Exhibitions > The Boys in Blue: Cubs Spring Training on Catalina Island 1921-1951
February 5, 2011 - April 30, 2011
Perhaps no professional sports team in America is more beloved than the Chicago Cubs. Affectionately nicknamed The Boys in Blue by their ever-faithful fans, the Cubs have not won the World Series in 106 years - the longest championship drought of any North American sports team. Despite this, "The Cubbies" remain "loveable losers," and in an age when professional sports are rife with scandal the Cubs claim some of the most devoted fans in all of baseball. What accounts for this loyalty? Part of the answer might be found in one of the most colorful histories in all of sports. The team`s modern era began when William Wrigley, Jr. acquired a controlling interest in the team in 1925, ushering in a golden age for Cubs baseball as the team won pennants in 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938. A marketing genius with a flair for the grand gesture, Wrigley brought the team to Catalina Island in 1921 for spring training. The idea of bringing one of baseball`s most popular teams to a California island of incomparable beauty -- which Wrigley had happened to purchase in 1919 -- added luster to the team and brought national notoriety to the island. But suddenly disaster struck. During the 1945 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, a bar owner -- undoubtedly seeking publicity for his watering hole -- sat his Billy goat down in one of Wrigley Field`s very conspicuous box seats. Ejected during the fourth inning, the indignant goat owner cursed the team and swore: "The Cubs, they ain`t gonna win no more!" The Cubs lost the Series, and many claim, "the Curse of the Billy Goat" continues to plague the team to this day. The Boys in Blue presents the Catalina Island Museum`s extensive collection of Cubs` programs, rosters, uniforms, film footage and photographs. Visit this unique exhibition and live the glory days of Cubbies baseball!
