document_title: Wrigley Field

question_text: how close is wrigley field to lake michigan

question_tokens: how close is wrigley field to lake michigan

text: Wrigley Field

text: History[edit]

text: Baseball executive Charles Weeghman hired his architect Zachary Taylor Davis to design the park, which was ready for baseball by the date of the home opener on April 23, 1914.[6] The original tenants, the Chicago Whales (also called the Chi-Feds) came in second in the Federal League rankings in 1914 and won the league championship in 1915.

text: In late 1915, Weeghman's 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.[7] Weeghman immediately moved the Cubs from the dilapidated West Side Grounds to his two-year-old park.

text: In 1918, Wrigley acquired the controlling interest in the club.[8] In November 1926, he renamed the park "Wrigley Field".[9]  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.[8]

text: Renovation[edit]

text: The Ricketts family aggressively pursued a Wrigley Field renovation since buying the team and the stadium in 2009. During the annual Cubs Convention in January 2013 the family revealed the 1060 Project which called for a $575-million, privately funded rehabilitation of the stadium that was to be completed over the course of five years.[10] The proposal was vast, and included planned improvements to, among other things, the stadium's facade, infrastructure, restrooms, concourses, suites, press box, moving the bullpens and clubhouses, as well as the addition of restaurants, patio areas, batting tunnels, a 5,700-square-foot jumbotron, and an adjacent hotel, plaza, and office-retail complex.[11]

text: After months of negotiations between the team, local Alderman Tom Tunney, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the plan obtained the endorsements of both the city's Landmarks Commission and Plan Commission before receiving final approval by the Chicago City Council in July 2013. To help fund the project, the team planned to more than double the amount of advertising signage in and around the stadium to about 51,000 square feet, including additional signage to be placed beyond the outfield walls – a move that was opposed by many owners of the rooftop clubs that surround the stadium who worried that such signage would obstruct their sightlines.[12][13] Before work on the project began, the team wanted the rooftop owners to agree not to pursue legal action challenging the construction and continued to negotiate privately with them – offering to reduce the size and number of signs to be built – in order to gain their assent.[14]  The team could not come to terms with the rooftop owners who had a lease agreement with the team until 2023 in exchange for paying 17% of the gross revenues. In May 2014 the Cubs announced they would pursue the original 2013 plan to modify the park.[15] Over the course of the next three years, the Ricketts family began to purchase many of the rooftop locations.[16]

text: Ongoing renovation[edit]

text: The "1060 Project – Phase One" started Monday, September 29, 2014. During the off-season, the bleachers in both outfields were expanded and the stadium's footprint was extended further onto both Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. A 3,990 sq ft (370 m2) Jumbotron scoreboard was added to the left field bleachers.  It is topped with a sign advertising Wintrust Financial, a Rosemont-based bank and a Cubs Legacy Partner; the "W" in Wintrust flashes after every Cubs win. A 2,400 sq ft (220 m2) video scoreboard was also added in the right field bleachers, and the parking lots along Clark Street were excavated for future underground players' locker rooms and lounges.[17][18]

text: After the close of the extended 2015 season, work began on "Phase Two" of the project. The area just west of the stadium was converted into an underground 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) players locker room and strength/conditioning/training and hydrotherapy sections, players lounges, a media center, and team offices. The previous clubhouse space was utilized to enlarge the dugout and add two underground batting cages, an auditorium, and more team office space. A new "Third Base Club" next to the batting tunnels and a "Home Plate Club" was introduced behind home plate and a new 30,000 square foot concessions preparation and staging area was constructed below the new Triangle Plaza. All seats, from the left field foul pole to the main gate, were replaced. An upper-deck exposed concourse was added along the south and west roof-line of right field.  Bathroom facilities and concessions were improved throughout the park.[19]

text: Exterior renovations of the park seek to restore design elements present before the 1960s.  These details include ornamental muted-green grill-work and red terra cotta roofing.[20]

text: Phase Three of the 1060 Project was completed before the start of the 2017 season. The left and right field bullpens were relocated to enclosed areas under the bleachers, the brick walls were extended toward the field and new seating was added in the vacated bullpen areas. A visiting team "batting tunnel" was added. Partial facade replacement and concourse restoration was completed along Addison Avenue along with structural improvements to the right field bleachers. The outfield turf was replaced just weeks before the start of the season. The Cubs Plaza building just to the west of Wrigley was finalized and the Park at Wrigley, the area above Cubs players dressing rooms, was in use for fans before and during games.[21] Construction of Hotel Zachary along the west side of Clark street was ongoing.[22]

text: The fourth phase of improvements began at the conclusion of the 2017 season. The dugouts have been moved further down the left and right field foul lines to make room for two of the four new luxury clubs.[23] The seating area behind home plate was reconstructed to locate another of the new clubs. The final upper level club is planned for the 2019 season.[24] The Hotel Zachary, just across Clark street, was open for business in time for the Cubs first home game on April 9, 2018.[25]

text: Firsts since renovation[edit]

text:
On May 26, 2015, Cubs rookie third baseman Kris Bryant was the first to hit the new left field videoscreen with his 477-foot (145 m) home run.[26]
On October 13, the Cubs clinched a playoff series at home in Wrigley Field for the first time in franchise history with a 6–4 victory in game four of the 2015 NLDS. After Anthony Rizzo hit what would be the game-winning and series winning home run in the 6th inning, Kyle Schwarber's 7th inning insurance home run ball landed on top of the right field scoreboard.  The ball was left in place, encased in clear Plexiglas to protect it from the elements.[27]

text: 100th Anniversary[edit]

text: During the 2014 season, the Cubs celebrated the centennial of Wrigley Field throughout the season. Each decade was represented during ten homestands throughout the season. The April 23rd game, the 100th Anniversary, featured the Cubs playing the Arizona Diamondbacks in a throw back game. Each team represented one of the teams which played in the inaugural game at the stadium. The Cubs wore the uniforms of the Chicago Whales (Federals), the original occupants of the stadium and Diamondbacks wore uniforms representing the Kansas City Packers, whom the Federals played on April 23, 1914.

text: Features[edit]

text: Wrigley Field follows the jewel box design of ballparks that was popular in the early part of the 20th century. The two recessed wall areas, or "wells", located both in left and right field, give those areas a little more length than if the wall were to follow the contour from center field. It is also in those wells, when cross winds are blowing, that balls have a habit of bouncing in all directions. In addition, there is a long chain-link fence strip running the entire length of the outfield wall, the base of which is about two feet down from the top of the wall and the top of which projects out at an angle, primarily used to keep fans from falling out of the bleacher area and onto the field of play, which is about seven to ten feet below the top of the wall. Called "The basket",[28] by players and fans alike, the rules of the field state that any ball landing within the basket is ruled a home run, making the distance to hit a home run in Wrigley Field actually shorter than the location of the outfield wall.

text: Ivy-covered outfield walls[edit]

text:
External video

 Bleacher Bums (Part 1, 1984), WTTW - Channel 11, the play Bleacher Bums with Dennis Franz and Joe Mantegna[29]

text: The ballpark is famous for its outfield walls which are covered by ivy.[30] 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.  In the autumn, generally during post-season, the ivy turns red.[31] On April 7, 2013, Total Pro Sports voted Wrigley Field the "Best Place to Catch a Game in 2013," owing the award primarily to its architecture and ivy-coated fields.[32]

text: In 1937, the stadium was renovated and P. K. Wrigley discussed beautification with then Chicago Cubs President Bill Veeck. Veeck suggested planting ivy on the outfield walls.[33] The ivy was originally English ivy but was later changed to Parthenocissus tricuspidata—what's commonly called, Boston Ivy and Japanese Bittersweet, which can endure the harsh Chicago winters better than its English cousin.[34]  Cuttings from the ivy were sold by local vendors. The Chicago Cubs attempted to grow the ivy on the outside of Wrigley Field as well, but the plantings were often stolen so the Cubs abandoned the plans.[35]

text: Following a later change in Major League Baseball (MLB) rules which requires all outfield walls to be padded, Wrigley Field has been grandfathered into the rules, meaning it is the only MLB stadium without padded walls because of the ivy.[33] In 2004, the ivy was specifically included in Wrigley Field's Landmark Designation by the Chicago City Council.[36]

text: Wrigley is now the only professional ballpark with an ivy covered outfield wall. Several now-demolished ballparks featured ivy in the playing area, including Forbes Field, Wrigley Field's namesake in Los Angeles, and Bush Stadium (formerly Perry Stadium) in Indianapolis.[37] Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium, the former home of the College World Series as well as minor league baseball, had an ivy-covered brick wall that was replaced with a padded wall. Some ballparks feature ivy on out-of-play walls, especially as a covering for the batter's eye behind the center field fence.

