Wrigley Field historical sleuthing: The scoreboard in the 1990s

There are quite a few interesting things about this photo of the Wrigley Field scoreboard.

At first glance, you might think it’s from the early 1980s, when Tribune Co. first put a small electronic display underneath the board, and the fact that the paint is so badly faded.

But then there are the team standing flags. There are 14 of them — so this has to be after 1993, when the National League expanded to 14 teams. Some of you might recall this Sports Illustrated cover from 1987, showing the Wrigley board:

Clearly, the photo at the top is from later than that due to the team flags. Not long after that SI cover appeared, the Cubs painted the board and for some reason, decided they couldn’t fit…