So many Cubs fans have packed into Dodger Stadium for the National League Championship Series — in parts of the venue they "were almost as thick as Arrieta’s beard," said USA Today — that some reports have called the Los Angeles park "Wrigley Field West."
Actually, there once was a real Wrigley Field West, from 1925 to 1966.
Here are five things to know about the California park that shared the name of Chicago's own Friendly Confines.
1. L.A.'s Wrigley Field opened in September of 1925, built by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., who owned the Los Angeles Angels minor league team as well as the Chicago Cubs. The ballpark, built at a reported cost of $1.5 million at 42nd and Avalon, held 20,000 to 22,000 people. When the park opened, the Sporting News reported that it was better than the one in Chicago. Demolished in 1966, it is now part of a city park.
2. It was modeled after the Chicago Cubs home field and designed by the same architect who created Wrigley Field here, Zachary Taylor Davis. An L.A. Times story from the time reported that "instead of the customary wooden fence filled with signs, a brick wall will be seen instead. There will not be an advertisement in the park." Ivy was later added to the left field wall.
3. Like its counterpart in Chicago, Wrigley Field in Los Angeles was built close to homes. So close, in fact, that some neighbors complained of balls hitting their houses.
Take a look around Wrigley Field Los Angeles in 1948:
4. When Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was considering a place to play for his relocated team, one option was L.A.'s Wrigley Field. But, among other problems with the site, Major League Baseball was said to be concerned about a brothel that operated across the street.
5. Other uses for the park included the first NFL Pro Bowl, on Jan. 15, 1939, boxing matches, and speeches, including one by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The California Wrigley Field was used in the 1949 film "It Happens Every Spring," "Fear Strikes Out" in 1957, and "Damn Yankees" in 1958, as well as the TV show "Home Run Derby."
Sources:
LAist: Baseball's Wrigley Field Was in LA
New York Times: Cubs Made Los Angeles a Home Before Dodgers Did
BallparksofAmerica.com: Los Angeles Wrigley Field
Society of American Baseball Research: Wrigley Field (Los Angeles)
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