Chicago Cubs Spring Training on Catalina
Shortly after William Wrigley, Jr. purchased Catalina Island
he gained a majority stock in the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team.
The team did their spring training at a baseball field in
Avalon Canyon on Catalina Island between 1921 and 1941,
and again between 1946 and 1951. The break between
1941 and 1946 was due to the island being used as
a military base during and shortly after World War II.
The Three Wrigley Baseball Fields
The Catalina baseball field was informally known as Wrigley Field and it
was built to the same measurements as Cubs Park basefield in Chicago (a ballfield
that was formally renamed Wrigley Field in 1926).
William Wrigley, Jr. also built a Wrigley Field in
Los Angeles, in 1925k for the Pacific Coast League's Angels Baseball Team.
That field was located at 42nd Street and and South Avalon Boulevard,
but it was closed and demolished in 1969.
- Wrigley Field Catalina Island | LA Magazine |
- Wrigley Field Chicago / originally Cubs Park | Wikipedia |
|
- Wrigley Field Los Angeles (1925-1969) | Wikipedia |
- Chicago Cubs used the island for spring 1921-1951
- They traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles on the Santa Fe railway
- They cross the channel by ferry from San Pedro
- Players practiced in the morning and golfed, hiked, or fished in the afternoon
- Catalina Country Club was their locker room and clubhouse
- They stayed at the St. Catherine Hotel in Descanso Cove (now gone)
Resources
-
Catalina Island Company "Chicago Cubs on Catalina" Article
-
Cubbies Crib "Chicago Cubs: Long Ago on Catalina Island" Article
-
LA Magazine "Catalina's Own Wrigley Field" Article<
-
Daily Breeze "Spring Training With the Cubs" Blog Post
-
Society for American Baseball Reesearch "Catalina" Article
-
LA Times "Cubs Made LA Home Before Dodgers Did" Article
-
BHCA "Cub Spring Training on Catalina" Photo
-
Facebook "Cubs on Catalina" Page
Sports on Catalina Island
Other Activities on Catalina
Catalina Island Travel Guide
California for Visitors
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