Wrigley Field has not always been named Wrigley Field.
Before the Chicago Cubs moved into Wrigley Field in 1920, it was known as Weeghman Park. Weeghman Park was built in 1914 by Charles Weeghman and was the home of the old Federal League team the Chicago Whales from 1914-1915 before the league was bought out by the National and American Leagues. Charles Weeghman then became an ownership partner in the Chicago Cubs franchise.
In the above photo of the original Weeghman Park in 1914, you will notice the back side of a building just outside the left field wall. This building was the last remaining structure from the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, which had several buildings on the future site of Wrigley Field before they sold the property to Charles Weeghman in 1912.
These buildings occupied what would become the outfield and infield of Weeghman Park. This last building was not demolished until after the 1914 season, at which time it was replaced by bleacher seating. You may also notice there was only a single level in the grandstands at this time.
Starting in 1919, another minority owner of the Cubs, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley began buying up shares of the team from other owners, including all of Weeghman’s shares in 1921, and by 1925 Mr. Wrigley had become the majority owner of the team. As Weeghman’s holdings in the team began to shrink, the ballpark became known as Cubs Park during the years from 1919-1925.
Cubs Park saw several major renovations and expansions during these same years, including building and then expansion of the bleachers, the grandstand and an upper deck which was added in 1927.
The name of the Chicago Cubs ballpark was officially changed to Wrigley Field in 1927. So for the record, Wrigley Field is actually the THIRD different name of the ballpark which we today all know and love.
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The ballpark has remained Wrigley Field even after the team was sold to the Chicago Tribune Company in 1981, who chose not to change it’s name. The current owner of the Tribune Company Sam Zell has discussed selling the naming rights to Wrigley, which was met with much criticism from Cubs fans.
As many people know, Sam Zell has been in the process of selling the Chicago Cubs for over two years and the future owner of the Cubs is likely Tom Ricketts. It is not known if Mr Ricketts would sell the naming rights of Wrigley Field but since he is well known to be a longtime diehard fan of the Cubs, the odds of the name remaining Wrigley Field seem good at this time.
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on Monday, May 25th, 2009 at 5:27 am and is filed under cubs history, wrigley field.
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