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A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred
The New York Times- bestselling history of America's most beloved baseball stadium, Wrigley Field, and the Cubs’ century-long search for World Series glory
In A Nice Little Place on the North Side, leading columnist George Will returns to baseball with a deeply personal look at his hapless Chicago Cubs and their often beatified home, Wrigley Field, as it enters its second century. Baseball, Will argues, is full of metaphors for life, religion, and happiness, and Wrigley is considered one of its sacred spaces. But what is its true, hyperbole-free history?
Winding beautifully like Wrigley’s iconic ivy, Will’s meditation on “The Friendly Confines” examines both the unforgettable stories that forged the field’s legend and the larger-than-life characters—from Wrigley and Ruth to Veeck, Durocher, and Banks—who brought it glory, heartbreak, and scandal. Drawing upon his trademark knowledge and inimitable sense of humor, Will also explores his childhood connections to the team, the Cubs’ future, and what keeps long-suffering fans rooting for the home team after so many years of futility.
In the end, A Nice Little Place on the North Side is more than just the history of a ballpark. It is the story of Chicago, of baseball, and of America itself.
In A Nice Little Place on the North Side, leading columnist George Will returns to baseball with a deeply personal look at his hapless Chicago Cubs and their often beatified home, Wrigley Field, as it enters its second century. Baseball, Will argues, is full of metaphors for life, religion, and happiness, and Wrigley is considered one of its sacred spaces. But what is its true, hyperbole-free history?
Winding beautifully like Wrigley’s iconic ivy, Will’s meditation on “The Friendly Confines” examines both the unforgettable stories that forged the field’s legend and the larger-than-life characters—from Wrigley and Ruth to Veeck, Durocher, and Banks—who brought it glory, heartbreak, and scandal. Drawing upon his trademark knowledge and inimitable sense of humor, Will also explores his childhood connections to the team, the Cubs’ future, and what keeps long-suffering fans rooting for the home team after so many years of futility.
In the end, A Nice Little Place on the North Side is more than just the history of a ballpark. It is the story of Chicago, of baseball, and of America itself.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2014
121 people are currently reading
1485 people want to read
About the author
George F. Will
71 books194 followersGeorge Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics. By the mid 1980s the Wall Street Journal reported he was "perhaps the most powerful journalist in America," in a league with Walter Lippmann (1899–1975).
Will served as an editor for National Review from 1972 to 1978. He joined the Washington Post Writers Group in 1974, writing a syndicated biweekly column, which became widely circulated among newspapers across the country and continues today. His column is syndicated to 450 newspapers. In 1976 he became a contributing editor for Newsweek, writing a biweekly backpage column until 2011.
Will won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for "distinguished commentary on a variety of topics" in 1977.[6] Often combining factual reporting with conservative commentary, Will's columns are known for their erudite vocabulary, allusions to political philosophers, and frequent references to baseball.
Will has also written two bestselling books on the game of baseball, three books on political philosophy, and has published eleven compilations of his columns for the Washington Post and Newsweek and of various book reviews and lectures.
Will was also a news analyst for ABC since the early 1980s and was a founding member on the panel of ABC's This Week with David Brinkley in 1981, now titled This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Will was also a regular panelist on television's Agronsky & Company from 1977 through 1984 and on NBC's Meet the Press in the mid-to-late 1970s. He left ABC to join Fox News in early October 2013.
Will served as an editor for National Review from 1972 to 1978. He joined the Washington Post Writers Group in 1974, writing a syndicated biweekly column, which became widely circulated among newspapers across the country and continues today. His column is syndicated to 450 newspapers. In 1976 he became a contributing editor for Newsweek, writing a biweekly backpage column until 2011.
Will won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for "distinguished commentary on a variety of topics" in 1977.[6] Often combining factual reporting with conservative commentary, Will's columns are known for their erudite vocabulary, allusions to political philosophers, and frequent references to baseball.
Will has also written two bestselling books on the game of baseball, three books on political philosophy, and has published eleven compilations of his columns for the Washington Post and Newsweek and of various book reviews and lectures.
Will was also a news analyst for ABC since the early 1980s and was a founding member on the panel of ABC's This Week with David Brinkley in 1981, now titled This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Will was also a regular panelist on television's Agronsky & Company from 1977 through 1984 and on NBC's Meet the Press in the mid-to-late 1970s. He left ABC to join Fox News in early October 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 279 reviews
November 29, 2020
A Home Run of a Book
I really enjoyed the book. George Will who is famous for his political works, has written a tremendous book about Wrigley Field called “A nice little place on the north side”.
George Will has done a great deal of research and he has fantastic way of weaving poetry, science, and statistics into this book. It is more than just a typical praise sport book about someone’s favorite team. Will captures the history of Wrigley Field, as well as, the history of the Chicago Cubs.
I am sort of a semi-Cubs fan, because my wife is from Chicago and her family are all rabid Cubs fans. It is funny that I have never been to Wrigley Field and the one day I was scheduled to go was the only day that season the Cubs had a rain out.
My only complaint about the boat that Will’s personality runs through the book. His personality is as a staid intellectual. For me baseball should be fun and not overly serious.
In the end, Will achieve his goal of taking lessons of history and people of Wrigley Field/Chicago Cubs and presenting them to us in his highly intellectual way.
I recommend this book
I really enjoyed the book. George Will who is famous for his political works, has written a tremendous book about Wrigley Field called “A nice little place on the north side”.
George Will has done a great deal of research and he has fantastic way of weaving poetry, science, and statistics into this book. It is more than just a typical praise sport book about someone’s favorite team. Will captures the history of Wrigley Field, as well as, the history of the Chicago Cubs.
I am sort of a semi-Cubs fan, because my wife is from Chicago and her family are all rabid Cubs fans. It is funny that I have never been to Wrigley Field and the one day I was scheduled to go was the only day that season the Cubs had a rain out.
My only complaint about the boat that Will’s personality runs through the book. His personality is as a staid intellectual. For me baseball should be fun and not overly serious.
In the end, Will achieve his goal of taking lessons of history and people of Wrigley Field/Chicago Cubs and presenting them to us in his highly intellectual way.
I recommend this book
April 13, 2014
I have a friend who attempts to identify and read one great baseball book each spring. Although he is a Cubs fan, I am going to have to tell him that this is not a great baseball book. It is not even a good baseball book. It is clever assembly of Cubs and Wrigley Field anecdotes which are mildly interesting. The "answer" to the book, to the question of why people love Wrigley when the team continues to do poorly is never really answered. For me, a numbers person, the closest George Will gets to a solution is in quoting someone else's book, which demonstrates that attendance figures are barely correlated to the team's performance or to beer prices, but positively correlated to ticket prices. In other words, attendance doesn't vary with the win-loss record, but only with ticket prices. Duhh. Besides being circular, there is no insight into "why?"
May 25, 2014
Interesting information about the Cubs but a bit rambling with lack of focus. Sometimes it seemed like the author's ego got in the way of the story -- but that's George Will for you!
