* You probably saw this quote the other day…
Wrigley Field is “a dump” that could be a bigger problem than expected for new Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, according to MLB Network analyst Peter Gammons.
“The problem that (Ricketts) has, and the Ricketts family has a serious issue, is they’re going to have to understand it’s not only rebuilding personnel,” Gammons said Friday on “The Mully and Hanley Show” on WSCR-AM 670. “They got to make that ballpark livable, it’s a dump, Wrigley Field. They’re going to have to spent $200-and-something million on re-renovating Wrigley Field, do what the Boston owners did with Fenway Park. And the investment is far greater than, I think, maybe they realize. That the amount of work that Wrigley Field needs is, there’s a ton of money that has to go into rebuilding that place.”
* Ozzie ain’t a fan of the place, either…
The White Sox’s series with the Cubs is two days away, but manager Ozzie Guillen had no problem warming up for his dreaded visit to Wrigley Field.
Guillen emphasized he holds no grudges against the Cubs, their front office, manager Lou Piniella or their fans.
“But one thing about Wrigley Field, I puke every time I go there,” Guillen said Sunday morning. “That’s just to be honest. And if Cub fans don’t like the way I talk about Wrigley Field, it’s just Wrigley Field. I don’t say anything about the fans or anything now. But Wrigley Field, they got to respect my opinion. That’s the way I feel.”
[That above quote is from a couple of years ago, but it still applies.]
* Rick Morrissey claims the new owners want to spruce the place up…
Publicly, a reasonable owner would say Wrigley is a charming ballpark in need of loving renovations. Privately, you might hear a reasonable owner utter the word “dump” now and then.
“Obviously, we love Wrigley Field,’’ general manager Jim Hendry said Monday before the Cubs faced the Brewers. “Nobody wants the field to be any different, or the ambiance of the great atmosphere here.
“But I don’t think it’s any secret the plans that Tom and his family have to enlighten the facilities and make it better for fans, but also make it better for the players and more productive for the players. I think that’s going to be taken care of the next few years.’’
The Ricketts family didn’t get many favors from the previous owners, who put about as much effort into keeping up Wrigley as they did into keeping up Stonehenge. There is plenty of work to be done and revenue streams to be explored.
* But here’s the problem. The Ricketts family took on so much debt when they bought the team that they are now in violation of the league’s debt rules…
Long one of baseball’s most financially solid franchises, the Cubs find themselves on a list of teams on the wrong side of Major League Baseball’s debt rules.
They are one of nine franchises in violation of MLB’s debt service rules, according to information presented in a confidential briefing at the owners meetings last month and confirmed to the Los Angeles Times by three people familiar with the presentation. […]
With only $120.4 million in guaranteed salaries on the books beyond 2011, the Cubs’ debt issues would not appear to be tied to their roster. By comparison, the Yankees owe $469.3 million to players under contract. The White Sox owe $207.8 million to players.
More likely, the Cubs’ appearance on the list is the result of the financing stipulations between Tom Ricketts and his family and Tribune Co. to assume control of the team in October 2009. The $845 million deal included Wrigley Field and part of Comcast SportsNet Chicago.
In other words, any renovations on that “dump” may have to be paid for in cash. I’m not even sure that outsourcing the remodeling debt to state government (via the Sports Facilities Authority or some such agency) would work.
So, Cub fans, it looks like you’re stuck with the dump.
* By the way, I’ll be at a non-dumpy park on Monday watching my team beat that North Side Triple-A club.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 10:55 am:
We can give public money to CME, Sears, United Airlines, Caterpillar, ADM, John Deere, Boeing, Ford, General Motors, the Chicago White Sox, and the Chicago Bears.
But not one red cent should go to the Chicago Cubs.
It is absolutely ludicrous for them to ask for public money.
- Just a Reader - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 10:59 am:
That’s envy talking, Rich!
- John A Logan - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:06 am:
Wrigley is the best ballpark in the nation. Dropped call park on the south side is about as non descript as it can get, its shea stadium with less parking. Regarding the debt projections for the Cubs etc. I say good deal, anything that hinders the “renovation” of something that needs no changes is fine by me.
- Rudy - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:10 am:
Hey, maybe a good place for some slot machines!
- MJMspksman - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:10 am:
We should force the Sox to buy the Cell from the State! No public money anymore for these tax eaters..
