From June 16, 1981 until 2009, the final decisions about the Cubs have been made in the Tribune Tower, one of the signature buildings of Chicago's famous skyline. It was there that Tribune executives hired Harry Caray as the Cubs announcer shortly after they purchased the club. It was there that the decision was approved to hire Cubs managers Lee Elia, Charlie Fox, Jim Frey, Gene Michael, Frank Lucchesi, Don Zimmer, Joe Altobelli, Jim Essian, Jim Lefebvre, Tom Trebelhorn, Jim Riggelman, Bruce Kimm, Don Baylor, Dusty Baker, and Lou Piniella.
But in 1908 when the Cubs last won the World Series, a year the Chicago Tribune was the top advertiser on the bleacher walls of old West Side Grounds, the Tribune Tower had not yet been built. In fact, Michigan Avenue north of the river was far from the bustling "Magnificent Mile" it is today. It wasn't even officially called Michigan Avenue there yet--it was still known as Pine Street.
That all changed in 1922 when Chicago Tribune publisher Colonel Robert R. McCormick announced a contest to design the "most beautiful and eye-catching building in the world."
The prize was $50,000, and 260 entries came in from all over the world. After an exhaustive deliberation, the Tribune chose the design from New York architects Howells and Hood, although many other designs were interesting. Imagine if they chosen this design (illustration) from the architect Adolf Loos. (He went on to design many important structures in Vienna Austria, but somehow, this one would have looked a little odd in Chicago.)
They broke ground for the Tribune Tower on May 24, 1923. That day the Cubs were losing a game to the Boston Braves in Boston. They returned home the following day, and won at Cubs Park (which is what Wrigley Field was called that season). Star pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander threw a two-hitter that day, in the midst of an amazing season. He would pitch 305 innings and walk only 30 men. At one point he went 51 consecutive innings without giving up a walk, which was the Cubs record at the time. Alexander won 22 games for the Cubs that year, but it wasn’t enough. They finished 12 games over .500, and 12 ½ games out of first.
As the Tribune Tower rose above the Chicago River, the Cubs struggled over the next two seasons. It all came to a head the very day the Chicago Tribune celebrated the grand opening of the Tribune Tower, July 6, 1925. The Cubs fired their manager Bill Killefer, and replaced him with shortstop Rabbit Maranville. This turned out to be one of their worst managerial moves in a century of bad managerial moves.
In the midst of Prohibition, with Chicago's north side gangs (led by Bugs Moran in 1925) and south side gangs (led by Al Capone) battling it out in the streets of Chicago, new Cubs manager Rabbit Maranville was a raving drunk. The biggest drunk in the league (Grover Cleveland Alexander) was now being managed by the second biggest drunk in the league (Rabbit Maranville) at a time when alcohol was illegal. Maranville even played with a flask in his pants. Needless to say, it didn't go well. Maranville was fired only two months later.
Things went much better for the Tribune Tower, which opened to rave reviews and remains one of the jewels of Chicago's skyline. The statue of Nathan Hale still greets people, as do the carved images of Robin Hood (representing the architect Hood) and a howling dog (representing the architect Howells) above the entrance. Also, parts of important historical sites (brought back to Chicago by Tribune correspondents) still grace the base of the structure, including stones from such sites as the Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, and the Palace of Westminster, petrified wood from the Redwood National and State Parks, and pieces from the Great Pyramid, The Alamo, Notre-Dame, Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb, the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, and most recently, the World Trade Center in New York.
The building of the Tribune Tower (and the Wrigley Building across the street) also started a building frenzy on North Michigan Avenue. The Drake Hotel was built around the same time at the lake, and the space between those two buildings was constantly under construction for the next seven decades. It is now known as the Magnificent Mile.
If only the century had turned out as magnificently for the Chicago Cubs.