March 10, 2017
A NICE LITTLE PLACE reads like a rambling, warm and relaxed conversation with political journalist and Cubs fan, George Will, who omits nothing from this casual history of Wrigley Field. He discusses the greatest game played in Wrigley Field: Hippo Vaughn's "shared no-hitter" with Fred Toney. Babe Ruth's "called home run" in the 1932 World Series. Gabby Hartnett's "homer in the gloaming". Ernie Banks' remarkable career and unfailingly sunny disposition. The college of coaches. Buck O'Neil's role as the first Afro-American coach in the big leagues. Leo Durocher's campaign to displace Banks. Lee Elia's post-game rant in 1983. The Dickie Noles for Dickie Noles trade with the Tigers. The Bartman game.
We learn that PK Wrigley never wanted the responsibility of running a baseball team. After William Wrigley died, PK decided early on to market the ball park experience, not the talent on the field or the outcome of the game. While that strategy worked commercially, it caused the Cubs to become a perennial second tier team in the National League. We also learn that the Cubs history of failure since '45 was not a matter of bad luck. On the contrary, by one metric, the Cubs are slightly luckier than the big league average.
Will discloses that the demand for Cubs tickets is more elastic in response to beer prices than it is to ticket prices themselves or wins/losses on the field. Yes. You read that correctly. If beer prices go up, attendance goes down more quickly than it does when ticket prices rise or the winning percentage plummets.
Will describes research indicating that being a Cubs fans might change our brains. One researcher hypothesizes that Cubs fans become better decision makers (in other spheres of their lives) as a result of coping with the Cubs' history of losing. Another team of researchers believes that male Cubs fans have more difficulty producing testosterone.
In tediously intellectual terms, Will shares Bartlett Giamatti's warning that baseball should not be over-intellectualized. (The irony may not have been intended.)
Will describes how Tom Ricketts convinced his father Joe that the family should buy the Cubs because "the Cubs are like a 50 year old zero coupon bond". That is, the value of the team can only go up.
In the final pages of this short but happy book, Will describes the renovations being made to Wrigley Field currently and the benefits to be expected from these improvements. Although he is resigned to losing, Will can't completely hide that he senses, like many of the rest of us, that the team is finally on a winning track that might be sustainable.
It is hard for me to imagine that any Cubs fan would not enjoy this book. I recommend it enthusiastically. Candidly, five stars is generous. But I have been a Cubs fan since childhood and I cannot bring myself to give NICE LITTLE PLACE anything less than the maximum rating.
We learn that PK Wrigley never wanted the responsibility of running a baseball team. After William Wrigley died, PK decided early on to market the ball park experience, not the talent on the field or the outcome of the game. While that strategy worked commercially, it caused the Cubs to become a perennial second tier team in the National League. We also learn that the Cubs history of failure since '45 was not a matter of bad luck. On the contrary, by one metric, the Cubs are slightly luckier than the big league average.
Will discloses that the demand for Cubs tickets is more elastic in response to beer prices than it is to ticket prices themselves or wins/losses on the field. Yes. You read that correctly. If beer prices go up, attendance goes down more quickly than it does when ticket prices rise or the winning percentage plummets.
Will describes research indicating that being a Cubs fans might change our brains. One researcher hypothesizes that Cubs fans become better decision makers (in other spheres of their lives) as a result of coping with the Cubs' history of losing. Another team of researchers believes that male Cubs fans have more difficulty producing testosterone.
In tediously intellectual terms, Will shares Bartlett Giamatti's warning that baseball should not be over-intellectualized. (The irony may not have been intended.)
Will describes how Tom Ricketts convinced his father Joe that the family should buy the Cubs because "the Cubs are like a 50 year old zero coupon bond". That is, the value of the team can only go up.
In the final pages of this short but happy book, Will describes the renovations being made to Wrigley Field currently and the benefits to be expected from these improvements. Although he is resigned to losing, Will can't completely hide that he senses, like many of the rest of us, that the team is finally on a winning track that might be sustainable.
It is hard for me to imagine that any Cubs fan would not enjoy this book. I recommend it enthusiastically. Candidly, five stars is generous. But I have been a Cubs fan since childhood and I cannot bring myself to give NICE LITTLE PLACE anything less than the maximum rating.
August 2, 2022
A nice little book about baseball, I thought this would be a quick read. Boy was I wrong. He doesnt just give us baseball, he discusses Architecture, climatology, philosophy, economics, politics, racism, music, and history galore. His writing about Wrigley Field and coincident history is dazzling e.g. ¨In 1919, two years after the Russian Revolution announced the agenda of abolishing private property. William Wrigley bought a fifty eight thousand acre island.¨ Some of the notable figures he talks about include Frank Lloyd Wright, Jack Ruby, Ronald Reagan, Lee Elia and Danny Ozark, who both provided memorable and hilarious quotes, and others. He connects baseball to the efficient market hypothesis, and offers some amazing stats to make his arguments, citing for example which way the wind was blowing in Wrigley with percentages. Even crosswinds! Will makes stunning reference to Scott Joplin, including a song which would give woke racism hucksters pause. He gives fair commentary of what followed Eugene Williams death.
George Will loves baseball but it is just a sport ¨In spite of unending attempts of metaphysicians in the bleachers and press boxes to make sport more than it is.¨ George makes everything he writes about interesting.
George Will loves baseball but it is just a sport ¨In spite of unending attempts of metaphysicians in the bleachers and press boxes to make sport more than it is.¨ George makes everything he writes about interesting.
April 18, 2015
One day I returned home to find a plastic bag containing this book on my front porch. It was months before I learned who'd left it for me! I thank you, Clare, for this. I gave it as a gift and figured I'd get around to reading it eventually, but you facilitated that. Bless your kind heart!
George Will professes to be a Cub fan. This book is all over the map, but he missed writing about a couple of the key features of the phenomenon of an afternoon at Wrigley Field because he is so dismissive of the traditions and feelings of the average Cub fan. I would have thought that with all the territory he blasted through, he would have had more respect for the die hard fans who follow the Cubs through thick and thin. Rather he dealt with us as the reason why the Cubs never get out of the cellar. If we wouldn't go to games and made it hurt the owners' pocketbooks, then they'd ante up and get some real talent.
The fault doesn't lie with the fans. The fault lies with the owners who haven't been fans of their own team. P.K. Wrigley carried on out of a sense of duty to his father's memory. Nice guy who made a lot of money in chewing gum, but he kept the Cubs afloat for all the wrong reasons. The Tribune Company as an owner of a baseball team? Nope. And now the Ricketts family who think electronic scoreboards and other modern distractions will improve the ball park, are threatening to ruin the ambience of the place.
True enough, they needed to upgrade the player facilities, but did they really need to install that honkin' big jumbotron? Not really. They'd be filling the seats regardless. Better they put the money on players and player needs. We don't need skyboxes at Wrigley because you are never that far away from the action! There are almost no bad seats in the joint.
As to Will's dismissal of Wrigley as religious experience? Maybe not for him, but for millions of us, just walking into the place....and that moment when we can first see the Friendly Confines as we ascend the steps....oh, jeez....I have chills just thinking about it!