- bored now - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:15 am:
the complaint is nothing new — and the ancient facilities contribute at least in part to the cubs’ annual misfortunes — but cubs fans don’t seem to care. i don’t think cubs’ fans would know what to do with themselves if they ever made it to a world series (let alone win one), so i guess it doesn’t matter…
- LincolnLounger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:19 am:
It is a dump, but it’s a dump with charm. I’m a Cardinals fan, but I love to watch games at Wrigley (except too few people actually pay attention to the game.)
If only there was a neighborhood aroud the Cell for after the game instead of everyone racing to get the heck out of Dodge afterward.
Both parks have their challenges.
- mokenavince - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:21 am:
The Cub owners are wealthy Billionares,if the place is in fact a dump, then they should invest
in it themselves. They could play a season or 2 at the Cell, tear down Wrigley and clone a new and modern field..
Getting money from taxpayers should not happen. Not from a team that scalpes it’s own tickets.
Where would the Cubs go if they wanted to move? Like them or not they draw between 2.5 and 3 million people and that ain’t hay. As much as I dislike the Cub’s I feel the Sox-Cub rivalry,is one of the best things about summer. Go White Sox!
- Loop Lady - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:22 am:
I think the franchise is headed for a sale again, maybe to an out of Chicago location…the team stinks, the fans are sick of it, and their stadium is crap…throw in the towel Cubs, maybe your luck would be better if you were in a different city…
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:23 am:
Wrigley is a dump, I’ve said it here more than once and I’ll say again until the city and/or state discovers the wisdom to treat Wrigley the same as they treated Comiskey, Soldier Field, the United Center, etc. Fair is fair, and excluding the Cubs is sensible only on this blog.
Speaking of the Sox, how’s that attendance thing going? Any chance the fans will help Kenny out? At least you’ll get a couple of sell-outs when the Cubs play in that super-fancy state-funded ball park that generates almost no spin-off economic activity in the neighborhood.
White Sux Baseball: Good Seats Still Available.
- JL - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:26 am:
AND Loop Lady wins for the comment most detached from reality. The Cubs aren’t going anywhere, even with the recent attendance issues they are one of the MLB’s most popular teams. Plus, the Rickett’s would be forced to take a massive loss if they tried to sell the team this quickly.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:28 am:
47th, after an astoundingly poor season start, we’re surging. The Flubs, on the other hand, are tanking with no end in sight. You might wanna take a look at the standings before issuing such proclamations.
Also, the fact that lemming tourists over-populate Ricketts Park is really not a valid argument on your behalf.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:29 am:
I love watching ball games at Wrigley. But I’m a baseball fan — I don’t need the bells and whistles of a stadium “experience.”
Having said that, the Tribune were corporate criminals. They bought the team and park for $20 million. They made a fortune off of it and sold it for $800 million.
Meanwhile, while drawing close to 3 million a year for more than 20 years, they barely funded light-housekeeping on the park. A dollar surcharge per ticket would have gone a long way for maintenance.
The Ricketts are stuck. They can’t even threaten to move to the suburbs. No one would believe it. Every new baseball stadium in the last 30 years has been built in the parking lots across the street from the old stadium.
Guess what? No parking lots across the street from Wrigley.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:31 am:
===If only there was a neighborhood aroud the Cell for after the game===
There are plenty of places, you just have to look.
The problem is the Daley family, which has never wanted development around the park. I don’t really understand why, but they’ve been the biggest obstacle.
- Plutocrat03 - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:33 am:
Who cares. No more public funding for the rich team owners.
- Cincinnatus - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:34 am:
“Wrigley is a dump, I’ve said it here more than once and I’ll say again until the city and/or state discovers the wisdom to treat Wrigley the same as they treated Comiskey, Soldier Field, the United Center, etc. Fair is fair, and excluding the Cubs is sensible only on this blog.”
Actually, it’s a shame those other places aren’t treated the same way as the Cubs. The fact that taxpayers are involved in virtually every other venue in Chicago skews the decision making surrounding the Cubs. There should be no taxpayer funding of sports franchises, period. If a team cannot make a go in a town, they should move. If other cities choose to use taxpayer dollars, so be it. Just because the first lemming jumps off the cliff doesn’t mean that ever other lemming should follow.
- Chicago Bars - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:36 am:
Wrigley is the third largest tourist destination in the state, generates $15,000,000+ a year in amusement taxes for the City and the County (both bastions of White Sox fans), and I don’t think it’s ever gotten a dime of state financing or tax credits for upkeep.
