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Book
Review: (Wrigley Field: The Unauthorized Biography)
Daniel Paulling
August 6, 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.
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