Will completely bypassed the yellow-helmeted Bleacher Bums (and the resultant play by the same name). He completely bypassed the true-blue Cubs sportscaster,Jack Brickhouse, who singlehandedly turned WGN into a decent sports channel. Games were never blacked out and if you couldn't be there, Jack brought the game to you. If for some reason, you weren't able to hear the game, you'd join all the others traveling on the El, leaning toward the ballpark to see the W flag. He assumes Chicago fans didn't know why Harry Carray was fired from the Cards' broadcasting booth. That was a pretty stupid thought on his part. We ALL knew Harry had been canoodling with Augie's showgirl wife! What he left out was how drunk Harry would get and how he forgot he was broadcasting for the Cubs and rooted for the Cards! On WGN! We all heard it! Why be so kind to that ass and ignore Brickhouse's long tenure as the t.v. and radio voice of the Cubs?
Will's elitist approach to Wrigley Field and the team demonstrate he can do research and put together a paper on the subject. But he lacks the heart and soul of a Cub fan. He might attend games and sit in the sky boxes with other luminaries of his own ilk, but the absence of optimism and the willingness to dismiss the sacred pact between the genuine Die Hard Cubs Fan and his/her team is undeniably chilling by the absence of that which makes us who we are. I want to say he misses the point, but I don't think he does. He just does not want to give it the validation it deserves.
I'm going to pass this book along to another friend - one who wore her yellow helmet in the bleachers the year of those damned Miracle Mets. I will be anxious to read her take on this book.
The one thing he never mentioned: the tradition of throwing back the home run balls of the opposing team. And, along with that, he never mentioned how there are two sides to being a Die Hard. One is that you must love the Cubs no matter what. The other is that you must hate the Cards and the Mets with all your heart and soul. Come to think of it, he never even touched on the unique fans who inhabit the bleachers! The Bums are the heart and soul of our fan base!
And anyone from the Chicago area who says s/he is a fan of both the Sox and the Cubs is not a fan of either. No one campaigned harder for the Sox to stay in Chicago than the Cubs fans....we didn't want that South Side riff raff invading our sacred space. And we resent the hell out of those who get Cubs fever only when they are winning.
He only deserved two stars for this book, but I handed him a freebie with #3 simply for writing the book, flawed though I found it.
George Will professes to be a Cub fan. This book is all over the map, but he missed writing about a couple of the key features of the phenomenon of an afternoon at Wrigley Field because he is so dismissive of the traditions and feelings of the average Cub fan. I would have thought that with all the territory he blasted through, he would have had more respect for the die hard fans who follow the Cubs through thick and thin. Rather he dealt with us as the reason why the Cubs never get out of the cellar. If we wouldn't go to games and made it hurt the owners' pocketbooks, then they'd ante up and get some real talent.
The fault doesn't lie with the fans. The fault lies with the owners who haven't been fans of their own team. P.K. Wrigley carried on out of a sense of duty to his father's memory. Nice guy who made a lot of money in chewing gum, but he kept the Cubs afloat for all the wrong reasons. The Tribune Company as an owner of a baseball team? Nope. And now the Ricketts family who think electronic scoreboards and other modern distractions will improve the ball park, are threatening to ruin the ambience of the place.
True enough, they needed to upgrade the player facilities, but did they really need to install that honkin' big jumbotron? Not really. They'd be filling the seats regardless. Better they put the money on players and player needs. We don't need skyboxes at Wrigley because you are never that far away from the action! There are almost no bad seats in the joint.
As to Will's dismissal of Wrigley as religious experience? Maybe not for him, but for millions of us, just walking into the place....and that moment when we can first see the Friendly Confines as we ascend the steps....oh, jeez....I have chills just thinking about it!
Will completely bypassed the yellow-helmeted Bleacher Bums (and the resultant play by the same name). He completely bypassed the true-blue Cubs sportscaster,Jack Brickhouse, who singlehandedly turned WGN into a decent sports channel. Games were never blacked out and if you couldn't be there, Jack brought the game to you. If for some reason, you weren't able to hear the game, you'd join all the others traveling on the El, leaning toward the ballpark to see the W flag. He assumes Chicago fans didn't know why Harry Carray was fired from the Cards' broadcasting booth. That was a pretty stupid thought on his part. We ALL knew Harry had been canoodling with Augie's showgirl wife! What he left out was how drunk Harry would get and how he forgot he was broadcasting for the Cubs and rooted for the Cards! On WGN! We all heard it! Why be so kind to that ass and ignore Brickhouse's long tenure as the t.v. and radio voice of the Cubs?
Will's elitist approach to Wrigley Field and the team demonstrate he can do research and put together a paper on the subject. But he lacks the heart and soul of a Cub fan. He might attend games and sit in the sky boxes with other luminaries of his own ilk, but the absence of optimism and the willingness to dismiss the sacred pact between the genuine Die Hard Cubs Fan and his/her team is undeniably chilling by the absence of that which makes us who we are. I want to say he misses the point, but I don't think he does. He just does not want to give it the validation it deserves.
I'm going to pass this book along to another friend - one who wore her yellow helmet in the bleachers the year of those damned Miracle Mets. I will be anxious to read her take on this book.
The one thing he never mentioned: the tradition of throwing back the home run balls of the opposing team. And, along with that, he never mentioned how there are two sides to being a Die Hard. One is that you must love the Cubs no matter what. The other is that you must hate the Cards and the Mets with all your heart and soul. Come to think of it, he never even touched on the unique fans who inhabit the bleachers! The Bums are the heart and soul of our fan base!
And anyone from the Chicago area who says s/he is a fan of both the Sox and the Cubs is not a fan of either. No one campaigned harder for the Sox to stay in Chicago than the Cubs fans....we didn't want that South Side riff raff invading our sacred space. And we resent the hell out of those who get Cubs fever only when they are winning.
He only deserved two stars for this book, but I handed him a freebie with #3 simply for writing the book, flawed though I found it.
April 16, 2014
George F. Will’s latest book will touch the soul of everyone who loves baseball. Though the book titled A NICE LITTLE PLACE ON THE NORTH SIDE is a short history of Wrigley Field and the futility of being a Chicago Cubs fan Will takes the reader on a hundred year journey encompassing numerous historical, sociological, philosophical, and political components that relate to the ivy covered ballpark on West Addison Street. Will, a conservative political columnist and a regular on the Sunday talk show circuit has written other books on the nation’s pastime. MEN AT WORK: THE CRAFT OF BASEBALL and BUNTS were excellent treatises on their subject matter, written with an intellectual approach and a witty style. Will’s latest effort follows the same model as he presents a history of Chicago from the late 19th century to the present, commenting on things as diverse as Carl Sandburg’s poetry, the philosophy of John Locke, to Ernie Banks homerun numbers. In discussing the origins of Wrigley Field, Will takes us back to the Haymarket Massacre of 1886 when Chicago was a rather dangerous city, especially for labor. This setting produced the need for recreation and Wrigley Field was the perfect progressive remedy for the working class to spend their spare time rather than getting involved with non-productive aspects of society. Will’s history of Wrigley Field is interspersed with vignettes, facts, and stories that are not common knowledge, presented in a humorous fashion, and are a joy to read.
Since the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 when they defeated the Detroit Tigers, their fans are considered the longest suffering supporters of a team in baseball. The “Cubbies” have proven fodder for many jokes over the years. Will integrates numerous funny stories as he sprinkles them throughout the book. For example, “in 1968, Cubs pitcher Bill Hands recorded fourteen consecutive strikeouts. Regrettably, he did this as a batter in consecutive at bats.” Another, “What does a female bear taking birth control have in common with the World Series? No Cubs.” The Cubs have been so bad that in 1948 their owner P. K. Wrigley publicly apologized for the futility of his team.