Not saying they should get ISFA-type rehab deal, but if they don’t then it’s time to invite the Reinsdorfs baseball and McCaskeys football sports franchises to refi and buy their facilities too. That’s a piece of privatization I could support.
Or maybe I’m still just bitter that the Sox got a new park and McCuddy’s got the shaft back in 1991.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-mccuddys-mess-big-jim-opens-big-mouth-tavern-owners-get-big-shaft/Content?oid=877548
- surge voter - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:37 am:
As a lifelong Cubs fan, it saddens me to say that I can’t even route for them anymore. What did they do to our team. Maybe the family could have used some of the $600,000 they gave to a right wing Republican candidate in Nevada to help improve the team and the field.
- Abandon Ship - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:38 am:
Why remodel a ballpark for a last place team that is going nowhere fast? Wrigley Field is undergoing criticism, once again, because the team simply stinks. I do not recall such comments, some of which were merited, resonating so much while the Cubs were winning the NL Central Division and making the playoffs with regularity. Empty seats are going to make access to and from the grandstands much easier. Sam Zell sucker punched Ricketts and the team will be a cellar dweller for years to come.
- CLJ - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:39 am:
Wrigley has some of the worst sight lines of any stadium. It’s the only place I’ve been to where you can spend $50 for seat that’s facing away from the field. Then of course there is the upper 200 section where you can see the action on the dozen or so television sets. Why does a stadium need tvs in the stands? Because you can’t see the field. The biggest wasted opportunity is when they added seats to the bleachers. What makes the Cell a great place to watch a game is the ability to walk along the 100 level and actually see the game at any angle.
A creative solution would be to close both Sheffield and Waveland and expand the park to the rooftop buildings adding additional seating and an outdoor concourse. Think Columbus’ Huntington Park. But that will never fly in this city. The cubs can’t even close the street for block party.
Time for a new location.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:40 am:
===You might wanna take a look at the standings before issuing such proclamations.===
I’d rather take a look at the stands. I’m proclaiming the same thing Kenny Williams is: attendance is sorely lacking on the south side. The Sox payroll bump and all of the subsequent higher expectations mean if the Sox don’t win the division, the season was a complete disaster.
Now, it might make you feel better about your team to run down the Cubs (for the millionth time-what’s up with the inferiority complex?), but it doesn’t change the fact that the Sox are averaging about 22,000 fans per game, fans who drive in and promptly drive out of Bridgeport, leaving nothing behind but exhaust fumes and litter.
Oh, and that breeze you’re feeling, it’s not a lake breeze. It’s Adam Dunn missing another pitch.
- Wensicia - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:40 am:
Wrigley Field is one of the largest tourist attractions in Illinois. Unfortunately, current and past owners have shown as much interest in maintaining and improving the park as they’ve shown in improving the team, zilch. Ricketts wants to exploit Wrigley Field, at the expense of taxpayers and fans. He wants a return on his investment, I doubt he really cares about the place.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:41 am:
===I’d rather take a look at the stands.===
LOL. Of course. While you’re doing that, watch for falling concrete!
- Draznnl (Rhymes with orange) - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:42 am:
Rich, There isn’t enough information available to support speculation that renovations may need to be paid for in cash. Was the purchase structured so that different corporations own the team and the stadium? If not, can the real estate be spun off to a new entity? Is debt owed on the real estate counted towards the MLB debt limit even if owed by another entity? In other words, any renovations may require the Ricketts family to first pay a hefty chunk in fees to some creative lawyers to make sure things are properly structured. Fortunately, our fair city has a few such lawyers available for employ.
As a Cub fan, I don’t want to hear about debt limits (or any other load of B.S.) as an excuse for delayed repair and renovation to a beautiful ballpark that needs some work done.
- zatoichi - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:47 am:
Ricketts got a couple a billion dollars? I assume they bought the package after some serious due diligence and research. If they didn’t that was their choice. They can afford it. Good luck.
- Frank - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:47 am:
What incentive do the City, County, or State have in giving the Ricketts’ a dime of public money. The brilliant new owner has already stated that the Cubs will not be leaving Wrigley.
The Sox threatened to move to Tampa, the Bears to the Suburbs (or Gary). Its called leverage, and the Cubs have none of it at the moment.
- Cheryl44 - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:50 am:
Isn’t Old Man Ricketts against giving tax money to private entities? I think I read that someplace.
