West Side Park

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.

Related Topics:
Baseball - Chicago, Illinois - Chicago Cubs - National League

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The first West Side Park was the ball club's home from mid-season 1885 through 1891. It was on a small block bounded by Congress, Loomis, Harrison and Throop Streets. The diamond was in the west half of the block, with center field in the east half. Although short-lived, it saw some history, with the ball club winning a couple of pennants in that interval. In 1891 the team split its schedule between West Side Park and South Side Park. Then they abandoned the first West Side Park and played their 1892 home season on the South Side. The site of the first West Side Park is now occupied by a school.

Related Topics:
1885 - 1891 - South Side Park

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In May of 1893, the club opened their second West Side Park a few blocks west-southwest of the first one, on a larger block bounded by Taylor, Wood, Polk and Lincoln (now Wolcott) Streets. They split their 1893 schedule with South Side Park, then moved into the new ballpark full-time. The second West Side Park is now also sometimes erroneously called West Side "Grounds". Home plate was in the northwest corner of the field. The right field fence paralleled Taylor, with flat apartments between the high fence and the street. Cook County Hospital was across the street to the north, i.e. behind third base.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The second West Side Park was the home of the Cubs' most successful teams of the 20th century, which won 4 pennants and 2 World Series during their glory years of 1906-1910. By 1908 it sat 16,000, when the Cubs won their last World Series championship to date (through the 2005 season anyway). By the mid-1910s the wooden ballpark was showing its age, so in 1916 the Cubs abandoned it and moved to the steel-and-concrete ballpark on the north side, vacated by the Chicago Whales of the recently defunct Federal League, the site now known as Wrigley Field, and which the Cubs have called home ever since.

Related Topics:
World Series - 1906 - 1910 - 1908 - 2005 - 1916 - Chicago Whales - Federal League - Wrigley Field

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The site of the second and much more famous West Side Park is now occupied by the University of Illinois Medical Center.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~