text: Under the ground rules of Wrigley Field, if a baseball gets into the ivy and gets stuck, the fielder is entitled to raise his arms to signify that the ball is unplayable (even if he can see it in the vines), and the batter is awarded a ground rule double by the umpires; runners can move up only on force plays.[38] However, if the ball becomes dislodged or the fielder reaches into the vines to try and get the ball, it is considered in play and the runners can advance.[39] Although the ivy appears to "pad" the bricks, it is of little practical use in this regard. There have been occasions of fielders being injured when slamming into the wall while pursuing a fly ball.

text: Dimensions[edit]

text: The distances from home plate to various points in the outfield have remained essentially unchanged since the bleachers were remodeled during the 1937 season. They were originally marked by wooden numbers cut from plywood, painted white, and placed in gaps where the ivy was not allowed to grow. Since the early 1980s, the numbers have been painted directly on the bricks, in yellow. Although the power-alley dimensions are relatively cozy, the foul lines are currently the deepest in the major leagues.

text: It is 355 feet (108.2 m) to the notch in the wall just beyond the left field foul pole.[40] The point where the bleacher wall begins to curve inward in left-center field, one of the two "wells", is an unmarked 357 feet (108.8 m). The front part of the left-center "well" is the closest point in the outfield, about 360 feet. The marked left-center field distance is 368 feet (112.2 m).[40] It is closer to true center field than its right-center counterpart is. True center field is unmarked and is about 390 feet (118.9 m). The center field marker, which is to the right of true center field and in the middle of the quarter-circle defining the center field area, is 400 feet (121.9 m) and is the deepest point in the outfield. Right-center field is 368 feet (112.2 m), the notch of the right-center "well" is an unmarked 363 feet (110.6 m), and the right field foul line is 353 feet (107.6 m). The backstop is listed in media sources as 60.5 feet (18.4 m) behind home plate. Although that distance is standard, the relatively small foul ground area in general gives an advantage to batters.

text: Rooftop seats[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: When the Wrigley Field was constructed in 1914, the buildings along Waveland and Sheffield avenues gave spectators a view of what was going on inside the ballpark. The rooftops were not seen as "big business." They would later become a popular spectator area during the 1929 World Series. The 1938 World Series brought "paying" spectators to the rooftops. Fans sat in lawn chairs and brought their own food and beverages. It was not until the mid 1980s owners began updating the rooftops to have bleacher-style grandstands. The rooftops were also turned into a legitimate business. More businesses began purchasing rooftops around Wrigley Field seeing them as profitable resource. The Sky Box on Sheffield open in 1993. Back then, it catered to corporate groups. Today, it is complete with a two-tier roof deck, indoor clubhouse, fully staffed bars on three levels, and an elevator.[41]

text: In 1998, the city required rooftop owners to have a license and began to regulate the venues. In 2003, relations between rooftop owners and the Cubs worsened when the team put up a large screen to block the view of the rooftops. The screens exemplified what is known as a spite fence. The Cubs then sued most rooftop businesses that year. The Cubs felt that the rooftops were stealing from the team's product and the rooftop owners were "unjustly enriching themselves."[41]

text: In 2004, the building owners agreed to share a portion of their proceeds with the Cubs. Rooftop owners were required to pay the Cubs 17% of their gross revenue. The agreement lasts until 2023.[41][42] The Cubs obtained permission from the city to expand the ballpark's own bleachers out over the sidewalks and do some additional construction on the open area of the property to the west, bordered by Clark and Waveland, and to close the remnant of Seminary Avenue that also existed on the property. The rooftop seats are now effectively part of the ballpark's seating area, although they are not included in the seating capacity figure.

text: In July 2016, R. Marc Hamid, a former rooftop owner was convicted on nine counts of mail fraud and illegal bank structuring.[43] Hamid had been under reporting attendance at the Sky Box on Sheffield from 2008 to 2011. Over those years, Hamid covered up more than $1 million in revenue while also avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and royalties that violated the agreement rooftop owners had with the Cubs. In January 2017, Hamid was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.[44]

text: The owners threatened suit in 2013 when the team announced plans to renovate the ball field and potentially disrupt the sight lines. When the rooftop owners did not agree to a scaled down plan for renovations of Wrigley, the Cubs owners announced, in May 2014, their intentions to implement the original 2013 plan for renovations even if it meant battling the issue in court.  Cubs owner Ricketts said Wrigley has "the worst player facilities in Major League Baseball...I am saying it is the time to invest in Wrigley Field and do the things that our competitors do."[15] By the end of the 2016 season, the Ricketts family had acquired 10 of the rooftop locations and have a financial stake in an 11th.[45]

text: Some of the rooftops became legendary in their own right. The Lakeview Baseball Club, which sits across Sheffield Avenue (right-field) from the stadium displayed a sign that read, "Eamus Catuli!" (roughly Latin for "Let's Go Cubs!"—catuli translating to "whelps", the nearest Latin equivalent), flanked by a counter indicating the Cubs' long legacy of futility. The counter was labeled "AC", for "Anno Catulorum", or "In the Year of the Cubs". Prior to the team's 2016 championship, it read AC0871108, with the first two digits indicating the number of years since the Cubs' last division championship as of the end of the previous season (2008), the next two digits indicating the number of years since the Cubs won the National League Pennant (1945), and the last three digits indicating the number of years since their last World Series win (1908). After winning the World Series in 2016, the sign was updated to AC0000000.

text: Seating capacity[edit]

text:
Years

Capacity

1914

14,000

1915–1922

15,000

1923–1926

20,000

1927

38,396

1928–1937

40,000

1938

38,396

1939–1940

38,000

1941–1948

38,396

1949–1950

38,690

1951–1964

36,755

1965–1971

36,644

1972

37,702

1973–1981

37,741

1982–1985

37,272

1986

38,040

1987–1988

38,143

1989

39,600

Years

Capacity

1990–1993

38,711

1994–1997

38,765

1998–2000

38,884

2001

39,059

2002–2003

39,111

2004

39,345

2005

39,538

2006

41,118

2007–2008

41,160

2009–2010

41,210

2011

41,159[46]

2012

41,009[47]

2013

41,019[48]

2014

41,072[49]

2015

40,929[50]

2016

41,268[51]

2017–present

41,649[1]

text: Attendance records[edit]

text:
41,688 – July 12, 2015 high mark after bleacher renovation
42,411 – Games 3 & 4 of the 2015 NLDS[52][53]
42,445 - Game 3 of the 2017 NLDS[54]

text: Unusual wind patterns[edit]

text: In April and May the wind often comes off Lake Michigan (less than a mile to the east), which means a northeast wind "blowing in" to knock down potential home runs and turn them into outs. In the summer, however, or on any warm and breezy day, the wind often comes from the south and the southwest, which means the wind is "blowing out" and has the potential to turn normally harmless fly balls into home runs. A third variety is the cross-wind, which typically runs from the left field corner to the right field corner and causes all sorts of havoc. Depending on the direction of the wind, Wrigley can either be one of the friendliest parks in the major leagues for pitchers or among the worst. This makes Wrigley one of the most unpredictable parks in the Major Leagues.

text: 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.

text: With the wind blowing in, pitchers can dominate and no-hitters have resulted. The last two by a Cubs pitcher occurred near the beginning and the end of the 1972 season, by Burt Hooton and Milt Pappas respectively; not until Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies no-hit the Cubs in 2015 would another no-hitter be pitched at Wrigley. In the seventh inning of Ken Holtzman's first no-hitter, on August 19, 1969, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit a ball that looked headed for the bleachers, but the wind caught it just enough for left fielder Billy Williams to leap up and snare it.

