A “no women admitted” sign in the Wrigley Field press box that was intended to “illustrate and acknowledge” the past is now history after some viewed it as a tone-deaf moment for the Cubs.
Wrigley Field debuted a variety of new features at the Cubs’ home opener Monday, including a new art collection of old press credentials in the stairway leading to the press box. One of the signs was a credential from 1945 that read: “No women admitted.”
Many fans took to Twitter, calling the image insensitive. After the swift backlash, the Cubs removed it before first pitch and replaced it with a photo of the bleachers from a Cubs “Pink Out” game. That picture was later switched out for an image of fans celebrating the Cubs’ 2016 World Series win outside Wrigley Field.
Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the initial intent of the image was to acknowledge how far society has come since 1945. He also said that the Cubs didn’t mean to offend anyone with the image, but acknowledged it was in “poor form” for the team to put it on display without context.
“Certainly having that sign up there without providing that context certainly would suggest that we were being insensitive to women, and so we decided to take it down,” Green told the Sun-Times in a phone interview. “Even with trying to acknowledge and illustrate history, it’s no reason that those images would be viewed as offensive. Look, you can’t be insensitive or offensive at the expense of trying to recognize and celebrate history.”
Green couldn’t explain who signed off on the art, which was installed late Sunday night.
Cubs business president Crane Kenney recognized the image when showed on an iPhone as the “Pink Poodle.” But he refused to comment on it, saying he couldn’t read the “no women admitted” text because he didn’t have his glasses. At Kenney’s request, the picture has been emailed to him, but he did not immediately respond.
Green said the image was installed as part of the Cubs’ 1060 Project.
“Throughout the ballpark as we’ve been renovating it, we have used a number of historical images,” Green said. “Part of what we strive to do as part of this project is obviously illustrate and acknowledge the history while restoring and expanding the ballpark.”
Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Ludtke was the first woman allowed in a major-league clubhouse. She received a credential from the Yankees for the final games of their regular season in 1977. One year later, U.S. District Judge Constance Baker Motley ordered Major League Baseball to allow women equal access in the clubhouse.
This is the latest public embarrassment for the Cubs in the last eight months. The Cubs have been heavily criticized for how they handled Addison Russell, who is currently serving a 40-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic-violence policy. The team has also been under fire after Cubs ownership patriarch Joe Ricketts’ racist emails were published by the website, SplinterNews.com.
“It goes without saying that this is probably been one of the most challenging offseasons that we’ve experienced and it is certainly we have taken our fair share of criticism and many times that I think rightfully so,” Green said. “There’s no reason for us as an organization or franchise to take the focus off of baseball [and] the unifying aspects of sports.”
