Perhaps, when you heard the Minnesota Twins get to start their stretch run at Wrigley Field in Chicago, you took Friday afternoon off. The team looks pretty good, you thought. And it’s been a while since the Minnesota nine took a few turns at the Friendly Confines.
Given the void of baseball in the two days following the All-Star Game, that sounded like a terrific reason to start your weekend early. Day game at Wrigley!
Well, if you’re reading this on Friday at around 1:20 pm, you’re not watching the Twins play the Chicago Cubs. You’re waiting another six hours for the game to start.
That’s because the Twins open their second half with a true baseball rarity: A Friday night game at Wrigley Field.
WHY DO THE CUBS STILL PLAY SO MANY DAY GAMES?
The short answer: because it’s illegal to play them at night.
Since the Cubs famously installed lights at Wrigley in 1988, the team has had to work around Chicago city ordinances any time they want to play a night game. The letter of the law regarding “amusements” — of which baseball is the supreme example — and the time at which the City of Chicago permits them to be amusing, is outlined in Section A of the Municipal Code of Chicago, Chapter 4-156-430:
It shall be unlawful for any licensee…to produce or present or permit any Event or Major League Baseball game that takes place between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., or is scheduled to begin between the hours of 2:01 p.m. and 4:09 p.m. on weekdays…and is presented in the open air portion of any stadium or playing field which is not totally enclosed.
Note that the ordinance says “weekdays,” and not just “Fridays,” which explains the frequency with which the Northsiders open any given day’s slate of games. Section B permits the Cubs a certain number of night games and certain provisions (such as national television coverage, doubleheaders, or playoffs).
These are exceptions, not the rule. The rule is: At Wrigley Field, thou shalt play baseball during the day.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
On Saturday and Sunday, the Twins will get their chance to play, as Ernie Banks insisted, “under God’s light.” But Friday, they’ll take the field against the Cubs under the electric lights of Wrigley, baseball’s most-fraught and seldom-used — particularly on the last day of the week.
The decision to install lights at Wrigley Field brought as much strife, division, and heartbreak to Cubs fans as the 2001 contraction crisis brought to the Twin Cities. Wrigleyville citizens organized into groups such as C.U.B.S. (Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine).
On July 19, 1985, Cubs general manager Dallas Green leveraged the need to broadcast playoff games at night into his very own Wrigley Razor: install lights and permit night games at the Friendly Confines, or “review possible sites” for a new Cubs stadium. He threw in the full history of baseball’s most ecclesiastical parks to make his point:
Perhaps Wrigley Field is living on borrowed time and will become another Crosley Field, Forbes Field, and Polo Grounds. Whether or not there is a baseball strike and whether or not we win or lose on the field this year, these problems will not go away and must be addressed.
Twins fans know the anguish of nearly losing their team all too well. Baseball marries its team to its grounds, and vice versa. The loss of one constitutes the dissolution of the other. Target Field, its Minnesota limestone now mortared and set for 16 years, is still a gift devoutly to be wished, and never to be taken for granted.
Dallas Green came to understand this fundamental relationship, and so did the city of Chicago. And so, without compromising Wrigley’s identity beyond the pale, the people and their powers reached an accord in 1988 to make the occasional night game a regular occurrence at Wrigley. That year, they played six. In 2011, the city arranged for 29. This year, there will be 38.
On Friday, September 8, 2017, almost a year following their third World Championship, the Cubs petitioned the city for a legal exemption to move back the start time of their game, citing the need for adequate rest. The city council provided a one-time concession, and the Cubs hosted their first-ever Friday night game.
Tonight, the Twins will play another — just the 15th such occurrence in the 112-year history of Wrigley Field.
STARTING THE SECOND HALF STRONG
Anticipation continues to build of Tarik Skubal’s pricey departure from the Detroit Tigers. While the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians remain absent from any immediate trade rumors, the Twins can use their series in Chicago to hit the .500 mark and keep pressure on the standings and Wild Card.
The Cubs will give the Twins a chance to show immediate second-half quality as they gear up for a playoff push. Between June 11 and the All-Star break, the Cubs flamed their record to 54-42 with 20 wins, thanks largely to a showcase of Pete Crow-Armstrong’s June dominance.
Minnesota’s bullpen bleed has begun to clot, thanks to the emergence of Andrew Morris’ electricity and poise. Lifelong Twin Byron Buxton is at least eligible to come off the IL for Friday’s game at Wrigley, and his bat in the No. 2 spot will re-establish the mighty offense manager Derek Shelton patiently assembled in the first half of 2026.
In 2026, there remains much to play for; there remains much to lose. By the end of September, every win will matter in the climb to AL Central primacy. The Cubs, deep in their own three-team divisional standoff, will unquestionably approach this series with the same urgency.
A Friday night game at Wrigley is the perfect way to kick off the dog days. The Twins haven’t fared particularly well at Wrigley since 1997 (5-10). Still, winning a Northside series in 2026 might bring the dream a little closer to the waking world.
A Twins’ division title and a Friday night game at Wrigley Field, you say? In the same year, you say?
Why not, I say! One happens about as frequently as the other.
