The Cubs are currently languishing in the midst of a pre-all-star break downward spiral of which the R.M.S. Titanic would be jealous. However, having been a Cubs fan for the greater part of the last two decades, I cannot say that this a) comes as much of a surprise, or b) seem that out of place for the team that last won a world series in 1908. However, despite their losing record-and ways-the Cubs are one of America most popular baseball teams. This is reflected in both the attendance numbers (roughly a year ago, the Cubs drew over 120,000 fans for a three game series against the Mets) and in the player all-star voting, where our own right fielder, Sammy Sosa, was the league's leading vote getter.

There are a myriad of reason for the Cubs' city and nationwide popularity-need we mention that this season approximately 8 people have gone to Comiskey Park to watch the kids play?-Sammy Sosa's 66 home runs last season, Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout performance, the affability of the late Harry Caray, the national television coverage on WGN, the absence of '90's style athletes like Albert Belle on the team, and lastly, probably the premiere ballpark in America in Wrigley Field.

Wrigley Field has a life, stature and legend all its own. Unlike the concrete monster on the southside where Chicago's American League team plays, Wrigley Field has an atmosphere all its own. There aren't any advertisements in the park (other than the Ha Lo cup holders that were recently installed); no Gap signs in the gap, no potato chip billboards above rightfield. The Budweiser sign on the house on Waveland and the Torco sign above the house on Sheffield are all that exist… and those are distinctly outside of the ballpark.

"It's an intimate ballpark, with a long, colorful history," Cubs media relations assistant, Benjamin de la Fuente told me. And he's right.

THE HISTORY

Originally built in 1914, Wrigley Field is the third oldest ballpark in the major leagues behind Tiger Stadium (1912), which will be demolished after this year, and Fenway Park (1912). When it was built, Wrigley Field was known as Weeghman Park, and home to both the Federals and the Whales of the Federal League. When the Federal League folded in 1915, Charles Weeghman, for whom the park was originally named, purchased the Cubs and moved them into the then two year old ballpark at Clark and Addison. In 1920, the Wrigley family purchased the Cubs from Weeghman and in 1926 officially named the park Wrigley Field.

The bleachers and scoreboard as we know them now were constructed in 1937 during improvements made to the park. The original scoreboard remains intact except for a few touches of modernization, such as the electronic message board; the score-by-innings and pitchers' numbers are still changed by hand.

The ivy that grows along the red brick, outfield wall, for which Wrigley Field is so famous, that snatched a game from the White Sox last year, was planted in 1937 by Bill Veeck. Veeck strung bittersweet from the top of the wall to the bottom and then planted the ivy at the base of the wall.

The basket atop the wall was added in 1970, and in 1988, Wrigley Field as we know it today was completed when the Cubs became the last Major League Baseball (MLB) to add lights.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

"What really seperates this park from the rest of the ballparks in the major leagues is that Wrigley Field is a neighborhood park." de la Fuente said, pausing. "It's smack-dab right in the middle of one of the greatest and most vibrant areas in the city. It's accessible to public transportation, and you can bring your family here and not have to worry about anything." And, again, he was right.

Wrigley Field, namesake of the Wrigleyville section of Chicago, is ensconced in a upwardly, urban, residential neighborhood. Outside of Lake Point Towers and several buildings in the Gold Coast, living in the buildings across the street from Wrigley Field, the proud owners of the 'rooftops' you hear Chip Caray mentions during the Cubs' home telecasts, are one of the most desirable places to live in Chicago. This was an idea that Jeff Kanew, director of the 1991 Hollywood Pictures release V.I. Warshawski's, capitalized on in his film. The movie itself was poor, but the location scouting and use of an apartment in one of the buildings on Sheffield (pictured) was both fascinating and dejecting experience, with the comment "how do I get one of those?" being the most frequently heard statement in the theatres.

On warm days during the summer, especially during the big series' against arch-rivals like the White Sox, Mets, or Cardinals, the rooftop seats and newly installed bleachers almost seem like an extension of the park. Granted, one cannot throw O'Henry bars onto the field, dump beer on an opposing players head as he runs onto the warning track, or chant "Darryl beats his wife" as easily as one might be able to in the bleachers, but the view is unique, and the Pepsi definitively cheaper.

THE FANS

Cubs fans themselves are known both for their obsessive love affair with the team (the term Die-Hard Cubs Fan was created to describe just this), and for being the opposite of Yankees fans; Cubs fans are, for the most part, polite, baseball knowledgeable, and well-behaved. There were one or two instances earlier in the year of roudy behavior, caused by the fruits of the seventh Budweiser downed, de la Fuente confirmed that the Cubs management is looking at these events in the past tense. A heightened security presence in the bleachers has helped ensure the matter.

However, one of two incidents cannot mar a lifetime of respectability, ingenious ways of heckling opposing players and rounds of applause for a well laid sacrifice bunts. How many other teams' fans can lay claim to the fact that they've had a play written about them, as the bleacher bums have had?

Year after year, cellar after cellar, pennants once every 50 years, Cubs fans stick by their team and flock to Wrigley Field game after game-the Cubs season attendance record came in 1993, with a 2,653,763 paid attendance mark… for a team that's record was 84-78, and finished fourth in their divison.

THE MOVIES

"Wrigley is different from every other park," de la Fuenta said. "It's a very scenic park with the red brick and ivy, which makes Wrigley the type of ballpark a lot of filmmakers are looking to shoot in."

And shoot in Wrigley Field, Hollywood does. "80% of the movies that want to shoot here get turned down too," special events coordinator Annie Kleiser said. "The movie has to be something that promotes Wrigley Field well, and [generally] has to have a rating of PG or less."

The MLB office handles the first request for the right to shoot a film in Wrigley, which, thanks to its beauty, receives "more requests than anyone else," Kleiser stated. "We get at least 8-10 major studio pictures a year". If the request is approved by MLB, it is handed to the Cubs and John McDonough. McDonough and management will then look over the script-Cubs management has the right to approve every word of the script shot in Wrigley, and the final say in what footage shot in Wrigley can and cannot be used on-scree-and then talk money. The Cubs players themselves, like Sammy Sosa in Kissing a Fool and Mark Grace in V.I. Warshawski, can participate and cooperate at their disposal.

THE CONCLUSION

"It's just a beautiful ballpark," de la Fuenta said. A retro ballpark that actually is a retro ballpark, with a team history so vast and legendary that the Cubs' sportscasting history in Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse that is richer than a number of teams themselves (ahem, Toronto). Forget the record-something Cubs fans are able to do year in and year out, with the wonderous exception of last year-this summer, far better than the Wild Wild West or American Pie, playing at a ballpark near year, the Chicago Cubs. These senior citizens can play!