On our journey Will relates many diverse historical figures to the Cubs. We meet Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds; Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassin; and former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan as Will explains in detail how their lives are intertwined to the resident of “the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.” Literary figures abound, including William Shakespeare and Theodore Dreiser, whose writings are used in trying to explain the agony of being a fan of the Chicago Cubs. This is all part of Will’s profession of love for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. I assume he realizes that his emotions are irrational, but like all love it is based on faith, which in of itself is irrational. Then why does Will feel so strongly? The book is his attempt to answer that question.
The story Will tells is one of human tragedy as he speaks of Wrigley Field as the final resting place for many Cubs fans as they have instructed their families to sprinkle their ashes in the outfield after they are gone. It is clear from my study of baseball history that Cub fans have little to be thankful for except a beautiful ball park that has altered the course of baseball history as many stadium architects have used it to create the newer parks of the last twenty-two years. In the late nineteen sixties baseball developed what I refer to as “cookie-cutter ballparks,” multi-use stadiums shared with football. All were outside urban areas and to say it mildly; were very unattractive, not very fan friendly, and thankfully most have been torn down. In 1992, Camden Yards opened, in part as a means of urban renewal. The architects studied Wrigley, and Brooklyn’s long gone Ebbets Field as a means of creating a venue that was comfortable and help refurbish urban neighborhoods. Camden Yards has become a model for numerous new stadiums all around baseball including minor league cities. This has helped revive numerous urban areas and have created new revenue streams for teams and their cities. As a result the goal of replicating the feel of Wrigley Field as a neighborhood institution has been a success. Overall, Will’s concise and intellectually humorous approach to baseball history is a wonderful addition to any library, not just the nation’s pastime. If you can spare a few hours, It is a great read that you will not be able to relinquish until completed.
Since the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908 when they defeated the Detroit Tigers, their fans are considered the longest suffering supporters of a team in baseball. The “Cubbies” have proven fodder for many jokes over the years. Will integrates numerous funny stories as he sprinkles them throughout the book. For example, “in 1968, Cubs pitcher Bill Hands recorded fourteen consecutive strikeouts. Regrettably, he did this as a batter in consecutive at bats.” Another, “What does a female bear taking birth control have in common with the World Series? No Cubs.” The Cubs have been so bad that in 1948 their owner P. K. Wrigley publicly apologized for the futility of his team.
On our journey Will relates many diverse historical figures to the Cubs. We meet Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds; Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassin; and former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan as Will explains in detail how their lives are intertwined to the resident of “the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.” Literary figures abound, including William Shakespeare and Theodore Dreiser, whose writings are used in trying to explain the agony of being a fan of the Chicago Cubs. This is all part of Will’s profession of love for the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. I assume he realizes that his emotions are irrational, but like all love it is based on faith, which in of itself is irrational. Then why does Will feel so strongly? The book is his attempt to answer that question.
The story Will tells is one of human tragedy as he speaks of Wrigley Field as the final resting place for many Cubs fans as they have instructed their families to sprinkle their ashes in the outfield after they are gone. It is clear from my study of baseball history that Cub fans have little to be thankful for except a beautiful ball park that has altered the course of baseball history as many stadium architects have used it to create the newer parks of the last twenty-two years. In the late nineteen sixties baseball developed what I refer to as “cookie-cutter ballparks,” multi-use stadiums shared with football. All were outside urban areas and to say it mildly; were very unattractive, not very fan friendly, and thankfully most have been torn down. In 1992, Camden Yards opened, in part as a means of urban renewal. The architects studied Wrigley, and Brooklyn’s long gone Ebbets Field as a means of creating a venue that was comfortable and help refurbish urban neighborhoods. Camden Yards has become a model for numerous new stadiums all around baseball including minor league cities. This has helped revive numerous urban areas and have created new revenue streams for teams and their cities. As a result the goal of replicating the feel of Wrigley Field as a neighborhood institution has been a success. Overall, Will’s concise and intellectually humorous approach to baseball history is a wonderful addition to any library, not just the nation’s pastime. If you can spare a few hours, It is a great read that you will not be able to relinquish until completed.
January 3, 2015
This book has less to do with Wrigley Field than the title suggests. In fact, it has virtually nothing to do with Wrigley Field. Will writes as if I know everything I want to know about Wrigley already, and want to read a collection of idiosyncratic stories and off-hand musings about the Cubs, Chicago, and baseball in general.
Because I love baseball and I particularly loved Men at Work, the gentle rambling tone of this book caught me by surprise. I'm no architectural dilettante who expects discussion of construction techniques or what have you, but there is no discussion of the actual building beyond off-hand quotes about how architecture is more about defining space than building, or where the batting cages are, or the (expected) renovations to be completed soon, or how the ivy was planted. Where is discussion of Wrigley's construction? Where is even a picture of the place? What if I've never visited, and have no idea what it is like to be there? Will very casually has written a book solely for people who have ever visited the ballpark (which, he tells us, is about the population of a small nation) and already might be expected to nod their heads at every page.
Instead, this book is ahistory reminiscent wandering that occasionally renders history, and is probably the shoddiest thing that Will has written since the fifth grade. The fact that this earned three stars is simply due to the fact that I love baseball and I love Will's writing, even in such disorganized, off-hand, obviously-put-together-from-his-randomly-jotted-thoughts-over-his-lifetime way. It really has earned about a 2.5 rating in my estimation, which captures the middle ground between "It was OK" and "I liked it".
I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this book exists is because George F. Will really wants to be like Bill Bryson. A collection of history and random thoughts, I wonder if Will kept something like a "Cubs" journal in which to jot down his thoughts, and then sicced his research team and assistant onto it. Probably all in a week's work for him.
The true saving grace of this book is his reasoned, eloquent, and succint argument about the importance of the sport and beer, which come toward the end of the book. While I appreciated the places his thoughts took him in terms of the history of baseball and the club itself, the book itself is testament to his central thesis - in that the Cubs organization literally bills itself as a team that fans can watch and enjoy, win or lose, and the inconsequential quality of play on the field has little to do with its economic success as a brand. I found Will's breakdown of the writings of significant studies about the Cubs organization to be the most interesting portions of the book, and the fascinating section on our tribal fandom bears truth to the limitations of our national experiment in diversity.
All that said, a nice little book to read (while) on vacation.
Because I love baseball and I particularly loved Men at Work, the gentle rambling tone of this book caught me by surprise. I'm no architectural dilettante who expects discussion of construction techniques or what have you, but there is no discussion of the actual building beyond off-hand quotes about how architecture is more about defining space than building, or where the batting cages are, or the (expected) renovations to be completed soon, or how the ivy was planted. Where is discussion of Wrigley's construction? Where is even a picture of the place? What if I've never visited, and have no idea what it is like to be there? Will very casually has written a book solely for people who have ever visited the ballpark (which, he tells us, is about the population of a small nation) and already might be expected to nod their heads at every page.
Instead, this book is a
I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this book exists is because George F. Will really wants to be like Bill Bryson. A collection of history and random thoughts, I wonder if Will kept something like a "Cubs" journal in which to jot down his thoughts, and then sicced his research team and assistant onto it. Probably all in a week's work for him.
