At Home Plate - Book Review: Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography

At Home Plate

Book Review: Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography

Written by Daniel Paulling (Contact & Archive) on August 06, 2005

Title: Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography
Author: Stuart Shea
Pages: 336
Publisher: Brassey’s Inc

Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowds
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks
I don’t care if I ever get back

-Take Me Out to the Ballgame, the perfect song for Cubs fans in the bleachers

Wrigley Field has always presented itself as the perfect place to catch a ballgame. An Old Style in one hand (soda pop for those under 21) and the other hand holding that faded mitt, the Friendly Confines has been a place for fans to go to watch the Cubs as well as some great baseball. In other words, the entire experience is storybook.

However, fans that know the story behind Wrigley Field are few and far between. Most fans know that the field was constructed in the early 1910s, but how many know the Cubs weren’t the first team to play there? How many fans know who Charley Weeghman, the first George Steinbrenner, was? How could a restaurant owner have given baseball the most fabled stadium in the major leagues?

Stuart Shea, in his book Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography, tells the entire story and he answers every question. His must read is appropriately divided into nine chapters that detail the history of the ballpark on the corner of Clark and Addison.

The story always begins with a man that has a big dream. Fast food creator Charlie Weeghman is just that guy. He bought a parcel of land in an expanding area we now call Wrigleyville. Here he built a stadium named after himself and began to compete against the Cubs and White Sox for fans’ hearts.

Weeghman’s idea was a simple one: give the fans an experience they’ll never forget. Ballparks in the day were dirty, rarely cleaned to look pristine. For the fans that wanted to dress in a suit and tie, Weeghman made his park the cleanliest of them all. Among another of his added features was the concession stand, located on the concourse behind the seats. Whenever a major league fan walks around the ballpark and buy a hot dog, he or she never thinks of whom brought that to them.

Slowly Weeghman’s team, the Chicago Federals or Chifeds, slowly evolve into one of the best clubs in the Federal League. They draw around eighteen thousand fans in the beginning of their lives, outdrawing the major league Chicago Cubs, in fact. Weeghman, always a big shot, dreams of owning a major league ballclub and quickly earns the right, by purchasing the Cubs. Leaving behind a decrepit stadium on the west side of town, the Cubbies move into Weeghman Stadium, later renamed Wrigley Field after the owner of the Cubs. The rest, as the old saying goes, is history.

From the first page, this is an excellent historical account of the lifespan of Wrigley Field. This historical landmark has not lived a boring life of many cookie cutter stadiums we see today, but rather 90 years of amazing events. I doubt that a single factoid escaped Shea during the writing process. The author put together quite well, starting at the beginning of Wrigley Field’s story and then ending with the present time. No matter how you slice it, this should be the authorized biography of Wrigley Field.

I rate this book 3.5 balls on a scale of four for the baseball fan. For those of you holding that ice cold Old Style underneath the Chicago sun, this one goes all the way: four out of four, the definition of a must read.

Our Rating System is based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.

Recommend article:

Comments (10)

Wrigley Field follows the jewel box design of ballparks that was popular in the early part of the 20th century. The two recessed wall areas, or "wells," located both in left, and right field, give those areas a little more length than if the wall were to follow the contour from center field, it is also in those wells, when cross winds are blowing, that balls have a habit of bouncing in all sorts of interesting directions, there is also a long net running the entire length of the outfield wall, about two foot from the top, the primary use is to keep fans from falling out of the bleacher area and onto the field of play, which is about seven to ten feet below the top of the wall. -Any Lab Test Now

You guys have a wonderful website intending the following, KIU!

I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.I am impressed.I was looking for crucial information on this subject. Good post Thank for sharing !!!

Me and my friend were arguing about an problem similar to this! Now I realize that I had been correct. lol! Thank you for that information you article.

This post has helped me for an article which I am writing. Thank you for giving me another point of view on this topic. Now I can easily complete my article. Cheers

I enjoyed reading your article and found it to be informative and to the point. Thank you for not rambling on and on just to fill the page.

Excellent and great nightfall witnessed coming from at the rear of your steel having a opening in it. Thank you spreading the useful issue.

That i enjoy reading such posts which provide knowledge based information similar to this blog. Thank you for sharing it around.

I absolutely love how information presented in your post. I have got added to you in my social bookmark…and My business is waiting your upcoming post

Hey all, pretty much have grown to be alert to your web area from your engines like google, and located in which it need seriously entertaining. I can potentially reflect on brussels. Let me benefit from with this particular move forward the type of as part of future. A meaningful everybody is still took advantage of some sort of penning. Take care!