‹ Dugout LoreAll ballparks

Ballpark

West Side Grounds

Chicago · 1901–1915 · config 1915

Plays even

(-0.0 runs for the away team)

Dimensions

LF 332′ · SLF 404′ · LFA 445′ · LC 445′ · LCC 523′ · CF 450′ · RC 383′ · RFA 383′ · SRF 344′ · RF 332′

Walls LF 8′ · LC 8′ · CF 40′ · RC 8′ · RF 8′

Cubs' wooden home — enormous center before Wrigley

Cavernous foul ground

Capacity 16,000

Deep enough that a triple felt like a commute.

Overhead diagram

West Side Grounds overhead schematicLF 332′SLF 404′LFA 445′LC 445′LCC 523′CF 450′RC 383′RFA 383′SRF 344′RF 332′8′ wall8′ wall40′ wall8′ wall8′ wallCavernous foul groundStands not in library

Photograph

West Side Grounds II, Cincy Reds vs. Chicago Cubs, 1908.jpg
West Side Grounds II, Cincy Reds vs. Chicago Cubs, 1908.jpg · Chicago Daily News / Wikimedia Commons · 1908 · Public domain

About this park

West Side Grounds hosted Cubs baseball in the dead-ball years — including the 1908 club that still haunts October lore. Wooden Chicago, real pennants, then gone.