Baseball

Chicago Tribune, February 13, 1919

WRIGLEY SAID TO HAVE BOUGHT CATALINA ISLE

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pasadena, Cal., Feb. 12.–Announcement was made here tonight by William Wrigley Jr., gum manufacturer nnd one of the principal owners of the Chicago National League Baseball club, that he had purchased tlto greater part of SunUi Catalina Island, the noted pleasure resort, about thirty miles off the coast from San Pedro. The property was bought from Captain William Banning and others of the Banning family, for approximately $3,000,000. Mr. Wrlgley said he would make extensive alterations to make the Island more attractive as a resort.

REPORTED IN CHICAGO.

Reports to the effect that William Wrlgley Jr. had purchased Catalina Island were current In the Chicago loop yesterday. Mr. Wrlgley was said to have written local associates advising them “we aro buying the Island.” The Tribune telegraphed to California. for verification. Tho only reply received up to 3 a. m. was the following dispatch from Los Angeles: ” Secretary Fleming of company owning Catalina island says report of sale to Wrlgley is absolutely false.”

The Cubs trained in Avalon from 1921 to 1951, with the exception of the war years of 1942-1945.

Nineteen Hall of Fame players trained with the Cubs on Catalina Island, including such legends as Grover Cleveland Alexander, Dizzy Dean, Roger Hornsby, Joe McCarthy and Hack Wilson.

Created for the home market in the year 1940, this silent newsreel film shows the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team in Spring Training mode on Catalina Island. Most likely this is the 1939 team as it features catchers Gus Mancuso and Gabby Hartnett, Dick Bartell, Phil Cavaretta and pitcher Dizzy Dean. The 1939 Chicago Cubs played 154 games during the regular season, won 84 games, lost 70 games, and finished in fourth position. They played their home games at Wrigley Field (Park Factors: 102/101) where 726,663 fans witnessed their 1939 Cubs finish the season with a .545 winning percentage.

Nicknamed “The Boys in Blue” by their ever-loyal fans, the team’s owner, chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr., executed a masterstroke when he first brought the Chicago Cubs to Catalina Island for spring training in 1921. The move brought national attention to a vacation island paradise Wrigley had owned since 1919. Nineteen Hall of Fame players trained with the Cubs on Catalina Island, including such legends of the diamond as Grover Cleveland Alexander and Dizzy Dean, who is featured in this film. Perhaps the best known of the personalities to be a part of the Cubs on Catalina was a young radio announcer named Ronald “Dutch” Reagan who eventually went on to become President of the United States.