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Let me tell ya, we don't run this here blog for any compensation. We do it because we love Wrigley Field, we love the Cubs, and it sure the heck beats taking a greeter job down at the Wal-Marts.

From time to time we have had some kind folks tell us they really enjoy this site and that they'd love to buy us a beer sometime. Well, the youngster thinks he figured out a way to make that happen.

On the off chance that anyone out there actually wants to buy us a cold one, you can click one this here button below and have at it. Be sure to leave us a comment so we know who to thank.

Thank you kindly and Go Cubs.

A First Look At Wrigley Field's Jumbotron

Enough steel has been erected to start making an educated guess on just how this new Jumbotron (or as they say "video board") is going to look. Well sir, it is going to look enormous. 

Take a gander:

Triangle Lot Next To Wrigley Field Under Construction

What folks call the Triangle Lot is starting to see some construction action. At some point this will be a big ol' office building, an underground clubhouse for the Cubs and a public plaza.

(I betcha a shiny nickel they call it "Toyota Plaza")

Take a gander:

Wrigley's steel columns dug down to the footings

Big ol' steel beams coming off the truck

Only Center Field Bleachers Remain at Wrigley Field

Well sir, the demolition of the left and right field bleachers is nearly complete. The only thing really left has been standing here since 1937: The center field bleachers, the old scoreboard and the outfield wall. I reckon construction of the new bleachers will start soon, and we'll will keep "posting" the updates.

Sad Photo of the Day

Ronnie Woo Woo watches as the LF bleachers are demolished

Holy Shit. The Bleachers Are Gone

You can go ahead and tell me that this part of my beloved bleachers have only been here since 2006. But let me tell you something: All of this is happening just so they can put up a godawful jumbotron. 

I guarantee you this, If and when I do go to a game (that is, IF I can afford a ticket) I'm only gonna sit in the bleachers SO I DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT MONSTROSITY. 

Brick Walls Down as Wrigley Renovation Rolls On

Now we're cooking with gas.

This here Wrigley Field renovation finally came to life yesterday with the outside walls coming down. Now before you folks panic, let me give you a little background information. First off, these were only the outside brick walls. The ivy covered outfield wall is historically protected and good Lord willing will stay put for awhile. Secondly, these bleachers were renovated back before the '06 season (2006, that is) So these here bricks are only 8 or 9 years old.

Here are some photographs:

And Down Goes the Toyota Sign at Wrigley Field

Purdy Photo: chicaGO CUBS GO

I call this photograph: chicaGO CUBS GO

I am not certain if they did this on purpose or not, but I must say: It did catch me off guard.

I swear I have looked up at that marquee hundreds if not thousands of times. . . and yet, it was as if I was looking at it for the very first time. Glorious, really.

It Was 100 Years Ago Today

Beer Update at Wrigley Field

Here's the rundown on all of the important beer changes at The Friendly Confines this season.

 1. As we already told you: Budweiser is now the official beer of Wrigley Field. 
 So that means they are going to sell beers owned by the company that owns Budweiser: Bud, Bud Light, Bud that's half margarita, Goose Island, Johnny Appleseed Cider and a gluten-free beer called Redbridge.

 2. Beer vendors will only carry Bud/Bud Light or Goose Island 312 (Urban Wheat Ale or Urban Pale Ale)

 3. You can still buy and Old Style, but you'll have to get off your keister to get one.
The beer will return for its 63rd year at Wrigley, but you'll have to walk to go buy one.

 4. And I'm not making this up: They're also gonna have themed cocktails 
 While you're up, you'll also be able to get a 1910s Weeghman Park Old Fashioned, a 1920s Upper Deck Gin Rickey, a 1930s Called Shot, a 1940s Day Game, a 1950s Mr. Cub Cocktail #14, a 1960s Alabama Ironman, a 1970s Cooperstown Iced Tea, a 1980s Electric Ryno Margarita, 1990s Home Run Hop or a 2000s Playoff Punch

Right Field Sign Mocked Up At Wrigley - Lawsuits To Follow

The Cubs mocked up their "Wrigley Field" sign briefly yesterday - just long enough to get the talk of lawsuits going.

