Chicago Cubs: Remembering the old outfield bleachers

Chicago Cubs: The history of the 1937-2005 bleachers

Everyone who saw them can still remember the shape. Two downward sloping ramps that began in center down to the well areas. Fans often spelled ‘Go Cubs’ with beer cups in the chainlink fence behind these seats. Who could forget the green batter’s eye in the center that went from unoccupied seats to a tarp and finally juniper bushes in the late-90s to 2005.

In the late 1930s, the original wooden bleachers were replaced and the new brick walls were graced with ivy, thanks to Bill Veeck. The outer walls lining Waveland and Sheffield were part of the original construction in 1914.

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Meanwhile, the iconic center field scoreboard was added atop the center field seats and was originally a dull brown color. The clock was added a few years later. The batter’s eye in center came about because opposing players had a hard time seeing the ball with people wearing white in his line of sight.

Over the next six decades, not much changed in the outfield seats. The well areas went from catwalks to several rows of seats, but the main areas in left center and right center stayed the same. Since the bleachers then did not go back nearly as far as they do today, more homers went over them and onto the streets back then.

“Ballhawking” outside the park during batting practice became a lifestyle for many Cubs fans. The old bleachers also gave fans in the grandstand a good look at the buildings on Waveland and Sheffield – and allowed for spectators on those buildings to see the field.

Chicago Cubs: Big historical moments seen by those bleachers.

Those bleachers had a number of famous home runs land in or beyond them. Here is a list of some of the biggest:

• September 28, 1938: Gabby Hartnett’s “Homer in the Gloamin'” 
• May 12, 1970: Ernie Banks hits career homer #500
• June 23, 1984: Ryne Sandberg’s two game-tying home runs off Bruce Sutter
• September 13, 1998: Sammy Sosa hits #62 to pass Roger Maris
• October 15, 2003: Kerry Wood’s NLCS home run

Obviously, there were thousands of other home runs hit during those 68 years, but these are probably the most talked about. It is also worth noting that home runs landing the basket did not become a thing until they were added in 1970. Had to keep those bleacher bums under control!

Baseball is not the only thing Chicago sports fans watched from those old seats. From 1921 to 1970 the Chicago Bears under George Halas also called Wrigley Field home. The north end zone was right in the left field well. Fans in the bleachers watched guys crashing full speed into the endzone and field goals being kicked in their direction. From 1937-1970 those old bleachers hosted spectators who saw five NFL champion Bears teams.

In total the 1937-2005 bleachers saw two World Series, 17 postseason games and four NFL title games. The last World Series game they saw was Game 7 of the infamous 1945 World Series and last major championship win it saw was the 1963 NFL champion Bears. The 2003 Cubs were the only team to win an MLB playoff series during that span.

It has been over a decade since those old bleachers were demolished. Let’s face it, the outfield is much nicer and more spacious now. There was no way those old seats were going to hold up. But there will always be room for them in our memories.