sailing, so they brought in this touch — or the park’s original 310-foot leftfield line. Then there are the firsts that the ballpark brought us, such as permanent concession stands behind the seats or fans having the luxury of pocketing foul balls.

But of all the quirks we can dig out of the 100-year-old stadium designed by Zachary Taylor Davis, the most well-known came from the Wrigley which largely took shape in 1937. Before then, Wrigley Field had character, but not the same style as the stadium originally built in 1914 at the corner of Addison and Sheffield streets in north Chicago. Then-owner P.K. Wrigley wanted general manager Bill VeeckJr. — the eventual owner of three MLB clubs, including the Chicago White Sox — to help impress investors andvisitors by creating a park-like setting, similar to ballparks Wrigley had seen in California. The experiment? A completely new style of outfield wall to separate the field from the new grandstands.

First came the brick, but that needed a little life. The ivy — a mix of Boston ivy and Japanese bittersweet — was pure decoration, grabbing a small section of brick to start. In ’37, Veeck started with just a small portion, and the look was a hit, eventually expanding across the entire outfield. Now the Chicago ivy mix covers an 11 1/2-foot-tall wall, trimmed only by handheld sheers to keep it from overtaking the entire park.

As ivy is wont to do, even the thought of it spread aplenty. Vendors have sold clippings, with the offshoots seen peppering