1.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
2.
Jimmy Wood
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James Leon Jimmy Wood was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who hailed from Brooklyn, New York. He was the player-manager for four different teams in the National Association, woods career in organized baseball began as early as 1860 when he began play for the Eckford of Brooklyn team, with whom he played for nine seasons during the following decade. In 1870, he took the position of player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings and it was here that he is credited for inventing spring training when he moved his team down to New Orleans, Louisiana prior to season to train in warmer weather. The next season,1873, he managed the Philadelphia White Stockings for a year until he was able to reorganize a new Chicago team, in 1874, he tried to lance an abscess on his leg with a pocketknife. This caused an infection which led to an amputation of the leg. This did not end his career, though, he returned to the Chicago White Stockings. He then retired from baseball and moved to Florida and began investing in citrus interests. His daughter, Carrie, married William Chase Temple, who was at one time and it was he who the Temple Cup was named after. Woods granddaughter, Dorothy Temple, married pitcher Del Mason, woods whereabouts had been debated for years until recently. In 1885, he operated a goods store in Chicago. He was traced all over the United States and Canada and eventually wound up in San Francisco, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
3.
History of the Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago National League Ball Club is the only franchise to play continuously in the same city since the formation of the National League in 1876. They are the earliest formed active professional sports club in North America, in their history, they have also been known as the White Stockings, Orphans, Colts, Panamas, Rainmakers, Spuds, Trojans, Microbes, and Zephyrs. It was common at the time for sportswriters to refer to teams by their colors, and it happens that Chicagos club. On April 29,1870, the Chicago White Stockings played their first game against the St. Louis Unions, and soundly defeated the Unions 7-1. The White Stockings divided their games between their downtown practice field, Ogden Park, and a facility set up at Dexter Park where they hosted games expected to draw larger crowds. C. Despite this East Coast dominance, Chicago won the NABBP championship that year, although the title was disputed by the opposing club, after their experiment with a race track in 1870, the White Stockings returned to the downtown for 1871, a decision that would prove fateful. The club arranged with the city to build a ballpark in the northeast corner of the park then known as Lake Park. The venue was dubbed the Union Base-Ball Grounds, and the club was a contender for the pennant until late in the season. On Sunday, October 8, the Great Chicago Fire erupted on the south side. The wooden ballpark was right in the path, and the grounds and all the teams equipment. Despite that disaster, the White Stockings played their 1871 season to completion, on the road and they managed to finish second, just 2 games short of the title that was won by Philadelphia. Although the original Red Stockings had disbanded after 1870, many of the players became members of a new club by the same name, but now based in Boston. Over the next four seasons, the Boston Red Stockings dominated the National Association and hoarded the games best stars, even those under contract with other teams. Hulbert, the White Stockings club president, was disgusted by the lack of contracts as well as the monopoly of the Boston club. Gambling and alcohol were seen as serious problems, with games too often being suspected of being thrown. As a result, Hulbert, spearheaded the formation of a new, stronger, the National Leagues formation meant the end of the NA, as its remaining clubs shut down or reverted to amateur or minor status. After the 1875 season ended, Hulbert was principal in the acquisition of key players, including Boston pitcher Albert Spalding. The club continued to play its games at 23rd Street
4.
1875 Hartford Dark Blues season
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In their second season in the National Association, the 1875 Hartford Dark Blues finished in third place. They were managed by starting third baseman Bob Death to Flying Things Ferguson, the Dark Blues, with future Hall of Famers Candy Cummings and Tommy Bond, had the best pitching staff in baseball. Cummings won 35 games, and the 19-year-old Bond finished second in league ERA at 1.56, following the season, they were one of the NA teams chosen to join the new National League. Note, Pos = position, G = Games played, AB = At Bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting Average, HR = Home Runs, RBI = Runs Batted In Tommy Bond #2 in NA in ERA Candy Cummings #3 in NA in wins #3 in NA in ERA Johnson, Lloyd, Wolff, Miles, the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 1875 Hartford Dark Blues season at Baseball Reference
5.
