Chicago Cubs

Wrigley Field has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. It was called Cubs Park between 1920 and 1926 before being renamed for then Cubs team owner and chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley Jr.. Between 1921 and 1970 it was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. It hosted the second annual NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2009.

Located in the residential neighborhood of Lakeview, Wrigley Field sits on an irregular block bounded by Clark (west) and Addison (south) Streets and Waveland (north) and Sheffield (east) Avenues. The area surrounding the ballpark contains bars, restaurants and other establishments and is typically referred to as Wrigleyville. The ballpark's mailing address is 1060 W. Addison Street.

Wrigley Field is nicknamed The Friendly Confines, a phrase popularized by "Mr. Cub", Hall of Famer Ernie Banks. Since 2006, its capacity has been 41,118, making Wrigley Field the fourth-smallest actively used ballpark in 2006. It is the oldest National League ballpark and the second oldest active major league ballpark (after Fenway Park on April 20, 1912), and the only remaining Federal League park.

The park was built in six weeks in 1914 at a cost of about $250,000 ($5.3 million in 2008 dollars) by the Chicago lunchroom magnate "Lucky Charlie" Weeghman, who owned the Federal League Dolphins. (The club signed a fifty-five-year lease to use the park for app $18,000 per year.) It was designed by the architect Zachary Taylor Davis (who four years earlier had designed Comiskey Park for the Chicago White Sox), incorporating the new "fireproof" building codes recently enacted by the city. According to some sources, when it opened for the 1914 Federal League season, Weeghman Park had a seating capacity of 14,000. According to another source, the original seating capacity was 20,000.

In late 1915 the Federal League folded. The resourceful Weeghman formed a syndicate including the chewing gum manufacturer William Wrigley Jr. to buy the Chicago Cubs from Charles P. Taft for about $500,000. Weeghman immediately moved the Cubs from the dilapidated West Side Grounds to his two-year-old park. In 1918 Wrigley acquired the controlling interest in the club. In February 1926, he renamed the park "Wrigley Field."

In 1927 an upper deck was added, and in 1937, Bill Veeck, the son of the club president, planted ivy vines against the outfield walls.

Wrigley Field was a hold-out against night games, not installing lights until 1988 after baseball officials refused to allow the Cubs to play any post-season games without lights. Night games are still limited in number by agreement with the city council. Capacity is set at 44,250.

Wrigley Field follows the jewel box design of ballparks that was popular in the early part of the 20th century.

Wrigley Field is known for its distinct ivy-covered outfield walls.The ballpark is famous for its outfield walls which are covered by ivy. In the first weeks of the baseball season, the ivy has not leafed out, and all that is visible are the vines on which it grows. However, as the baseball season progresses further into spring, the ivy grows thick and green, disguising the hard brick surface of the outfield wall. Many a ball has been lost in the ivy when hit towards the outfield fences. An outfielder will signal that a ball is lost, by raising his hands. When this occurs, the umpires will call time and rule the play a ground-rule double. Also, there have been occasions of fielders being injured when slamming into the wall after a fly ball. The ivy that covers the outfield wall is Boston Ivy, which can endure the harsh Chicago winters better than its English cousin.

The rooftops seats across the street offer views similar to those from the ballpark's own seats. Old-time ballparks were often surrounded by buildings that afforded a "freebie" look at the game for enterprising souls. In most venues, the clubs took steps to either extend the stands around, or to build spite fences to block the view. Perhaps the most notorious of these was the one at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, which caused a rift between the residents and the team that never healed. The Cubs themselves had built a high fence along the outfield at West Side Park, to hide the field from flats whose back porches were right next to the outer fence of the ballpark.

Many Cubs fans check their nearest flag before heading to the park on game days for an indication of what the game might be like; this is less of a factor for night games, however, because the wind does not blow as hard after the sun goes down.

With the wind blowing in, pitchers can dominate, and no-hitters have been tossed from time to time, though none recently; the last two occurred near the beginning and the end of the 1972 season, by Burt Hooton and Milt Pappas respectively. In the seventh inning of Ken Holtzman's first no-hitter, on August 19, 1969, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hammered one that looked like it was headed for Waveland, but the wind caught it just enough for left fielder Billy Williams to leap up and snare it in "the well".

With the wind blowing out, some true tape-measure home runs have been hit by well-muscled batters. Sammy Sosa and Dave "Kong" Kingman broke windows in the apartment buildings across Waveland Ave. several times. Glenallen Hill put one on a rooftop. Batters have occasionally slugged it into, or to the side of, the first row or two of the "upper deck" of the center field bleachers. Sosa hit the roof of the center field camera booth on the fly during the NLCS against the Florida Marlins, some 450 feet away.

But the longest blast was probably hit by Dave Kingman on a very windy day in 1976 while with the Mets. According to local legend, that day, Kingman launched a bomb that landed on the third porch roof on the east (center field) side of Kenmore Avenue, some 550 feet away.

No batter has ever hit the center field scoreboard, however it has been hit by a different kind of ball: a golf ball, hit by Sam Snead, using a two iron.

No matter the weather, many fans congregate during batting practice and games on Waveland Avenue, behind left field, and Sheffield Avenue, behind right field, for a chance to catch a home run ball.

and, beginning in 2009, an advertisement for Horseshoe Casino. Other buildings have carried signs sponsoring beers, such as Old Style (when it was a Cubs broadcasting sponsor) and Miller; and also WGN-TV, which has telecast Cubs games since April 1948.

For 2008 and 2009, the Cubs worked out an agreement with the Chicago Board Options Exchange to allow the CBOE to auction some 70 box seat season tickets and award naming rights to them.

For the 2009 season, the The Chicago Cubs announced that the renovated restaurant space in the southeast corner of Wrigley Field, formerly known as the Friendly Confines Cafe, will now be known as the Captain Morgan Club.

On October 27, 2009, Thomas S. Ricketts officailly took over 95% ownership of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and 25% ownership of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The Tribune will retain 5% ownership.

Retired numbers for Ernie Banks and Ron Santo on the left field foulpole and for Billy Williams and Ryne Sandberg on the right field foulpole. Since May 3, 2009, the number 31 also flies on both foul poles, to honor Ferguson Jenkins (left field) and Greg Maddux (right field).Main article: Cubs Win flag

The term "White flag time at Wrigley!" means the Cubs have won. This exclamation was started by former Cubs TV broadcaster Chip Caray in the late 1990s despite the fact that the ritual had been practiced for decades.

Addison Station at Wrigley Field is served by Red Line trains. This view is now blocked by buildings constructed in 2007.The Red Line stop at Addison is less than one block east of Wrigley Field. The stadium was originally built for proximity to the train tracks. At the conclusion of games, the scoreboard operator raises to the top of the center field scoreboard either a white flag with a blue "W" to signify a Cubs victory or a blue flag with a white "L" for a loss. This is done not only to allow passengers on the nearby "L" trains to see the outcome of the game, but also anyone passing by the park can now know the results of that day's game.

Parking in the area remains scarce, but that does not seem to bother fans who want to come to this baseball Mecca, which has drawn more than 3 million fans every year since 2004, averaging to a near-sellout every day of the season, even with many weekday afternoon games. The little parking that is available around the park can go for as much as $100 per space. To partially alleviate this problem, the Cubs sponsor a parking shuttle service from the nearby DeVry University campus at Addison and Western as part of their agreement with local neighborhood groups.