Wrigley Field historical sleuthing: Early bleachers edition

There’s no clock on the Wrigley Field scoreboard. There’s only one score listed, and the famous ivy has only begun to grow.

That makes this one pretty easy. The clock was added in 1941, and with the ivy barely creeping above the ground as it was beginning to grow its way up the brick wall, this has to be from 1937 or 1938.

There’s only one date that matches what we see here — Saturday, April 23, 1938. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 4-0 that afternoon, a four-hit shutout by Larry French.

A few notes about what you see in this photo:

In the bottom center of the board, where you’d now see the hit total for the Cubs and the “visitors,” you see a promotion for the next day’s game: TOMORROW ST.…