CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs opened the gates of Wrigley Field on April 4 with a 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres, kicking off what would be a wild season on the North Side.
The Northwestern Wildcats closed those gates Saturday with a nail-biting 38-35 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, shutting the doors on the old ballpark one last time until the Cubs home opener March 26 against the Washington Nationals.
Turn out the lights. This party is over.
A year in the life of Wrigley Field is filled with sights and sounds that many will remember for a lifetime, even if some are moments they’d just as soon forget.
I witnessed quite a few of those moments in ’25, though my personal favorite was the arrival of a goose that decided in April to nest in a planter box under the old scoreboard in center field. The Cubs roped off an area to give the goose “her space,” saying in a statement “our featured guest is our top priority.”
Unfortunately the city’s most famous goose since Garfield flew the coop and never returned, much to my chagrin. Hopefully it won’t turn into a 20-year exile from Wrigley like the one Sammy Sosa ended in 2025, and perhaps Eddie Vedder and Cindy Crawford can even meet the goose in the bleachers some day down the road, as they famously did in September with Anthony Rizzo’s return as a Cubs ambassador.
The Cubs’ five playoff games at Wrigley provided some enduring moments for fans, making the press box shake for the first time since the Rizzo-Kris Bryant-Javier Báez era. The electricity from a pop-up concert by DJ John Summit at Gallagher Way before Game 3 of the NL Division Series was better than some of the summer concerts.
But the journey to October itself was also mesmerizing, albeit spliced with some misery in the second half. No one will forget the eight-home-run afternoon against St. Louis, including three by Michael Busch, in a Fourth of July shellacking of the Cardinals, or a walk-off shot against the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 3 by Justin Turner in what turned out to be his only Wrigley home run.
The seventh-inning-stretch performers in ’25 included a slew of C-list celebrities and podcasters whose names you had to google, including Alex Cooper. The podcaster was booed by almost everyone of the 40,319 in attendance for her purposely off-key rendition in July that disrespected a tradition that was meant to honor Harry Caray, not promote someone’s podcast.
With an announced attendance of 15,323, Wrigley was less than half-filled Saturday for the final NU home game on Senior Day, in stark contrast to last week’s packed house and raucous atmosphere, courtesy of Michigan’s strong fan base.
The Gophers fans I spoke with blamed the relatively sparse crowd on the opening of deer-hunting season in Minnesota, which obviously takes precedence over the Gophers, dontcha know. I’m not sure why Northwestern fans blew it off on such a gorgeous fall afternoon at the iconic ballpark, but malaise is as good a theory as any.
The Wildcats, 0-7 in their Wrigley Field games heading into the finale, jumped out to a 10-0 second-quarter lead before falling behind 28-13 in the third. They scored 22 unanswered points to take a 35-28 lead, promptly gave it up, took the lead on Jack Olsen’s field goal with 53 second left, then let Minnesota march straight downfield with a chance to tie or win.
But a missed 40-yard field-goal attempt by Brady Denaburg as the clock expired ended it, getting Northwestern off the schneid. Preston Stone was 25 for 30 for 305 yards and two touchdowns, and Caleb Komolafe finished with 129 yards on 22 attempts, including a 46-yard TD run.
The Wildcats finish the regular season at Illinois on Saturday and move into the new Ryan Field next fall, ending their Wrigley Field saga for now.
The Cubs should probably thank NU for the memories, then bring in a new host school for future games. Notre Dame is the obvious choice, but Indiana wouldn’t be a bad idea. An Indiana-Purdue game at Wrigley would be a natural now that the traditionally bottom-feeding Hoosiers are a national power. Northwestern has never been in Indiana’s shoes, and probably never will be without a Curt Cignetti-type of coach running the program.
As for the ballpark itself, Wrigley will remain dormant for the next four months, though the skating rink and Christkindlmarket Wrigleyville at Gallagher Way will be busy for the holidays. The field will be ripped up for drainage improvements, but otherwise, the Cubs have announced no offseason renovations.
Like the Cubs, Wrigleyville now shifts into winter mode. Bars and restaurants try to make due with smaller crowds, and assuredly some won’t be back when the Cubs begin their 2026 campaign at the end of March.
Neither will some of the Cubs, probably including Kyle Tucker, whose one season in Chicago was full of ups and downs. Cubs fans wanted to keep him forever, but the relationship was likely doomed from the start. Even when he was hitting well, Tucker never had the charisma that made Pete Crow-Armstrong a fan favorite. If Tucker leaves, his departure won’t be mourned like Kyle Schwarber was after the slugger was nontendered five years ago.
Meanwhile, Shota Imanaga went from being a beloved starter to being bypassed in a do-or-die playoff start to having his option declined to declining his own option to getting the $22.025 million qualifying offer to accepting that qualifying offer and remaining a Cub. Fewer than 1-in-10 players have accepted the qualifying offer since the system began in 2012, so Imanaga’s decision was surprising. Either he needs to rebuild his reputation or is fearful of a work stoppage after 2026.
As the offseason drama continues, the 111th year of Wrigley Field as an entertainment venue is officially over. This year saw the arrow pointing up for the current owners, who have turned Wrigley into their golden goose with some college football, Upper Deck Golf and assorted concerts to supplement the massive revenue from Cubs games.
No matter your opinion of Chairman Tom Ricketts or his siblings, there’s no question they know how to make money and have monetized the ballpark in ways the former owners, Tribune Co., never dreamed of doing. Future White Sox “steward” Justin Ishbia is no doubt taking notes.
We don’t know what the future holds for the Cubs, Northwestern or the goose.
But we can rest assured Wrigley will rival the Bean as Chicago’s favorite tourist trap in 2026, same as it ever was.
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