text: 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 Avenue several times. Glenallen Hill put one on a rooftop.[55] 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.[56]

text: 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.

text: No batter has ever hit the center field scoreboard. However, it has been hit by a golf ball hit by Sam Snead using a two iron.[57]

text: 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.

text: Hand-turned scoreboard[edit]

text:
Along with Fenway Park's scoreboard and AT&T Park's out of town scoreboard, Wrigley is one of the last parks to maintain a hand-turned scoreboard. Unlike the home of the Red Sox, the scoreboard at Wrigley is mounted above the centerfield bleachers, rather than at ground level, making it harder to hit during play. No players have hit the current scoreboard, although several have come close. The scoreboard was installed in 1937, when Bill Veeck installed the new bleachers.[58] The scoreboard has remained in place ever since, and it has only seen minor modifications. The clock was added in 1941,[58] a fifth row of scores was added to each side in 1961; by 1969, a sixth. A set of light stands facing onto the scoreboard was added in 1988 with the introduction of night games.
The centerfield bleacher scoreboard is still manually operated,[58] with scores coming in through a computer (a ticker tape machine was used in the past); a number turner watches the score changes closely and updates scores by manually replacing the numbers from within the scoreboard. The scoreboard is made of sheet steel. The numbers that are placed into the inning windows are also steel, painted forest green, and numbered with white numerals. The box for the game playing at Wrigley uses yellow numerals for the current inning. The clock, which sits at the top center of the scoreboard, has never lost time in its 78-year existence. Standing over the clock are three flagpoles, one for each division in the National League. There are 15 flags, one for each National League team, and their order on the flagpoles reflects the current standings. The entrance to the scoreboard is a trap-door on the bottom. On the reverse of the scoreboard, visible from the CTA elevated trains, is a blue pennant, with the words "Chicago Cubs", in white outlined in red neon. The scoreboard was extensively rehabilitated for the 2010 season.

text: In 2010, the Cubs toyed with the idea of adding a video screen to the stadium, but the hand-turned scoreboard cannot be moved due to the park's landmark status. The landmark status also prohibits even simple facelifts such as adding two more games on either side (there are 15 teams in both the National and American leagues) of the 12-game, 24-team scoreboard (reflecting MLB from 1969 to 1976), so up to three games (1 NL, 1 AL, and the interleague) each day cannot be posted.[59] Those games may eventually be part of the auxiliary video board currently on the right field that may also be added in left field. Most Cubs players support the concept of a video board, and work on two additional scoreboards began at the end of the 2014 season.[60]

text: It was announced March 21, 2013, that Alderman Tom Tunney wanted to demolish the scoreboard to clear the view for nearby residents, who watch games from their rooftops. "Demolishing the landmark old scoreboard has never been part of any plan discussed or envisioned by the Ricketts family," said Dennis Culloton, a spokesman for Tom Ricketts, the Cubs chairman.[61]

text: To date, there is a third generation scoreboard operator whose grandfather began working in the hand-turned scoreboard at its inception.

text: Main entry marquee[edit]

text: Directly over the main entrance to the stadium stands the most familiar icon of the exterior of the ballpark: a large red art deco-style marquee, with "Wrigley Field, Home of Chicago Cubs" painted in white. The marquee was installed around 1934.

text: It was originally painted blue, and had changeable letters — similar to the scoreboard — to announce upcoming games. It read "Home of the Cubs", a legend that was replaced with "Home of Chicago Cubs" by 1939. (In years when the Bears played there, the sign was changed appropriately during football season.[citation needed]) On March 23, 1960, the Cubs repainted it red.[62]

text: In 1982, a two-line announcement board was replaced with an electronic LED message board and a backlit advertising panel was added below (this is now solid red). The marquee uses red neon lights at night, showing the familiar "Wrigley Field" in red, with the rest of the sign is in darkness. A Budweiser Beer slogan was on the lower panel in the early 1980s about the time when the team added the LED signage. Past and present owners of the park have used the marquee in some way as the park's trademark of sorts: the CTA Addison street platform that serves Wrigley Field uses an image of the marquee, painted on walls to announce the destination. The marquee was painted purple and featured an Allstate Insurance logo for the Northwestern Wildcats who played as the home team against the Illinois Fighting Illini in a Big Ten football game in November 2010.

text: In 2015, a Toyota emblem was placed on the lower panel just below the LED sign on the marquee; previously, the area was used for logos of transient corporate sponsors and team initiatives. Toyota is one of the team's "Legacy Partners" and beginning with the 2016 season will display other signage in and around the park, including branding on all Wrigley Field parking lots.[65]

text: The marquee was temporarily removed and restored for the 2016 season, including new paint, a new LED display board, and new neon lights.[66] The back of the sign was given a new green paint job as well, which can now be seen from the inside the terrace level.[67]

text: Lights[edit]

text: The Cubs were a hold-out against night games for decades, not installing lights at Wrigley until 1988 (after baseball officials announced that the park would be prohibited from hosting any future post-season games without lights).[68] Before then, all games at Wrigley were played during the day. Night games are still limited in number by agreement with the city council. In 1942, then-owner Philip K. Wrigley had planned to install lights, but instead, the lights and stands were scrapped for the World War II effort. In the late 1980s, however, Cubs management insisted that the team was in danger of leaving Wrigley if lights weren't installed,[69] and Major League Baseball threatened to make the Cubs play postseason "home" games at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.[57]

text: The 1984 World Series was scheduled to start in the National League park. But Major League Baseball actually had a contingency plan to instead start the World Series in the American League park in the event that the Chicago Cubs won the NLCS against the San Diego Padres. This would have allowed the Wrigley Field-hosted (i.e. daytime) games to be held over the weekend. In return, only one prime time game (Game 3 on Friday) would have been lost. Wrigley Field wouldn't have lights installed until four years later. To put things in proper perspective, had the Cubs advanced to the Series instead of the Padres, the Detroit Tigers would have hosted Games 1–2, and 6–7 (on Tuesday and Wednesday nights), while the Cubs would have hosted Games 3–5 (on Friday, Saturday and Sunday), with all three games in Chicago starting no later than 1:30 p.m. Central Time. Since the Padres wound up winning the 1984 NLCS, these plans proved moot. Additionally, had the Cubs won, it would have meant that the World Series would start in the AL city for three consecutive years (between 1983 in Baltimore and 1985 in Kansas City); this became a possibility when home-field advantage was awarded through the All-Star Game beginning in 2003.

text: 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 3½ innings,[68] and the first official night game took place the following evening against the New York Mets, a game which the Cubs won 6-4.[68]

text: The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League's first All-Star Game during the 1943 midseason, was played under temporary lights at Wrigley Field, between two teams composed of South Bend Blue Sox and Rockford Peaches players versus Kenosha Comets and Racine Belles players. It was also the first night game ever played in the historic ballpark (July 1, 1943).

text: Stadium usage[edit]

text: Baseball[edit]

text: Weeghman Park's first tenant was the Federal League team, the Chicago Whales, from 1914 to 1915. Weeghman Park / Cubs Park / Wrigley Field has served as the home baseball park for Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs franchise since 1916.

text: Football[edit]

text: The Chicago Bears of the National Football League played at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970 before relocating to Soldier Field. The team had transferred from Decatur, and retained the name "Staleys" for the 1921 season. They renamed themselves the "Bears" in order to identify with the baseball team, a common practice in the NFL in those days. Wrigley Field once held the record for the most NFL games played in a single stadium with 365 regular season NFL games, but this record was surpassed in September 2003 by Giants Stadium in New Jersey, thanks to its dual-occupancy by the New York Giants and New York Jets. The game played between the Jets and Miami Dolphins on September 14, 2003 was the 366th regular season NFL game at Giants Stadium breaking Wrigley's regular season record.[35] The 50 seasons the Bears spent at Wrigley Field had been an NFL record until 2006 when Lambeau Field duplicated this feat by hosting the Green Bay Packers for the 50th season, and broke it in 2007.

text: Initially the Bears worked with the stands that were there. Eventually they acquired a large, portable bleacher section that spanned the right and center field areas and covered most of the existing bleacher seating and part of the right field corner seating. This "East Stand" raised Wrigley's football capacity to about 47,000, or a net gain of perhaps 9,000 seats over normal capacity. After the Bears left, this structure would live on for several years as the "North Stand" at Soldier Field, until it was replaced by permanent seating.

