It was below zero all day Thursday, so of course that meant Friday was the start of the 24tn annual Chicago Cubs Convention.
Friday’s highlight is always the Opening Ceremonies, with all the players, both new and old, being introduced and a video of highlights from the prior season. As has been happening recently, Ron got the most applause during the introductions. It used to be Ernie, but now it’s Ron. Way more cheers than even Big Z.
Susan commented, though, that the crowd seemed a little subdued this year. Maybe it was the cold (I doubt it); maybe it was economy (unlikely). In any case, the enthusiasm did not seem as high. During the video highlights, I cheered for Woody when I saw him throw the pitch that was hit to Jim Edmonds for the final out of the Central Division clincher. Lots of people cheered when the video showed Mark Grace singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
Each year the Cubs bring a couple of promising minor leaguers to the convention so they can see what it is like. During the Autograph Hunt Friday night (you go around to various locations to get autographs from various players), we got autographs from the minor leaguers there this year, Darwin Barney and Brandon Guyer. They seemed excited and a little overwhelmed with all the attention.
The big panel Saturday morning was "Meet Cubs Baseball Management". I was shocked how easy the questions were. Even the obligatory Mark DeRosa question wasn’t confrontational. Hendry said DeRosa had to go because the cubs needed some left-handed bats in the lineup and the only places for them were second, right and center. And nobody objected. Hendry said Wood had to go for money room (and because of a history of injuries). And nobody objected to that, either. It was much friendlier than you would have expected given the three-and-out performance last October.
Hendry explained the Kevin Gregg-for-Jose Ceda deal (wherein the Cubs will soon discover they have once again been taken by the Florida Marlins) by saying that, while Ceda has a great arm, he is a couple of years away, and the Cubs can’t wait.
When you check in for the Convention, you get a scratch-off card to see if you win an autograph from one of the really big stars. Susan won an Ernie Banks autograph. While they allotted an hour for each star to sign, they wound up having to start a whole new line for the Alfonso Soriano winners (he was coming after Ernie) because Ernie was taking so much time. Ernie was talking and singing and just being Ernie. It wound up taking him two hours, instead of the one hour it was supposed to take. Susan even found out that Ernie and his wife have a new little daughter. Amazing.
While I skipped "Meet Cubs Business Management" Sunday morning, a woman I was talking to while we were in line for a Rick Reuschel* autograph said that they mentioned retiring number 31, which would be a two-fer, Jenkins and Maddux. According to the papers, when the idea of a Jumbotron was raised, the fans booed. (Makes you proud to be a Cubs fan.)
"Down on the Farm" finished up the Convention, as it always does. I really like Tim Wilken, the scouting director. (He came over from the Blue Jays several years ago.) Tim made a couple of interesting comments about drafting players. First, he said a couple of years ago the Cubs decided to try to draft more athletic pitchers. Pitchers tend to lose athleticism as they go through their careers (one would assume Greg Maddux is an exception here), so it is good for them to have as much athleticism as possible when they start. Second, the Cubs want to draft hitters who make contact, who hit the ball. If a kid is swinging and missing when he starts, that is not good, even if he has power. It is hard to fix two or three holes in a swing, especially as a player is moving up the ladder in the minors.
Wilken was asked to name a couple of prospects (one pitcher, one hitter) who would definitely make the majors: He mentioned pitcher Andrew Cashner (our first round pick in the 2008 draft) and Ty Wright (an outfielder from Oklahoma State who was picked in the seventh round in 2007).
Finally, Oneri Fleita, VP of Player Personnel, was asked for the Cubs’ plans if the Cuban embargo is lifted. He said his plan starts with a beachfront condominium for him.
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* Little known (and even less important) baseball fact: Of the four players in major league history whose last name starts with "Reu", three of them were pitchers for the Cubs: Rick Reuschel, Paul Reuschel and Ed Reulbach.
Update (1/20/09 8:50 a.m.): Fixed a typo.
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