Aug 8, 2008 12:12 pm US/Central
20 Years Of Night Games At Wrigley Field
Lights Were Erected At Ballpark In 1988 Despite Decades Of Opposition, Roadblocks
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Twenty years ago Friday, the Cubs played their first night game in Wrigley Field, after a decades-long push to have lights installed in the stadium finally paid off.
The Cubs turned on the lights for the first time in a night game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 8, 1988. They gave 91-year-old fan Harry Grossman the honor of hitting the lights.
The game was rained out, but the following evening, the Cubs defeated the New York Mets 6-4 in their second ever Wrigley Field night game.
As far back as 1941, the Cubs were looking to get lights installed at Wrigley Field, but then-owner P.K. Wrigley's efforts were hampered first by exorbitant costs, then by the attack on Pearl Harbor, according to a timeline prepared by the Cubs.
Discussions about getting lights for night games persisted for decades, and one fan, attorney William Shlensky, even filed a lawsuit in 1966 to force the Cubs to install lights. Wrigley responded that 3,000 neighbors had just petitioned against lights, the timeline said.
When the Tribune Company bought the team and the ballpark in 1981, installing lights was part of the agenda.
The situation became dire in 1982, when then-General Manager Dallas Green warned that the team might leave Wrigley Field if lights were not installed. There was discussion of constructing a new stadium in Schaumburg or Arlington Heights, and having Wrigley Field remodeled or even demolished for a DePaul University sports stadium.
But a few years later, Mayor Harold Washington came out in favor of lights at Wrigley, and a city ordinance forbidding them was withdrawn. Some activists who went by the name "Citizens for Baseball in the Sunshine" complained that night games would bring congestion and unruly fans, but ultimately, night game supporters won.
Since the lights were installed, a vibrant and busy nightlife scene Clark Street has developed, and Wrigleyville has become more of a destination neighborhood than ever before.
Earlier this week, the Cubs said they wanted to add night games on Fridays and Saturdays, which current city ordinance does not allow. Manager Lou Piniella is behind the plan, which he says would allow the team extra rest.
Under a rewritten ordinance, the Cubs would still be limited to 30 night games a year, the Chicago Tribune reported earlier this week.
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