Today is the 30th anniversary of a truly momentous day in the history of classic and traditional Wrigley Field: it’s the day the lights turned on.
Although, strictly speaking, not every game to that point in the 70-plus-year history of Wrigley Field had taken place entirely in the daytime hours, there had never before been a true night game schedule that featured the kind of late starts requiring lights. We Cubs fans have always loved our day baseball, and time was, that was all we had.
But then, on August 8, 1988, the march of Thomas Edison’s technological progress finally reached the Friendly Confines.
For four innings anyway. That’s because, on the night the Cubs first turned on the lights at Wrigley Field, the dang game was rained out. Lights can’t do anything about the weather.
Enjoy:
Holy Cow!
The lights turned on at #WrigleyField 30 years ago today! pic.twitter.com/Qx8CCQxfjf
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 8, 2018
Greg Maddux slides on the wet tarp during the rain delay of a 1988 Cubs-Phillies game: pic.twitter.com/SkPqDiLclu
— SI Vault (@si_vault) March 27, 2013
The first completed night game under the lights came the next day, as the Cubs beat the Mets 6-4.