The Chicago Cubs have performed on Chicago’s North Side for 116 years, for the reason that group moved north from West Side Park.
And though many Cubs gamers have owned houses within the Chicago space through the years, a evaluate of the places the place gamers have owned reveals a definite development: Throughout a lot of the Sixties via the ‘80s, most Cubs gamers had been loath to personal houses wherever within the metropolis, and as an alternative favored the north, northwest and western suburbs as locations to hold their ball caps.
However, for the reason that Eighties, much more of the homeowning Cubs have purchased locations within the metropolis than within the suburbs. Also putting: In the previous few years, solely a choose few Cubs have purchased Chicago-area houses of any type.
Many renters
Most main league baseball gamers hire houses of their groups’ cities. Many lead an itinerant way of life, as they’re topic to the whims of group house owners who can commerce or launch them at any time, and the appearance of free company has made lengthy careers with anyone group uncommon.
Also, with gamers now paid greater than ever, the lure of sun-kissed states with no revenue tax, akin to Florida and Texas, might be excessive and consequently, gamers personal houses in these states and stay there within the offseason. Arizona and Southern California are additionally well-liked offseason spots for gamers.
In Chicago, some Cubs gamers through the years have rented flats close to Wrigley Field in the course of the season, each within the New York constructing, at 3660 N. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and within the Halsted Flats constructing at 3740 N. Halsted St., whereas others have rented in high-rises downtown, together with within the Waldorf Astoria. Others have chosen to hire single-family homes.
Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta leased a home on Hutchinson Street in Lakeview whereas he was with the Cubs in the course of the 2010s. And a home on Wolfram Street in Lakeview was rented to a few straight Cubs pitchers — Wade Davis, Brandon Morrow and Craig Kimbrel — from 2017 till 2020; the home bought in late 2021 for $2.15 million.
Former Cubs outfielder Doug Glanville, who performed for the group in 1996, 1997 and 2003, rented within the New York constructing throughout his first 12 months with the group and leased a spot in Streeterville his second season, in the identical constructing as teammate Steve Trachsel. He mentioned that the Cubs’ day video games made it preferable to stay near the ballpark, “particularly given those 9:30 a.m. (practices) and stretch times.”
“Living in Streeterville was a lot of fun,” he mentioned. “I could walk to Michigan Avenue, a lot of good restaurants and Navy Pier. I wanted to be able to get around quickly around town.”
Glanville later rented in Greektown. For many of the remainder of his profession, he performed for the Philadelphia Phillies, and he rented in that metropolis for 2 years earlier than deciding to purchase a home in Conshohocken, a Philadelphia suburb.
Among Cubs greats, Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux each rented locations in Chicago throughout their occasions with the membership, Hall of Famer Billy Williams mentioned in an interview.
‘Mr. Cub’
Other Cubs — significantly these with lengthy careers with the group — have chosen to put down roots by shopping for a home or condominium right here.
Few Cubs had an extended profession with the group than Hall of Fame first baseman Ernie Banks. During a few of his 19 years within the majors, “Mr. Cub” owned the four-bedroom home at 8159 S. Rhodes Ave. within the South Side’s Chatham neighborhood — making him a uncommon Cub to personal on the South Side.
With the type of cash that Banks was incomes with the Cubs, he and then-wife Eloyce may have afforded to stay in a rich enclave. However, given Chicago’s historic racial segregation — together with restrictive housing covenants barring gross sales of houses to those that weren’t Caucasian, and basic resistance by white neighborhoods to Black residents — the Bankses selected to search for a home in a predominantly Black neighborhood, wrote former Tribune nationwide baseball columnist Phil Rogers in his e-book “Ernie Banks: Mr. Cub and the Summer of ‘69.” The couple purchased their Chatham residence in 1960.
In 1963, the 32-year-old Banks ran for eighth Ward alderman from that residence however misplaced.
Banks bought the Chatham home in 1969, in response to public data. He later owned a rental within the Gold Coast’s Brownstone constructing, and he additionally lived in California for a time. He later resided in Hyde Park and in South Shore earlier than shifting to the fifty fifth ground of a Loop high-rise, his widow, Liz Banks, mentioned.
The suburbs
The Cubs had some good groups within the late Sixties and early ‘70s, including the infamous 1969 Cubs team that imploded during that season’s last month, and plenty of gamers from that period selected to make the Chicago space their year-round residence. However, few gamers from these groups opted to personal within the metropolis. Instead, they favored the north, northwest and west suburbs.
That included the late Hall of Famer Ron Santo, who first lived in Park Ridge after which purchased a home in Glenview’s Valley Lo space in 1972. He lived there till 1983, when he moved to his second spouse’s ranch-style residence in Bannockburn, the place he lived till his demise in 2011.
Other Cubs from the late Sixties and early ‘70s who owned suburban homes include four-time All-Star Glenn Beckert, who with his wife owned a house in Palatine’s Virginia Lake subdivision; pitcher Ken Holtzman, who owned houses in Lincolnshire and later in Buffalo Grove; pitcher Milt Pappas, who owned a home on in Wheaton from 1970 till promoting it in 1991 and shifting to south suburban Beecher; pitcher Rick Reuschel, who owned a home on Picadilly Circle in Mount Prospect; and catcher Randy Hundley, who since 1970 has owned a home in Palatine.