text: The football field ran north-to-south, i.e. from left field to the foul side of first base. The remodeling of the bleachers made for a very tight fit for the gridiron. In fact, the corner of the south end zone was literally in the visiting baseball team's dugout, which was filled with pads for safety, and required a special ground rule that sliced off that corner of the end zone. The end zone was also shorter than the north, as the south end zone was eight yards, compared to the regulation 10 yards.[70] One corner of the north end line ran just inches short of the left field wall. There is a legend that Bronko Nagurski, the great Bears fullback, steamrolled through the line, head down, and ran all the way through that end zone, smacking his leather-helmeted head on the bricks. He went back to the bench and told Coach "Papa Bear" George Halas, "That last guy gave me quite a lick!" That kind of incident prompted the Bears to hang some padding in front of the wall.

text: The Bears are second only to the Packers in total NFL championships, and all but one of those (their only Super Bowl championship) came during their tenure at Wrigley. After a half-century, they found themselves compelled to move, because the NFL wanted every one of its stadiums to seat at least 50,000 as a result of the AFL–NFL merger. The Bears had one experimental game at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) on the Northwestern University campus in 1970, but otherwise continued at Wrigley until their transfer to the lakefront ended their five-decades run on the north side. One remnant of the Bears' time at Wrigley was uncovered during the off-season 2007–2008 rebuilding of the playing field: the foundations for the goal posts. Five NFL championship games were played at Wrigley Field; 1933, 1937, 1941, 1943 and 1963. Coupled with the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League called Wrigley Field home from 1931-1938. Born on the South Side of Chicago, the Cardinals also played their home games at Normal Park, Comiskey Park, and Soldier Field.

text: The Northwestern Wildcats and the Illinois Fighting Illini played a college football game at Wrigley Field on November 20, 2010. It was the first football game at Wrigley Field since 1970 and the first collegiate football game at Wrigley Field since 1938 when the DePaul Blue Demons played its regular games at Wrigley.[71]  The field used an east–west field configuration (third base to right field).  In order to keep the playing field at regulation size, the safety clearances for each end zone to the walls in the field were considerably less than normal.  In particular, the east (right field) end zone came under scrutiny as its end zone was wedged extremely close to the right field wall (as close as one foot in some areas), forcing the goal posts to be hung from the right field wall in order to fit.  Despite extra padding provided in these locations, it was decided that all offensive plays for both teams play to the west end zone, where there was more safety clearance. The east end zone could still be used on defensive and special teams touchdowns, as well as defensive safeties; and, in fact, there was one interception run back for an eastbound touchdown.[72]  Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said that as late as three days before the game, he had only been apprised that the situation wasn't "anything other than tight."  When he had a chance to fully vet the situation, however, he concluded that the space surrounding the east end zone was smaller than the minimum of six feet stipulated in NCAA rules, and it would have been too great of a risk to allow offensive plays to be run toward that end zone.[73]  The Fighting Illini won the game 48-27 taking home the Land of Lincoln Trophy, which was introduced in 2009.

text: The Wildcats intend to return in 2020 against Wisconsin, but will return to the classic Bears configuration.  A 2017-18 reconfiguration of the dugouts will allow the field to be played to a full south end zone.

text: Soccer[edit]

text: The Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League (NASL) used Wrigley, along with Comiskey Park, for their home matches during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Sting hosted the San Diego Sockers on August 25, 1979 at Wrigley when the Bears were using Soldier Field.[74] Unlike the Bears' American football layout, the soccer pitch ran east-to-west, from right field to the foul territory on the third-base side.[75] Soccer returned to Wrigley Field in July 2012, when Italian club A.S. Roma played Poland's Zaglebie Lubin in a friendly match.[76]

text:
Date

Winning Team

Result

Losing Team

Tournament

Spectators

July 22, 2012
 A.S. Roma
4–0
 Zaglebie Lubin
Friendly
22,181

text: Hockey[edit]

text: On January 1, 2009, the National Hockey League played its 2009 Winter Classic in The Friendly Confines pitting two "Original Six" teams – the host Chicago Blackhawks and the visiting Detroit Red Wings – in an outdoor ice hockey game. The rink ran across the field from first base to third base with second base being covered by roughly the center of the rink. The attendance for this game was 40,818. The Red Wings won 6–4.[77]

text: Concerts[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Since 2005, Wrigley Field has been opened on a limited basis to popular concerts, not without some controversy.[78]  Local neighborhood groups[who?] have expressed concerns about the impact of concert crowds and noise on the surrounding residential neighborhood, particularly in 2009 when three concerts were added to the schedule, one conflicting with an annual neighborhood festival.

text: List of concerts at Wrigley Field[79]

text:
Date

Artist

Opening act(s)

Tour / Concert name

Attendance

Revenue

Notes

September 4, 2005
Jimmy Buffett
—
A Salty Piece of Land Tour
78,755 / 78,755
$7,897,550
These shows were his first ever at the ballpark and were captured on DVD with the release "Live in Wrigley Field."[80]

September 5, 2005

July 5, 2007
The Police
Fiction Plane
The Police Reunion Tour
79,458 / 79,458
$9,494,248

July 6, 2007

July 16, 2009
Elton JohnBilly Joel
Billie Joe Armstrong
Face to Face 2009
77,520 / 77,520
$11,154,840

July 18, 2009
Rascal Flatts
Dierks BentleyDarius Rucker
American Living Unstoppable Tour
36,500 / 36,500
$2,512,250
The first country music group to play the ballpark.[81]

July 21, 2009
Elton JohnBilly Joel
—
Face to Face 2009
[a]
[a]

September 17, 2010
Dave Matthews Band
Jason Mraz
Summer 2010 Tour
78,302 / 78,302
$5,942,991

September 18, 2010
This show was recorded for the album "Live at Wrigley Field".

July 31, 2011
Paul McCartney
DJ Chris Holmes
On the Run
83,988 / 83,988
$10,929,728
This was his first visit to Chicago since 2005.

August 1, 2011

June 8, 2012
Roger Waters
—
The Wall Live
36,881 / 36,881
$4,388,860

June 9, 2012
Brad Paisley
Miranda LambertChris YoungThe Band PerryJerrod Niemann
Virtual Reality World Tour
37,889 / 37,889
$3,012,600

September 7, 2012
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
—
Wrecking Ball World Tour
84,218 / 84,218
$7,090,141
Eddie Vedder was the special guest.

September 8, 2012

July 19, 2013
Pearl Jam
—
Lightning Bolt Tour
—
—
The show became the fastest concert to sell-out at Wrigley Field.[82] The show was interrupted for more than two hours due to the threat of lightning.[83]

July 20, 2013
Jason Aldean
Miranda LambertThomas RhettJake OwenDeeJay Silver
2013 Night Train Tour
39,846 / 39,846
$3,111,156
Footage from this show was featured in a live concert DVD entitled 'Night Train to Georgia'.[84] Kelly Clarkson was the special guest.

July 18, 2014
Billy Joel
Gavin DeGraw
Billy Joel in Concert
41,957 / 41,957
$4,668,557

July 19, 2014
Blake Shelton
The Band PerryDan + ShayNeal McCoy
2014 Ten Times Crazier Tour
40,912 / 40,912
$2,697,990
This was his first stadium show at the ballpark.

