West Side Grounds

[zappa1]

West Side Park was the name used for two different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois. They were both home fields of the team now known as the Chicago Cubs of the National League. Both parks hosted baseball championships. The latter of the two parks, where the franchise played for nearly a quarter century, was the home of the last world champion Cubs team, the team that posted the best winning percentage in Major League Baseball history and won the most games in National League history, the only cross-town World Series in Chicago, and the immortalized Tinker to Evers to Chance double-play combo. Both ballparks were what are now called "wooden" ballparks.

The first West Side Park was from 1885-1891.
The second one was built a few blocks west-southwest of the 1st one and was used from 1893-1915.

I believe he stated that this project was for the 1908 park.

Weeghman Park was built in 1914. The Cubs didn't play there until the 1916 season.

This info is from Wikipedia, search West Side Park, Weeghman Park.

[knight1376]

1908..............the double decked stands didn't wrap the entire left and right field areas until 1914......

[zappa1]

Originally Posted by knight1376

1908..............the double decked stands didn't wrap the entire left and right field areas until 1914......

Hey knight, whats up? Just found the b/w photo of the colorized pic I posted and written right on the photo it says Giants vs Cubs, 1908.

I thought this photo was pretty cool.

[zappa1]

Here is what I came up with.

[zappa1]

This should be a pretty cool park when you finish it. Getting excited, now.

[knight1376]

liked the way this park looked...I agree.....it was a nice park...

[knight1376]

nice design....they will be in it too....they look life wings....

[knight1376]

PoloGrounds....but the structure is very detailed....will take a week ......

[knight1376]

I put it up by mistake...that's what is confusing you probably....

[knight1376]

no diagram for this park....

[knight1376]

will definitely be rooftop bleachers....

[zappa1]

Originally Posted by knight1376

PoloGrounds....but the structure is very detailed....will take a week ......

Oh, I believe that for sure. Took me at least 3 days to colorize. hahahaha

[Lucas718]

Originally Posted by knight1376

I put it up by mistake...that's what is confusing you probably....

Yes, the diagram for Weeghman is what had me confused. Thanks for clearing that up. Looking forward to seeing this in the game.

[zappa1]

Sorry. Didn't mean to jump all over knights thread with all the historic mumbo jumbo that most everybody already knows. Later.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by zappa1

West Side Park was the name used for two different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois. They were both home fields of the team now known as the Chicago Cubs of the National League. Both parks hosted baseball championships. The latter of the two parks, where the franchise played for nearly a quarter century, was the home of the last world champion Cubs team, the team that posted the best winning percentage in Major League Baseball history and won the most games in National League history, the only cross-town World Series in Chicago, and the immortalized Tinker to Evers to Chance double-play combo. Both ballparks were what are now called "wooden" ballparks.

The first West Side Park was from 1885-1891.
The second one was built a few blocks west-southwest of the 1st one and was used from 1893-1915.

I believe he stated that this project was for the 1908 park.

Weeghman Park was built in 1914. The Cubs didn't play there until the 1916 season.

This info is from Wikipedia, search West Side Park, Weeghman Park.

One of the West Siude Grounds, not sure which one. Possibly both, stood where UIC is at today. The RF? wall would be in the middle of the Dan Ryan southbound lane. Home plate is somewhere on the campus, although perhaps not in its original location. The 1st WSG might be where the UIC Medical Center is at.

Any chance for South Side Park?

[knight1376]

Will investigate that......

[knight1376]

Your fine guy......not everyone knows the history of baseball......I always like your input. You always tell me if my parks look ok....that's good too........

[knight1376]

That was used from 1900 to 1910 by the Whitesox. It was 3 blocks north of the eventual Comisky Park, which was used for 80 years. Many years ago I went to Chicago and saw The Old Comisky Park...just a couple years before it was replaced by the current one.I saw the Yankees there, Iam from NY. It was a very impressive trip, The old Comisky had a certain atmosphere about it, very good atmosphere. On that trip the Cubs weren't at home, but I was able to go inside it. Legally of course.It is easy to see why Wrigley constantly sells out,beautiful place in person. TV doesn't show certain things. Anyway after I get done with The west End Grounds....South Side Grouns are next. I looked at pictures of it...lots of info.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by The Game

One of the West Siude Grounds, not sure which one. Possibly both, stood where UIC is at today. The RF? wall would be in the middle of the Dan Ryan southbound lane. Home plate is somewhere on the campus, although perhaps not in its original location. The 1st WSG might be where the UIC Medical Center is at.

I'm not sure these ballparks had any sort of official names, but baseball historians tend to call the first one "West Side Park" and the second one "West Side Grounds," just to avoid confusion. West Side Park (1885-92) was located on the block bounded by Congress, Throop, Harrison, and Loomis and occupied the north half of the block. Because it occupied half of a long, narrow block, the park was shaped like an elongated oval, much like the Polo Grounds. The main entrance, from what I can gather, was at the corner of Loomis and Congress and the field was oriented so that a line running from home base to second base would have been straight west-to-east.

West Side Grounds (1893-1915) was a few blocks to the west and south on a block bounded by Polk, Wood, Taylor, and Wolcott (at that time called Lincoln). This park also occupied the northern half of the block with the main entrance at the corner of Polk and Wolcott. The main building of Cook County Hospital (now Stroger Hospital) was across the street on the north side of Polk. The field was oriented so that the third base line from home plate to third base ran straight west-to-east (more or less).



The site that West Side Park occupied is now a school, and is located immediately to the south of the Eisenhower Expressway (I-90). The site that the West Side Grounds occupied is now part of the UIC medical campus. Legend has it that the phrase "out of left field" (meaning wildly unexpected or irrational) arose because there was an insane asylum that was formerly located a block or so to the east of the West Side Grounds, beyond the left field wall. I'm somewhat dubious of that story, but it would be cool if it were true.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by zappa1

Here is what I came up with.

Attachment 464186

That's a photo from the August 30, 1908 game between the Cubs and Giants. The Cubs won 2-1 in front of a big Sunday crowd. The winning pitcher was Jack Pfiester. It's difficult to tell from the photo, but it appears that the pitcher is left-handed, which means that it's Pfiester rather than Doc Crandall, the pitcher for the Giants. Also, the uniforms of the players in the field appear lighter than the uniform of the batter, which likewise suggests that this is a photo of a Giants' player at bat. The Giants had five (!) lefties in their lineup that day (Fred Tenney, Larry Doyle, Al Bridwell, Cy Seymour, and "Turkey" Mike Donlin), so the batter can't be identified from just that bit of information.



The photo clearly shows the players' and coaches' lines (that might very well be John McGraw in the third base coach's box), and also the catcher's lines extending beyond home plate from the base lines.