Jim Devlin
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James Alexander Devlin was an American Major League Baseball player who played mainly as a first baseman early in his career, then as a pitcher in the latter part. He played for three teams during his career, the Philadelphia White Stockings and the Chicago White Stockings of the National Association. However, after admitting to throwing games and costing the Grays the pennant in the 1877 Louisville Grays scandal, he, in 1876, the National Association folded and was replaced by the National League that lives on to this day. In this year, Devlin began pitching for the Louisville Grays, starting 68 games with an impeccable 1.56 ERA and his best pitch was a drop pitch, now known as a sinker, which Devlin may have been the first to throw. In 1877, Devlin pitched every inning of his teams games, led by Devlin and slugger George Hall, the Grays opened up a four-game lead in the NL pennant race by mid-August. However, the Grays suffered a horrendous road trip and endured a losing streak. The Grays relinquished their lead and eventually finished second, seven games behind the Boston Red Caps, meanwhile, certain Grays were seen around town wearing fancy new jewelry and ostentatiously dining at exclusive restaurants. At the end of the season, suspicion arose that players were being paid to lose games. Team vice president Charles Chase, who had received but disregarded telegrams informing him that gamblers were betting against the Grays in certain games. Devlin and Hall confessed, and Chase demanded that his players allow him to inspect their telegrams, the telegrams confirmed that Nichols was coordinating the games with New York gamblers. William Hulbert, the president of the National League, decided to make a stand against gambling and he immediately banned Devlin, Hall, Nichols, and Craver for life. Craver, against whom no evidence of gambling has ever found, was outraged and appealed the suspension. Devlin also appealed to the League for reinstatement every year for the rest of his life, however, Hulbert remained resolute and none of the Louisville Four ever played major league baseball again. Devlin, who work in Philadelphia as a police officer, died poor of tuberculosis in 1883, survived by a wife. He is interred at New Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia
6.
Mike Golden
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Michael Henry Golden was an American Major League Baseball player who pitched and played in the outfield for three teams during his two season career. Born in Shirley, Massachusetts, Golden made his debut on May 4,1875 for the Keokuk Westerns of the National Association. He was their starting pitcher for all 13 games the team was in the Association, completing all 13, with 113 innings pitched, a 2.79 ERA, when the Westerns folded, he signed with the Chicago White Stockings for the rest of the season. He pitched 119 innings in 14 games pitched for the White Stockings, with a 2.79 ERA, a 6–7 W-L records,12 complete games, in addition to pitching, he also played 27 games in the outfield. In total, he played in 39 games, hitting.258, the only other season he played at the top level of professional baseball, and his only Major League season, was for the 1878 Milwaukee Grays of the National League. He pitched in 22 games that year, starting 18, and he again played in the outfield when he didnt pitch, playing in a total of 55 games for the Grays, hitting.206, had 3–13 pitching record, and a 4.14 ERA. Goldens career totals include a 10–32 pitching record, a 3.37 ERA, Golden died in Rockford, Illinois at the age of 77, and is interred at Saint Mary and Saint James Cemetey in Rockford. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
7.
George Zettlein
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George Zettlein was a professional baseball pitcher. Zettlein began playing in 1865 for Eckford of Brooklyn in the National Association of Base Ball Players and he joined the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1866, and remained with the team until 1870. In 1871, he joined the professional White Stockings of the NA and he went on to give up the leagues first grand slam in September of the same year. He had a record of 18-9 with a league-leading 2.73 ERA that year, the following season, Zettlein played for the Troy Haymakers and Brooklyn Eckfords, combining for 15 wins and 16 losses between the two teams. He went on to win 36 games for the Philadelphia White Stockings in 1873, partway through the 1875 season, he rejoined the Philadelphia White Stockings, and ended his career in 1876 with the Philadelphia Athletics. He finished his career with 129 wins,112 losses, list of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
8.
Scott Hastings (baseball)
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Winfield Scott Hastings was a major league baseball player and manager in the late 19th century. Primarily a catcher and outfielder, Hastings also appeared as a first baseman, second baseman, and shortstop over the course of his career. Born in Hillsboro, Ohio, Hastings made his league debut on May 6,1871 for the Rockford Forest Citys of the National Association as the starting catcher and manager of the team. The team disbanded after the 1871 season and Hastings moved to the Cleveland Forest Citys for the 1871 campaign as a player-manager again, rotating between catcher, second base and outfield, Hastings was batting.391 when the team folded on August 19. Hastings then moved to the Baltimore Canaries to finish out the season, Hastings remained with the Canaries for the 1873 season, batting.281 and rotating with two other players at the catching position as well as filling in as a fourth outfielder. He moved to the Hartford Dark Blues in 1874, once again platooning at catcher, Hastings had a good year, hitting.325 and leading the team in runs scored. Hastings was on the move again for 1875, joining the Chicago White Stockings, Hastings was the regular catcher for Chicago but his average fell to.254. White Stockings owner William Hulbert found Hastings expendable as he signed Deacon White from the Boston Red Stockings to replace him, Hastings caught on with the Louisville Grays for the 1876 season in the new National League. Hastings was the center fielder for the Grays, and although leading the team in runs scored Hastings average was only.258 and was looking for a new team again after the season. In 1877, Hastings played for the Cincinnati Reds and was one of six players who caught five games or more, the job was Hastings to lose and he did, batting only.141 for the season, his last in the majors. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
9.
