Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium located in Chicago, Illinois, United States, home of the Chicago Cubs. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales. The Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park on April 20, 1916, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7–6 in eleven innings. In November 1918, Weeghman resigned as team president. Chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. acquired complete control of the Cubs by 1921. It was called Cubs Park from 1920 through 1926, before officially becoming Wrigley Field for the 1927 season. Located in the north side community area of Lakeview, Wrigley Field sits on an irregular block bounded by Clark (west) and Addison (south) Streets and Waveland (north) and Sheffield (east) Avenues. Wrigley Field is nicknamed The Friendly Confines, a phrase popularized by “Mr. Cub”, Hall of Famer Ernie Banks. The current capacity is 41,009, making Wrigley Field the 10th-smallest actively used ballpark. It is the oldest National League ballpark and the second oldest active major league ballpark (after Fenway Park on April 20, 1912), and the only remaining Federal League park. Wrigley Field is known for its ivy covered brick outfield wall, the unusual wind patterns off Lake Michigan, the iconic red marquee over the main entrance, the hand turned scoreboard, and for being the last major league park to have lights installed for play after dark, with lighting installed in 1988. The area surrounding the ballpark contains residential streets, in addition to bars, restaurants and other establishments and is called Wrigleyville. Between 1921 and 1970, it was also the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. It hosted the second annual National Hockey League Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings, on January 1, 2009.
