On a chilly April day at Wrigley Field in 2014, Commissioner Bud Selig held an impromptu information convention within the press field eating room, the place he delivered an impassioned protection of the Ricketts household’s try to renovate the 100-year-old ballpark.
The Cubs had been battling with the town and rooftop house owners over signage and video boards for the landmarked ballpark, and Selig introduced he would do “whatever is legally” potential to assist the Cubs get the mission accredited.
“That’s how strongly I feel about preserving Wrigley Field,” Selig mentioned. “You can’t ask a team to be competitive and you can’t ask people to do things and then tie their hands and their legs. It’s just wrong. Somebody has to say it’s wrong, and I’m going to say it.”
The Cubs ultimately acquired all the things they wished and extra, together with a brand new clubhouse, two video boards and 7 indicators within the bleachers. That led to promoting in each nook and cranny at Wrigley, plus expanded bleachers, new bullpens below the bleachers, personal golf equipment galore and the Gallagher Way park outdoors the stadium.
And final August the Cubs received approval from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to construct a two-story, 20,000-square-foot sportsbook related to the ballpark on Addison Street that can open someday in early spring.
Not solely had been their fingers and toes not tied, however native politicians have bent over backward the final 9 years to provide the Rickettses free rein to make structural adjustments on the iconic venue, even letting them take away one of many best ballpark vistas anyplace — the upper-deck seats behind dwelling plate — to show it into the Catalina Club.
The added income streams have made the Cubs the envy of {many professional} sports activities franchises and have considerably elevated the worth of the crew to an estimated $3.8 billion, in line with Forbes.
In return, Cubs followers have seen one championship with all that cash flowing in.
Granted, that’s yet another than they’d seen within the earlier century-plus, however the promise of a number of World Series groups in trade for permitting the house owners to do no matter they see match to change the ballpark has but to be fulfilled.
And, as Selig would possibly say, it’s simply improper.
Nevertheless, because the Cubs formally start spring coaching Wednesday at Sloan Park, we are able to count on President Jed Hoyer and supervisor David Ross to reiterate that the crew is in good place to return to the postseason.
That’s excellent news, despite the fact that the oddsmakers aren’t actually shopping for it and PECOTA projections name for a 77-85 end, a three-win enchancment over 2022.
But the Cubs insist they’re contenders, so no less than they’re lastly placing strain on themselves to get the job performed or face the music. They acquired by way of the final two seasons with no expectations to win and little blowback. There was a number of discuss from Ross concerning the guys “playing hard” and “growing.” That’s the mantra of a rebuild, despite the fact that the Cubs declined to seek advice from it as such.
The final two seasons noticed the return of the Cubs groups from our youth, the type that yearly went into spring coaching with no actual likelihood of attending to the World Series, a lot much less profitable it.
Yet someway, Chairman Tom Ricketts deemed the sub-.500 season in 2022 a “success” final September, suggesting the plan was working identical to they envisioned.
“The fact is you can’t buy a championship team in baseball,” he mentioned. “You have to build it. And that’s what we’re doing.”
Ricketts should’ve recognized Cubs followers weren’t shopping for that narrative. If that wasn’t apparent, he might see from the bottom attendance figures since 1997 and the falling Marquee Sports Network rankings that issues needed to change.
So he gave Hoyer the impetus to spend extra freely within the offseason to attempt to change the look from not-so-innocent bystanders to precise postseason contenders. After some early trepidation over whether or not he would swing and miss on the Big Four shortstops, Hoyer acquired it performed.
Most of the estimated $287 million Hoyer spent on new gamers went to 2 free brokers — shortstop Dansby Swanson ($177 million) and beginning pitcher Jameson Taillon ($68 million) — whereas returning free-agent pitcher Drew Smyly ($19 million) and first baseman Trey Mancini ($14 million) had been the type of low-budget signings we noticed again in 2012-14, when Selig was crying for the Cubs’ fingers and legs to be untied.
If Hoyer’s plan succeeds and the Cubs make it to the postseason, everybody can take their bows and level to larger issues in 2024.
If not, it’s time for Cubs followers to beginning holding the proprietor and entrance workplace accountable, simply as White Sox followers did with Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, common supervisor Rick Hahn and their underachieving crew in 2022.
Someone has to do it. We can’t actually count on Marquee to provide its viewers the identical type of tough-love therapy NBC Sports Chicago delivered to the ‘22 Sox (and is giving the 2022-23 Bulls for that matter). There’s just one Ozzie Guillén and one Frank Thomas.
And as media shops shrink in measurement and numbers, there are fewer individuals holding the Cubs’ toes to the fireplace. That’s good for the Cubs however unhealthy for the followers.
This could possibly be a turnaround season for the Cubs that reminds us of 2015. Or it could possibly be extra of the identical previous, usual. It actually might go both approach, and we most likely will discover out early within the season if the Cubs are the actual deal.
But no less than spring coaching lastly is right here. Soon will probably be time for the Cubs to show they’ll execute this plan.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com