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SOUTH BAY HISTORY TIDBITS
CATALINA ISLAND AND THE CHICAGO CUBS
BY MAUREEN MEGOWAN / RE/MAX ESTATE PROPERTIES
PUBLISHER
Warren J Dow
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Debbie Glasscock
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Christopher Matalone
DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST
Kieron McKay
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Blake Smisko
SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Paul Jonason
MANAGING EDITOR
Pamela Corante-Hansen
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Quinn Roberts, Heidi Walter
DIGITAL MEDIA
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Chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. purchased Catalina Island in 1919
and shortly thereafter in 1921 gained a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs in
1921. He then became the first baseball owner to bring a major league club out
West for spring training, building a facility for the Cubs on Catalina in 1921 that
he called "Wrigley Field."
It was the first baseball facility to bear Wrigley's name. It opened up earlier
than the minor league Los Angeles Angels' baseball facility of the same name
which Wrigley built in 1925 in South Los Angeles. Coincidentally, one of the
streets bordering this ball park was named Avalon, the location of Wrigley's
Catalina facility. The more famous Chicago ballpark was known first as
Weeghman Park, and then as Cubs Park, before being renamed Wrigley Field
in 1926. The Catalina Wrigley Field's dimensions were built identical to those of
the major league club's Chicago home field.
Only a plaque noting the location remains now on the grounds of what is
currently the Catalina Island Country Club, though its clubhouse is the same
structure that Wrigley built for the Cubs. The locker room for the country club
is the same locker room used by the Cubs during their spring training visit.
The Cubs trained on Catalina every spring from 1921-1941, and from
1946-1951 (The island was controlled by the U.S. military during the war years).
An amazing array of baseball stars spent their springs in the bucolic setting,
including Charlie Root, Phil Cavaretta, Charlie Grimm and Hall of Famers
Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean, Gabby Hartnett, Joe McCarthy, Grover Cleveland
Alexander and Hack Wilson.
The team would arrive every spring on one of Wrigley's fleet of ships used
for transportation from the mainland. These included the Hermosa, the Cabrillo,
the S.S. Avalon, and, beginning in 1924, the S.S. Catalina, "The Great White
Steamship." After disembarking, the team would join the fashionable set and
stay at the island's fanciest hotel, the Hotel St. Catherine on Descanso Bay.
The club would spend most of the spring playing intra-squad games, though
occasionally outside teams such as the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles
Angels would make the trip over for some games, and the Cubs would make
the trip to the mainland right
after spring training for exhibition
games with West Coast minor
league teams.
The team's home games were
free, and the stadium was a major
tourist attraction on the island
during spring training. The Cubs'
last season on the island was 1951.
A spell of bad weather, including
a snowstorm, may have played
a role in convincing the team to
move spring operations to Mesa,
Arizona.
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