Wrigley Field turns 100

One hundred years ago today, Wrigley Field opened its doors for the first time. And though the Friendly Confines has undergone various changes since its debut in 1914, each owner's personal stamp on the stadium has made it into the iconic venue it is today.

In its century of existence, Wrigley has been owned by only four landlords. The first owner, Charles Weeghman, built the park for his Federal League baseball team and marketed it as an "antidote to the Cubs' West Side Grounds," writes Paul Sullivan in the Chicago Tribune. The Federal League folded a year later, however, prompting Weeghman to purchase the Cubs in 1916 and move them to the corner of Addison and Sheffield.

Since then, second owner Philip K. Wrigley added the famous ivy-covered walls and manual scoreboard to the stadium in 1937 while the Tribune Co. installed lights in 1988. Wrigley Field is currently owned by the Ricketts family, who bought the park (and the team) in 2009 and is responsible for the new video board in right field.

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It seems the Cubs themselves are the only Wrigley Field frequenters who are reluctant to decorate, having neglected to add a championship pennant to the Friendly Confines in its hundred years of existence.

Read up on the rest of Wrigley Field's hundred-year history at the Chicago Tribune.