Dick Higham
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Richard Higham was an American professional baseball player born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. However, he is best known as the umpire to be banned from baseball. He was born on July 24,1851 in Ipswich, England, highams family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old, and they settled in Hoboken, New Jersey. During his career he was a versatile player, fielding multiples positions. In 1871, he joined the New York Mutuals of the National Association during its season and played until the league was dissolved after the 1875 season. He then moved on to the newly formed National League, baseballs first recognized major league, where he hit in the first NL triple play against the Mutuals on May 13,1876. In 1877, he served as captain of the Syracuse Stars in the year of the International League. After his playing days were over, he served as an umpire for two years, however, in 1882, William G. Thompson, owner of the Detroit Wolverines got suspicious about some of the calls Higham made against his team. He hired a detective, who turned up several letters between Higham and a well-known gambler. Higham outlined a simple code—if the gambler received a telegram from him saying Buy all the lumber you can, no telegram meant that the gambler was to bet on his opponent. As a result of evidence, Higham was fired as an umpire. To date, he is the umpire to have been banished from the game. He moved back to Chicago, Illinois and became a bookkeeper and it was here where he died and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery. List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders Tim Donaghy Seymore, Harold, Baseball, The Early Years, Higham, Harold V. and Larry Gerlach. Dick Higham, Star of Baseballs Early Years, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Baseball Almanac BaseballLibrary SABR Baseball Project Retrosheet Umpires timeline from MLB. com
10.
Davy Force
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David W. Davy Force was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He was born on July 27,1849 in New York City, louis Brown Stockings, Buffalo Bisons and Washington Nationals. In a 15-season career, Force posted a.249 batting average with 653 runs and 373 RBI in 1029 games played, Davy Force died on June 21,1918 in Englewood, New Jersey, at the age of 68. He was buried there in Brookside Cemetery, list of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Davy Force obituary
11.
Paul Hines
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Paul Aloysius Hines was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. There is some controversy over whether Hines was also the first player to turn a triple play. Hines probably practiced with the original Washington Nationals or played on its junior team before joining the National Association with that club in 1872, when the original Chicago White Stockings resumed play in 1874, the teenage Hines played every game, usually in center field. He returned to field with gradually declining playing time for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, Boston Beaneaters. He finished his professional career splitting 1896 between Burlington, Iowa and Mobile, Alabama at age 41. During the first five NL seasons, from 1876 through 1880, Hines had more hits than any other player. He also remained among the top 10 major league home run hitters as late as 1887. His total of 16 seasons as a major league teams primary center fielder was not surpassed until Tris Speaker, Hines died at age 80 in Hyattsville, Maryland, deaf and blind. His hearing had been impaired in the 1880s if not earlier, edited by Robert L. Tiemann, and Mark Rucker. ISBN 0-910137-35-8 SABR Biographical Research Committee Report, bill Carle, ed. Cleveland, Ohio, SABR. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
12.
John Peters (shortstop)
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John Phillip Peters was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball with four clubs from 1874 through 1884. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and he was the everyday shortstop of the pennant-winning 1876 Chicago White Stockings in the very first year of the National League. Peters averaged.328 from 1876 to 1878, with a career-high.351 in the 1876 championship season to fourth in the National League batting title behind Ross Barnes, George Hall. He also twice led the shortstops in putouts in 1879 and 1890, while in Chicago, Peters shared infield defense duties with first basemen Cal McVey and Albert Spalding, 2B Ross Barnes, 3B Cap Anson, and catchers Deacon White and Cal McVey as well. In 1881, with Buffalo, he played on a team that featured early stars as Davy Force, Dan Brouthers. In an 11-season career, Peters was a.278 hitter with three runs and 249 RBI in 615 games, including 372 runs,92 doubles,12 triples. Peters died in St. Louis, Missouri, at the age of 73, Baseball Reference The Deadball Era Retrosheet
13.
