Wrigley Field Year by Year

Every Chicago Cubs fan adores Wrigley Field. So, every Cubbies fan should own this full-color celebration of “The most wonderful place on earth.” (Joe Mock’s Ballpark Guide)

More than just a lavishly illustrated and highly readable book, Wrigley Field Year by Year, originally published in 2014 and now in its third edition, updated through the 2018 season, is the result of a quarter century of meticulous research.

Written by a baseball historian and recognized authority on the “Friendly Confines,” this is the first book to detail each year of the storied park’s existence. The book covers not only the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Federal League baseball teams in detail, it touches on the Chicago Bears football team, basketball, hockey, high school sports, track and field, and political rallies. It references activities and changes throughout the park and in its neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. In addition to pertinent Cubs statistics, the author’s year-by-year coverage includes:

• A “game of the year”
• A description of unusual and interesting happenings in the ballpark
• A quote from the year that best captures its essence

Supplementing the year-by-year approach are nine chapters that divide Wrigley Field’s rich history into nine “innings” along with informative appendixes that will delight every Cubs fan, from the casual to the obsessed. The book’s easy-to-use format and wealth of information make it a resource that readers will turn to again and again.

“This updated edition celebrates Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary. It weaves through the financial, political, and social battles to renovate the ballpark. Readers will get a glimpse of the fruits of renovation; Wrigley Field will never be the same. The Cubs went from being a 101-loss team in 2012 to a National League Division series winner just three years later. It’s an exciting time to be a fan of Wrigley Field!”

Sam Pathy is a public librarian and member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He has contributed to the Baseball Research Journal and has spent more than twenty-five years researching the history of Wrigley Field.

John Thorn is the official historian of Major League Baseball. Apart from his creation, with Pete Palmer, of Total Baseball, he is often visible on ESPN, MLBTV, the History Channel, and other television outlets as a sports authority and commentator. He was also a major on-screen presence in and chief consultant to Ken Burns’s 18 ½-hour PBS film Baseball. Thorn co-wrote The Hidden Game of Baseball and has written several other books on baseball, including Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame, The Game for All America, and Baseball in the Garden of Eden: A Secret History of the Early Game.