The true saving grace of this book is his reasoned, eloquent, and succint argument about the importance of the sport and beer, which come toward the end of the book. While I appreciated the places his thoughts took him in terms of the history of baseball and the club itself, the book itself is testament to his central thesis - in that the Cubs organization literally bills itself as a team that fans can watch and enjoy, win or lose, and the inconsequential quality of play on the field has little to do with its economic success as a brand. I found Will's breakdown of the writings of significant studies about the Cubs organization to be the most interesting portions of the book, and the fascinating section on our tribal fandom bears truth to the limitations of our national experiment in diversity.
All that said, a nice little book to read (while) on vacation.
April 22, 2015
I've read a few George Will books now which, his baseball ones, not his political ones. Those I'll likely never read unless I undergo a major sea change in that regard. This slight book is supposedly about Wrigley Field in Chicago but it is just as much a book on the Chicago Cubs history...in fact, it's kind of a title fake-out as the book is really a Cubs history. That's kind of a letdown of the book actually.
Expect a lot of tales of losing as the Cubs are notorious losers who have not won a title since 1908. The most interesting part of the book connected to the stadium is when Will discusses how the Cubs loyal love affair with the ivy-covered stadium might have actually harmed their chances at winning through the decades. Why pay for better players when fans are going to fill the stands no matter how dreadful the teams are?
Personal story...The first time I went to Wrigley in the late 1980s, I actually shed a tear when I went to the ivy and reached out and touched it. I am not a Cubs fan but love baseball and baseball history. Imagine the draw of the stadium for someone devoted to the Cubs, a few tears are only a drop in the bucket to the tears of pain and frustration those poor people have been through since 1908!
Expect a lot of tales of losing as the Cubs are notorious losers who have not won a title since 1908. The most interesting part of the book connected to the stadium is when Will discusses how the Cubs loyal love affair with the ivy-covered stadium might have actually harmed their chances at winning through the decades. Why pay for better players when fans are going to fill the stands no matter how dreadful the teams are?
Personal story...The first time I went to Wrigley in the late 1980s, I actually shed a tear when I went to the ivy and reached out and touched it. I am not a Cubs fan but love baseball and baseball history. Imagine the draw of the stadium for someone devoted to the Cubs, a few tears are only a drop in the bucket to the tears of pain and frustration those poor people have been through since 1908!
May 3, 2020
And literally, this book is a mess. It looks like George Will sent in a bunch of rough notes to the publisher and they were published verbatim. There are no chapters or other divisions, first one topic is covered then abruptly a new topic is covered, and the book does not even have an overall organized structure.
For instance, Will talks about how cheap beer was what drew attendees to Wrigley Field, then he starts covering the history of beer over thousands of years and how it was discovered, then flash-forward to Carrie Nation and Prohibition...what do these things have to do with Wrigley Field? And as for Wrigley Field itself, there are few details on how and why it was built where it was, how it was financed, and so forth.
The whole book is a disjointed mess which I quit reading early, and all the more shocking considering who the author is. It seems the same publisher would have published a book called "The Collected Grocery Lists Of George F. Will." They would have made more sensible reading than this book.
For instance, Will talks about how cheap beer was what drew attendees to Wrigley Field, then he starts covering the history of beer over thousands of years and how it was discovered, then flash-forward to Carrie Nation and Prohibition...what do these things have to do with Wrigley Field? And as for Wrigley Field itself, there are few details on how and why it was built where it was, how it was financed, and so forth.
The whole book is a disjointed mess which I quit reading early, and all the more shocking considering who the author is. It seems the same publisher would have published a book called "The Collected Grocery Lists Of George F. Will." They would have made more sensible reading than this book.
October 29, 2016
I hail from Louisville, KY. You'd think that the city responsible for the famous bat would raise her children to be avid fans of baseball. Alas, when the Universities of Kentucky, Louisville and Indiana decided to promote their basketball teams, Kentucky dismissed America's pastime for a free throw line. (Go UK Wildcats!!!)
So, when I picked up George Will's history of Wrigley Field it was purely in support of the possible history that may be made in the World Series this year. This book was an interesting one even though the author meandered through the writing. Mr. Will tells the story like an elderly companion reminiscing about the "good ole days.". He may start on the architecture of the field but take you through world history, famous crime, a popular food item, etc before he finally gets to the point. Regardless, it was still an entertaining read and informative as long as you don't mind a long winded tale in the process.
So, when I picked up George Will's history of Wrigley Field it was purely in support of the possible history that may be made in the World Series this year. This book was an interesting one even though the author meandered through the writing. Mr. Will tells the story like an elderly companion reminiscing about the "good ole days.". He may start on the architecture of the field but take you through world history, famous crime, a popular food item, etc before he finally gets to the point. Regardless, it was still an entertaining read and informative as long as you don't mind a long winded tale in the process.
April 15, 2014
The author deftly ties the history of the Chicago Cubs with the history of Chicago and that was a great plus for me. But, he sometimes wandered so far afield that I found myself skipping pages. For example, did he really need to give us a very short history of how beer was accidentally fermented by prehistoric man to tied that beverage to baseball? And, despite the title, the book did not focus on Wrigley Field persay, thus, for anyone who has not had the great experience was watching a game in that venue, there is no sense of the specialness of a day there. For that reason, I was disappointed and agree with other reviewers that the lack of photos was particularly disappointing.
June 13, 2017
The short version first.
There are several things which have had a significant impact on my life. My families, our pets, moving, closing and paying off mortgages, travelling, and playing or watching baseball. Not just any baseball mind you, but certain teams like this year’s Texas A&M Lady Aggies softball team, Temple High School baseball or softball, the Dallas Fort-Worth Spurs before they were replaced by the Texas Rangers, the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers, the Houston Astros, and most especially, the Chicago Cubs. I always loved to see my students playing ball especially Alexis Smith, an All-American in Junior College and one of the battery at Texas A&M this year (2016-2017). My dad’s company put in the seats in the Spurs’ ball park in Arlington, and when the Spurs were no longer in the picture, they were replaced by the Texas Rangers and the park was bulldozed to become the Ballpark in Arlington. One of the most prominent men in our small Central Texas city was for a time the owner of the Houston Astros, and we took advantage of that situation by having transportation to two different Astros games while Mr. McLean still owned the team. He set up a bus for several of us to go down and see the Astros play in their then stadium, the Astrodome. But my longest time fanship has been for the Cubbies. I have seen them at the depths of the pit of despair, and last year I was among the many who watched them break the curse levied on them 108 years ago that they had won their last World Series pennant. Fortunately for me, I never saw that event, but I certainly watched with high interest their run last year, and their 108-year drought alleviated and replaced with the World Series pennant yet again. Die hard Cubbies fans, like me knew it would happen, although most of us waited and never saw it, but I can calmly claim to have been there in front of the TV set with each pitch, hit, error, catch, and run. So that shows just how much of a biased person I am, and it is with that mindset that I picked up the little book written several years ago about the Cubs’ home on the North Side of Chicago – Wrigley Field. It was 100 years old, and a favorite author and columnist, George F. Will, wrote it, of course!! Anyone who has followed Mr. Will’s work for any length of time knows about his interest in baseball and a team that has been the basis of much of his work, the Cubs.