Fred Waterman
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Frederick A. Waterman played third base for the original Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first fully professional baseball team. Throughout his career with teams, amateur and pro, third base was his regular position in the field. Born 1845 in New York City, Waterman played for the Empire club of his city in 1865. Some Mutuals players were compensated materially during the era of National Association of Base Ball Players—city employment is one possibility—and Waterman may be considered a candidate. At age 22 Waterman moved to Cincinnati for the 1868 season, open professionalism was one year away but the long move suggests that Waterman was somehow compensated by club members if not by the club. Cincinnati fielded a team that year, with five of the famous team already in place. When the NABBP permitted professionalism, the Red Stockings hired five incumbents including Waterman and five new men to complete its famous First Nine of 1869, a few others had previously played some third base, but Wright retained Waterman at the position. Cincinnati toured the continent undefeated in 1869 and may have been the strongest team in 1870, Harry Wright was hired to organize a new team in Boston, where he signed three teammates for 1871. The other five regulars including Fred Waterman signed with Nick Youngs Washington Olympics, the Olympics appointed as captain another transplant, Charlie Sweasy, but he missed two long stretches of the season with illness. Waterman served one stretch as acting captain and so earned his managers credit in some accounts, the five former Red Stockings led the Olympics to a respectable finish in the inaugural NA season, but Waterman was left practically alone in the role one year later. He dominated the team at bat, while it failed miserably and he was not picked up by another NA team, perhaps because four others of the eleven entrants went out of business during the season, but playing for a second team was a novelty that year. Probably he remained in Washington, for his league career resumed when a new team from that city entered for 1873. He was a leading batsman again, now one of two on the team with Paul Hines, but he played only 15 of 39 games, more at shortstop than anywhere else, there were eight teams in the NA field for 1874 and Fred Waterman was not a member. His known professional career ended five of 69 games for Chicago in 1875. He was 29 years old and still better than league-average as a batter by his meager statistical record, Waterman died 1899 in Cincinnati at age 54. He is buried in Wesleyan Cemetery in that city, the National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857–1870. Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland & Co
14.
Oscar Bielaski
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Oscar Bielaski was an American right fielder and the first Polish-American to play Major League Baseball, playing from 1872 until 1876. His father, Alexander Bielaski, a captain in the Union army, a. Bruce Bielaski, head of the Bureau of Investigation, and his sister, Ruth Shipley, head of the State Departments Passport Division, were first cousins of Oscar. Oscar learned to play baseball while enlisted in the Union Army as a drummer, Oscar Bielaski was inducted in the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Oscar was born in Washington, D. C. and died there and he is interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Oscar Bielaski at Find a Grave National Polish-American Sports HOF profile
15.
John Glenn (1870s outfielder)
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John W. Glenn was an American Major League Baseball player for four different teams during his seven-year career. On November 10,1888, Glenn died from injuries sustained from being shot the week prior by a police officer in Sandy Hill. Glenn was accused of robbery and rape of a 12-year-old girl, baseballs Most Wanted™, The Top 10 Book of the National Pastimes Outrageous Offenders, Lucky Bounces, and Other Oddities. Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference
16.
Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. The team plays its games at Wrigley Field, located on the citys North Side. The Cubs are one of two league teams in Chicago, the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, was a member of the NL in 1876. The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series, the 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of.763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, the 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season. The Cubs are known as the North Siders, a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, there is a divisional rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals and also a newer rivalry with the Milwaukee Brewers. There is also a rivalry with the White Sox. The Cubs began play in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, joining the National League as a charter member. Owner William Hulbert signed multiple star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, the White Stockings played their home games at West Side Grounds and quickly established themselves as one of the new leagues top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at.429 as Chicago won the first ever National League pennant, which at the time was the games top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, the White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as the games first true superstar. In 1885 and 86, after winning N. L. pennants, both seasons resulted in match ups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, with the clubs tying in 1885 and with St. Louis winning in 1886. This was the genesis of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all, the Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. As a result, Chicagos club nickname transitioned, and by 1890 they had known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes Ansons Colts
17.
