WEST SIDE GROUNDS DEDICATION

About 100 fans, dignitaries and a five-piece band playing music from a century ago, celebrated the memory of the Chicago National League Ball Clubs of 1893-1915, who played on the near West Side of Chicago at the West Side Grounds. A permanent marker memorializing the site was unveiled on September 6th at 912 S. Wood St. in Chicago on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

West Side Rooter’s Committee members Grant DePorter, Ernie Banks and Dutchie Caray presided over the event with the Way Out in Left Field Society.


THE PLAQUE READS

WEST SIDE GROUNDS

HOME FIELD OF THE CHICAGO NATIONAL LEAGUE BALL CLUB

FROM 1893 TO 1915

First game: May 14, 1893 (Cincinnati 13, Chicago 12)
Last Game: October 3, 1915 (Chicago 7, St. Louis 2)

Seating Capacity: 16,000
Career Record at West Side Grounds: 1,018 Wins, 640 Losses
World Series Champions: 1907, 1908
National League Champions: 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910

In 1891 The Chicago Ball Club purchased this site and built a ballpark for
$30,00. Bordered by Polk, Lincoln (Wolcott), Taylor, and Wood Streets, the
ballpark had a covered grandstand of steel and wood, open-air seating along
both foul lines, and an upper deck with box seats.

In 1906 the Chicago Cubs at West Side Grounds won a major league record 116 games and the ballpark hosted the first intra-city World Series game between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. In 1907 and 1908 the Chicago Cubs became the first team to win consecutive World Series titles, the ballpark hosted its last World Series in 1910 between the Cubs and the Philadelphia Athletics.

The Chicago Cubs moved to Weeghman Park (Wrigley Field) in 1916. West Side Grounds was sold in 1919 for $400,000 to the State of Illinois for a
research and educational hospital from which grew the nation's largest
medical district.

The phrase "Way out in left field" originated at the West Side Grounds, due
to the location of a psychiatric hospital behind the ballpark's left field
fence, where players and fans could hear patients making odd and strange
remarks during games.

Sponsored by the Way Out in Left Field Society, the Illinois Medical District, the Illinois State Historical Society, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

September 2008.