A Nice Little Place on the Northside: Wrigley Field at One Hundred is Mr. Will’s retrospective on the ball park that has been the home of the Cub’s for the vast majority of its history as a National League baseball team. The fans, the park, the management, the players, and the spectators are all discussed in many ways by the erudite Mr. Will. His work in this book of vignettes separated by Wrigley Field ivy is a perfect backdrop for some of Mr. Will’s best writing ever. The colorful managers of the most colorful of metaphors, the unusual plays, the incredible successes, the ignominious defeats, the unbelievable flubs, and the entire homage that is Cubs’ ball played at Wrigley Field – it all receives its due as only Mr. Will can write it. His style, his erudition, his depth of research, and his love for the game in general, and the Cubs at Wrigley in specifics, the whole package is here in less than 200 pages. It is a quick, easy read, and you will want to check the facts because Mr. Will’s work is that well planned and strategically executed. His writing is the best of what American journalism has to offer. Basically, if you are even marginally interested in sports generally, and baseball specifically, you can still learn a lot of information in one so esoteric as which major international fast food enterprise got its start at Wrigley Field, selling which three items as a meal for less than a dollar?
Just as the Cubbies have a way of making an routine play into a comedy of errors and 4 runs against them, Mr. Will can certainly write it in such a way as it was almost planned to be a situation of Cubs’ luck, the kind of luck that you realize is too impossible to have without a sick, almost-divine force at work. Mr. Will captures all of these poignant aspects, the nuances of the game that is baseball. You don’t even have to be a fan of America’s Greatest Pastime to enjoy this book, but believe me, die hard ball fans, you will certainly get a kick our of it, and Cubs’ fans, this is the way to celebrate the longevity of Wrigley Field. Still and all, Mr. Will’s work is a fitting celebration of the Wrigley Centennial written by one of the best writers of this or any age.
Recommendations and ratings: clearly 5 out of 5 stars. This one knocks it right out of the park, dead-on center field, with the wind blowing in, rather than out. Yes, it is that good. For the baseball fan, lots of good reading. For the Cubs’ fans this is the story of home away from home. For the rest of us, it proves that once again, Mr. Will has a touch to the written word which is matchless. Beautifully written, flawlessly executed, and perfect in just about every way it can be. Truly a grand slam if there ever was one. Thanks for a great present, and the nice addition about the new pennant. This is truly George Will at his very best!
A Review of George F. Will's A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred by Richard W. Buro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18594769-a-nice-little-place-on-the-north-side.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mailto:// CrownFilmRights@penguinrandomhouse.com.
There are several things which have had a significant impact on my life. My families, our pets, moving, closing and paying off mortgages, travelling, and playing or watching baseball. Not just any baseball mind you, but certain teams like this year’s Texas A&M Lady Aggies softball team, Temple High School baseball or softball, the Dallas Fort-Worth Spurs before they were replaced by the Texas Rangers, the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers, the Houston Astros, and most especially, the Chicago Cubs. I always loved to see my students playing ball especially Alexis Smith, an All-American in Junior College and one of the battery at Texas A&M this year (2016-2017). My dad’s company put in the seats in the Spurs’ ball park in Arlington, and when the Spurs were no longer in the picture, they were replaced by the Texas Rangers and the park was bulldozed to become the Ballpark in Arlington. One of the most prominent men in our small Central Texas city was for a time the owner of the Houston Astros, and we took advantage of that situation by having transportation to two different Astros games while Mr. McLean still owned the team. He set up a bus for several of us to go down and see the Astros play in their then stadium, the Astrodome. But my longest time fanship has been for the Cubbies. I have seen them at the depths of the pit of despair, and last year I was among the many who watched them break the curse levied on them 108 years ago that they had won their last World Series pennant. Fortunately for me, I never saw that event, but I certainly watched with high interest their run last year, and their 108-year drought alleviated and replaced with the World Series pennant yet again. Die hard Cubbies fans, like me knew it would happen, although most of us waited and never saw it, but I can calmly claim to have been there in front of the TV set with each pitch, hit, error, catch, and run. So that shows just how much of a biased person I am, and it is with that mindset that I picked up the little book written several years ago about the Cubs’ home on the North Side of Chicago – Wrigley Field. It was 100 years old, and a favorite author and columnist, George F. Will, wrote it, of course!! Anyone who has followed Mr. Will’s work for any length of time knows about his interest in baseball and a team that has been the basis of much of his work, the Cubs.
A Nice Little Place on the Northside: Wrigley Field at One Hundred is Mr. Will’s retrospective on the ball park that has been the home of the Cub’s for the vast majority of its history as a National League baseball team. The fans, the park, the management, the players, and the spectators are all discussed in many ways by the erudite Mr. Will. His work in this book of vignettes separated by Wrigley Field ivy is a perfect backdrop for some of Mr. Will’s best writing ever. The colorful managers of the most colorful of metaphors, the unusual plays, the incredible successes, the ignominious defeats, the unbelievable flubs, and the entire homage that is Cubs’ ball played at Wrigley Field – it all receives its due as only Mr. Will can write it. His style, his erudition, his depth of research, and his love for the game in general, and the Cubs at Wrigley in specifics, the whole package is here in less than 200 pages. It is a quick, easy read, and you will want to check the facts because Mr. Will’s work is that well planned and strategically executed. His writing is the best of what American journalism has to offer. Basically, if you are even marginally interested in sports generally, and baseball specifically, you can still learn a lot of information in one so esoteric as which major international fast food enterprise got its start at Wrigley Field, selling which three items as a meal for less than a dollar?
Just as the Cubbies have a way of making an routine play into a comedy of errors and 4 runs against them, Mr. Will can certainly write it in such a way as it was almost planned to be a situation of Cubs’ luck, the kind of luck that you realize is too impossible to have without a sick, almost-divine force at work. Mr. Will captures all of these poignant aspects, the nuances of the game that is baseball. You don’t even have to be a fan of America’s Greatest Pastime to enjoy this book, but believe me, die hard ball fans, you will certainly get a kick our of it, and Cubs’ fans, this is the way to celebrate the longevity of Wrigley Field. Still and all, Mr. Will’s work is a fitting celebration of the Wrigley Centennial written by one of the best writers of this or any age.
Recommendations and ratings: clearly 5 out of 5 stars. This one knocks it right out of the park, dead-on center field, with the wind blowing in, rather than out. Yes, it is that good. For the baseball fan, lots of good reading. For the Cubs’ fans this is the story of home away from home. For the rest of us, it proves that once again, Mr. Will has a touch to the written word which is matchless. Beautifully written, flawlessly executed, and perfect in just about every way it can be. Truly a grand slam if there ever was one. Thanks for a great present, and the nice addition about the new pennant. This is truly George Will at his very best!
A Review of George F. Will's A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred by Richard W. Buro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18594769-a-nice-little-place-on-the-north-side.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mailto:// CrownFilmRights@penguinrandomhouse.com.
