A report on the 26th annual Cubs Convention, January 14-16, 2011, at the Chicago Hilton:
Wayne Messmer did a wonderful eulogy for Ron Santo during the Opening Ceremonies. I also appreciated that he did one for Phil Cavaretta, too. Phil left the Cubs a long time ago, but he was here for 20 years, and he deserved every bit of it.
Friday night Randy Wells was talking about a stop that the Cubs Caravan made in Springfield earlier this week. He said a little seven-year old girl came up to him and said, “My brother says you suck”. Obviously, a family divided.
Saturday morning, in “Meet Cubs Baseball Management,” Jim Hendry said that the fans had a lot to do with Kerry Wood coming back. You could see what Hendry was talking about during the Opening Ceremonies. When they introduced the players, they did so in alphabetical order, until they got to the bottom of the alphabet and skipped ahead to Carlos Zambrano. They were saving one player for last. The fans knew who it was, and they started cheering even before his name was announced. Kerry Wood got the biggest cheer of the evening, by far. It wasn’t even close. Being there for Woody’s introduction was worth the price of the ticket.
But back to Convention and some of the things you may not have read in the papers.
Randy Bush, who is Assistant General Manager, said that the most important thing in evaluating talent is valuing your own talent. You need to know who to trade, who to absolutely not trade, and who it will really hurt to trade. And at the end of the year you need to know who to protect on the 40-man roster.
During “Meet Cubs Business Management,” Crane Kenney noted that they sold the naming rights to the new pro football stadium in Los Angeles for $20 million a year for twenty years. Kenney said that the Cubs were not going to change the name of Wrigley Field (several years ago, before the Ricketts bought the team, he said that the Wrigley company ought to pay to keep its name on the park), but he then asked where the Cubs are going to get that $20 million. What he didn’t say, however, was that, even without selling the naming rights, the Cubs had the highest payroll in the National League in 2010 – and they finished fifth. Maybe what the Cubs need to do is spend the money they do have more intelligently, instead of always worrying about getting more money to waste.
Dave Kaplan, who was the host of the session, was really annoying. He complained about Cubs fans who object to things like more signs in Wrigley Field, etc. He basically said that those of us who object to those things don’t want to win. He doesn’t care how many signs the Cubs put up or what else they do to Wrigley Field. He says he just wants to win. And he says it loudly, obnoxiously, and without any respect for people who don’t agree with him. He didn’t explain why we will win with more money in the future when we didn’t win with all the money we had in 2010. And he didn’t say what happens if we sell our soul and still don’t win.
I always like “Down on Farm,” the panel on the Cubs minor league system, which they have Sunday morning. Oneri Fleita, VP of Player Development, said the hardest thing was saying goodbye to players when they are traded. Tim Wilken, VP of Scouting, said that the Matt Garza trade had created “a little bit of a hole” in our prospects. (To say the least.)
Tim Wilken mentioned that the change the NCAA made in their rules on bats was going to have a huge impact. He said the metal bats might be even less potent than wood bats now. He said you could see players getting drafted in the first round this year who were hitting .280 in college.
And it will affect pitching, too. Before the change, the aluminum bats were so powerful that pitchers would always pitch outside. Batters could mishit an inside pitch with an aluminum bat and still get a home run. Now pitchers will be able to pitch on both sides of the plate.
They noted that, before the 2010 season, instead of sending Tyler Colvin to play in Mexico, they put him on a weight training program in Arizona, where he was able to put on 20 pounds of muscle. They are going to do that with more guys this winter. D. J. LeMahieu said he had gone from 195 to almost 220. Tim Wilken said it’s called “projection scouting”: trying to draft guys who can fill out.
Tim Wilken also commented on the Cubs’ surprise pick of Hayden Simpson in the first round of the amateur draft in 2010. He said that among the things they like about Simpson is that he repeats his delivery well. He uses the same motion all the time
In terms of international scouting, one of panelists said WGN is a big help. Of course, earlier in the Convention, the business people said that the Cubs are putting more games on Comcast because Comcast pays more. Which means the business people are making the scouts’ job harder.
The person next to me also commented that, in terms of attracting young fans, the Cubs’ problem is not the ticket prices but taking games off WGN, especially in areas which don’t have Comcast. D. J. LeMahieu said he grew up a Cubs fan – in Detroit. He probably wouldn’t do that today because Comcast doesn’t get to Detroit. WGN might, but Comcast in Detroit does the Tigers. So the kids can’t see the Cubs. In effect, the Cubs are losing future fans to get a little more money today. It’s like eating your seed corn.
Finally, they had a couple of very nice programs remembering Ron Santo. The one with Pat Hughes and the various people who have helped with the radio broadcasts over the last 10 to 12 years was fine. The one that was really good, however, was “Remembering Ronnie” with Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Glenn Beckert, Randy Hundley, Jose Cardenal and Milt Pappas. Wane Messmer hosted it. The thing that was so great, especially with Ernie, Billy, Fergie, Glenn and Randy, was that these were not baseball players remembering somebody they played with. These were friends, people who had stayed in contact and stayed friends for 40 years, remembering one of their friends who passed away.
It was, and is, what makes the 1969 Cubs so special. They were with us for so long. The six of them were together for six years. Billy and Ron were together for fourteen years, more if you count the minors. And our TV and radio, especially radio, people were there, too. They were family. And we were family with them. That is why 1969 will always be so special.
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