September 13, 2014
Zac Brown Band
—
The Great American Road Trip Tour
37,467 / 41,495
$2,906,949

August 27, 2015
Billy Joel
Gavin DeGraw
Billy Joel in Concert
41,183 / 41,183
$4,521,252

August 29, 2015
Foo Fighters
Cheap TrickNaked RaygunUrge Overkill
Sonic Highways World Tour
40,788 / 40,788
$2,501,510
Cheap Trick and Urge Overkill were special guests.[85]

September 11, 2015
Zac Brown Band
—
Jekyll and Hyde Tour
40,039 / 40,162
$2,836,616

September 15, 2015
AC/DC
Vintage Trouble
Rock or Bust World Tour
29,732 / 29,732
$3,024,480

June 24, 2016
Phish
—
2016 Summer Tour
83,588 / 84,356
$4,761,063
These shows were webcast via Live Phish. During the second show, Happy Birthday was played for Phish tour manager Richard Glasgow.[86]

June 25, 2016

June 30, 2016
James Taylor
Jackson Browne
Before This World Tour
39,441 / 40,624
$3,951,938

August 20, 2016
Pearl Jam
—
2016 North America Tour
83,478 / 84,951
$5,712,625
At their second show, Dennis Rodman was the special guest.[87][88][89][90]

August 22, 2016

August 26, 2016
Billy Joel
—
Billy Joel in Concert
41,997 / 41,997
$4,876,038

August 27, 2016
Luke Bryan
Little Big TownDustin LynchDJ Rock
Kill the Lights Tour
41,819 / 41,819
$4,457,358

June 29, 2017
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Chris Stapleton
40th Anniversary Tour
40,345 / 40,345
$4,169,953

June 30, 2017
Dead & Company
—
Dead & Company Summer Tour 2017
79,489 / 86,856
$6,357,746
The July 1 show set the attendance record for the most tickets sold for a single concert at Wrigley Field, with 43,600 sold.[91]

July 1, 2017

July 15, 2017
Jimmy Buffett
Huey Lewis and the News
I Don't Know Tour 2017
41,788 / 42,309
$4,211,407

July 17, 2017
James Taylor
Bonnie Raitt
2017 US Summer Tour
28,890 / 41,688
$2,380,017

August 11, 2017
Billy Joel
—
Billy Joel in Concert
41,920 / 41,920
$4,694,156

August 12, 2017
Florida Georgia Line
Backstreet BoysNellyChris Lane
Smooth Tour
42,387 / 42,387
$3,387,468

August 24, 2017
Green Day
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Revolution Radio Tour
32,491 / 42,442
$1,901,635
[92]

August 25, 2017
Lady Gaga
DJ White Shadow
Joanne World Tour
41,847 / 41,847
$5,213,820
First female performer to headline at the ballpark.[93][94]

August 26, 2017
Zac Brown Band
Hunter Hayes
Welcome Home Tour
40,603 / 42,196
$3,269,267

July 14, 2018
Def LeppardJourney
TBA
Def Leppard & Journey 2018 Tour
TBA
TBA

July 29, 2018
Foo Fighters
TBA
Concrete and Gold Tour
76,299 / 76,299
$6,490,979

July 30, 2018

August 18, 2018
Pearl Jam
—
Pearl Jam 2018 Tour
TBA
TBA

August 20, 2018

September 1, 2018
Luke Bryan
Sam HuntJon PardiMorgan Wallen
What Makes You Country Tour
TBA
TBA

September 7, 2018
Billy Joel
—
Billy Joel in Concert
TBA
TBA

September 8, 2018
Fall Out Boy
Rise AgainstMachine Gun Kelly
Mania Tour
TBA
TBA

text: Traditions and mainstays[edit]

text: Corporate sponsorship[edit]

text: Wrigley Field shares its name with the Wrigley Company, as the park was named for its then-owner, William Wrigley Jr., the CEO of the Wrigley Company. As early as the 1920s, before the park became officially known as Wrigley Field, the scoreboard was topped by the elf-like "Doublemint Twins", posed as a pitcher and a batter. There were also ads painted on the bare right field wall early in the ballpark's history, prior to the 1923 remodeling which put bleachers there. After that, the Doublemint elves were the only visible in-park advertising. The elves were removed permanently in 1937 when the bleachers and scoreboard were rebuilt. It would be about 44 years before in-park advertising would reappear.

text: Ironically given the roots of its name, Wrigley Field had been a notable exception to the trend of selling corporate naming rights to sporting venues. The Tribune Company, owners of the park from 1981 to 2009, chose not to rename the ballpark, utilizing other ways to bring corporate sponsorship into the ballpark. During the mid-1980s, Anheuser-Busch placed Budweiser and Bud Light advertisements beneath the center field scoreboard. Bud Light became the sponsor of the rebuilt bleachers in 2006.

text: In the early 2000s, following the trend of many ballparks, a green-screen chroma key board was installed behind home plate, in the line of sight of the center field TV camera, to allow electronic "rotating" advertisements visible only to the TV audiences. By 2006, the board was set up to allow advertisements to be both physical and electronic (thus they can be seen in both live and replay shots).

text: In 2007, the first on-field advertising appeared since the park's early days. Sporting goods firm Under Armour placed its logo on the double-doors between the ivy on the outfield wall, in left-center and right-center fields. Advertisements were also placed in the dugouts, originally for Sears department stores, then Walter E. Smithe furniture and now State Farm insurance.

text: 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.[95]

text: For the 2009 season, the Cubs announced that the renovated restaurant space in the southeast corner of Wrigley Field, formerly known as the Friendly Confines Cafe, will be renamed the Captain Morgan Club.[96]

text: On October 27, 2009, Thomas S. Ricketts officially took over 95% ownership of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and 20% ownership of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The Tribune will retain 5% ownership.[97] Ricketts, however, has expressed no interest in selling the naming rights to Wrigley Field, preferring that it retain the name it has used since 1926.

text: Outside venues[edit]

text: Corporate sponsorship has not been limited to the park itself. Wrigley Field is famous for its view of the neighborhood buildings across Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. In addition to spectators standing or sitting on the apartment roofs, corporate sponsors have frequently taken advantage of those locations as well. In the earliest days of Weeghman Park, one building across Sheffield Avenue advertised a local hangout known as Bismarck Gardens (later called the Marigold Gardens after World War I). That same building has since advertised for the Torco Oil Company, Southwest Airlines, the Miller Brewing Company, and Gilbert's Craft Sausages.

text: A building across from deep right-center field was topped by a neon sign for Baby Ruth candy beginning in the mid-1930s and running for some 40 years. That placement by the Chicago-based Curtiss Candy Company, coincidentally positioned in the line of sight of "Babe Ruth's called shot", proved fortuitous when games began to be televised in the 1940s—the sign was also in the line of sight of the ground level camera behind and to the left of home plate. The aging sign was eventually removed in the early 1970s.

text: Another long-standing venue for a sign is the sloping roof of a building behind left-center field. Unsuitable for the bleachers that now decorate many of those buildings, that building's angling roof has been painted in the form of a large billboard since at least the 1940s. In recent years it has borne a bright-red Budweiser sign 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.

text: Legacy Partners[edit]

text: In January 2013 the Ricketts family launched "Legacy Partners," a marketing effort to sell new kinds of advertising in and around renovated Wrigley Field. In conjunction with the new W Partners,[98] the Cubs entered into 10-year agreements with its largest advertisers.

text:
– Anheuser-Busch
– Starwood Hotels, "Official Hotel of the Chicago Cubs" and a new hotel to be developed across the street from Wrigley Field.
– Under Armour[99]
– ATI Physical Therapy, a national Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation organization[100]
– Wintrust Financial Corporation, a Chicago-based regional bank holding company[101]
– Sloan Valve[102]
– American Airlines[103]
– Nuveen Investments[104]
– Advocate Health Care, the largest health care provider in Illinois.
– Toyota Motor Corporation[105] A permanent position just below the Clark and Addison marquee and other signage in and around the park and Wrigley Field parking lots.[65]
– PepsiCo[106][107]

text: Win flag[edit]

text: Beginning in the days of P.K. Wrigley and the 1937 bleacher/scoreboard reconstruction, a flag with either a "W" or an "L" has flown from atop the scoreboard masthead, indicating the day's result. In case of a doubleheader that is split, both flags are flown.[108]

text: Past Cubs media guides show that the original flags were blue with a white "W" and white with a blue "L", the latter coincidentally suggesting "surrender". In 1978, blue and white lights were mounted atop the scoreboard, to further denote wins and losses.

text: The flags were replaced in the early 1980s, and the color schemes were reversed with the "win flag" being white with a blue W, and the "loss flag" the opposite. In 1982, the retired number of Ernie Banks was flying on a foul pole, as white with blue numbers, in 1987, the retired number of Billy Williams joined Banks, the two flags were positioned from the foul poles, Banks from left field, and Williams from right field.  Later on, the team retired numbers for Ron Santo, Ryne Sandberg, Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux, with Jenkins and Maddux both using the same number (31).