Future Hall of Famer Billy Williams and his spouse, Shirley, initially lived in South Shore, at 7410 S. Constance Ave. He advised Elite Street that he and Banks would take turns driving backwards and forwards collectively from the South Side to Wrigley Field.
In 1973, Williams and his spouse bought their South Shore residence and purchased a home in Glen Ellyn. Just 14 months later, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics, they usually bought that home in 1976. The couple first leased a house in Walnut Creek, California, after which constructed a home on 10 acres in Loomis, which is close to Sacramento.
In 1981, nonetheless, the Williamses determined to return to Glen Ellyn, the place their daughters had buddies. So they purchased a home that Williams, now a widower, inhabits to today.
“It was great. I think this is where I’m going to be for a while,” he mentioned.
Well-known Cubs continued to purchase suburban houses into the early Eighties. Pitcher Mike Krukow owned a home in Highland Park, whereas outfielder Bobby Murcer, who later grew to become a well-liked New York Yankees broadcaster, owned a three-bedroom city residence on Wimbolton Drive in Mount Prospect from 1978 till 1981. Infielder Manny Trillo owned a condominium in Northbrook from 1977 till 1979.
After the Cubs received their division in 1984 and made the postseason for the primary time in 39 years, star teammates Rick Sutcliffe and Ryne Sandberg purchased suburban houses.
In 1985, the 2 All-Stars purchased newly constructed homes within the Indian Ridge neighborhood of Glenview from the identical homebuilder that had been simply across the nook from each other. Sutcliffe, who paid $130,000 for his Saranac Court residence, lived there till promoting the home in 1992 for $415,000, whereas Sandberg, who paid $144,500 for his residence on Iroquois Drive, bought it in 1993 for $450,000.
The metropolis
After 1999, the stability dramatically shifted to Cubs gamers proudly owning within the metropolis. Second baseman Eric Young, onetime pitching phenom Mark Prior and beginning pitcher Kerry Wood all bought houses within the metropolis. Wood owned houses in River North and Lincoln Park’s Old Town Triangle earlier than buying and selling up in 2008, paying $3.32 million for a mansion in Lincoln Park that he bought in 2017 for $3 million.
Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster, now identified for his Marquee Sports Network speak present, deserves his personal point out for the sheer quantity of metropolis actual property he’s owned. He paid $1.71 million in 2005 for a Lakeview home — the primary of a number of homes he would personal close to the ballpark. In 2008, he paid $2.69 million for one more Lakeview home, and in 2009 he picked up a rental unit close to the ballpark for $480,000. Dempster has bought each homes and in 2014 paid $1.95 million for yet one more home in Lakeview.
Starting pitcher Ted Lilly, pitcher Jeff Samardzija and outfielder Kosuke Fukudome additionally owned houses within the metropolis.
The 2016 group
The Cubs’ 2016 World Series title fulfilled the desires of generations of championship-starved followers. And the World Series run had an extended tail when it comes to gamers from that group remaining Cubs for prolonged tenures — no less than, by right now’s requirements. And but, comparatively few gamers from the title-winning group ever purchased Chicago-area houses. Star gamers like Arrieta, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo rented throughout their time as Cubs.
And these from the 2016 group who owned space houses all had been metropolis dwellers. Starting pitcher Jon Lester owned a mansion in Lakeview’s Graceland West neighborhood. Outfielder Jason Heyward, credited with motivating the Cubs to win the seventh recreation of the World Series after he famously gave a rain-delay pep speak, paid $6.93 million for a Gold Coast rental, which is the highest-priced buy of any property on report by a Cub within the group’s 148-year historical past.
Second baseman Ben Zobrist purchased a North Center residence that he bought for $2 million in 2021 after his divorce. And beginning pitcher Jason Hammel purchased a Lakeview residence in 2015, which he bought in 2021 for $2.55 million. Hammel and his spouse additionally paid $1.1 million for a property on Wentworth Avenue in Glencoe in 2019, and started constructing a mansion. However, they by no means accomplished development, they usually bought it unfinished in February for $3.687 million.
Lester, Heyward, Zobrist and Hammel have all since bought their houses.
One different participant from the 2016 World Series-winning group owns a house in Chicago, and he is also the only participant on the Cubs’ present roster who is understood to be a Chicago-area house owner. Starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks paid $2.18 million in 2017 for a Lakeview mansion that he nonetheless owns.
Selling to a White Sox participant
Beyond all of the offers talked about above, one notable transaction occurred between a Cub and a retired Chicago White Sox nice. In 1991, former Cubs first baseman Leon Durham, who famously made an error in the course of the decisive fifth recreation of the 1984 National League Championship Series, determined to promote his Lakeview rental. Durham had purchased the rental in 1983, and by 1991 was out {of professional} baseball.
The purchaser? White Sox Hall of Famer Minnie Minoso, who together with his spouse paid $187,500 for the unit. Minoso, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2021, resided within the unit till his demise in 2015. His widow continues to stay in that rental.
Bob Goldsborough is a contract reporter.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com