Before Wrigley Became Wrigley: The Inside Story of the First Years of the Cubs’ Home Field

Chicago’s Wrigley Field opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park, the new North Side stadium erected for use by the Federal League’s Chicago team, which would eventually be called the Whales. It was built in just 50 days, with a rectangular shape in the style of New York’s Polo Grounds, designed to fit the odd dimensions of the lot—which formerly housed a seminary school—that Whales owner “Lucky” Charlie Weeghman had purchased with a 99-year lease at a little over $300,000. In all, it took $250,000 and plenty of scrambling to build the park.That seminal event is at the heart of Before Wrigley: The Inside Story of the First Years of the Cubs’ Home Field. The book will explore the early years of Wrigley Field, when it bore a different name and housed a different team.