West Side Grounds

In 1891 the Chicago Ball Club bought this site and built West Side Grounds for $30,000. 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. Its first game was played on May 14, 1893, when Cincinnati defeated Chicago 13 to 12, and its last game was played on October 13, 1915, when Chicago defeated St. Louis 7 to 2. The seating capacity was 16,000, and Chicago's career record there was 1,018 wins and 640 loses. At West Side Grounds, the Chicago Cubs won a major league record 116 games in 1906, 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, and the park also 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 West Side Grounds.

Chicago, Illinois · United States