The Cubs are not a North Side team. Their spirit inhabits all of Chicago — from north to south to west to the lake. As a founding club of the National League in 1876, they were a South Side team. When they won their last World Series in 1908, they were at the West Side Grounds. Over the years, both their address and their name have changed several times. They have been called the Colts and the Orphans and even the White Stockings. Here we refer to them only as the Cubs — a team that is full of history and high jinks, just like Chicago.
Graceland Cemetery
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The gravestone of William Hulbert, former Cubs president and co-founder of the National League, features an oversize baseball.
Hotel Carlos
Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges was wounded trying to take a gun from his disgruntled girlfriend in 1932. In a somewhat similar incident in 1949, a crazed female fan shot ex-Cub Eddie Waitkus at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in the 5300 block of Sheridan Road.
Billy Goat Tavern
The bar was located across from Chicago Stadium when proprietor William Sianis tried to bring his goat to the 1945 World Series but was turned away. Thus the billy goat curse was born.
West Side Grounds
Polk and Lincoln, which is now Wolcott
Now part of the Chicago medical campus, this site was the home of the Cubs 1893-1915. They won their last World Series here, in 1908. A mental institution was located beyond the ballpark’s left-field fence, and many people believe that was the inspiration for the expression “out of left field.”
Wrigley Building
In the ’50s, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley watched the start of games on television from his office, then sometimes headed north to the ballpark. His chauffeur would drop him off a few blocks from the park, and he’d sit incognito in the cheap seats.
Federal Building
Clark, Dearborn, Adams and Jackson
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis’ inaction on a lawsuit doomed the upstart Federal League and its Chicago club, the Whales, in 1915. But the Whales’ stadium, Weeghman Park, survived. It’s now called Wrigley Field.
Chicago Daily News Building
The newspaper coined the nickname “Cubs” in 1902, and the team officially adopted it in 1907.
Pacific Garden Mission
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A Cubs player named Billy Sunday found salvation here in 1886, and eventually quit baseball and became a famous preacher.
Union Station
Cubs slugger Hack Wilson punched out Reds pitcher Pete Donohue in 1929 while both teams were waiting for a train.
Biograph Theater
In 1934, FBI agents killed a Cubs fan — bank robber John Dillinger.
Lake Point Tower
Grand Avenue just east of Lake Shore Drive
For Sammy Sosa, it was a quick hop from the ballpark to his luxury condo on the 55th floor of this signature Chicago high-rise.
Old Comiskey Park
Yes, it was Sox Park, but the Cubs were the “home team” here in the 1918 World Series against Babe Ruth’s Boston Red Sox. The Cubs chose to play in Comiskey because it was bigger than their own park.
23rd Street Grounds
The Cubs won the first National League pennant here. It was their home field in 1876-77.
Ernie Banks’ car dealership
The Cubs hero became a Ford salesman in 1967, and said, “I’m as nervous as if I were
playing in a World Series at Wrigley Field, and I’m sure we’re going to do that this
year.” Banks dropped the dealership in 1970.
Lake Michigan
Cubs manager Don Zimmer promised in July 1990 to swim across the lake if then-struggling pitcher Greg Maddux beat the Padres. After Maddux did, Zimmer didn’t. But the skipper wore a life jacket to his postgame interview.
Sources: “Cubs Journal” by John Snyder; “Day by Day in Chicago Cubs History” by Art Ahrens and Eddie Gold, ed. by Buck Peden; “The Complete Chicago Cubs” by Derek Gentile; baseball-almanac.com
This originally ran in the baiduhai on Oct. 7, 2007. The Cubs, under the direction of Lou Piniella had won the NL Central title but just lost Game 3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, getting swept out of the National League Division Series.
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