Barbara Gaydasch

I chose Wrigley Field for this activity for many reasons. A few being I live right by wrigley and I spend a lot of time around it and for another I attended opening day 2013! I have always loved Wrigley Field since I was a child but until this class first lecture, I realized how much more there is to everything, especially Wrigley Field. I believe that since 1914 Wrigley Field in context is a geographical known place to eat, drink, be entertained and watch baseball. Wrigley Field as a baseball stadium is a context in which the use of it is influencing and being influenced by the activities going on around it. Wrigley field opening day, thousands of people walking in with their cubs attire on, already long lines for beer and hot dogs. These actions are non material and material traces that have been around since the beginning of Wrigley Field. Sitting in my seat I was looking at the Ivy wall which again not only an material trace of the past but also is a non material trace. It brings back memories of when it came to the cubs in 1916 ever since then helping to create non material memories for players playing there and for the fans. Opening day it created a memory when numerous times our left outfielders did not catch the ball and but it hit the ivy wall. Wrigley on opening day was great to be at that day because they were playing old cub announcements from the old days on the speakers. It made me really feel like there was a lot of history that happened in that field. Wrigley field has pretty much been the same field since the beginning. The changes made to it were over a long period of time and weren't drastic. One large thing that still has not changed is the score board. The score board is the original and is still used to this day to keep score. Many people can remember from the time Wrigley opened it being used to score the many nail biting games to some victories and to losses, which is still the same today! The score board is a material trace as well as a non material trace. Under the score board I see there is a addition of a electronic score board as well as another one in right field. While these are newly occurring material objects the wall stands behind it giving us those non material moments. Things that have changed are things that were necessary to conform to the growing technology, economy and human life. I can easily say there are both kinds of traces. The new owners of Wrigley field are even trying to make renovations to it now to conform to the changing needs of the team, community and baseball world. A big way people are exercising the power of this place would be the addition of roof top seating on the buildings surrounding Wrigley.The buildings that were built around Wrigley realized that they could see the game from their roof tops and they wanted to build additional seating and sell their own tickets. While some are for this seating, many are not. You get a lot of resistance of these roof top seating buildings because they are bringing in revenue that is not helping the stadium. Another thing that has happened over time but luckly I was able to avoid this game was the installment of T.V.s throughout the park. Never in the past would you buy a ticket to go see a cubs game and end up just watching it on the TVs there. Some say the TVs are to better view the plays and scores others like I think its silly to have a TV in the park or around the park, I say you came to watch baseball, watch baseball. They have put about three small tv screens with the ability to replay plays but I think they have resisted from allowing that...at least for the time being. Another trace that is not only a material trace but also a non material trace would be a a lot of the seating in Wrigley Field. While I was sitting in my seat I realized that this seat has been sat in for 99 years by thousands and thousands of different people.