I write a lot about change in baseball, and, as an institution, it's particularly (small-c) conservative and backward-facing. After all, that's the brand. Time and time again in baseball everyone gathers on one side of a stream they know they have to cross, just waiting for someone, anyone, to make the first move. In this case Larry MacPhail wasn't a far-sighted genius, he was just the one willing to get his feet wet.
The irony in Chicago was that there were no lights at Wrigley Field until 1988, but the Wrigley Building, at Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River was bathed in light at night for years. Nice recounting, Paul.
We've all heard the story that P.K. Wrigley was going to install lights in the early 1940s, but donated the materials to the war effort. What I don't understand is what changed for him once the war was over to make him the most famous holdout. Wrigley was always an odd guy in an odd crowd, but eschewing night baseball seems a bit out of character for the owner who brought us the College of Coaches.
Change is difficult. People just aren’t open minded to accept something new or they reject it.
I write a lot about change in baseball, and, as an institution, it's particularly (small-c) conservative and backward-facing. After all, that's the brand. Time and time again in baseball everyone gathers on one side of a stream they know they have to cross, just waiting for someone, anyone, to make the first move. In this case Larry MacPhail wasn't a far-sighted genius, he was just the one willing to get his feet wet.
The irony in Chicago was that there were no lights at Wrigley Field until 1988, but the Wrigley Building, at Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River was bathed in light at night for years. Nice recounting, Paul.
We've all heard the story that P.K. Wrigley was going to install lights in the early 1940s, but donated the materials to the war effort. What I don't understand is what changed for him once the war was over to make him the most famous holdout. Wrigley was always an odd guy in an odd crowd, but eschewing night baseball seems a bit out of character for the owner who brought us the College of Coaches.
“College of Coaches” - now, that was a scene, man!