Union Base-Ball Grounds
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Union Base-Ball Grounds was a baseball park located in Chicago. The Great Chicago Fire of October 8 destroyed Union Base-Ball Grounds, after fulfilling its 1871 obligations by playing on the road, the club did not field a team for the next two seasons, and the ballpark was not rebuilt. The site is now part of Millennium Park, the team played here through the 1884 season, after which they moved to the first West Side Park. The outfield area was close in right field. The right field fence was less than 200 feet away, so anyone hitting the ball over that fence was awarded only a ground rule double, batters would aim for the fence, and during their years at the park the Chicago club regularly led the league in doubles. In what would be their final season on the lakefront, the White Stockings decided to make the outfield fence home run territory. Thus the team slumped in number of doubles while boosting their home runs from typically a dozen or two to 142, easily outdistancing second place Buffalo, which had 39 for the season. The entire leagues home run totals were up, thanks to the change to the Chicago ground rules, the first college football game in the Midwest was played at the park on May 30,1879, when the University of Michigan met Racine College. Michigan won, 1-0, on a place-kick by David DeTarr, 23rd Street Park in Chicago, IL
18.
West Side Park
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West Side Park was the name used for two different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois. They were both home fields of the now known as the Chicago Cubs of the National League. Both ballparks were what are now called wooden ballparks, the initial stadium was the clubs home beginning in 1885, succeeding Lakefront Park. The park was located on a block bounded by Congress, Loomis, Harrison and Throop Streets. The elongated shape of the block lent a bathtub-like shape to the park, the stadium held roughly 10,000 fans. In addition to the diamond, the park held a track which encircled the playing field. The Cubs had had to secure a new property after 1884, the season began on April 30, a month later than it does today, for a 112-game schedule,50 fewer games than todays major-league schedule. The club spent the first five-plus weeks of the 1885 season on the road, despite being wanderers early in the season, the powerful Chicago club, under player-manager Cap Anson, came home with an 18-6 record. They would sweep a four-game set in their first homestand and romp through the league schedule, the only team that gave them any problem was the New York Giants, who won 10 of the clubs 16 meetings and finished just two games behind Chicago in the standings. If projected to a modern 162-game schedule, that translates to 125 and 123 wins, respectively, Chicago captured the National League pennant that season and also went on to win the league crown in 1886. The championships of the 1880s were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, exemplified by the 1885 contest, the 1886 World Series was more conventional, and was won by the Browns. Those matchups were the first on-field confrontations of the Cubs and Cardinals clubs, the site also saw bonus baseball in 1887, as a neutral site for Game 14 of that years unique 15-game traveling World Series between the Browns and the Detroit Wolverines. In 1891 the team split its schedule between West Side Park and South Side Park, the first West Side Park was abandoned after the 1891 season, with the team playing at home exclusively on the South Side in 1892. The site of the first West Side Park is now occupied by the Andrew Jackson Language Academy, left field – unknown Center field –560 ft. Right field –216 ft. In May 1893, the club opened the second West Side Park a few blocks west-southwest of the first one, on a block bounded by Taylor, Wood, Polk. It was located at 41°52′13″N 87°40′21″W, during May and June, they split their 1893 schedule with South Side Park, playing Sunday games on the West Side and weekday games on the South Side. By mid-summer they had abandoned the South Side park and moved into the West Side park full time, home plate for this ballpark was in the northwest corner of the property, toward the Polk and Lincoln intersection. The right field fence paralleled Taylor, with flat apartments between the alley behind the field area, and Taylor itself
19.
