classic. Fortunately for baseball (but unfortunately for Cubs fans), the issue was resolved by the San Diego Padres who beat the Cubs. Hint taken, Wrigley Field finally added lights in 1988 (for limited night games). Although games play slightly dark on TV, Wrigley Field now basks in the brightest spotlight of all—the World Series, finally.
The Curses
Two infamous sports curses haunt the Cubs. In 2003, four outs from the World Series, a fan named Steve Bartman unknowingly interfered with a foul ball Cubs outfielder Moises Alou likely would have caught. Afterward, everything fell apart. The Cubs lost the game and the series with Bartman drawing fans ire (and death threats). The Bartman ball was eventually blown up. Was this connected to the Billy Goat Curse? During Game 4 of the 1945 World Series, Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis was ordered to remove his stinky goat mascot “Murphy” from Wrigley Field (lax security?). Miffed, the publicity stunter jinxed the team, suggesting the Cubs won’t win anymore. The 2016 Cubs clinched the National League pennant on the 46th anniversary of Sianis’ death. But even these curses don’t compare to the offensive jeering from frustrated Cubs fans over 107 years.
Free Balls
Wrigley Field was the first sports venue to allow fans to keep foul balls (previously ushers retrieved them, as in other sports). However, home run balls generate the most attention here. Babe Ruth’s legendary “called shot” (where he pointed, predicting a home run) occurred at Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series (the Bambino’s 15th and final postseason home run). Titanic blasts by baseball’s right-handed behemoth hitters (like Willie Mays, Dave Kingman and Ryan Zimmerman) fly out of the ballpark onto Waveland Avenue—giving outside fans (called "Ballhawks") free souvenirs and sometimes damaging parked cars. Today, Wrigley Field's deeper left field stands means fewer balls for "hawks" to snag.
Wrigley Rooftops
Wrigley Field’s sight lines are arguably baseball’s best. Just ask the rooftop apartment dwellers behind the ballpark whose unobstructed free views are so perfect, rooftop bleacher seats were built and admission is charged. This freebee scheme caused strife between apartment owners and the team whose desperately-needed stand renovations threatened to block apartment views. After repeated litigation threats, negotiation, and even team owners buying some buildings (turning them into contemporary suites)—remaining roof toppers agreed to share profits (a reported 17%) with the Cubs, as the team continues outfield seat and concourse expansion. Most of these apartments are officially named Wrigley Rooftops, with club levels and concessions.
Take Me Out To The Ball Game
Cubs fans love to sing—especially “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.” With less than stellar vocals, former Cubs announcer Harry Caray initiated this passionate Wrigley Field rendition in 1982 during the seventh inning stretch by conducting the entire crooning crowd with his microphone. Since his death the tradition has continued, usually with a celebrity attendee, former player or a prominent native Chicagoan leading the crowd. How it sounds is inconsequential. What matters is how it festively feels. It seems the entire world outside of Cleveland is ready to “root, root, root for the Cubbies.”
Cubs Win!
Since 1937, “W” win flags fly atop the stadium to let the Cubs faithful know if their team won—more archaic than the Internet but definitely a beloved tradition. The song “Go Cubs Go” is sung after each Cubs win, most loudly on October 22, 2016 as the home team’s players charged the pitcher’s mound to celebrate the Cubs' first World Series appearance since 1945. That rendition was so boisterous, it nearly drowned out the thunderous roar of the rejoicing crowd. At game's end, Yankees fans exit their stadium to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” Cubs fans sing to their own tune.
Not Ready For Primetime Players
Nicknamed “The Lovable Losers” (which could also describe the Cleveland Indians who last won the World Series in 1948), Cubs fans embrace their team’s futility. They even adopted manager Joe Maddon’s “Try Not to Suck” motto. The Cubs stable of celebrity fans include rocker Eddie Vedder, actor Vince Vaughn, and comedian Bill Murray (whose famous Saturday Night Live “Olympia Restaurant” cheeseburger skit was filmed in Sianis’ aforementioned Billy Goat Tavern). These diehard fans are anxious to end their misery with a World Series championship banner. Bill Murray’s excellent week (World Series Cubs; winner of Mark Twain Prize for Humor; crashing the White House press room) will become epic if his Cubs are finally ready for primetime. Either way, tears will flow in Chicago.
Family Affair
Wrigley Field and Cubs fandom are a generational affair. Even Los Angeles Dodgers executive and Chicago native Ned Colletti invited his uncle (who drew the short straw for the 1945 World Series) to Wrigley Field for Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. They rooted for different teams but the uncle got his ultimate wish—the Cubs clinched a spot in the 2016 World Series versus his nephew’s Dodgers. Cubs chairman and owner Tom Ricketts met his wife Cecelia in the Wrigley Field bleachers many years before he purchased the team. On October 22, he hoisted the National League championship trophy at Wrigley Field—four games shy of the coveted championship Cubs fans have craved since great grandpa was born.