I guess the point of the exercise was to show rooftop owners that this new sign wouldn't block their precious view. I couldn't tell that from the street, but I do know a few things: 1) It's giant. B) It sticks out into the street a ton and 3) It isn't going to say "Wrigley Field". Come on, we all know it's gonna say Budweiser.

Later on, I saw this image via @DNAinfoCHI...
This is the view the rooftop owners want everyone to see.

Who knows if this was actually taken from the top of the roof, and who knows if it was shot before the letters were where they are going to go. All I know is: lawsuits are a-comin and this is the photo the roofies are going to use to prove their point.

BREAKING: The Chicago Cubs Are Bad At Baseball

The Chicago Cubs are terrible, historically terrible at the game of baseball.

Now this here team has been around for awhile. We've called Wrigley Field our home for 97 seasons, and for those there 97 seasons we've had some good teams and... well, hell mostly bad teams. But never, and I mean never have we been this bad. 

Even in our darkest days, we never suffered more than 49 losses at Wrigley Field - not ever. 

Well sir, after losing 2 outta 3 to the playoff-bound Pittsburg frickin' Pirates we have now established a new low. Our final home record for 2013 is as follows:

31 wins and 50 losses. Terrible.

I reckon there's not much more one can say, except for that old adage:

There's always next year.

Budweiser IN - Old Style likely OUT Next Season At Wrigley Field

Your Chicago Cubs announced that they signed a deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev to make that company the "exclusive marketing partner" for all beer sold at Wrigley Field. Now, that there deal will mean a couple of big changes starting next season. 

1. More than likely: No more Old Style 

These InBev folks own a quarter of all beers in the world, and I reckon you'll see many of them at Wrigley next season. They own Corona, "Stella Artois", Becks - heck they even own Goose Island - as well as every lousy beer brewed down there in stinkin St. Louis. Unfortunately they do not own Old Style, the official beer of Wrigley Field for the past 62 seasons. And I'm betting they call it this agreement "exclusive" for a reason.

2. It also means a big ol' Budweiser sign in Right Field.

We knew this one was coming. Earlier this season the Cubs put out their pretty renderings showing a giant jumbotron in left and a big sign in right. Now, you didn't have to be some kind of whiz kid to predict that they weren't going to put up a "Wrigley Field" sign. Below is a what you'll see next Spring. 

A look at this year's off-season work at Wrigley Field (Photos)

The talk of the town continues to be future renovations of Wrigley Field and the supposed $500 million worth of work they plan to do over the next 5 years. All that's well and good but there was still work to do done this off-season. Each year they say the Ricketts Family spends about $10 million in upkeep; for concrete work, repainting, and improvements here and there.

Here are a few of the tasks we caught them in the act of this past winter:

1. A new field:

Wrigley's Field - as bald as a baby (via globetrotscott)

It sure seems like they did this just a year or two ago, but they decided to re-do the entire playing surface. Hopefully some of our bad luck was replaced as well.


2. A new row behind home plate:

Again, this was something they did just a few years back - when they added 3 new rows. Apparently they felt they should squeeze some more high priced seats in - 56 seats to be exact.

Along with the work to move in the brick backstop, they created a removable section of brick just to the outfield side of the home dugout. This will allow for more room when they try to bring more football games to Wrigley Field - and hopefully avoid this


3. The Scoreboard spiffed up

Boy, we sure did enjoy watching them open up the old scoreboard. With the new paint job, she looks just dandy and ready for Opening Day.

Go Cubs.

Your Cubs vs your A's

Dear Theo:

Please take note of how the Oakland A's have built their success.  A team that is roughly $33 million cheaper won 94 games, and the AL West.

If you compare the Cubs to the A's, defensively they were pretty similar.
The Cubs had fewer errors and turned more double plays, but both teams shared the same fielding percentage.

On the offense, the A's did have more home runs (195 compared to 137), but the Cubs were slightly better in team batting average and stole more bases.

Now take a gander at pitching. The A's had an ERA of 3.48. The Cubs: 4.51.  