Yes, it’s a dump. The difference between Wrigley and Fenway is amazing. But Fenway’s owners know how to take care of an old ballpark. The Trib let Wrigley slide into the state it’s in.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:51 am:
–Was the purchase structured so that different corporations own the team and the stadium? If not, can the real estate be spun off to a new entity? –
It was not, despite the best efforts of Blago, Zell and Big Jim.
Some of Rod and Patti’s ruminating on the idea were recorded and are in possession of the Department of Justice (parental guidance suggested; some material might not be appropriate for younger or more sensitive listeners).
- Say WHAT? - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:57 am:
Rich,
If you keep it up, I’m going to have you photoshopped into Cubs gear and post your new look on an interstate billboard!
- Abandon Ship - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:01 pm:
CLJ,
In the lower grandstands, some of the televisions were added to compensate for the addition of luxury skyboxes. The skyboxes partially obstructed the views from these seats, so, if a batter hits a high fly ball, spectators cannot see the entire play.
Lots of the problems at Wrigley Field correlate to the greedy efforts of its previous owners to increase the seating capacity.
- Draznnl (Rhymes with orange) - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:04 pm:
Word,
Is there some prohibition on the real estate being spun off?
This would not only avoid the debt limits, but could also be structured to increase annual revenue to the team thereby helping that entity comply with its debt limits.
- Precinct Captain - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:06 pm:
First off, to correct some misinformation. Joe Ricketts, the patriarch, who has zero operational control of the ballclub, is the one who is an arch right winger big on all these things that make the family look like hypocrites when they want an ISFA type deal. The daughter, Laura, is a lesbian and big in Lambda Legal. One of the brothers, Pete, ran as a Republican against Ben Nelson in Nebraska in 2006. He lost big.
As for the debt service thing, Rich, MLB has stated that Cubs are not among teams (i.e. Dodgers) that are in egregious violation of the debt service/limit rules of the league. In fact, this debt report is simply a short-term thing. It could be that for as little as a month, these teams were out of compliance. When any sale is approved it is the duty of the commissioner of baseball to prove to entities including other clubs, and the union, that teams will not risk being in persistent violation of the debt service rule. So, with the unusual structure of the sale of the Cubs (95%) to the Ricketts with 5% staying to ZellCo for tax dodging, MLB probably had an eye something like this happening for a short period of time somewhere along the line.
As for paying for renovations with cash, I believe the Ricketts could do it if they wanted to sell off a bunch more of their TD holdings, but they probably don’t want to right now and I wouldn’t blame them. The Cubs are the only team in the MLB, save for the Red Sox, that is so restricted owodn a micro-geographic level with it can do in terms of shutting down an area to upgrades and renovations. Additionally, with its landmark status even what are considered minor improvements in other places are major teeth pulling changes in Chicago. The sad fact is that the City of Chicago council members will be extremely parochial about whatever the Cubs ever want to do not realizing that it would benefit swaths of the city overall. Heck, southside construction firms might get deals, etc. It’s extremely disappointing for me, as a Cubs fan and native Chicagoan, to see the kind of clown games the city constantly plays with the team. The longer the Ricketts try to hold out on getting some state/county/city deal for Wrigley increases the chance the city of Chicago will ultimately have only one professional baseball team in the majors residing within its city limits.
http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5260:breaking-down-how-nine-of-mlbs-30-clubs-are-violation-of-debt-rules&catid=26:editorials&Itemid=39
http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/info/cba.jsp
- Loop Lady - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:07 pm:
JL: ‘m sure there’s a loophole somewhere that will benefit the Riscketts if they decide to dump the Cubs…I finally gave up on this team a coupla years ago, and the TV doesn’t lie, the stands ate pretty empty lately…I also hear alot of advertising to entice folks to games of late…that never was necessary in the recent past…
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:22 pm:
===In fact, this debt report is simply a short-term thing===
I won’t disagree, but if they try to add hundreds of millions of dollars in new longterm debt, there will be trouble.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:25 pm:
Cubs and Sox fans unite — the Evil Empire is coming to the North Side this weekend. Surely we can find common ground against the Yankees?
Having said that, I had the good fortune to be in Cominskey (I know, I just do that to drive the Obama-haters crazy), on September 18, 2001.
White Sox vs. Yankees, first ball game in Chicago after the Towers went down (if you’ll recall, the Sox were in New York on September 11).