text: Keeping with tradition, fans are known to bring win flags to home and away games, and displaying them after a Cubs win. Flags are also sold at the ballpark. On April 24, 2008, the Cubs flew an extra white flag displaying "10,000" in blue, along with the win flag, as the 10,000th win in team history was achieved on the road the previous night. Alongside the tradition of the "W" and "L" flags, the song "Go Cubs Go" is sung after each home win.  Also, following the 2015 addition of the park's Daktronics video screens, the large "W" in the "Wintrust" logo on the left field video screen is kept on following Cubs' wins.

text: Take Me Out to the Ball Game[edit]

text: The tradition of singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Cubs home games began when Hall of Fame announcer Harry Caray arrived in 1982 (he had sung it the preceding seven years as a broadcaster for the White Sox), and it has remained a Wrigley Field staple. After Caray's death, the tradition of a guest conductor began, with former baseball players, other sports stars, actors, and other celebrities invited to sing during the Seventh Inning Stretch. Among the best-known guests have been former Bears coach Mike Ditka, former Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg, former pitcher Mike Krukow, former longtime Cubs first baseman Mark Grace, former Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady, Chicago Blackhawks forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, comedian Jay Leno, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, singers Ozzy Osbourne and Eddie Vedder, boxer and actor Mr. T, actor and lifelong Cub fan Gary Sinise, actors, Tom Arnold, James Belushi, Bill Murray, WWE wrestler/Chicago native CM Punk, Vince Vaughn, and Illinois-native country music singer Brett Eldredge.

text: Writing on the Wall[edit]

text: During the 2016 postseason, someone wrote a message in chalk on the outer brick wall of the stadium along Waveland and Sheffield avenues. This started a chain reaction and more fans began to write their own messages on the wall. The messages were anything from words of support expressed towards the team or just a name. Chalk covered a majority of the wall, to point where fans had to bring step ladders in order to reach upper spaces for their message.[109] The Cubs themselves encouraged the event by supplying chalk and adding extra security.[110] The event gained both local and national attention, receiving coverage from Fox Sports and The Boston Globe.[111][112]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: Wrigley Field had a brief cameo in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues. In the film, Elwood lists 1060 W. Addison as his fake home address on his Illinois driver's license, tricking the police and later the Illinois Nazis listening on police radio into heading for Wrigley Field. The 1984 film The Natural, starring Robert Redford, had a scene set at Wrigley but was actually filmed at All-High Stadium in Buffalo, New York. All other baseball action scenes in that movie were shot in Buffalo, at the since-demolished War Memorial Stadium.

text: During Cubs games, fans will often stand outside the park on Waveland Avenue, waiting for home run balls hit over the wall and out of the park. However, as a tradition, Cubs fans inside and sometimes even outside the park will promptly throw any home run ball hit by an opposing player back onto the field of play, a ritual depicted in the 1977 stage play Bleacher Bums and in the 1993 film Rookie of the Year.

text: The ballpark was featured in a scene in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, where the outside marquee read "Save Ferris". Many scenes from Rookie of the Year were filmed at Wrigley Field. The director, John Hughes, originally wanted to film at Comiskey Park (he was a White Sox fan) but the team was out of town during filming.  Later, the 2006 film The Break-Up would use Wrigley Field as the setting for its opening scene. An early 1990s film about Babe Ruth had the obligatory scene in Wrigley Field about the "called shot" (the ballpark also doubled as Yankee Stadium for the film). A scoreboard similar to the one existing in 1932 was used, atop an ivy wall (though that did not exist until later in the decade).

text: The ballpark was used for the establishing tryouts scene in A League of Their Own (1992). This film was a Hollywood account of the 1940s women's baseball league which Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley championed during World War II. Garry Marshall (older brother of the film's director Penny Marshall) has a cameo as "Walter Harvey", Wrigley's fictional alter ego. The sign behind the scoreboard was temporarily redone to read "Harvey Field", and filming was split between Wrigley and Cantigny Park near Wheaton, Illinois.

text: Many television series have made featured scenes set in Wrigley Field, including ER, Crime Story, Chicago Hope, Prison Break, Perfect Strangers, My Boys, and Mike & Molly. Also, the animated comedy Family Guy featured a scene at Wrigley Field that parodied the Steve Bartman incident. In an episode of The Simpsons titled "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs", upon arriving in Chicago, Homer walks past a number of famous Chicago landmarks, including Wrigley Field, followed by a generic-looking stadium bearing the name "Wherever the White Sox play". In 2007, the band Nine Inch Nails created a promotional audio skit, which involved Wrigley Field being the target of disgruntled war veteran's terrorist attack.[113]

text: The late-1970s comedy stage play Bleacher Bums was set in the right field bleachers at Wrigley. The video of the play was also set on a stage, with bleachers suggesting Wrigley's layout, rather than in the actual ballpark's bleachers. The tradition of throwing opposition home run balls back was explained by Dennis Franz's character: "If someone hands you some garbage, you have to throw it back at them!"

text: A dog park in the Wrightwood Neighbors section of Lincoln Park is named Wiggly Field (1997).

text: The stadium was also featured on the popular Travel Channel television show Great Hotels, starring Samantha Brown. She attended a game during a visit to Chicago.

text: Chicago folk singer Steve Goodman featured Wrigley Field as the setting for his popular Cubs lament "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request", extolling both the trials of the Cubs and the place Wrigley Field holds in Cub fans' hearts.  After his untimely death from leukemia, Goodman's ashes were in fact scattered at Wrigley Field as described in the lyrics.

text: The Statler Brothers' 1981 song "Don't Wait On Me" referred to a then-implausible situation: "When the lights go on at Wrigley Field". However, after lights were installed, the line was changed to "When they put a dome on Wrigley Field" for their 1989 Live-Sold Out album.[114]

text: A few brief shots of Wrigley Field appear in the 1949 movie It Happens Every Spring. It is also seen on the History Channel's show Life After People.

text: The stadium made a brief appearance in the open for the first episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, with Conan rushing through the turnstiles while running from New York (where his previous show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, was taped) to Los Angeles (where his new show was taped, until his role as host ended on January 22, 2010) and then running onto the field while being chased by Cubs security. The route O'Brien takes is somewhat misleading, as he is shown running south on Michigan Avenue past the Tribune Tower before arriving at Wrigley Field, which is well north of the Tribune Tower.

text: In the movie Category 6: Day of Destruction, a terrorist turns off all the electricity at the stadium for a few minutes to demonstrate how hackers could penetrate city electrical systems.

text: An overgrown Wrigley Field is shown in the new television series Revolution (2012)

text: In episode 9 of season 3 of The Man in the High Castle (TV series) (2015), Wrigley Field makes a short appearance as the home of a fictional soccer team called the Chicago Norsemen who, according to a banner, were "1963 Annual Soccer Champions".

text: On the Sonic Youth live album Smart Bar Chicago 85 the band introduce the final song, 'Making The Nature Scene', as being about 'Tripping on Acid at Wrigley Field'.

text: There is a sociologist and demographer called Elizabeth Wrigley-Field who is currently teaching at Columbia University, N.Y.[115] She has her name from her parents (her mother was a Wrigley, her father a Field) but they called her simply Field, so she had to take legal steps to change her name to Wrigley-Field.[116]

text: Accessibility and transportation[edit]

text: 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 to show the outcome of the game to passengers on passing "L" trains, and also to anyone passing by the park. The basic flag color was once the exact opposite of the colors used today (the rationale being that white is the traditional color for surrender). In addition to rail service, the CTA provides several bus routes which service Wrigley. CTA bus routes #22 Clark, #152 Addison and #154 Wrigley Field Express all provide access to the ballpark. Pace also operates the #282 Schaumburg-Wrigley Field Express from Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and the #779 Yorktown-Wrigley Field Express from Yorktown Shopping Center in Lombard. Biking to the field is also a popular alternative. As Halsted, Addison, and Clark streets all have designated biking lanes, getting to the field via bicycle is a widely used way to avoid hectic pre- and postgame traffic; Wrigley Field offers a complimentary bike check program to accommodate for them. Cyclists may check their bikes up to 2 hours before games at the bike racks off of Waveland Ave, and may pick up their bikes up to one hour after games end.[117]

text: 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 from 2004 until 2011 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 Belmont and Western as part of their agreement with local neighborhood groups. This was not available during the last World Series prior to 2016, in 1945 against the Detroit Tigers, so[118] cars parked as much as a mile away on residential streets and fans walked to Wrigley Field.