March 13, 2018
What makes A NICE LITTLE PLACE ON THE NORTH SIDE a compelling read is how George F. Will sets up a conversation between modern art and professional sports through the moderator of Wrigley Field. I know people who believe professional sports and modern art aren't in conversation with each other, and I know people who believe that professional sports foster toxic masculinity, but readers of Will's book will find that not only is Major League Baseball a living, evolving work of art, but the venues where it is played are similar to art museums where the club owners are curators of both good and bad art in the form of teams. Readers will be reminded that baseball played in integral part in the civil rights movement as well as gave voice to some of the century's greatest jazz movements.
Will delves into the history of Wrigley Field and the many iterations of Cubs teams that have played in the Friendly Confines. He lauds the ivy on the outfield walls, the neighborhood which Wrigley defines, the people who commute to and from the stadium, and the businesses that thrive in its midst. He discusses MLB's role in race relations, the Cubs's executives' failures to embrace civil rights, and how the team ultimately became a vibrant part of the city for embracing Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.
If A NICE LITTLE PLACE ON THE NORTH SIDE had been written a few years later, Will could have examined the city and Wrigley Field after a World Series Championship, but it's somehow fitting for this book to conclude before the winning tradition arrived in Chicago. Any fan of MLB, but especially Cubs fans will enjoy this book for its thorough treatment of Wrigley Field and its far reaching ambition to show how baseball is an art well worth enjoying.
Will delves into the history of Wrigley Field and the many iterations of Cubs teams that have played in the Friendly Confines. He lauds the ivy on the outfield walls, the neighborhood which Wrigley defines, the people who commute to and from the stadium, and the businesses that thrive in its midst. He discusses MLB's role in race relations, the Cubs's executives' failures to embrace civil rights, and how the team ultimately became a vibrant part of the city for embracing Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.
If A NICE LITTLE PLACE ON THE NORTH SIDE had been written a few years later, Will could have examined the city and Wrigley Field after a World Series Championship, but it's somehow fitting for this book to conclude before the winning tradition arrived in Chicago. Any fan of MLB, but especially Cubs fans will enjoy this book for its thorough treatment of Wrigley Field and its far reaching ambition to show how baseball is an art well worth enjoying.
August 26, 2021
Previous to 2016, Cubs fans for years had to stand up for their team, the lovable losers. Most of my life, I had to justify my love for the Chicago Cubs even though, they constantly let me down. I would often joke that the Cubs were my religion and although times weren't always great, they would continue to show up for every game. In A Nice Little Place on the North Side, I was taken back to the reason that I fell in love with my Cubs all those years ago. Although it was written pre-2016 WORLD SERIES WIN (I still will never get over this), Will is able to create the history of the Chicago Cubs and link them to people and places that I had never thought possible. Told in a more narrative form, this Chicago Cubs journey through the past is perfect for all Cubs and baseball fans! I highly recommend reading it or listening to the audiobook.-Brittany
If you are interested in this title, it can be found in the following locations and formats:
Regular Print Non-fiction 796.357 WILL GEO at Eastern and in audio through Overdrive!
If you are interested in this title, it can be found in the following locations and formats:
Regular Print Non-fiction 796.357 WILL GEO at Eastern and in audio through Overdrive!
January 1, 2024
This was on the whole enjoyable, but was way too meandering for my tastes. It’s vaugely chronological, but there are so many digressions—including multiple pages about the history of beer which, while interesting, where wholly unnecessary—that it becomes a somewhat muddied mess.
That said, Will is obviously a gifted writer who, for better and generally for worse, loves his subject. And while there are moments of either rose-colored glasses or the naivety of a diehard baseball fan clouding the true nature of the Cubs and Wrigley, it is still incisive in many places.
This was also particularly fascinating to read, being written two years before the ending of the Cubs’ curse and the ensuing cynical teardown that has them in the doldrums of the league once again.
All told, a fun, quick read for any baseball fan.
That said, Will is obviously a gifted writer who, for better and generally for worse, loves his subject. And while there are moments of either rose-colored glasses or the naivety of a diehard baseball fan clouding the true nature of the Cubs and Wrigley, it is still incisive in many places.
This was also particularly fascinating to read, being written two years before the ending of the Cubs’ curse and the ensuing cynical teardown that has them in the doldrums of the league once again.
All told, a fun, quick read for any baseball fan.
March 21, 2025
A nice little book. Messy at times, but I found many morsels of history, poetry, and humor that made it worthwhile. Like many, I fell in love with Wrigley’s brick and ivy by watching WGN many miles away in Atlanta. My dog’s name is Wrigley. My wife and I finally visited in 2015, sandwiched between the year this book was published and the year the curse was finally lifted!
May 30, 2022
An engaging little overview of the Cubs and the interesting events that happened at Wrigley Field.
May 13, 2014
I loved and hated this book - much the same way I feel about the Cubs this year.
First, let me say that I'm not a huge fan of George Will. He's quite conservative and quite political in just about everything he does, and while he sometimes hides his politics behind his love of baseball and the Cubs, it still comes out. These parts of the book turned out to be some of the most painful for me to read. Not so much because of his conservatism - which I admittedly don't always agree with - but because of how worried I am that he's right.
For example, he spends quite a bit of time near the end of his book talking about how attendance at Wrigley does not seem to depend so much on winning as it does at other ballparks. (Consequently, ticket prices continue to climb at Wrigley and are now among the highest in Major League Baseball. Beer prices remain among the lowest...) So the Cubs ownership has little incentive to provide players with the sorts of facilities that other ballparks have, thus making them (according to Will) consistently less competetive, regardless of their decent farm system and the money they spend to bring in big names. This fact, if it's true, is bittersweet for the Cubs fan: changes in the facilities might mean winning, but might also mean major changes to Wrigley. And if you've ever been to Wrigley, you know what a transcendental experience that can be. So Will argues that we either start to win and lose some of that authentic Wrigley flavor, or we continue to lose and keep our heaven on the north side. I both hope he's wrong and fear he's right.
This book is full of beauty, as much as it's full of pain, and I recommend it to any Cubs fan, and to most baseball fans. I especially recommend it to anyone hoping to visit Wrigley in its hundredth year, and I plan on doing in June. The only way to be a Cubs fan (this year in particular) is to be as nostalgic as possible (although, they are beating the snot out of the Cards in St Louis tonight - so even with a 12-24 record, there are also opportunities to enjoy today), and this book makes some of that nostalgia possible.
First, let me say that I'm not a huge fan of George Will. He's quite conservative and quite political in just about everything he does, and while he sometimes hides his politics behind his love of baseball and the Cubs, it still comes out. These parts of the book turned out to be some of the most painful for me to read. Not so much because of his conservatism - which I admittedly don't always agree with - but because of how worried I am that he's right.
For example, he spends quite a bit of time near the end of his book talking about how attendance at Wrigley does not seem to depend so much on winning as it does at other ballparks. (Consequently, ticket prices continue to climb at Wrigley and are now among the highest in Major League Baseball. Beer prices remain among the lowest...) So the Cubs ownership has little incentive to provide players with the sorts of facilities that other ballparks have, thus making them (according to Will) consistently less competetive, regardless of their decent farm system and the money they spend to bring in big names. This fact, if it's true, is bittersweet for the Cubs fan: changes in the facilities might mean winning, but might also mean major changes to Wrigley. And if you've ever been to Wrigley, you know what a transcendental experience that can be. So Will argues that we either start to win and lose some of that authentic Wrigley flavor, or we continue to lose and keep our heaven on the north side. I both hope he's wrong and fear he's right.
