Most people think they’re seeing a glitch in the Matrix when they look at old black-and-white photos of a ballpark named Wrigley Field sitting in the middle of South Los Angeles. It looks like the North Side of Chicago. The ivy isn't there, but the clock tower is. The dimensions feel familiar. But the palm trees in the background give the game away. This wasn't Illinois. This was the original Wrigley Field Los Angeles, a stadium that actually opened its doors years before the Chicago version even adopted the Wrigley name.
It’s a weird bit of trivia.
William Wrigley Jr., the chewing gum magnate, basically decided he wanted a West Coast monument to his brand and his team. He owned the Los Angeles Angels—the minor league version, not the modern MLB franchise—and he wanted them to play in the finest park money could buy. When it opened in 1925 at the corner of 42nd Place and Avalon Boulevard, it cost about $1.5 million. That was a staggering amount of cash for a minor league park back then. People called it "The Mansion." It was the first home of the Angels and, eventually, the first home of the MLB's Los Angeles Angels in 1961.
The Architect's Mirror Image
If you look at the blueprints, the similarities between the L.A. and Chicago parks weren't accidental. Wrigley hired the same architectural firm, Zachary Taylor Davis, to design the California stadium. Davis was the man behind the original designs for both Comiskey Park and what we now call Wrigley Field in Chicago.
He didn't just copy-paste the work, though.
The L.A. version was actually more advanced in some ways. It had a massive clock tower that rose twelve stories above the entrance, making it a landmark you could see from miles away. The seating capacity was around 21,000, which made it feel intimate but grand. In the 1920s, that was a huge deal for the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The PCL was basically a third major league in all but name, and Wrigley Field Los Angeles was its crown jewel. The air in South L.A. was different then—clearer, saltier, and filled with the sound of PCL legends like Jigger Statz and a young Joe DiMaggio tearing up the turf.
The field dimensions were a bit of a hitter's dream. It was 340 feet down the lines and about 412 to center. For decades, it was widely considered the most beautiful ballpark in the country, often surpassing its Chicago sibling in contemporary rankings of aesthetics. It didn't have the "friendly confines" nickname yet, but it had the soul of a big-league park.
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A Hollywood Backlot in Disguise
Hollywood is only a few miles north of 42nd and Avalon. Naturally, the movie studios realized pretty quickly that it was cheaper to film a "big league" baseball movie in South L.A. than to fly a whole crew to New York or Chicago.
If you’ve watched The Pride of the Yankees, you’ve seen Wrigley Field Los Angeles.
When Gary Cooper played Lou Gehrig, he wasn't standing in the Bronx. He was standing in South Los Angeles. The production team just swapped out some signs and used tight camera angles to hide the palm trees. It appeared in The Stratton Story, It Happens Every Spring, and arguably most famously, it served as the primary set for the television show Home Run Derby in 1959. That show featured icons like Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron competing for cash prizes. They filmed it there because the weather was predictable and the park looked "classic" on camera.
Honestly, it's kinda wild how many "New York" baseball moments in cinema were actually filmed in a neighborhood that would later become the heart of the L.A. urban core. The park had this chameleon quality.
The MLB Arrival and the Beginning of the End
By the late 1950s, the landscape of California baseball shifted. The Brooklyn Dodgers moved west in 1958, but they didn't play at Wrigley. They went to the Memorial Coliseum because it could hold 90,000 people, even if the left-field fence was ridiculously close. Wrigley Field Los Angeles sat there, slightly neglected, waiting for its real major league moment.
That moment came in 1961.
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Gene Autry, the "Singing Cowboy," was awarded an American League expansion franchise. He named them the Los Angeles Angels, reviving the old PCL moniker. For one solitary season, Wrigley finally hosted Major League Baseball. It was a hitter's paradise. The Angels and their opponents combined for a then-record 248 home runs in that single season at Wrigley. Steve Bilko, a massive power hitter who was a legend in the PCL days, finally got to blast MLB pitching in the same park where he’d become a local hero.
But the stay was short.
The Dodgers were finishing Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine. Autry moved the Angels there as tenants in 1962, and Wrigley Field was suddenly a stadium without a team. It’s one of those sad historical pivots. One year you're hosting Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, and the next, you're a white elephant.
What Actually Happened to the Site
The decline was fast and fairly brutal. Without a primary tenant to pay for maintenance, the "Mansion" started to crumble. The city used it for various events—soccer matches, track meets, and even some political rallies—but the cost of upkeep was a nightmare.
By 1966, the city decided they’d had enough.
They tore it down.
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It wasn't a slow transition. They leveled the clock tower, the grandstands, and the dugouts. Today, the site is home to the Gilbert Lindsay Park. There’s a public recreation center there now. If you walk the grounds today, you won't find much in the way of ruins. There isn't a plaque on every corner or a preserved piece of the infield. You'll see kids playing soccer and families having barbecues.
It’s basically a ghost site.
The most prominent remnant of the era isn't even at the park; it’s the historical memory held by PCL enthusiasts. Many sports historians, like those at the Baseball Reliquary, argue that the destruction of Wrigley was one of the greatest architectural losses in California history. It represented an era before the "concrete donut" stadiums of the 70s, back when ballparks had character and were built into the fabric of the neighborhood.
Why We Still Talk About Wrigley Field Los Angeles
You might wonder why a stadium that only hosted one year of MLB ball matters. It matters because it was the proof of concept for West Coast baseball. Before the Dodgers and Giants moved, the success of the Angels at Wrigley showed that Southern California was a massive, untapped market.
It also served as a cultural hub for the Black community in South Los Angeles during the mid-20th century. The park hosted Negro League games and community events that were vital to the social life of the area. It wasn't just a place for white players in flannel; it was a focal point for a neighborhood that was rapidly changing.
Some people claim you can still feel the "vibe" of the old park at Gilbert Lindsay, but that’s mostly nostalgia talking. The physical reality is gone. But for one season in 1961, and for thirty years of PCL glory before that, it was the most important patch of grass in the Western United States.
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you want to truly experience the history of Wrigley Field Los Angeles, don't just look for a plaque. You have to look at the surrounding context of the neighborhood and the artifacts that moved elsewhere.
- Visit Gilbert Lindsay Park: Located at 429 E 42nd Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90011. While the stadium is gone, the footprint is still there. Stand near the corner of 42nd and Avalon and look toward where the clock tower once stood to get a sense of the scale.
- Search Digital Archives: The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) photo collection has hundreds of high-resolution shots of the stadium under construction and during its heyday.
- Watch the Movie "The Pride of the Yankees": Pay close attention to the stadium scenes. Knowing it's South L.A. instead of the Bronx completely changes how you view the cinematography.
- Explore the PCL History: Look into the Pacific Coast League's "Golden Age" (1903-1957). Understanding the rivalry between the L.A. Angels and the Hollywood Stars gives you the best perspective on why this park was built so grandly.
- Check Local Museums: Occasionally, the Museum of Neon Art or local L.A. heritage groups display signage or seating salvaged from the 1969 demolition.
The story of the L.A. Wrigley is a reminder that cities are living things. They build, they destroy, and they move on. But for a few decades, South L.A. had a cathedral that rivaled anything in Chicago or New York. It’s worth remembering that the "friendly confines" had a sunny, West Coast twin that deserved a better fate.