Night baseball .281988.29 History of Wrigley Field

wrigleyville under lights during game 6 of 2003 nlcs

the cubs had been run hobby wrigleys, tribune company interested in cubs strictly business. new owners started talking lights , began stirring debate on matter. 1 of p. k. wrigley s stated reasons not installing lights upset neighborhood, , initial negative reaction tribune company s intentions validated p. k. s prediction.

resistance installation of lights not limited lived nearby , opposed lights on practical grounds of bothersome brightness or noise , crowds night games. many cubs fans lived outside wrigleyville opposed idea due fact cubs stance last team resist night baseball point of pride, seen vestige of baseball s heritage pastoral game, played in natural sunlight. cubs fans had fond associations gabby hartnett s famous homer in gloaming, in hartnett hit crucial home run in bottom of ninth of game on verge of being called darkness, helping cubs win 1938 pennant.

the city of chicago had passed ordinance banning night events @ wrigley field, due presence in residential lakeview neighborhood, tribune unable install lights unless ordinance repealed. compromised scheduling significant number of 3:00 starts, typically carried games evening did not require lights games completed within 3 hours or so.

this debate continued several years, , became more intense cubs returned competitiveness during 1980s. when cubs won national league eastern division title in 1984, then-commissioner bowie kuhn announced cubs lose home field advantage should advance world series (home field advantage alternated between champions of national league , american league until 2003), since time world series games played @ night in eastern , central time zones. after winning 2 scheduled home (day) games in national league championship series, cubs lost 3 games in san diego, kuhn s threat became moot. following year, new commissioner peter ueberroth announced because wrigley field had no lights, cubs have play future postseason games @ ballpark, comiskey park, soldier field, or possibly st. louis busch stadium, or milwaukee county stadium. cubs fell out of contention next several years, however, , possibility of playing post-season home games in other cities did not arise.

the cubs, under team president dallas green, changed issue lights or no lights wrigley field or move out of town. typical bluntness, green said, if there no lights in wrigley field, there no wrigley field. green considered shuttering wrigley , playing @ comiskey park tenants of white sox year, in hopes neighborhood feel loss of revenue , down. cubs explored moving several suburban locations, including site adjacent arlington park in arlington heights , in schaumburg. there talk of drastic move involved selling stadium local college depaul university, tear down wrigley field host indoor sports or convert full-time football stadium in hopes of returning football campus. cubs build new ballpark near rosemont horizon (now allstate arena, depaul plays home games currently) in suburban rosemont.

the cubs new stance changed context of debate, adamant opponents of adding lights didn t want see cubs leave suburbs. interestingly, schaumburg officials convinced cubs coming land purchased investors hoping build new ballpark off elgin-o hare expressway west of i-355. when cubs , city of chicago came agreement keep team on north side, site spawned ballpark anyway, field dimensions , shape identical wrigley field, mimicking wells along outfield wall, , dogleg in visitor s dugout along first base line. stadium, alexian field, home (non-affiliated) minor league schaumburg boomers.

in fall of 1987, chicago mayor harold washington proposed compromise ordinance chicago city council allowed cubs install lights, limited number of night games. washington died week after compromise proposed, city approved compromise in february 1988 under interim mayor eugene sawyer. major league baseball responded awarding cubs 1990 all-star game.

lights, bleacher expansion, , exterior ivy

the first major league night game @ wrigley attempted on august 8 against philadelphia phillies, rained out after 3½ innings. during rain delay, several cubs players, imitating scene in recent film hit, bull durham, played slip-and-slide on tarp. 1 source says group included greg maddux, al nipper, les lancaster , jody davis. manager don zimmer not amused, , fined $500 apiece.

the first official night game played following night, august 9 against new york mets (in front of nationally televised audience watching vin scully , joe garagiola call game on nbc), ending streak of 5,687 consecutive home day games. however, not first night game of kind @ wrigley, in 1940s, aagpbl night games played in wrigley field using temporary lighting structures; specifically, all-star game held in july 1943, first night baseball game there, according lowry book , movie league of own.

starting first full season lights, in 1989, part of compromise city, cubs limited 18 night games within 81-game regular season schedule, plus post-season games might have played @ night tv scheduling reasons. timing of lights installation proved fortuitous, cubs reached post-season in 1989. first 2 post-season night games first 2 games of nlcs, on october 4 , 5. lost first game against san francisco giants 11-3, , won second game 9-5.

the cubs post-season appearances since 1988 (as one-game regular-season playoff san francisco in 1998) have featured night games, exceptions (as of 2007) being fourth game of 2003 nlds matchup atlanta braves , third game of 2007 nlds against arizona diamondbacks, both of saturday afternoon contests.

in recent years, cubs have lobbied additional regular-season night games (up potential 30 per year, of 2007). however, per agreement city, still play of games during day. due limited night schedule, night games @ wrigley field considered event , sold out in advance. observers compare atmosphere of wrigley field night game of rush , division streets, longtime epicenter of chicago s nightclub scene.

wrigley field has continuously evolved on 90-plus seasons. there relatively little left of original visible casual viewer. 1 of more obvious originals brick portions of outer bleacher wall, visible in of wrigley field photo. cubs bleacher expansion resulted in removal of bricks, later sold public individually @ garage sale @ start of 2006 season.