Wrigley Field
. Wrigley Field has basically remained advertisement
free, with only advertisements on nearby buildings and a few in the
ballpark. The area outside Wrigley Field, called Wrigleyville, is
filled with fans on game day. Ballhawks as they are called, wait on
Waveland Avenue to catch homeruns during the game. At no other current
major league ballpark does the weather affect gameplay as much as at
Wrigley Field. In April and May the wind often comes off Lake Michigan
(less than a mile to the east), which means a northeast wind "blowing
in" to knock down potential home runs and turn them into outs. In the
summer, however, the wind often comes from the south and the southwest,
which means the wind is "blowing out" and has the potential to turn
normally harmless fly balls into home runs. Many Cub fans check their
nearest flag before heading to the park on game days for an indication
of what the game might be like; this is less of a factor for night
games, however, because the wind does not blow as hard after the sun
goes down. Some classic moments in baseball history have taken place at
Wrigley, starting with the legendary 1917 pitching duel between Jim
'Hippo' Vaughn and the Cincinnati Reds' Fred Toney. Both threw
no-hitters for nine innings (the only such dual feat in the majors)
before the Reds' storied Olympian Jim Thorpe drove in the only run.
Toney completed his no-hitter. On Sept. 28, 1938, Cubs Hall of Fame
catcher Gabby Hartnett hit his famous "Homer in the Gloamin" off the
Pittsburgh Pirates' Mace Brown. With the game about to be postponed
because of darkness, Hartnett hit a game-winning homer to lift the Cubs
to the pennant. Probably no event at Wrigley Field is more famous than
Babe Ruth's supposed "called shot" home run off Charlie Root in the
1932 World Series. It is now acknowledged that Ruth did indeed gesture
toward the outfield just before depositing Root's pitch into the
bleachers, but it may never be known just what he meant. The mystery
only adds to the mystique. It was at Wrigley that Ernie Banks hit his
500th homer in 1970 and Pete Rose got his 4,191st hit to equal Ty
Cobb's mark in 1985. But the Cubs have never won a World Series title
at Wrigley Field, having lost in all six attempts since 1918. Their
last world championship came in 1908, six years before Wrigley was
built.