text: Commemorative stamps[edit]

text: In 2001, a series of commemorative postage stamps on the subject of baseball parks was issued by the U.S. Postal Service. Most of them were engravings taken from old colorized postcards, including the illustration of Wrigley Field. In the case of Wrigley, the famous scoreboard was sliced off, presumably to hide the original postcard's banner containing the park's name. It may also be observed that the original black-and-white aerial photo, presumably from the 1945 World Series, was taken from nearly the identical spot as the photo of the 1935 Series, allowing a comparison before and after the 1937 alterations to the bleachers. The stamp and its sources also provide a rare look at the center field bleachers filled with spectators, a practice which was later discontinued due to the risk to batters, who might lose the flight of a pitch amidst the white shirts.  This led to the development of darker backgrounds to the pitchers mounds.


document_title: Emerald Buddha

question_text: where is the emerald buddha located and when was it moved to this location

root

text: Emerald Buddha

text: History[edit]

text: Historical sources indicate that the statue surfaced in northern Thailand in the Lanna kingdom in 1434. One account of its discovery tells that lightning struck a chedi in Wat Pa Yia (Bamboo Forest Monastery, later renamed Wat Phra Kaew) in the Chiang Rai, revealing a Buddha covered with stucco inside. The Buddha was then placed in the abbot's residence, who later noticed that stucco on the nose had flaked off, revealing a green interior. The abbot removed all the stucco and found a Buddha image made of a green semi-precious stone, which became known as Phra Kaew Morakot or the Emerald Buddha. "Emerald" here simply means "green coloured" in Thai.[5][6] Some art historians describe the Emerald Buddha as belonging to the Chiang Saen Style of the 15th century AD, which would mean it is of Lanna origin.[citation needed]

tag: p

text: King Sam Fang Kaen of Lanna wanted it in his capital, Chiang Mai, but the elephant carrying it insisted, on three separate occasions, on going instead to Lampang. This was taken as a divine sign, and the Emerald Buddha stayed in Lampang in a specially-built temple (now Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao) for the next 32 years. In 1468, it was moved to Chiang Mai by King Tiloka, where it was kept in a niche in a large stupa called Chedi Luang.[7]

text: The Emerald Buddha remained in Chiang Mai until 1552, when it was taken to Luang Prabang, then the capital of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. Some years earlier, the crown prince of Lan Xang, Setthathirath, had been invited to occupy the vacant throne of Lanna as his mother was the daughter of the king of Chiang Mai who had died without a son.[7] However, Prince Setthathirath also became king of Lan Xang when his father, Photisarath, died. He returned home, taking the revered Buddha figure with him.[citation needed]

text: In 1564, King Setthathirath moved it to Vientiane, which he had made his new capital due to Burmese attacks and where the Buddha image was housed in Haw Phra Kaew.[8] The Buddha image would stay in Vientiane for the next 214 years.[7]

text: In 1779, the Thai General Chao Phraya Chakri put down an insurrection, captured Vientiane and took the Emerald Buddha to Siam. It was installed in a shrine close to Wat Arun in Thonburi, its new capital. Chao Phra Chakri then took over the reins and founded the Chakri Dynasty of Rattanakosin Kingdom. He adopted the title Rama I and shifted his capital across the Menam Chao Phra river to its present location in Bangkok, and constructed the new Grand Palace including Wat Phra Kaew within its compound. Wat Phra Kaew was consecrated in 1784, and the Emerald Buddha was moved with great pomp and pageantry to its current home in the Ubosoth of the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex on 22 March 1784.[2]

text: Legends[edit]

text: The legend of the Emerald Buddha is related in number of sources such as Jinakalamali, Amarakatabuddharupanidana, and in particular Ratanabimbavamsa or The Chronicle of the Emerald Buddha written in Pali by Brahmarājapañña in the 15th century.[9] The story is a mix of fact and fables with some variations to the story.[10] According to the legend, the Emerald Buddha was created in India in 43 BC by a saint in India named Nagasena in the city of Pataliputra (today's Patna). Nagasena was said to have made the Emerald Buddha image made with the help of Hindu god Vishnu and demigod Indra, 500 years after Buddha attained Nirvana. He was said to have predicted that:[2]

text: The image of the Buddha is assuredly going to give to religion the most brilliant importance in five lands, that is in Lankadvipa (Sri Lanka), Ramalakka, Dvaravati, Chieng Mai and Lan Chang (Laos).

text: The legends state that after remaining in Pataliputra for three hundred years, it was taken to Sri Lanka to save it from a civil war. A version of the legend stated that in 457, King Anuruth of Burma sent a mission to Ceylon to ask for Buddhist scriptures and the Emerald Buddha, in order to support Buddhism in his country. These requests were granted, but the ship lost its way in a storm during the return voyage and landed in Cambodia. When the Thais captured Angkor Wat in 1432 (following the ravage of the bubonic plague), the Emerald Buddha was taken to Ayutthaya, Kamphaeng Phet, Laos and finally Chiang Rai, where the ruler of the city hid it until it was found in 1434.[2]

text: The image[edit]

text: The Buddha image is made of a semi-precious green stone,[1] described variously as jade or jasper rather than emerald,[3][11] as "emerald" here refers to its colour rather than the stone.[12] The image has not been analyzed to determine its exact composition or origin.

text: The figure is 19 inches (48 cm) wide at the lap, and 26 inches (66 cm) high.[4] The Buddha is in a seated position, with the right leg resting on the left one, a style that suggest it might have been carved in the late Chiangsaen or Chiangmai school, not much earlier than the fifteenth century A.D. However, the meditation pose of the statue was not popular in Thailand but looks very much like some of the Buddha images of Southern India and Sri Lanka, which led some to suggest an origin in India or Sri Lanka.[7]

text: Seasonal attire[edit]

text: The Emerald Buddha is adorned with three different sets of gold seasonal costume; two were made by Rama I, one for the summer and one for the rainy season, and a third made by Rama III for the winter or cool season.[7] The clothes are changed by the King of Thailand, or another member of the royal family in his stead,[13] in a ceremony at the changing of the seasons – in the 1st Waning of lunar months 4, 8 and 12 (around March, August and November).[14]

text: For the three seasons, the three set of costumes for the Emerald Buddha:[1][14]

text:
Hot season – a stepped, pointed headpiece; a breast pendant; a sash; a number of armlets, bracelets and other items of royal attire. All items are made of enameled gold and embedded with precious and semi-precious stones.
Rainy season – a pointed headpiece of enameled gold studded with sapphires; a gold-embossed monk's robe draped over one shoulder.
Cool season – a gold headpiece studded with diamonds; a jewel-fringed gold-mesh shawl draped over the rainy season attire.