20,000-plus jamokes in Bridgeport waving flags and screaming their love for the Yankees and New York in a pre-game ceremony with both teams lined up on the foul lines and coppers and firefighters surrounding the field.
The most thrilling and moving public moment I was ever part of.
Yankees 11, White Sox 3.
- 10th Voter - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:34 pm:
I have no issues with Wrigley, but maybe I’m too busy watching the game and scoring it in my scorebook to worry about replays on LCD screens and how many topping options I have for my “deluxe nachos” on the inside concourse of the third level. If I wanted to be comfortable and not have to pee in a trough, I would watch the game from home. I prefer the experience to the aesthetics…
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:42 pm:
Actually, I can’t hate the Yankees much anymore.
Years ago, on Oak Park Youth Baseball Night at Cominskey, we got to walk the field before the game. Zim was on the bench in the Yankees dugout, and Joe Torre took pictures of me and my boys with him, then Jeter, then old “Louisiana Lightning” Ron Guidry took pictures of all of us before we got rousted by Sox security.
Hard to hate guys like that.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:53 pm:
–Is there some prohibition on the real estate being spun off?–
To whom? Maybe 90 dates a year with concerts and such, loads of maintenance and liability, plus preservation restrictions and a neighborhood groups to deal with.
- surge voter - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 12:59 pm:
–First off, to correct some misinformation. Joe Ricketts, the patriarch, who has zero operational control of the ballclub, is the one who is an arch right winger big on all these things that make the family look like hypocrites when they want an ISFA type deal.–
Check out the utbe video of the “old man” talking about how he gave Tom the money to buy the Cubs. It is all one family and the family’s money bought the Cubs. Just because the old man is a little more genrous giving to right wing candidates that the sons, they all run for office as, or give to very right wingers who hate Government, They are phonies who thought they could buy a ball club and sell tickets even if the team lost games.
- MJMspksman - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 1:07 pm:
Here is the solution for building up Wrigley. When Governor incompetent screws up the summer construction season next week, all those 150 members who spent big $$’s electing him can go to work for minimum wage fixing up the ivy coated walls!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- IrishPirate - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 1:28 pm:
OH gawd, you sports fans annoy me. You remind me of Civil War reenactors fondling their swords while lovingly speaking of the superiority of Lee V Grant or Vice Versa.
Let’s speak some truth, but first the “classic” spankwad video cartoon highlighting the differences between Wrigley and whatever they call Sox park today.
http://spankwad.com/
It’s out of date given the renovation of Sox Park, but still amusing. They also have a video taking on the Cardinals, but I refuse to watch it as I think Missouri is actually only a myth. Sorta like an Appalachian version of Camelot with methamphetamine.
1. The Cubs will NEVER leave the general vicinity of Waveland and Clark. MLB won’t allow it.
2. Wrigley is a dump. It was a dump 40 years ago and it’s a dump now.
3. If the Rickett’s want public money they can go pound sand. They are filthy rich and the children of billionaires dabbling in business and looking for public money annoys me.
4. The Daley family is NOT responsible for little being built around Sox Park to service the fans. The neighbors are. I was born at St. Bernard’s hospital a few miles south on the Ryan and the folks living around there are some of the most “insular” people on the planet. They don’t want outsiders in their hood. Sure, they will work at Sox Park on game days, but after the game they want everyone to get the hell out. If you don’t believe me walk down a street in Bridgeport during the day. Look for the eyes from the windows eying you warily as you walk by.
5. Wrigley should be torn down and rebuilt. Just because millions of guys get teary eyed thinking about whizzing in a trough next to their dad doesn’t make it a national landmark.
6. The Cubs draw more people partially because the area within say two miles has tens of thousands of people who actually walk to games. There are thousands of people who move to Lakeview, Uptown, etc just to be near that sagging edifice known as Wrigley. The same can’t be said of Sox Park. The same density of baseball fans doesn’t exist on the south side.
So endeth the rant. Go in Peace.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 1:39 pm:
–1. The Cubs will NEVER leave the general vicinity of Waveland and Clark. MLB won’t allow it–
MLB couldn’t stop it, if that’s what they wanted to do.
The only real deterrent to a new park is cost, and everyone knows it. And you can’t play the suburbs card, either. Every new stadium in the last 30 years has been built in the parking lot across the street from the old one.
The last team to get away with playing the “moving” card was the White Sox (and Reinsdorf admitted later he was bluffing).