South Side Park
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South Side Park was the name used for three different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois, at different times, and whose sites were all just a few blocks away from each other. The first South Side Park was the home of the short-lived Chicago Unions entry in the Union Association of 1884, newspapers gave its location as the corner of 39th Street and South Wabash Avenue, not specifying which corner. The venue was also called Union Base Ball Park and 39th Street Grounds in local newspapers, a late-winter report on improvements to the 39th Street Grounds indicates the site had already been used as an amateur ball field. The Unions played 35 games at this park between May 2 and August 1, the papers indicated they were then headed on a three-week road trip. After that road trip, they re-emerged as the Pittsburgh entry, in 1890, it was usually called Brotherhood Park in the local newspapers, as with several of the Players League venues. The parks location was given as 35th and Wentworth, which was the location of the main entrance. The field generally occupied the same footprint as the future Comiskey Park along with Armour Square Park, the article said the grandstand would be built along 35th Street. The League club acquired the lease on the grounds after Comiskeys team and they played a partial schedule at this field in 1891, continuing to play other games at West Side Park during 1891. They then played their home season on the South Side in 1892. They sought a new location, which turned out to be West Side Park, after drawing well on their first few Sundays, the club abandoned the South Side park and moved to the West Side on a full-time basis. The south end of the property was site of Comiskey Park from 1910 through 1990, Armour Square Park was established in 1905 and still has ball fields on it. The 39th Street Grounds served as the field of the Chicago Wanderers cricket team during the 1893 Worlds Fair. After Charles Comiskey built a grandstand on the site in 1900. It served as home to the White Sox first in 1900 as a league team. Meanwhile, South Side Park became the home of the newly formed Negro League baseball team called the Chicago American Giants in 1911 and it was renamed Schorlings Park for team owner Rube Fosters white business partner, John C. Schorling, a south side saloon keeper who leased the grounds, the American Giants played their games there through the 1940 season. Then on Christmas Day of 1940, Schorlings Park was destroyed by fire, the American Giants would play their remaining 10 seasons at Comiskey Park. Today, the Chicago Housing Authoritys Wentworth Gardens housing project occupies the site, the South Side Park/Schorlings Park/Wentworth Gardens site is located across Pershing Road from a junkyard site which was named a Superfund site in the late 1990s
20.
Wrigley Field
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Wrigley Field /ˈrɪɡli/ is a baseball park located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the citys two Major League Baseball franchises and it first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghmans Chicago Whales of the Federal League, which folded after the 1915 baseball season. The Cubs played their first home game at the park on April 20,1916, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. of the Wrigley Company acquired complete control of the Cubs in 1921. It was named Cubs Park from 1920 to 1926, before being renamed Wrigley Field in 1927, in the North side community area of Lakeview in the Wrigleyville neighborhood, Wrigley Field is on an irregular block bounded by Clark and Addison Streets and Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. Wrigley Field is nicknamed The Friendly Confines, a phrase popularized by Mr. Cub, Hall of Fame shortstop and first baseman Ernie Banks. The oldest park in the National League, the current seating capacity is 41,268, it is the second-oldest in the majors after Fenway Park, between 1921 and 1970, it was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. The elevation of its field is 600 feet above sea level. Baseball executive Charles Weeghman hired his architect Zachary Taylor Davis to design the park, the original tenants, the Chicago Whales came in second in the Federal League rankings in 1914 and won the league championship in 1915. In late 1915, Weeghmans Federal League folded, the resourceful Weeghman formed a syndicate including the chewing gum manufacturer William Wrigley Jr. to buy the Chicago Cubs from Charles P. Taft for about $500,000. Weeghman immediately moved the Cubs from the dilapidated West Side Grounds to his two-year-old park, in 1918, Wrigley acquired the controlling interest in the club. In November 1926, he renamed the park Wrigley Field, in 1927, an upper deck was added, and in 1937, Bill Veeck, the son of the club president, planted ivy vines against the outfield walls. The Ricketts family has been pursuing a Wrigley Field renovation since buying the team. Their current plan, revealed during the annual Cubs Convention in January 2013, calls for a $575-million, the team could not come to terms with the rooftop owners who have a lease with the team until 2023 in exchange for paying 17% of the gross revenues. In May 2014 the Cubs announced they would pursue the original 2013 plan to modify the park, the 1060 Project – Phase One started Monday, September 29,2014. During the off-season, the bleachers in both outfields were expanded and the footprint was extended further onto both Waveland and Sheffield Avenues. A3,990 sq ft Jumbotron scoreboard was added to the left field bleachers and it is topped with a sign advertising Wintrust Financial, a Rosemont-based bank and a Cubs Legacy Partner, the W in Wintrust flashes after every Cubs win. A2,400 sq ft video scoreboard was added in the right field bleachers. After the close of the extended 2015 season, work began on Phase Two of the project, the previous clubhouse space was utilized to enlarge the dugout and add two underground batting cages, an auditorium, and more team office space
