Wrigley Field

William Wrigley, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 1861.  In 1891, he moved to Chicago, Illinois to go into business for himself.  

Wrigley decided to sell baking powder.  As an incentive, he offered his customers two packages of chewing gum for each can of baking powder they bought.  The chewing gum proved more popular than the baking powder.  

The Wrigley Company began to concentrate on the manufacture and sale of chewing gum. In this business, Wrigley made his name and fortune.

In 1921, Wrigley acquired the Chicago Cubs of the National Baseball League.  The team played its home games at Cubs Park, built on the north side of Chicago in 1914.  The stadium was renamed Wrigley Field in 1927. The stadium was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2020.

On or about 1993, I read stories that the Cubs were considering renovating or replacing Wrigley Field.  I decided to take my son Bret to Chicago to experience this historic edifice.  

Luckily, we had cousins in the windy city where we could stay.  We all went to see the Cubs play baseball at Wrigley Field.  I remember "the friendly confines," the ivy on the outfield walls, fans watching the game from the rooftops across the street and Sammy Sosa playing right field. 

Yesterday, Saturday, July 22, 2023, the Chicago Cubs played a baseball game against their archrival the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.  Bret returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in thirty years, this time with his wife Pam.

On the first pitch of the game, Cardinal outfielder Lars Nootbaar hit a home run over the left field wall.  St. Louis 1, Chicago 0.  Excellent start.

After playing catch-up for the first half of the game, the Cubs rallied and took the lead 8-6 in the sixth inning.  That was the final score as not much, besides a rain delay, happened in the last third of the game.

As an interesting sidelight, Yan Gomes, the Cub catcher, was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  His family moved to the USA when Gomes was twelve years-old.

Based on the smiling photos my son sent me, he and Pam had a good time at Wrigley Field yesterday.  The Cubs win.  The Cubs win.