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text: The sets of gold clothing not in use at any given time are kept on display in the nearby Pavilion of Regalia, Royal Decorations and Thai Coins on the grounds of the Grand Palace, where the public may view them.

text: Ceremonies[edit]

text: Early in the Bangkok period, the Emerald Buddha used to be taken out of its temple and paraded in the streets to relieve the city and countryside of various calamities (such as plague and cholera). However, this practice was discontinued during Rama IV's reign as it was feared that the image could get damaged during the procession and also a practical line of thinking that Rama IV, a former monk, held: "Diseases are caused by germs, not by evil spirits or the displeasure of the Buddha".[2]

text: The image also marks the changing of the seasons in Thailand, with the king presiding over the seasonal ceremonies. It is a significant ritual held at this temple three times a year, whereby the dress of the deity is changed at the start of each of the three seasons. The astrological dates for the ritual ceremonies, at the changing of the seasons, followed are in the 1st Waning Moon of Lunar Months 4, 8 and 12 (around March, July and November). Rama I initiated this ritual for the hot season and the rainy season, Rama III introduced the ritual for the winter season.[2][12] The robes, which adorn the image, represent those of monks and the King, depending on the season, a clear indication of highlighting its symbolic role "as Buddha and the King", which role is also enjoined on the Thai King who formally dresses the Emerald Buddha image.[3] The costume change ritual is performed by the Thai king who is the highest master of ceremonies for all Buddhist rites. During the ceremony, the king first climbs up to the pedestal, cleans the image by wiping away any dust, and changes the gold headdress of the Emerald Buddha. The king then worships nearby while an attendant performs the elaborate ritual of changing garments.[14] The king also sprays holy water upon his subjects waiting outside the ordination hall, a privilege previously afforded only to the princes and officials who were attending the ceremony inside the ubosoth.[7]

text: Ceremonies are also performed at the Emerald Buddha temple at other occasions such as the Chakri Day (begun on 6 April 1782), a national holiday to honour founding of the Chakri dynasty. The King and Queen, entourage of the royal family as well as the Prime Minister, officials in the Ministry of Defence, and other government departments, offer prayers at the temple.[2]

text: Images[edit]

text:
Emerald Buddha in rainy season attire

Close-up view

View from outside temple

text: Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emerald Buddha.

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document_title: Partition of Bengal (1905)

question_text: when did the unification of bengal take place

text: Partition of Bengal (1905)

text: Background[edit]

text: The provincial state of Bengal had an area of 189,000 mi2 and a population of nearly 78.5 million. It comprised to West Bengal with a Hindu majority and East Bengal and Assam with a Muslim majority. It included the Hindi-speaking regions of Bihar, the Odia-speaking regions of Odisha as well as the Assamese-speaking region of Assam, making it a huge administrative entity. Moreover, the capital, Calcutta, was also the capital of the entire British India. With the growing efforts of the Indian National Congress to secure the independence of India, Lord Curzon decided to address both these problems by partitioning Bengal into two entities, which would result in a Muslim-majority in the eastern half, and a Hindu-majority in the western half. This he hoped would reduce the administrative pressures and divide the population on religious grounds, quelling the Indian Independence Movement.

text: Partition[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The government announced the idea for partition in January 1904. The idea was opposed by Henry John Stedman Cotton, Chief Commissioner of Assam (1896–1902).

text: The partition was made on 16 October, by Viceroy Curzon. The former province of Bengal was divided into two new provinces "Bengal" (comprising western Bengal as well as the province of Bihar and Orissa) and Eastern Bengal and Assam with Dacca as the capital of the latter.[3] Partition was promoted for administrative reasons since Bengal was geographically as large as France and had a significantly larger population. Curzon stated the eastern region was neglected and under-governed. By splitting the province, an improved administration could be established in the east, where subsequently, the population would benefit from new schools and employment opportunities.

text: The partition was generally supported by the Muslims of East Bengal by both their poor economic conditions in East Bengal and the perceived dominance of the Hindu businessmen and landlords in West Bengal over the governance of Bengal. Most of the factories and mills in Bengal were established in and around Calcutta, while many sources of raw materials for these factories were in East Bengal. Furthermore, most of the educational institutions of the Province were in Calcutta, including the lone university in Bengal.

text: The scars resulting from the partition of Bengal have never completely healed and can still be seen today.

text: Given below is the proclamation of partition:

text: "The Governor-General is pleased to constitute the territories at present under the administration of the Chief Commissioner of Assam to be for the purposes of the Indian Councils Act 1861... a province to which the provisions of that Act touching the making of laws and regulations for the peace and good order of the presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay shall be applicable and to direct that the said province shall be called and known as the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam.... The Governor-General in Council is pleased to specify the sixteenth day of October, 1905 as the period at which the said provisions shall take effect and 15th as the number of councilors whom the Lieutenant-Governor may nominate for his assistance in making laws and regulations. The Governor-General in Council is further pleased to declare and appoint that upon the constitution of the said province of Eastern Bengal and Assam, the districts of Dacca, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Backergunge, Tippera, Noakhali, Chittagong, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Rajashahi, Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Rangpur, Bogra, Pabna, and Malda which now form part of the Bengal Division of the Presidency of Fort William shall cease to be subject to or included within the limits of that Division, and shall thenceforth be subject to and included within the limits of the Lieutenant-Governorship of the province of Eastern Bengal and Assam."

text: The reason behind the partition that was officially announced was that the Bengal province was too large to be administered by a single governor and so it would be partitioned on administrative purpose. The real reason behind the partition was political and not administrative. East Bengal was dominated by the Muslims and West Bengal by the Hindus. Partition was yet another part of the divide and rule policy. The following excerpts from Curzon's letter of 2 February 1905 to St. John Brodrick, Secretary of State for India, give an idea of his aims in partitioning Bengal:

text: "Calcutta is the centre from which the Congress Party is manipulated throughout the whole of Bengal, and indeed the whole of India. Its best wire pullers and its most frothy orators all reside here. The perfection of their machinery, and the tyranny which it enables them to exercise are truly remarkable. They dominate public opinion in Calcutta; they affect the High Court; they frighten the local Government, and they are sometimes not without serious influence on the Government of India. The whole of their activity is directed to creating an agency so powerful that they may one day be able to force a weak government to give them what they desire. Any measure in consequence that would divide the Bengali-speaking population; that would permit independent centres of activity and influence to grow up; that would dethrone Calcutta from its place as the center of successful intrigue, or that would weaken the influence of the lawyer class, who have the entire organisation in their hands, is intensely and hotly resented by them. The outcry will be loud and very fierce, but as a native gentleman said to me – 'my countrymen always howl until a thing is settled; then they accept it'."

text: Political crisis[edit]

text: Partition sparked an extremely major political crisis along religious lines. Hindu resistance exploded as the Indian National Congress began the Swadeshi movement that included boycotting British goods and public institutions, meetings and processions, forming committees, propaganda through press, and diplomatic pressure. Hitherto untouched sections of Indian society participated in these movements, providing base for later movements. Richness of the movement extended to culture, science and literature. Masses were educated for a bolder form of politics and colonial hegemony was undermined. The Muslims in East Bengal hoped that a separate region would give them more control over education and employment, hence, they opposed those movements.[4] Rabindranath Tagore wrote Banglar Mati Banglar Jol as a rallying cry for proponents of annulment of Partition.[5]

text: Opposition to the partition was supported by Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton who had been Chief Commissioner of Assam, but Curzon was not to be moved. Later, Cotton, now Liberal MP for Nottingham East coordinated the successful campaign to oust the first lieutenant- governor of East Bengal, Sir Bampfylde Fuller.

text: Re-unification[edit]

text: Due to these political protests, the two parts of Bengal were reunited on 12 December 1911. A new partition which divided the province on linguistic, rather than religious grounds followed, with the Hindi, Oriya and Assamese areas separated to form separate administrative units: Bihar and Orissa Province was created to the west, and Assam Province to the east. The administrative capital of British India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi as well.

text: Aftermath[edit]

text: In 1909, separate elections were established for Muslims and Hindus. Before this, many members of both communities had advocated national solidarity of all Bengalis. With separate electorates, distinctive political communities developed, with their own political agendas. Muslims, too, dominated the Legislature, due to their overall numerical strength of roughly twenty two to twenty eight million. Nationally, Hindus and Muslims began to demand the creation of two independent states, one to be formed in majority Hindu and one in majority Muslim areas.[6]

text: In 1947, Bengal was partitioned for the second time, solely on religious grounds, as part of the Partition of India following the formation of the nations India and Pakistan.[7] In 1955, East Bengal became East Pakistan, and in 1971 became the independent state of Bangladesh after a successful war of independence with West Pakistan.[8]

text: Significance[edit]

text: The partition left a significant impact on the people of Bengal as well as the political scene of the Indian subcontinent. This event also created a sense of political awareness among the Muslims of East Bengal. To mollify the people of East Bengal, Lord Curzon declared that a university as a center of excellence would be established in Dacca (which would later be named as University of Dhaka) and formed a committee in this regard consisting Khwaja Salimullah, A. K. Fazlul Huq and others. The decision was severely criticised by some Hindu leaders in West Bengal. The most significant impact of this event was greater communal dissonance between the Hindus and Muslims of Bengal.