I'm no rocket surgeon, but that there seems like the biggest difference between being 94-68 vs 61-101.

Cubs Cancel Pizza Party After Failing To Sell 3 Million Tickets

Earlier today, the Cubs Marketing Department was informed that their annual pizza party had been cancelled. The announcement came after the Cubs failed to reach 3 million in ticket sales for 2012. This season was the first since 2003 that the team didn't reach the magic number with only 2,882,756 fans paying to see the 61-101 team.

"We're not going to reward failure," said Team Chairman Tom Ricketts. "Maybe they can earn it back next year."

Many in the Marketing Department walked around in shock after the announcement was made.

"Does this come as a surprise? No," said Colin Faulkner, Vice President of Ticket Sales and Services. "Do I like pizza? Yes. Yes, very much so."

Asked why he thought the Cubs didn't reach the 3 million mark, Mr. Faulkner had few answers.

"I have absolutely no idea" he said. "I mean, we have such a simplified system for tickets. Good games are "Gold",  great games are "Platinum"... really, really great games are "Marquee", crappy games are "Silver" and games you can't believe you still have to pay to watch are "Bronze." It's very simple."

Executive Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Wally Hayward didn't have much more to offer.

"Couldn't be the ticket prices," he said. "Plenty of people were willing to hand over up to $160 a ticket to sit in the bleachers, plenty."

"Maybe it was the weather. It did get cold in April, and it did rain a few times a couple of weeks ago," Mr. Hayward said. "Listen, I'm not one to point fingers. If I was, I'd point them directly at the team's play this season, but I'm not going to do that."
 

A First Look at the New Bleacher Videoboard

For those of you hiding under a rock, the Cubs have been doing some off-season work in the bleachers.

What they're doing is raising a section in the Right Field to make some sort of "party patio". By doing this they confidently create a spot just perfect for an "LED video board"

The patio work remains under wraps, but thanks to the good work by one @GoMirrus we now have an actual view of this new fancy new video board.
Have a look see:

images via @GoMirrus (we owe you a beer)

Purdy Photo

I've convinced the boys here at Wrigley Blog to try and add a little class to this whole "documenting" idea. Instead of throwing together a few reactionary shots of some random event this is an attempt to bring something of thought and of beauty to this site. I've always been inspired by the majesty of Carleton Watkins, haunted by the shear truth of Timothy O'Sullivan, and ever delighted by the subtle charm of William Henry Jackson. These photographers are my heroes. Like them I work in sunlight and in film; in the cloud covered days and the dark quiet nights. Wrigley Field is my chosen canvas, and I sure do hope you enjoy these photographs; both today and beyond.

Sloop Purdy

New Rendering of Bleacher Patio and LED Videoboard at Wrigley

We've had a few weeks to calm down since seeing the Cubs off-season plan to add a party deck and LED ad board to the bleachers. Sure we were mighty upset by the notion, but we know that Wrigley Field isn't a static place. She's slowly evolved over these years; she's had too. And let me tell ya, we have no doubt Wrigley Field can handle this change and hopefully the next round of changes Mr. Ricketts throws at her.

But next time around, we'd appreciate if they'd cut the bull when selling us the idea. Don't tell us it's "for the fans". This here patio is only for corporate events and bachelor parties. It's just one more place in the park we aren't welcome, and we don't take too kindly to that fact. But more to the point, the reason for the patio is the advertisement money. If that there money turns the Cubs into winners, then and only then could you say it was "for the fans".

Now back to that ad / patio. Two thing struck me when taking a gander at the pretty picture of the patio and strolling around the stadium. For one, there sure isn't much room there for a patio. My hope is that when it's complete most folks reaction will be: "Is that it?"  The second thing that I noticed is that the image only shows that one section of the ballpark. It doesn't show how or if it'll fit in with the rest of Wrigley Field.

I reckon that they don't much care if it does...

But we do care, and I really wanted to know how it'll look so I asked my employment-challenged friend of the blog draw it up. He sort of took what they presented and fiddled with it until it went in. Take a gander and let us know what you think.