Wrigley Field

Although there are 30 major league ballparks to visit, there are actually 31 destinations where you can see a live major league game. No. 31? Welcome to the Wrigley rooftops on Chicago's North Side. For more than 50 years, enterprising occupants of multistory residential buildings on Sheffield and Waveland avenues, behind Wrigley Field, hauled lawn chairs, barbecues and coolers up to their roofs and peered over the fences to see the Cubs for free. Over time, this cherished custom has morphed into a commercial enterprise.

Enrique Bolanos, a Mexican boxer who three times fought for and lost the world lightweight title in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, died Monday. He was 87. Bolanos died of heart failure at a convalescent facility near his Pasadena home, said his wife of 64 years, Ruby. The boxer's soft-spoken demeanor and ring skill made him the most popular Mexican fighter in Southern California during the height of his career, which closed in 1952 with a 79-22-5 record and 44 knockouts. "Good looking guy, charming, very crowd-friendly style," longtime boxing publicist Bill Caplan said.

Tribune Co. has rejected a plan by the state of Illinois to buy Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, and instead will work on selling the baseball team together with the historic ballpark. Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney did not shut the door on a new agreement with the state, but at the same time the media company, which also owns the Los Angeles Times, will begin exploring potential buyer interest in the Cubs, Wrigley and Tribune's stake in Comcast SportsNet. Analysts have said the assets could fetch more than $1 billion.

It was a cold and windy and foggy afternoon. Pretty much your basic miserable Chicago spring day. And to Chris Capuano, it was a regular paradise. Capuano had himself a day to remember Saturday in the Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, both on the mound and, strangely, at the plate. On the mound, the left-hander was masterful. He pitched out of some first-inning trouble, and then simply cruised through the Cubs. Capuano pitched seven scoreless innings, holding Chicago to only three hits.

For one day at least, Northwestern (7-3) and Illinois (5-5) will be two Big Ten Conference football programs headed in the same direction ? west. Saturday's game, the first college football matchup at Wrigley Field since 1938, has been in the works for months, but it was decided Friday that the Cozy Confines were too confining in the east end zone. In one of the more bizarre moments in Wrigley Field history ? and remember, the Cubs play here ? the Big Ten determined that Northwestern and Illinois will both play toward the west end zone.

A new Wrigley Field will be built in the 1990s as sports traditions take their lumps in Chicago, a state sports official predicts. Peter C. B. Bynoe, executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, said the home of the Chicago Cubs will succumb to a move for modernization. That trend already has cost major league baseball its oldest active ballpark. The Chicago White Sox will open next season in a new stadium.

Dodger Stadium has switched off the lights for another season. But the Dodgers were not always the only game in town. In 1925, Wrigley Field opened at 41st Place and Avalon Boulevard as home of the Pacific Coast League's Angels. William Wrigley Jr. used the Angels as a farm team for his other sports interest, the Chicago Cubs, and completed the grand slam by buying Catalina Island, where the Cubs spent spring training from 1921 until 1951.

Illinois' Supreme Court upheld state and local laws banning night baseball at Wrigley Field. Thursday's ruling continued a no-lights tradition at the home of the Chicago Cubs. The Tribune Co., owner of the Cubs, had asked the court to throw out laws banning night games at the park, saying they are narrowly aimed at Wrigley Field and are unconstitutional. Dallas Green, general manager of the Cubs, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the decision.

Six towering banks of floodlights on Monday illuminated 74-year-old Wrigley Field for the first time in its history as the Chicago Cubs made their first batting practice under the lights a festive affair, beginning with an autograph session on the field. A crowd of about 3,000 rose to sing the national anthem as the lights were turned on at 7:45 p.m., CDT, two weeks before the Cubs will play the Philadelphia Phillies in the first night game at Wrigley Field on Aug. 8.

A judge today upheld the constitutionality of state and city anti-noise laws prohibiting the installation of lights at the Chicago Cubs home ballpark, Wrigley Field, the only unlit stadium in the major leagues. "The (state) statute and (city) ordinance are constitutional," Cook County Circuit Judge Richard L. Curry told a standing-room-only crowd in his courtroom. The Tribune Co.

