BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…April 23, 2014, 10 years ago today:
On the 100th anniversary of the first game ever played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, it was classic Cubbies in a 7-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs were set to celebrate the festive day, leading by three runs going into the ninth inning. Former Boise Hawk Jeff Samardzija was in position for the win after pitching into the eighth, and the Cubs were one out away from victory when an error open the floodgates, and the D-Backs scored five times. Two years later, the Cubs would finally go against the grain and win their first World Series since before Wrigley was built.
Wrigley’s debut in 1914 featured not the Cubs, but the Chicago Whales of the short-lived Federal League. And the facility was initially called Weeghman Park. (The Whales fell 9-1 to the Kansas City Packers). The Cubbies first played there in 1916, beating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings in the opener, complete with a bear cub in attendance. When the Wrigley family purchased the team in 1920, the place was renamed Cubs Park. It then became Wrigley Field in 1926 in honor of William Wrigley Jr., the club's owner.
Wrigley Field, two years younger than Major League Baseball’s oldest ballpark, Fenway Park in Boston, is steeped in tradition. So many iconic moments have occurred there. There was Babe Ruth's "called shot," when the New York Yankees legend allegedly pointed to the bleachers during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. Ruth then hit Charlie Root's next pitch to that general vicinity for a homer.
In 1945 came the “Curse of the Billy Goat,” when Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis took his goat, Murphy, to Game 4 of the World Series. Murphy was bothering fans around him, so Sianis was kicked out of the game, at which time he vowed, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more!" And they lost the Series—and didn’t get back to the Fall Classic for 71 years (when they finally won it). Wrigley Field was also the site of Pete Rose's 4,191st career hit in 1985, tying him with Ty Cobb for the most hits in baseball history. And Steve Bartman in 2003? He undeservedly became a goat (and we don’t mean G.O.A.T.).
Purists who clung to traditions like day-only baseball almost cost the Cubs, although the Curse of the Bambino helped buy some time. In mid-1985, when Chicago was in contention for the National League pennant, MLB told the team it wouldn’t be able to host World Series games because it didn’t have lights. The Cubs obliged by billy-goating to a 77-85 record, but they did gets lights at Wrigley in 1988, 40 years after becoming the only MLB club without them.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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