<P> The Cubs, under team president Dallas Green, quickly changed the issue from lights or no lights to Wrigley Field or move out of town . With typical bluntness, Green said, "if there are no lights in Wrigley Field, there will be no Wrigley Field ." Green seriously considered shuttering Wrigley and playing at Comiskey Park as tenants of the White Sox for a year, in hopes that the neighborhood would feel the loss of revenue and back down . The Cubs also explored moving to several suburban locations, including a site adjacent to Arlington Park in Arlington Heights and another in Schaumburg . There was even talk of a drastic move which involved selling the stadium to local college DePaul University, who would likely tear down Wrigley Field to host its indoor sports or convert it to a full - time football stadium in hopes of returning football to the campus . The Cubs would then likely build a new ballpark near the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena, where DePaul plays its home games currently) in suburban Rosemont . </P> <P> The Cubs' new stance quickly changed the context of the debate, as even the most adamant opponents of adding lights didn't want to see the Cubs leave for the suburbs . Interestingly, Schaumburg officials were so convinced that the Cubs were actually coming that land was purchased by investors hoping to build a new ballpark off the Elgin - O'Hare Expressway west of I - 355 . When the Cubs and the city of Chicago came to an agreement to keep the team on the North Side, the site spawned a ballpark anyway, with field dimensions and shape identical to Wrigley Field, even mimicking the "wells" along the outfield wall, and the' dogleg' in the visitor's dugout along the first base line . That stadium, Alexian Field, is now home to the (non-affiliated) minor league Schaumburg Boomers . </P> <P> In the fall of 1987, Chicago mayor Harold Washington proposed a compromise ordinance to the Chicago City Council which allowed the Cubs to install lights, but limited the number of night games . Washington died a week after the compromise was proposed, but the city eventually approved a compromise in February 1988 under interim mayor Eugene Sawyer . Major League Baseball responded by awarding the Cubs the 1990 All - Star Game . </P> <P> The first major league night game at Wrigley was attempted on August 8 against the Philadelphia Phillies, but was rained out after 31⁄2 innings . During the rain delay, several Cubs players, imitating a scene in the recent film hit, Bull Durham, played "slip - and - slide" on the tarp . One source says the group included Greg Maddux, Al Nipper, Les Lancaster and Jody Davis . Manager Don Zimmer was not amused, and they were fined $500 apiece . </P>

When did they put lights in wrigley field