The Sox had the support of Madigan, Daley, Vrdolyak, Thompson and Mayor Washington and it took them years to just barely get the votes for a new stadium.
If the Cubs time comes, it will take a while.
- Angry Chicagoan - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 2:05 pm:
Wrigley is a dump but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed as long as there are some reasonable negotiations between the owners and the building inspectors. Gut-rehabbing the restrooms and renovating the concourses would pretty much do the trick as far as I can see. No doubt the upper deck will need some structural work too. The real plus for Wrigley is the ecosystem/neighborhood it’s in. Maybe now that the Daleys’ power is fading we can finally deliver the same for the Cell/IIT/Bridgeport as well.
- Tommydanger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 2:14 pm:
Rich, I apologize for only more recently becoming addicited to Capitol Fax and not having known your baseball affiliation. Now, I understand why you are so insightful, your opinions solid and unassailable, your success so assured. Only a Sox fan could have it so all together. I’ll be there Monday night too. Look me up and I’ll buy you a beer. I’ll be the one in a Buehrle jersey. If it helps, I’ll run onto the field by the first base coach.
- aaronsinger - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 3:54 pm:
Wrigley is a aging dump, rehabbing it would be a very expensive proposition, but not an impossible one.
The model they should look to is what the Red Sox did with Fenway; 15 years ago the Red Sox were in much the same situation as the Cubs, and they invested a lot into extending the life of Fenway Park. Janet Marie Smith was the one in charge of that project; the Cubs would be wise to hire her to oversee a similar renovation of Wrigley. But supposedly Ricketts invited her to Chicago, the two met, Ricketts saw how much it would cost and balked at the price. Smith is with the Orioles now.
- Mrs. Pasqua - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 4:28 pm:
==Gut-rehabbing the restrooms and renovating the concourses would pretty much do the trick as far as I can see. ==
I would guess that if they did anything beyond a good powerwash and some painting they’d have to become ADA compliant as well. Which will probably cost a ton.
- Leave a light on George - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 4:34 pm:
@ Miller
=after an astoundingly poor season start, we’re surging=
You’re not even at .500 yet. Give me a break.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 4:52 pm:
@George -
For the month of June:
Sox: 7-4
Cubs: 3-9
That said, I’m rooting for the Cubs to sweep the Brewers. As a Cards fan.
- Jimmy CrackCorn - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 5:10 pm:
I wouldn’t expect any Sox fans to understand the importance of paying homage to the history of America’s game. Nor would I expect them to treasure Wrigley Field as a great cathedral of the game and window into the past. After all the play baseball with something called a “DH.” hehe
But maybe Rickets can just pull a ‘Reinsdorf’ (or more recently a Motorola/Cat/CME) and threaten to leave the state, the incentive package would be more than they were ever asking for! Plus there is finally a NorthSider in charge of City Hall.
- Damfunny - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 6:07 pm:
“CUBS - a proud tradition of losing.
Now in our 2nd century!”
- Left Out - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 6:35 pm:
The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois are both broke. They both owe large sums to many people and will owe it for years. Paying or helping to pay for the Rickets to rebuild the park is something that the taxpayers can NOT afford.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 9:33 pm:
===the incentive package would be more than they were ever asking for!===
More likely, they’d just be shown the door.
- Responsa - Tuesday, Jun 14, 11 @ 11:22 pm:
==5. Wrigley should be torn down and rebuilt. Just because millions of guys get teary eyed thinking about whizzing in a trough next to their dad doesn’t make it a national landmark.==
Irish Pirate is smart, and right. My family and a bunch of friends attended the final game in old Comiskey Park. By the middle of the game the girls all had streaked mascara and runny noses. Grown men were bawling like babies at the loss of the park they loved and had grown up in. We couldn’t imagine not being able to go to the historic but ratty old stadium where our families had been attending Sox games for several generations. People could hardly stand to leave. Some of us said we were unsure if we could ever even stand to watch a Sox game in that modern new monstrosity they were building across the way. We thought maybe we’d just watch on TV.
But you know what? We caved. The Cell is great. The baseball there is great. The field, the sightlines, the amenities, the food, the bathrooms, the graphics, the same great loyal Sox fans, the traditions, anchored by some very interesting teams and personalities are why we go to games. A hundred or so baseball games later, nobody misses the old park–at all.
C’mon Cubs fans. Sometimes you just gotta let go of the nostalgia in order to move on in life.
Go Sox!