My First Game at Wrigley Field

I was probably about 5 years old when I went to my first game at Wrigley Field. As I look at the stadium layout today, I think we must have sat in section 107 or 108.

It was a cloudy day. I don’t remember who the Cubs played or what the final score was. I’m not even sure who else was there except my father and me. My mom and my younger sister may have been there. I just don’t remember.

What I do remember vividly was thinking how small the stadium was. As soon as we climbed the stairs from the lobby, I remember looking towards right field and the visitor’s dugout. On TV, the black and white 19″ Zenith, Wrigley Field seemed much bigger.

We were behind the Cubs dugout, but a little further into left field and it was cool to see the players on the field. I also looked up at the press box to see if Jack Brickhouse was in sight. My dad pointed out where the radio booth was and where Lloyd Pettit and Lou Boudreau would sit.

It was a thrill when the PA announcer, Frank “Pat” Pieper, exclaimed “Play Ball!” at the conclusion of the National Anthem. When we watched the games on TV, my mom would always cry the same thing a second or 2 before Pat did.

I had no idea how old he was – he sounded like an older guy, but I never would have guessed that he was born in Germany in 1886; so he would have been about 77 when I attended my first game.

His Wrigley Field career spanned from 1904 to 1974 and was the PA announcer from 1916 to 1974, a span of 59 years.

He started out selling peanuts and popcorn at Weeghman Park for Dan Ryan Sr., who was in charge of concessions. Pieper remembered Ryan telling him that “the first fifty years are the toughest. After that, it’s easy.”

Weeghman Park became Cubs Park in 1920 after the Wrigley family purchased the team. It was named Wrigley Field in 1926 in honor of the team’s owner William Wrigley Jr.

The second thing I noticed was the ivy in left, center and right field. I don’t think I knew then that it was planted by Bill Veeck in 1937. Veeck, the son of the club president, planted the ivy after seeing ivy planted at Perry Stadium in Indianapolis.

I remember we snacked on peanuts and Cracker Jack. My dad always wanted peanuts at Wrigley Field.

I have other memories of Wrigley Field and attending baseball games with my dad, including taking him to a game at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, two rows behind home plate. More on that later.