The $5 million dollar project was started in April of 1988 and completed in time for a Tribune company preview event in mid-July.Ĩ/8/88 was the event of the decade for the Cubs who were able to schedule 18-night games beginning in 1989, as an initial deal with the city of Chicago and the neighborhood was for 7 night games in 1988. Going into shock and reporter mode at the same moment, I made the proper moves to preserve this scoop and confirm the story without it getting out or leaked by Tribune sources. I asked for what purpose and he casually said, “oh, the Tribune company is considering putting lights up next year.” After talking about the team for a while, he told me he needed to go up on the Wrigley roof to take some measurements. Returning to 1987: I was having a conversation with one of the carpenters at Wrigley Field on a September day in 1987. He was very concerned about the neighborhood and its nighttime peace and quiet, as well. With the advent of television, he allowed all his home day games to be seen by young children and mothers at home attending to their growing families. Wrigley stubbornly decided that day baseball for the post-war families and the eventual baby boomer generation was better entertainment during the day in the sunshine.
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In 1948, the Detroit Tigers became the second-to-last club to install lights at Briggs Stadium. MLB continued to increase night games after the war.
The $155,000 worth of material (present value close to $3 million) was repurposed for the greater good of the country. Wrigley, noting our country’s need to make ships and munitions for the battle that eventually included war with Germany and Italy as well, pivoted and sent all the steel and transformers he had acquired to Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago. At that point, for moral purposes, President Roosevelt and his staff felt baseball should continue and believed more night games would be a nice diversion after people worked 12-hour shifts for the war effort. The 16 teams played a maximum of 7 night games until World War ll began. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was the literal game-changer.īaseball under the lights was a new concept in the early ’40s. 7th, 1941 changed that thinking and history for the Cub franchise. The Cubs planned to have their first night game in 1942, but Dec. What many do not know is that the Cubs, who were the last team to get lights in their ballpark, had planned to install those standards under the direction of Owner Philip K Wrigley in early 1942. “I had some foundation seats that I bought back from the Cubs and took care of maybe 50 friends.”
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“This was the biggest event in my career the build-up was like a World Series game,” said Sutcliffe, who gave up a home run to Phil Bradley, which was wiped out. Although the fans loved it at the park and on TV, it incensed manager Don Zimmer and all four were minimally fined by GM Jim Frey.
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The 8/8/88 rainout included players Greg Maddux, Al Nipper, Jody Davis, and Les Lancaster all doing belly flops in full uniform on the Wrigley Field tarp during the two-hour delay. The broadcasters wore tuxedos (except Harry Caray, who said “no”) and Bill Murray, George Will, commissioner Peter Ueberroth, and Mayor Edwin Sawyer were all in attendance. Watching the way the ballpark looked, it just magically lit up.” “I remember it was like 100 degrees that night. “I had hundreds of people asking for tickets to that game,” said Sutcliffe, now a contributor to Marquee Sports Network and ESPN.
9 with the Cubs hosting the New York Mets. Subsequently, the first official Cubs night game was moved to Aug. The opponent was the Philadelphia Phillies (the Cubs were leading 3-1 with Rick Sutcliffe pitching in the 4th inning). 8, 1988, under the lights installed early that season.Īs we look back on that historic event, we remember the game was started but rained out in the early innings due to a summer downpour that lasted all evening. The first Chicago Cubs night game was set to be played on Aug. 8, 1988 and the tarp-sliding fun will air first, with the full official game on Aug. The first few innings of the rained-out contest from Aug. As part of 1980’s Week, Marquee Sports Network is airing the first night game in Wrigley Field history Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
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