[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WRIGLEY FIELD'S 100TH BIRTHDAY

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I wish to recognize the 100th birthday 
of an American icon: Wrigley Field. As the second oldest Major League 
ball park and oldest in the National League, Wrigley Field has hosted 
millions of fans and easily earned its nickname, The Friendly Confines.
  On April 23rd, 1914, it opened its doors not to the Chicago Cubs, and 
it wasn't even called Wrigley Field. It was called Weeghman Park, and 
the Chicago Chifeds of the short-lived Federal League played there. The 
Chicago Cubs moved into their home in 1916.
  From the ivy-covered outfield walls, to its hand-turned score board, 
to the bleachers and the marquee, you always know you are at Wrigley 
Field. It was the last baseball stadium to have lights installed in 
1988. It was the first stadium to have an organ playing music, and that 
music remains to this day, the first to build permanent concession 
stands, the first to have live broadcast of games. While there is some 
dispute whether Wrigley was the first place to allow fans to keep the 
balls hit into the stands, it certainly is where the custom began of 
throwing back the opponent's homerun balls.
  Wrigley hasn't always been home to the Cubs exclusively. The Decatur 
Staleys moved to play football there in 1921. You know them today as 
the Chicago Bears, and from 1921 to 1970, Wrigley was their home too. 
And the reason they are called the Bears is because the Cubs were 
already playing there. Wrigley has hosted soccer matches, concerts, and 
even a National Hockey League game. The first All-American Girls 
Professional Baseball League's first All Star Game during the 1943 
midseason was played at Wrigley Field. They brought in temporary lights 
for that game.
  The Wrigley experience means people come to have fun at the game and 
be involved in the game. It was as true in 1920 as it is today. 
Generations of kids have come to Wrigley to watch their first ballgame 
in the same seat their parents and grandparents watched theirs. For 
Cubs fans, the ball park is a community as much as a place where 
baseball is played. Wrigley Field is surrounded by small businesses 
that depend on the community. Fans go every day by foot, by bicycle, by 
train, or by car into the neighborhood known as Wrigleyville to see the 
Chicago Cubs play at their treasure of a stadium.
  And they have seen legends. On June 26, 1920, a 17-year-old high 
school player hit a game-winning grand slam completely out of the park 
when his New York School of Commerce team played Chicago's Lane Tech 
High School. That was Lou Gehrig. Babe Ruth's called shot? It was at 
Wrigley Field in 1932 in the World Series. It is still debated. My 
boyhood hero, St. Louis Cardinal Stan Musial, recorded his 3000th hit 
in Wrigley. In fact, it has been said that the visiting clubhouse has 
had more Hall of Famers in one room than any other facility that exists 
in sports.
  It is not just those visiting Wrigley that made the memories but 
those we claim as our own. Harry Caray was an announcer for decades, 
but it was at Wrigley Field where he became a legend with his dark-
framed glasses, joviality, and his singing ``Take Me Out To The Ball 
Game'' with the crowd. It is a tradition still carried today. Ernie 
Banks' boundless energy and joy for the game, ``Let's play two!'' Ron 
Santo, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg, Hack Wilson, 
Andre Dawson, Kerry Wood, and so many others are beloved for their time 
playing for the Cubs in The Friendly Confines.
  ``There is always next year,'' a phrase too often uttered by Cubs 
fans, could just as easily be a promise that our field, Wrigley Field, 
is as much a part of the future as it is our past.
  Madam President, it is with great pride that I ask my colleagues to 
join me in celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of America's 
greatest landmarks, Wrigley Field. Holy cow, what a ride it has been 
for such a wonderful place at 1060 W. Addison in Chicago, IL.

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