Don't be surprised if the relationship between Scott Boras and the Dodgers improves with the new ownership group in charge. Boras has a strong relationship with top executive Stan Kasten and is likely to have a suite at Dodger Stadium. He has had a highly visible one at Angel Stadium for years. … Kasten is wasting no time trying to get his hands around the facility issues at Dodger Stadium. He will get a visit from design guru Janet Marie Smith this week when she's in Los Angeles on Rose Bowl business.

Although there are 30 major league ballparks to visit, there are actually 31 destinations where you can see a live major league game. No. 31? Welcome to the Wrigley rooftops on Chicago's North Side. For more than 50 years, enterprising occupants of multistory residential buildings on Sheffield and Waveland avenues, behind Wrigley Field, hauled lawn chairs, barbecues and coolers up to their roofs and peered over the fences to see the Cubs for free. Over time, this cherished custom has morphed into a commercial enterprise.

Not since the Chicago Bears left after the 1970 NFL season had football been played at Wrigley Field. And now we know why. When Northwestern played host to Illinois on Saturday, both teams shared one sideline ? switching places after halftime ? and all offensive plays headed in the same direction, west. This might be how the game looks on a one-goal-post sandlot field, but it's unusual for a regular-season Big Ten Conference game. The Associated Press reported that the game looked like a "pigskin version of 'Groundhog Day.' " It was played that way because, after months of planning for the Wrigleyville Classic, Big Ten officials declared less than 36 hours before kickoff that there wasn't enough room between the east end zone and the brick wall in what is right field in the baseball configuration.

For one day at least, Northwestern (7-3) and Illinois (5-5) will be two Big Ten Conference football programs headed in the same direction ? west. Saturday's game, the first college football matchup at Wrigley Field since 1938, has been in the works for months, but it was decided Friday that the Cozy Confines were too confining in the east end zone. In one of the more bizarre moments in Wrigley Field history ? and remember, the Cubs play here ? the Big Ten determined that Northwestern and Illinois will both play toward the west end zone.

Let's be honest: This weekend is just killing time until next weekend, when a season's field could get flipped at Tuscaloosa's Iron Bowl and Reno's "Biggest Little Football Game in the World," Boise State at Nevada. Now is time to muse, reflect, relax, and take in a ballgame at Wrigley Field. As Ernie Banks said about ballparks hosting college football games ? "Let's play two. " America's pass time Illinois and Northwestern are exchanging lineup cards Saturday at Wrigley Field.

He does not have a 96-mph fastball or a breaking ball you'd describe as "nasty." In terms of pure stuff, he is not overpowering. There isn't a manager or coach or scout who would put him in the same class as Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. But there atop the major league leader board for strikeouts Saturday was Jered Weaver, who gave up just two singles in seven innings, struck out 11 and walked none to lead the Angels to a 12-0 interleague victory over the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.

In the old days--we're talking 1983 and before--one of the charms of Wrigley Field was the ability to walk up to the ticket window at gametime and tell the seller you wanted a couple of seats for the game. Chances are you could be pretty well assured of getting a good seat. If you were lucky and the wind wasn't blowing in off Lake Michigan, you could relax with a beer and get some sunshine while you watched the Chicago Cubs. Then something happened to change all that. The Cubs started to win.

Reporting from Chicago -- On their way to a seemingly breezy win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday, a scene from "The Natural" almost broke out, turning Wrigley Field into the Not-So-Friendly Confines for the Angels. A severe storm moved rapidly through the North Side, bringing thunder and lightning, dousing what had been a bright, sunshiny day and throwing a cloak of darkness over the ninth inning. The Cubs rallied from a five-run deficit, scoring four ninth-inning runs on Tyler Colvin's three-run home run against Francisco Rodriguez and Derrek Lee's solo shot against Fernando Rodney — Lee's drive coming with a sound track as it cleared the left-field bleachers.