Wrigley Field has a new Field
Posted by: Richie Rich in Ballparks, Cubs, White Sox, YouTubeFor years, I’ve listened to some friends of mine (who happen to be die-hard White Sox fans) tell me that “Wrigley Field should be torn down with bulldozers.”
A couple months ago, they got their wish – for a little while, anyway. I think they were out on Sheffield Avenue with bags of popcorn (okay not really).
Ballplayers have complained about Wrigley for years … especially the outfielders who said that the field played like turf, had holes in it, or was just plain hazardous.
“There are like a lot of little holes, you know what I mean? Sometimes when they hit a ground ball, you have to be careful.”
- Chicago Cubs LF Alfonso Soriano
“It’s rock hard, it’s as fast as turf, but it looks like there’s been a dozen cows out there grazing this week.”
- Pittsburgh Pirates LF Nate McClouth
“That outfield is dangerous … I’m surprised more people don’t get injured out there. It’s worse than playing in a parking lot.”
- Cincinnati Reds LF Adam Dunn
Gives new meaning to that “Left Field Sucks” chant, now doesn’t it? Who knew the RF bleacher bums were so prescient? Is that why the Cubs’ LF Alfonso Soriano always does that little hop thing when he’s about to catch a ball? So he doesn’t fall in a hole?
Here, you can watch Wrigley Field undergo its transformation … first into a 40,000 capacity sandlot and then into a World Class baseball field.
Wrigley is the second oldest ballpark in the majors (behind Fenway), and the field played like it. Plus, concerts in recent years by Jimmy Buffett and The Police would leave the outfield in tatters. Not to mention the field had a “crown” - which meant that the middle of the field was significantly higher than the foul areas. If you were in the dugout, you could barely see the knees of your outfielders.
Sure, the Cubs made some improvements to the building … they added more seats on both foul lines, added luxury boxes, expanded the bleachers, and did some structural work to keep concrete from falling on their fans’ heads … but not much had been done to improve Wrigley’s playing surface for many years - the last major overhaul was in 1935.
Well, no more. After the Cubs were unceremoniously swept out of the 2007 playoffs, the Cubs began replacing the old playing surface with a new high-tech field … under the supervision of the leading authority in baseball groundskeeping – the “Sodfather” Roger Bossard – who is the Chief Groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox.
Roger Bossard has overseen the construction of at the playing fields of at least six other MLB ballparks, including US Cellular Field (White Sox), Comerica Park (Tigers), Busch Stadium (Cardinals), Miller Park (Brewers), Safeco Field (Mariners), and Fenway Park (Red Sox).
Bossard levelled the field (literally and figuratively), added new turf which has been specifically bred to handle Chicago’s humid summers and frigid winters, and added a desperately needed drainage upgrade by working around the neighborhood’s antiquated (and ridiculously undersized) city water mains. And the outfield warning track was expanded to a league-standard 20 feet wide.
With the $127 MILLION the Cubs owe their Left Fielder (Alfonso Soriano) over the next seven seasons, hopefully the investment in their field will pay off.
Entries (RSS)
February 21st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Love the time-lapse…it’s much like watching them clear the snow off the field in Cleveland on Opening Day last year. Also love the title “Sodfather.” The Bossards are a groundskeeping family. Marshall (father? brother of Roger?) had been the longtime GK at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
Finally, along the lines of “there ought to be a law,” baseball parks should quite simply be banned from ever hosting rock concerts. It wrecks the grass for the players and makes it look hideous for the rest of the season, no matter how much green paint they might spray on.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Take anything Adam Dunn says with a grain of salt… he’s just about the most reckless, most clueless outfielder not named Manny.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I think the Cubs would love to only owe Soriano $127 over the next 7 seasons.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Nice catch Matt. I fixed it.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
The Cubs STILL suck.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:31 am
In regards to fiesta. there is no green paint ever sprayed. that is all.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:08 am
I can’t to see how the new field plays. Without the crown, it should play much better defensively.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Probably about time they did this but I admit I’ll kinda miss the crown.
I don’t get to Wrigley often — I live out west and only get there on biz trips — but the nice part of the raised field was what you could *hear*: with a seat anywhere in the first 10-15 rows down close (which you can still *get* on gameday at times) you could *really* hear the players. I was at a Cubs/WSox interleague game several years back and heard Mark Grace at first talk crap with *every* guy that got on base; in the raised stands you were just about at eye level with the players. That was very, very cool — if a little weird to see the game on a sort of platform — but I expect the new leveling will probably change this dynamic.
Of course a big rainstorm blew in in the fifth inning or so of that game, absolutely *soaked* the field and the runoff from the crown made sure the dugouts were completely flooded. (It was up to about Zimmer’s waist.) So on balance a good move …
May 28th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
[...] Wrigley Field has a new field, which, gathering from the players are saying is a good thing. [Home Run Derby] [...]