Left Field – 340 ft (104 m) L.C. Field – 345 ft (105 m) Center Field – 412 ft (126 m) R.C. Field – 345 ft (105 m) Right Field – 339 ft (103 m) Backstop – 56 ft (17 m)
Called Wrigley's "Million Dollar Palace", Wrigley Field was built in South Los Angeles in 1925, and was named after William Wrigley Jr., a chewing gum magnate.[4] Wrigley owned the first tenants, the Los Angeles Angels, a PCL team, and its parent club, the Chicago Cubs. In 1925, the Angels moved to Wrigley Field. Wrigley's Major League stadium (originally "Weeghman Park," then "Cubs Park") on the north side of Chicago was renamed Wrigley Field in 1926.
The playing field was aligned northeast (home plate to center field) at an elevation of 185 feet (55 m) above sea level. The boundary street in right field (east) was Avalon Boulevard, with a small parking lot. The other boundaries of the block were 41st Place (north, left field), 42nd Place (south, first base line), and San Pedro Street (west, third base line and a larger parking lot).
Lights were added to the park in 1930. Chicago's Wrigley Field added lights in 1988, when night games were added to the Cubs' home schedule.[4]
Baseball
Minor League Baseball 1925–1957
For 33 seasons, 1925 to 1957, the park was home to the Angels, which was a farm team of the Chicago Cubs. For 11 seasons, (1926–1935, 1938) the park was the home of PCL team, the Hollywood Stars. In 1930, the Angels and Stars combined to draw more than 850,000 fans.[4] The Stars moved to a new ballpark, Gilmore Field, west of the Pan Pacific Auditorium. Angel players included Dodgers manager and Hall of Fame member Tommy Lasorda, Phillies, Expos, Twins and Angels manager Gene Mauch, actor Chuck Connors, Gene Baker, and Andy Pafko. The parent club, Chicago Cubs, was the first major league team to play at Wrigley, when it played the Angels in a spring training game in 1926.[4] On March 20, 1949, the major league Cubs played the defending world champion Cleveland Indians in a spring training game before 24,517 people.[4]
On February 21, 1957, the Dodgers bought a team in Fort Worth, Texas, Wrigley Field, the Angels franchise and their territorial rights for $3 million.[4] L.A. Wrigley's minor league baseball days ended when the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League transferred to Los Angeles in 1958. The PCL Angels franchise relocated as the Spokane Indians to Avista Stadium in Spokane, Washington.[5]
The Dodgers considered using Wrigley Field, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and the Los Angeles Coliseum.[4][6][7] The team opted for four seasons in the 93,000-seat L.A. Coliseum, which had a 251-foot foul line in left field, while awaiting construction of Dodger Stadium, with a seating capacity of 56,000.[8][9][10]
Major League Baseball: Los Angeles Angels
In October 1960, MLB expanded the American League from eight to 10 teams. Teams were awarded to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The L.A. franchise was awarded to Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds, and was called the Los Angeles Angels.[4]
Wrigley was used frequently for boxing. Six world title boxing bouts were held there, including the 1939 Joe Louis-Jack Roper fight. Sugar Ray Robinson also boxed at Wrigley Field. Robinson won the Middleweight Championship on May 18, 1956, knocking out Carl Olson before 18,000 fans.[4][15] On August 18, 1958, in a Heavyweight Championship fight, Floyd Patterson defeated Roy Harris with 17,000 in attendance.[4]
On May 28, 1959, the park hosted a soccer friendly match between England and the United States; England won 8–1 in front of 13,000.[21]
On June 1, 1960, Scottish Champions Hearts defeated England's Manchester United 4–0 in front of a crowd of 11,000.[22] The U.S. Men's National Team played a World Cup qualifier against Mexico on November 6, 1960, drawing 3–3 before 9,500 people.[23]
Being closer to Hollywood than the other major league baseball fields at the dawn of motion pictures, Wrigley Field was a popular place to film baseball movies. The first film known to have used Wrigley as a shooting location was 1927's Babe Comes Home, a silent film starring Babe Ruth. Some well-known movies filmed there were The Pride of the Yankees (1942) and Damn Yankees (1958). When Frank Capra filmed the public rally scene at Wrigley for Meet John Doe in August 1940, massive sprinklers simulated a downpour because the director included one rainy scene in each movie as good luck.[26] The film noir classic Armored Car Robbery (1950) had its title heist set at Wrigley.
The ballpark later found its way into television, serving as the backdrop for the Home Run Derby series in 1960, a popular show filmed in 1959 which featured one-on-one contests between baseball's top home run hitters, which had a revival in 1989 when it aired on ESPN, and later on ESPN Classic.[27] Episodes of shows as diverse as The Twilight Zone ("The Mighty Casey", 1960), The Munsters ("Herman The Rookie", 1965), and Mannix ("To Catch a Rabbit", 1969) were also filmed there. Some closeups were filmed there for insertion into the 1951 film Angels in the Outfield, a film otherwise set at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. A 1932 movie short starring Babe Ruth, titled Just Pals, was also filmed at Wrigley Field.
Following the Angels' departure after the 1961 season, Wrigley Field had no regular tenants. By then the park was owned by the city, and various events were staged. On May 26, 1963, a large crowd attended a civil rights rally featuring Martin Luther King Jr. By 1966 the park was being used for soccer matches.
In October 1968, the ballpark was renamed Gilbert Lindsay Community Center as a first step in renovating the site. Demolition was underway by January 1969. The resulting city park has a ball field in the northwest corner of the property, which was once a parking area. The diamond is locally known as "Wrigley Field", and is the home of Wrigley Little League baseball and softball.[31] The original site of the Wrigley diamond and grandstand is occupied by the Kedren Community Mental Health Center and another parking lot.
Benson, Michael (1989) Ballparks of North America: A Comprehensive Historical Reference to Baseball Grounds, Yards and Stadiums, 1845 to Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland PublishingISBN9780899503677
Lowry, Philip J. (1992) Green Cathedrals: The Ultimate Celebration of All 271 Major League and Negro League Ballparks Past and Present. Boston: Addison-WesleyISBN9780201567779
