Cubs History: Remembering some strange moments at Wrigley Field

Chicago Cubs have had thousands of games taken place at Wrigley Field, and every now and then, something unusual happens.

Once upon a time, fans were allowed to attend games at Wrigley Field. Those people saw plenty of highs and lows for their beloved Chicago Cubs over the years. Some fans were “lucky” enough to witness some more unusual things happen during games.

Baseball is bound to see some strange stuff considering it is played outside more often than not as it is exposed to the natural elements.

Wrigley Field has had its share of animal interactions, weather changes, and technical malfunctions over the past 100+ years of hosting baseball games. Some moments stand out more than others just considering how out of the blue they happen and how wild things get.

Here is a look at a few strange and wild occurrences to happen at Wrigley Field during Cubs games. The ones on the list have happened within the past 20 years, so plenty of people will likely remember these. Some of you might have even been there to witness this first hand!

Chicago Cubs: When the stadium is old and exposed to years of Chicago winters, there are bound to be some structural issues. That was realized one rainy 2004 afternoon at Wrigley.

On June 18th, 2004, the Cubs hosted the Oakland Athletics in an interleague matchup at Wrigley. Matt Clement pitched a great game, but the Cubs lost 2-1. That was not the story at the end of the day. What got more attention was the fact that during the game, the stadium began to crumble literally.

Chunks of concrete fell from the upper terrace and just missed hitting a couple of fans. While the stadium was assured to be structurally sound by inspectors, that did not stop a piece of the then-90-year-old stadium from falling apart. This was a part of several incidents this season where chunks of concrete fell. It is particularly scary when it almost hits people.

These incidents resulted in further extensive inspections of the ballpark and putting up some janky-looking netting all around the ballpark. Not sure how safe fans felt sitting in a 90-year old ballpark with their protection lies in the hands of nets. Luckily nobody was injured during these incidents.

Is seeing an old building crumbling unusual? No. But it is safe to say fans do not expect to see the ballpark crumble as they attend a ballgame.

Chicago Cubs: Cats and familiar foul balls made an appearance at Wrigley Field.

On a chilly night in Chicago, the Cubs took on the Reds on April 21st, 2009. Rich Harden pitched a solid game, and they went on to win easily 7-2.

At the top of the fourth, with Harden pitching to Joey Votto, a white and brown cat appeared seemingly out of nowhere in left-center and was running towards the left-field stands. A brief delay in the game was needed for the Wrigley Field crew to get ahold of the cat and bring it out of the ballpark. It was over as soon as it had started, but fans enjoyed the moment and cheered as the cat made its way around the outfield.

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While this was not a black cat, many Cubs fans could not help but think about the infamous black cat incident in 1969 at Shea Stadium against the Mets.

“Some strange happenings at Wrigley Field.” – Cubs play-by-play man, Len Kasper

A few minutes later, with two outs in the same inning, Jay Bruce hit a flyball down the left-field line right into the first row. It was pretty much the same spot where that infamous foul ball landed in game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. Alfonso Soriano stopped at the wall but did not try to leap and grab it.

It is nice those types of things do not haunt Cubs fans anymore.

Chicago Cubs: In August 2008, one of the most violent storms in years hit the Chicagoland area.

Rain delays are certainly not a rare occurrence at Wrigley Field, but it is not often fans have to seek shelter as tornado sirens go off.

On August 4th, 2008, the Cubs hosted the Houston Astros. The game started on time (6:05 PM local) and played through the fifth inning. As the game was happening, a line of violent thunderstorms came from the west and headed straight for the city.

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The storms arrived, and the game was delayed at approximately 7:39 as it began to downpour. As the rain fell, the winds picked up, and the lightning flashed so brightly it looked like the apocalypse. Fans taking cover under the upper and lower decks’ roof were then forced to take cover as a tornado warning was issued in the Chicagoland area, and the sirens went off.

Fans tried to cram in the flooding concourse, which turned into violent wind tunnels. In some areas, the spectators tried to keep the spirits up in a scary situation by singing “Take me out to the ballgame” and “Let’s go Cubbies” chants as the wind howled and sirens wailed. This first delay lasted nearly three hours before finally resuming play.

After a few innings of play, the game was delayed again as lightning returned and struck the area, scaring the pants off Astros first baseman Lance Berkman. The game was finally called, and the Cubs fell to the Astros 2-0.

Not the most famous rain delay in Cubs history, obviously, but a memorably wild one for sure.