This book is full of beauty, as much as it's full of pain, and I recommend it to any Cubs fan, and to most baseball fans. I especially recommend it to anyone hoping to visit Wrigley in its hundredth year, and I plan on doing in June. The only way to be a Cubs fan (this year in particular) is to be as nostalgic as possible (although, they are beating the snot out of the Cards in St Louis tonight - so even with a 12-24 record, there are also opportunities to enjoy today), and this book makes some of that nostalgia possible.
June 3, 2014
Probably the book deserves a higher rating but for 180 pages there was not much information to glean. Of course Will is only writing an observational book tied to the anniversary of the Cubs. If one wants a more in depth look they are certainly available. Still learning more about Phillip K Wrigley was interesting.
Some items of note in the book include
Wrigley had bought the steel to install lights at the field in 1941 but donated it to the war effort.
One of the major stumbling blocks later to putting in lights were the bar owners around the park who preferred day games so that patrons leaving the games in the early evening would then visit them.
More NFL game have been played at Wrigley than any other except for Giants stadium
Will includes a very informational section on beer and it's general history
We are shown a study by some Cub fans, also social scientists, who have determined that Cub attendance is the least effected in the Major Leagues by something so trivial as winning. In short the owners do not have the need to win that other teams have to make money.
A topical book for a sunny afternoon.
July 20, 2014
Worst thing I've read in a long time. Not worth one star.
Seems that the highlight of 100 years of Wrigley is having Ronald Reagan throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
"Well" is used as a sentence. "There you have it." is a confirmation of whatever lame point he is trying to make.
Fast and loose with the facts. Mrs. O'Leary's cow didn't cause the Chicago fire. It doesn't require much research to figure that out.
He makes a case for the quaint charm of the rooftops and then endorses putting a scoreboard in front of them.
The stories are oft repeated legends that anyone that has been around the Cubs for any length of time has heard. The tales were usually told with more life and less smarm.
At times I looked to see if I was reading a children's book.
The one redeeming quality that I always found in Will was that "at least he was a Cub fan". That is gone.
I could say more, but we've already wasted too much time on this.
Seems that the highlight of 100 years of Wrigley is having Ronald Reagan throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
"Well" is used as a sentence. "There you have it." is a confirmation of whatever lame point he is trying to make.
Fast and loose with the facts. Mrs. O'Leary's cow didn't cause the Chicago fire. It doesn't require much research to figure that out.
He makes a case for the quaint charm of the rooftops and then endorses putting a scoreboard in front of them.
The stories are oft repeated legends that anyone that has been around the Cubs for any length of time has heard. The tales were usually told with more life and less smarm.
At times I looked to see if I was reading a children's book.
The one redeeming quality that I always found in Will was that "at least he was a Cub fan". That is gone.
I could say more, but we've already wasted too much time on this.
September 8, 2015
I read this small book in a day basically because Ernie Banks had died the day before and I felt it fitting to read a book about him or the Cubs or both. Not enough about Banks, but a lot about the Cubs. Not sure if it even had enough on Wrigley Field, as I didn't really learn anything much about the ivy and some of the other quirks of the stadium. Will does talk about the buildings overlooking Wrigley and Wrigleyville itself, especially after the field started having night games in 1988. I thought this book would have just made a good long magazine article, not really worthy of a book. There are some really good stories though that will make you crack up, if you are a Cubs fan or not, and that makes it worth reading. Still, Will, who I'm not a fan of with politics, is a good baseball writer. Just make sure you read his book, Men at Work, before this one.
April 28, 2016
The Cubs are off to a great start this year and opening day (night) was a thriller with finally a W waving in the wind. The previous five years did not end that way. What also made this year special was reading this great gem ( almost a short story category ) of a book about Weeghmam Park at Clark and Addison eventually called Wrigley Field, the Cubs and the numerous characters in and out of baseball attached to the National League franchise on the north side of Chicago that have shaped the look, feel, and character of everything Cubs. George F. Will's wit and intellect is sprinkled throughout the book as he tells a fascinating story of the Cubs, Wrigley and how we've all come to accept "wait till next year". It's a fun book to read, full of fun things you never knew about that place and the players on the north side.
March 31, 2014
This is a fan book. It's a good fan book, and a good book about baseball in general, if you like baseball. I don't love baseball, so with the pages that were heavy with game and player stats, i just couldn't get into it. What I found interesting was the number of people who are famous for not-baseball who were associated very early in their careers (famous and infamous) with Wrigley Park.
The stadium itself is a separate entity from the team that it houses. Making it a Home for baseball no matter how the team does is an act of love from a city dedicated to the game with a team from the origins of the sport.
Read this if you love the Cubs, love baseball, or love the love of the game.
The stadium itself is a separate entity from the team that it houses. Making it a Home for baseball no matter how the team does is an act of love from a city dedicated to the game with a team from the origins of the sport.
Read this if you love the Cubs, love baseball, or love the love of the game.
May 3, 2014
A collection of baseball statistics, Cub trivia, Chicago history...for the purpose of understanding the sacred status of Wrigley Field. Very well done, but misses the true essence of what it was like at the ole ballpark before corporate America took over, suburbanites made Wrigley a socially appropriate destination, and the average fan could attend for less than a $100 entry fee. And good to be corrected as to the actual lyrics of Take Me Out to the Ball Game...tho I do think Harry's words will remain in place.
April 12, 2025
This is a fabulous book not only about Wrigley Field and its illustrious history, but about baseball, Chicago and Americana. Will does a fabulous job not only of dissecting what makes the ballpark such a spectacle, but puts that in the context of American society and how society has shaped Wrigley, but Wrigley is shaped by society. I appreciate that in this book you can take tidbits away that serve a greater purpose and give meaning to being a fan - specifically a fan of the beautiful game of baseball.
July 15, 2016
Well written as I expected it would be. Lots of interesting tidbits, stories and trivia about Cubs players, management and early history. the first two chapters and last chapter concentrate on the actually building and property of Wrigley Field. The chapters in between are about all the other stuff. I was expecting more on Wrigley itself. If there has been more I would have given the book 4 stars.
December 7, 2016
Baseball, and specifically Cubbie baseball, is about the only thing I agree with George Will on. And he writes with such abridged eloquence that it almost makes me forget everything else I disagree with him on. This is far from a comprehensive history of either the Cubs or Wrigley Field but all the main topics are covered, from the century-old series run, Harry Caray, Ernie Banks, Tinker-Evers-Chance, the origins of the ivy, the Tribune, and night games.
September 2, 2016
You need to be someone who is attached not to just a ream but the Ball Park to fully understand a fans loyalty to the Chicago Cubs. Remember Sportman's Park in St Louis ? Crosley Field, in Cincy. Since Sportsman" s was torn down there have been 2 Busch parks. Neither of which had a Baseball feel. I reconmend reading this book or just taking a trip to Addison and Clark, That is Baseball/
May 26, 2014
A few good sections, otherwise very disappointing. Will just can't stick to the topic and wanders off into boring narratives. His political columns are well done, so it's hard to understand why his books on baseball are so bad. I won't read anpther of his.
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