Dick Durbin: “I wish to recognize the 100th birthday of an American icon: Wrigley Field. As the second oldest Major League ball park…”

“I wish to recognize the 100th birthday of an American icon: Wrigley Field. As the second oldest Major League ball park and oldest in the National League, Wrigley Field has hosted millions of fans and easily earned its nickname, The Friendly Confines. On April 23rd, 1914, it opened its doors not to the Chicago Cubs, and it wasn't even called Wrigley Field. It was called Weeghman Park, and the Chicago Chifeds of the short-lived Federal League played there. The Chicago Cubs moved into their home in 1916. From the ivy-covered outfield walls, to its hand-turned score board, to the bleachers and the marquee, you always know you are at Wrigley Field. It was the last baseball stadium to have lights installed in 1988. It was the first stadium to have an organ playing music, and that music remains to this day, the first to build permanent concession stands, the first to have live broadcast of games. While there is some dispute whether Wrigley was the first place to allow fans to keep the balls hit into the stands, it certainly is where the custom began of throwing back the opponent's homerun balls. Wrigley hasn't always been home to the Cubs exclusively. The Decatur Staleys moved to play football there in 1921. You know them today as the Chicago Bears, and from 1921 to 1970, Wrigley was their home too. And the reason they are called the Bears is because the Cubs were already playing there.…”