Oct. 03--It's tacked to the walls of office cubicles and flaps in the breeze on suburban porches. It's taped to windows in Lakeview three-flats and sold outside the ballpark for $35. Fans from the upper deck to the bleachers reach into pants pockets and backpacks to unfurl it triumphantly, posing for smiling selfies and posing for the TV cameras. And 49 times this season, after each Cubs win at Wrigley Field, the "W" flag was hoisted up the flagpole above the center-field scoreboard.
From its humble beginnings in the late 1930s as a way to inform evening "L" commuters about the result of that day's game to its rise as a symbol of team success in the late 1990s Sammy Sosa era, the white flag with a block blue "W" has been everywhere this season as the Cubs march into the postseason for the first time since 2008.
The flag is the centerpiece of a Cubs television commercial and has its own social media hashtag: #FlyTheW. It's on T-shirts and caps and flying outside downtown office towers.
The "W" flag -- and its much-less popular brother, the blue "L" flag -- are part of a rich tradition of flags at Wrigley Field.
Flags have long been a part of baseball and for years have been showcased at ballparks throughout the country. For more than 100 years, league champions received a pennant they could fly the next season at their home ballpark, which is why teams today still talk about "winning the pennant" or the "pennant race."
"Your prize was literally a flag," said Cubs historian Ed Hartig.
At Wrigley Field, the National League division standings are represented by the color-coded flags of each team flown above the iconic center-field scoreboard in win-loss order. White flags with blue pinstripes atop the left- and right-field foul poles commemorate the retired numbers of the club's top players. On the roof above the grandstands, red, white and blue flags signify the team's championship seasons and important accomplishments.
Until divisional play began in 1969, the team standings flags were arranged with the top four NL teams on the left-field side, the bottom four on the right. Now three poles are used to inform fans of the current order of the league's three divisions. Many an outfielder and pitcher have checked the flags to see if the wind will be blowing in toward the infield or out toward the bleachers.
"The flags tell a story," Hartig said.
Hartig said the "W" flag was first raised above the center-field scoreboard after the bleachers were renovated and the scoreboard was rebuilt prior to the 1938 season. Until the early 1980s, the "W" flag was blue with a white "W." Hartig said it's not clear why the colors switched, but it may relate to the retirement of Ernie Banks' number.
The genesis of using a flag to honor team wins came from a similar-looking flag on the ships of former Cubs owner William Wrigley's transportation company, which in the 1920s traveled between mainland California and the Cubs spring training site on Catalina Island, Hartig said. The person who came up with the idea at the ballpark is not known.
Hartig said the flag's popularity took off in the late 1990s, during the Sammy Sosa home run years, and in the early 2000s, aligning with success on the field. Former Cubs television broadcaster Chip Caray started saying "Raise the white flag!" after Cubs' wins in 1998, Hartig said. Now "W" flags are sold at sporting good stores across Chicagoland.
"Today, you watch a game, and even if the Cubs are in San Diego and the Cubs win, you see 20 'W' flags all over the stands," Hartig said.
After pitcher Jake Arrieta's 20th win of the season last week, "W" flags dotted the stands as "Go Cubs Go" blared. Ivy and Van Westerhoff, siblings from Hammond, showed off their "W" flag from the upper-deck grandstand.
"We didn't show it before. It feels like it's bad luck if you bring it out before they win," Ivy Westerhoff said. The family bought the flag about 10 years ago and often hangs it outside their home, where some neighbors think the 'W' stands for Westerhoff.
As the players celebrated on the field, the "W" flag was quickly raised atop one of the center-field flagpoles, and the new video boards flashed the letter in case there was any doubt about the result. When the Cubs lost the next night, there was much less fanfare. Almost as an afterthought, the lonely blue "L" flag slowly made its way to the top of the flagpole.
poconnell@tribpub.com