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Wrigley Field renovations
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Since purchasing the Chicago Cubs baseball team and Wrigley Field in 2009, the Ricketts family have been pursuing an extensive renovation of the stadium and the surrounding venue. At its outset, the 1060 Project was projected to cost $575 million and was to be completed in four phases during consecutive off-seasons, funding was generated from advertising revenue and increased corporate sponsorship in the form of additional signage placed in and around the stadium. The initial plan, revealed during the annual Cubs Convention in January 2013, called for a $575-million, increased advertising signage, in and around the park, help to fund the four phases of the renovation. Before the renovation began, the majority of the club owners that surround the stadium felt that such signs would obstruct their sight-lines. Prior to 1980, the rooftops provided a point and were a gathering place for free views of the ongoing Cubs games. In 2002, the Cubs filed a lawsuit against the different facilities for copyright infringement, in 2004,11 of the 13 roofs settled with the club, out of court, agreeing to pay 17% of gross revenue in exchange for official endorsement. The rooftop owners had a lease with the team until 2023 in exchange for paying 17% of the gross revenues, unable to reach an agreement with the rooftop owners by May 2014, the Cubs said that they would pursue the original 2013 plan to modify the park. In the early months of 2015, the Ricketts family purchased three of the rooftop properties, in the middle of the 2015 season, they purchased three more. The five-year renovation project, projected to cost $575 million, started as soon as the 2014 season was completed. Prior to the start of the 2015 season, both left and right field bleachers were expanded and the stadium was extended further onto both Waveland Avenue to the north and Sheffield Avenue to the east. Seven new outfield signs were installed along with a 2, 400-square-foot video scoreboard in right field, construction was begun on new locker rooms and lounges to exist in an underground area that was excavated along Clark Street to the west. T. VOA Associates, which helped design the new Navy Pier, provided construction drawings, the west parking lots adjacent to the field are the future location of Triangle Plaza and the Cubs new office building. Wrigley Field has distinct outfield walls which are covered by a combination of Boston ivy, the ivy was planted 80 years ago in 1937, having been an idea of future MLB owner Bill Veeck years earlier. Due to delays caused by weather and construction restrictions, the renovations in left. Attendance during the weeks of the 2015 season was affected by the unavailability of approximately 5,000 bleacher seats. The announced crowd for the opener against the St. Louis Cardinals was 35,055 while the second game of the series drew 26,814. Prior to the renovation, seating capacity for Wrigley Field was 41,160, work continued throughout the summer of 2015 on the foundation and structural work for the Cubs new clubhouse and office building as well as an open-air plaza and retail space. The excavation for the home of the 30, 000-square-foot Cubs clubhouse
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Baseball's Sad Lexicon
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Baseballs Sad Lexicon, also known as Tinker to Evers to Chance after its refrain, is a 1910 baseball poem by Franklin Pierce Adams. Tinker, Evers, and Chance began playing together with the Cubs in 1902, the Cubs won the National League pennant four times from 1906 and 1910, often defeating the Giants en route to the World Series. The poem was first published in the New York Evening Mail on July 12,1910, popular among sportswriters, numerous additional verses were written. The poem gave Tinker, Evers, and Chance increased popularity and it has been credited with their elections to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Frank Chance joined the Chicago Cubs in 1898 as a catcher, backing up Tim Donahue. Frank Selee, the Cubs manager, decided that Chance would be suited as a first baseman. Chance at first opposed the move and even threatened to quit, joe Tinker was a third baseman in minor league baseball, but in 1902 made the Cubs as a shortstop, replacing Barry McCormick. Johnny Evers made his league debut with the Cubs on September 1 at shortstop. Three days later, Selee returned Tinker to shortstop and assigned Evers to second base to back up Bobby Lowe, Lowe suffered a knee injury late in the 1902 season, providing Evers with more playing time. Tinker, Evers, and Chance first appeared in a game together on September 13,1902 and they turned their first double play on September 15,1902. Lowes injury did not properly heal during the offseason, making Evers the new permanent second baseman for the Cubs in 1903, Chance succeeded Selee as manager during the 1905 season when Selee became ill. The Cubs, led by Tinker, Evers, and Chance, won the National League pennant in 1906,1907,1908, in 1908, the Cubs clinched the pennant after defeating the Giants in part due to Merkles Boner. In the Merkle game, Tinker hit a run off Christy Mathewson. In the replay of the Merkle game, Tinker hit a triple off Mathewson that started the rally that gave the Cubs the victory, from 1906 to 1910, the Cubs turned 491 double plays, the third-most in the NL during that time. According to Bill James formula, expected double plays, the Cubs led the NL with 50 more double plays than expected during those five seasons. From 1906 through 1910, the Tinker, to Evers, to Chance double play happened 54 times in 770 games played, in 1906, the trio committed 194 errors, though this was in part due to poor field conditions and scorers. Franklin Pierce Adams wrote a column for the New York Evening Mail. Adams hoped to work to attend a Giants game
