The home of the Cubs, know as the "Friendly Confines" sits at Clark and Addison in Chicago IL. It was first built in 1914 under the name Weegham Park, for Charles Weegham. The Cubs started to play at the park in 1916, and it was renamed to Cubs Park in 1920. In 1926, it was renamed Wrigley Field in honor of William Wrigley Jr., then the owner. The ivy and grandstand is listed by the city of Chicago as an historic site.
Wrigley Field is the oldest National League park, the second-oldest active major league park (after Boston's Fenway), and the only remaining Federal League park. Wrigley Field is unique among Major League ballparks, as it is the only one without an electronic scoreboard. The iconic scoreboard was constructed in 1937, and until this day, the score by inning and pitchers numbers are changed by hand. In 1988, Wrigley Field was also the last Major League ballpark to have lights installed. Another unique attribute of Wrigley Field is the ivy. The ivy was first planted by Bill Veck in September of 1937.
The Cubs are not the only professional sports team to play at Wrigley Field. Wrigley was the home of the Chicago Bears from 1921 to 1970. Until 2003, Wrigley held the record for most NFL games played in a single stadium with 365 regular season NFL games. The Chicago Sting, the professional soccer team in Chicago from 1974-1985, used Wrigley as their home venue as well as Solider Field and Comiskey Park. The Chicago Blackhawks have never made Wrigley their home, but in 2009, they played one regular season game. This outdoor game, the 2009 NHL Winter Classic, was against the Detroit Redwings, and garnered a crowd of 40,000.
Wrigley Statistics
Distances from Plate
Left field - 355 feet
Left-center - 368 feet
Center field - 400 feet
Right-center - 368 feet
Right field - 353 feet
Plate screen - 60.5 feet
Height of Wall
Bleachers - 11.5 feet
In corners - 15.0 feet
Seating Capacity
41,649
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