WSCR Chicago reporting Wrigley Field to be torn down

[BrewCity83]

I thought Miller Park was named for Damian Miller   

[🏀]

I thought Miller Park was named for Damian Miller   

Awesome

[Pakuni]

Really, what's the big deal here?
The Cubs home field has had a corporate name since 1927. It's just that the Wrigley Company didn't have to pay to have its name slapped on the side of the building. (Note: Wrigley Field wasn't always Wrigley Field).

(Note: Wrigley Field was named to honor William Wrigley. Not after a company.)

I'm sure the notion that naming his ballpark "Wrigley Field" would increase his company's profile and name recognition never occurred to Mr. Wrigley. It was all about honoring himself. Ditto for the Busch family down in St. Louis. These guys clearly were unsophisiticated rubes lacking the business acumen and savvy to come up with that kind of concept.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Really, what's the big deal here?
The Cubs home field has had a corporate name since 1927. It's just that the Wrigley Company didn't have to pay to have its name slapped on the side of the building. (Note: Wrigley Field wasn't always Wrigley Field).

(Note: Wrigley Field was named to honor William Wrigley. Not after a company.)

Are you serious????  What his company, which owned the Cubs, decided to honor their owner by calling it Wrigley Field after him and not his company?  Based on that comment, I'm guessing you became a Cubs fan right around 2003.   

[NavinRJohnson]

Based on that comment, I'm guessing you became a Cubs fan right around 2003.   

And still wears his We Got Wood T-shirt to every game.

WOOOOOOOOO! CUUBBBBIES!

[🏀]

Really, what's the big deal here?
The Cubs home field has had a corporate name since 1927. It's just that the Wrigley Company didn't have to pay to have its name slapped on the side of the building. (Note: Wrigley Field wasn't always Wrigley Field).

(Note: Wrigley Field was named to honor William Wrigley. Not after a company.)

Are you serious????  What his company, which owned the Cubs, decided to honor their owner by calling it Wrigley Field after him and not his company?  Based on that comment, I'm guessing you became a Cubs fan right around 2003.   

Wrigley was known as Weeghman Park prior to Wrigley Field. It was named after their owner, Charles Weeghman. Weeghman  owned various lunch-counters. Was Weeghman a corporate name then?

Upon the downfall of Charles Weeghman, William Wrigley, Junior heavily invested into the club. He invested enough money to acquire full operation of the club. The Weeghman Park name was never removed, but was unofficially referred to as Cubs' Park. This is very similar to White Sox fans calling the Cell Sox Park. Which brings up another point, Was Comiskey a corporate name for Comiskey Park?

Wrigley heavily invested in the team, see players like Gabby Hartnett and Hack Wilson. He also heavily invested in the stadium, increasing capacity from 18,000 to 31,000. After these investments, the name of the stadium was changed to Wrigley Field. Nothing any different from Weeghman or Comiskey.

It's not so much that I believe that it was to honor Wrigley for his contributions to the team, in a manner very similar to two other Chicago baseball investors, it's more of a fact.

Just for fun, I'll site my sources if you care to check to terminology of how Wrigley Field acquired the name:

The Cubs: The Complete Story of Chicago Cubs Baseball by Glenn Stout and Richard Johnson

Chicago Cubs Encyclopedia by Jerome Holtzman

Wrigleyville: A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs by Peter Golenbock

The Story of the Chicago Cubs by Tyler Omoth

Cubs Nation: 162 Games. 162 Stories. 1 Addiction.  by Gene Wojciechowski

Feel free to bust out a Library Card and check them out. If not, stop by my place, I'll have it all tabbed out for your reading pleasure.

[SaintPaulWarrior]

William Wrigley was one of the great salesman of the century.   Don't delude yourself that he changed the name of the stadium that he owned to honor himself.  Charles "The Old Roman" Comiskey was a baseball player, manager and owner.  He never owned anything except his team.  He was integral in founding the American League.  He named his stadium in his honor.  He was also a cheap son of a gun who caused the Black Sox. 

Wrigley was the ultimate salesman and knew exactly what he was doing when he renamed his "field in his own honor".  He and Busch were corporate salesman who were ahead of their time. 

I am sure that Ted Turner named his stadium in his own honor and not his corporation. 

Don't believe everything you read.

[🏀]

William Wrigley was one of the great salesman of the century.   Don't delude yourself that he changed the name of the stadium that he owned to honor himself.  Charles "The Old Roman" Comiskey was a baseball player, manager and owner.  He never owned anything except his team.  He was integral in founding the American League.  He named his stadium in his honor.  He was also a cheap son of a gun who caused the Black Sox. 

Wrigley was the ultimate salesman and knew exactly what he was doing when he renamed his "field in his own honor".  He and Busch were corporate salesman who were ahead of their time. 

I am sure that Ted Turner named his stadium in his own honor and not his corporation. 

Don't believe everything you read.

If it was such a corporate naming rights issue, where/were all the Wrigley gum advertisements? The double mint twins were featured on the outfield wall for a little under a decade, but removed to expand the stadium.

You would think if WWJr was such a great business man, he would have had his brand everywhere in, on, and around the place.

[Pakuni]

You would think if WWJr was such a great business man, he would have had his brand everywhere in, on, and around the place.

You mean like on the marquee, on the scoreboard, on the programs, on the scorecards, on the tickets, etc.? Yep, hard to find the Wrigley name anywhere around the park.
You're fighting a losing battle here. It's illogical to believe that Mr. Wrigley didn't recognize the benefits his corporation could derive from its link to the Cubs and the ballpark and/or to believe he would not have taken advantage of that opportunity.

Nobody is saying the Cubs are evil because of this. Rather, some of us are pointing out the irony of Cubs fans all in a tizzy over Sam Zell selling name rights to a stadium that already has had a de facto corporate sponsorship for eight decades.

"Perhaps the Wrigley Co. will decide that, after getting it for free for so long, that it's time to pay for it." - Sam Zell