Chicago Cubs: Why is Wrigley Field hosting concerts during the season anyhow?

Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon wasn’t very happy with the infield following the AC/DC concert at Wrigley Field. Does it really make sense to host them during the season?

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see a concert at iconic Wrigley Field. And in the past it may not have been a big deal if the field took a little “abuse” during a show. But the Chicago Cubs are in the middle of a playoff push, and it just doesn’t seem like the sensible thing to be doing right now. Clearly Joe Maddon wasn’t happy with the aftermath of it.

“Since the AC/DC concert, we’ve had a little bit of trouble,” Maddon said in referring to the performance on Sept. 15. “I don’t know if they were out there taking ground balls before the game, or if they had 9-inch heels or spikes. h/t Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune.

Maddon pointed to a few bad hops, something he says he hadn’t seen on the infield all season. “They totally messed up the infield, and it has nothing to do with the groundskeepers. I’ve seen a bad hop at third, and a bad hop at second. I didn’t see one bad hop all year. We just got to get it ironed out because I think Starlin has done a nice job at second base. I don’t want anyone blaming him on that error. It was a weird hop.”

Maddon even tried to “bail out” Starlin Castro after his error, but Castro simply believed he played the ball wrong. The outfield grass, however? That Castro has noticed a difference. “It’s not even,” Castro said. “Some places are long, some are short. It’s not like it used to look.”

The grass needed to be resodded following the concert and leads me to ask why they are even hosting them this late in the year, if at all.

Unlike the United Center where the floor changes for basketball games, hockey games, and concerts, Wrigley Field can only be altered to a certain extent for concerts. AC/DC is not the first concert, nor will it be the last. With fans filling the ballpark, two big video boards to help pull in more revenue, is it worth the chance of damaging the playing surface–especially now that the Cubs are a competitive team?

Hosting concerts at Wrigley has a small window. And that window is the summer while the Cubs are playing baseball. The Bulls already have had to make concessions when the circus comes to town, going on an extended road trip each season. But they come back to the same court each time, not a beat up infield and outfield.

It may be time to put the focus of Wrigley back on what it was meant to be for. Cubs baseball.

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