For baseball lovers, there are a few ballparks left that continue to inspire. Many can say these parks include Fenway in Boston (which happens to be the oldest ballpark left standing), Yankee Stadium (the house that Ruth built- now moving to the lot next door) and Wrigley Field- the home of the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley Field being one of the last great ballparks and also the second oldest has had a wonderful history; however recently, this park was almost past disrepair.
The Wrigley Name
Wrigley Field was built in 1914. In those days, baseball was a past time, but without all the pomp and circumstance that today’s sports receive. The field itself cost about $250,000 in today’s dollars, which is about the price that a high school baseball field costs. Originally, Wrigley Field along with the team was owned by 10 shareholders, however, ten years later in 1926, the ballpark and the team was sold to William Wrigley Jr. of the chewing gum fame and aptly renamed to Wrigley Field- the rest is history.
Fun Facts About Wrigley Field
Enjoying a game at Wrigley Field was and is today legendary. One fun fact about Wrigley Field is that this field was the first to allow fans to keep a foul ball knocked into the stands. This act of generosity immediately became part of the baseball experience in all stadiums and of course still continues today. It was also the first to have a permanent concession stand (can you imagine baseball without hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn).
The Sodfather
Unfortunately, over the decades Wrigley Field itself became damaged almost to the point of disrepair. After countless games, concerts and other events, the field needed a world class replacement- enter the Sodfather Roger Bossard.
Read About the Restoration Process
Roger Bossard was asked to come on board and completely restore Wrigley Field. Beyond the typical field maintenance, the construction, planning and engineering that went on is not only extremely complicated, but fascinating as well. For those interested in how a world class ballpark undergoes a complete restoration Smithsonian Magazine offers an intriguing article. To read this article, please visit our main website at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment