Those of you interested in the Cubs, and what happened at the Cubs Convention this past weekend, have probably already read a lot about it. (If you aren’t interested, you probably aren’t reading this post.) Therefore, instead of doing an in-depth report of what happened, let me mention a few things that struck me, from a fan’s point of view, and might be of interest.
1. I really do think the Cubs are on the right track. I think they are going about things in the right way, and I think they are succeeding. Trading veterans for prospects does hurt at times, even when the veteran is new, but I understand why the Cubs are doing it, and it’s okay. When I will have a problem is if they get to the point where they start trading today’s prospects, after they get better, for another round of younger prospects. The Pirates did that from 1993 to 2010 (or so). If the Cubs start doing that, then I’ll have a problem.
2. Re “Clark,” the new Cubs mascot, the stated purpose is to make the Cubs more kid and family-friendly. Maybe that works for some kids, but I know kids who became fans because they went to the park and watched the game and paid attention and had fun. Maybe some kids need “Clark”. I can assure that many don’t.
Also in terms in making the Cubs kid-friendly, the best thing the Cubs could do would be to play afternoon games on WGN. That’s how kids get hooked on baseball. I understand the finances of the game today may not allow that, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep it in mind. It might give you some ideas on real baseball ideas to attract the kids. (It was also suggested to me that the best way to be kid-friendly would be to win.)
3. Last year the Convention was all about the plans for renovating Wrigley Field. Virtually none of those renovations has been started. What was supposed to take five years will now take at least six (counting from last year).
The holdup, of course, is objections (and threats of lawsuits) from certain rooftop owners. Tom Ricketts likes to compare the rooftop owners to a neighbor who watches Cinemax on your TV through the windows between your two houses. Your neighbor even invites people over to his house to watch the shows on your TV – and charges them. And he gets mad when you try to lower your blinds. The story always gets a little applause. Mr. Ricketts, however, misses a couple of things. First, your neighbor may be charging people to watch your Cinemax shows, but you agreed to let him do it. Also, your neighbor is paying part of your Cinemax bill. Mr. Ricketts may not like the arrangement with the rooftops, but the agreements were in place when the Ricketts family bought the team. The unspoken “elephant in the room,” with respect to the rooftops, is that they have contracts with the Cubs, and the Cubs are trying to get them to give up something that I am not sure the Cubs can force them to give up.
One other thing: I don’t know if Mr. Ricketts realizes it, but he sounds a lot like Andy MacPhail did twelve years ago when he talked about the rooftops.
4. Laura Ricketts answers questions like a graduate of the Crash Davis school of answering questions from the media (and fans).
5. Rick Renteria sat in on the “Meet Cubs Baseball Management” session with Theo and the boys. Rick said that, if a player shows that he understands he messed up and he is apologizing, you, as manager, don’t need to yell at the player. If you do, the player will shut you out, and instead of remembering his mistake, he will remember you yelling at him.
6. Shiraz Rehman, Assistant to the General Manager, said that the idea is to be in the playoffs every year (or almost every year) because you can only win a World Series if you are in the playoffs. The best team doesn’t always win the World Series. But if you are in the playoffs all the time, then you will be there when you get one of those magical runs to the World Series.
7. Jed Hoyer said that the straight-line decline in offense over the last several years shows that baseball is getting cleaner (in terms of drugs). Tied in with that, younger players are more important than older players in the new, drug-free environment.
8. In response to a question, Assistant General Manager Randy Bush said that it easier for players to learn in the minor leagues than the major leagues. He said it is better to make mistakes before 4-5,000 fans than 40,000 fans. [Warning: Sarcastic comment coming.] That shouldn’t be a problem. Another season or two like the last couple of years, and there will only be 5,000 people at Wrigley Field.
9. Jed Hoyer said that the clubhouse renovation (at Wrigley Field] is “incredibly necessary”, which raises a point I made in my pre-Convention rant: Why not do the clubhouse now? I asked Crane Kenney that question after the “Cubs Business Operations Update” session. His answer, which convinced me (gosh, I hate to admit that), was that the clubhouse is not a one-off project. To do the clubhouse, you have to rip up the concrete in the lower deck, which is big part of the renovation project. If you do all that, you are reducing your leverage in the negotiations with the City/Alderman/rooftops, etc. And, as I indicated above, you need as much help as possible in beating on the rooftops because they really do have a contract for another ten years.
10. In “Cubs Business Operations Update,” Crane Kenney spent way too much time on his presentation (40 minutes). He needed to shorten it up and get to the questions from the fans. (At times Crane seems to be a little too full of himself.)
11. The Cubs will be experimenting with digital ticketing (on smartphones, etc.). While there was no mention of it, I cannot help but wonder if part of the reason for this is to make it harder for fans to re-sell tickets. (I find that, when it comes to Cubs business management, being cynical is the best approach – and the mostly likely to be correct.)
12. In the “Ricketts Family Forum,” a fan said he hoped that the Cubs would do something for Andy Pafko and that they wouldn’t ignore him like him like they did Phil Cavarretta when he passed away. Tom Ricketts gave some gobbledygook answer about how they need to not forget people who aren’t around. I don’t think Tom Ricketts realizes how many Cubs Conventions Andy Pafko came to (I counted 19 and I’ve missed five conventions), but then I don’t think the Ricketts ever came to the Convention before they owned the team.
13. Sunday morning I went to “30 Year Anniversary: 1984 Team”. They had eight players from the ’84 team there: Bob Dernier, Tim Stoddard, Steve Trout, Jay Johnstone, Rick Sutcliffe, Gary Matthews, Scott Sanderson, and Lee Smith. Wayne Messmer (one of my favorites) was the host.
I am now going to say something that some people may consider sacrilegious. Because time is passing, and we are all getting older, I think the 1984 team is replacing the 1969 team as the favorite team for many Cubs fans. After all, a lot of fans weren’t alive in ’69. The ’84 team was the team of their childhood. (I remember the ’63 team, the first team in my lifetime to finish above .500, but I’m going to leave it at that.) The ’84 team was a team that had fun and that was fun for the fans to watch. It was also our first post-season in 39 years. The players all liked each other then, and they like each other. (You can tell by the way they joke around, and the way they all have each other’s backs.)
Gary Matthews said that he was talking to Ryne Sandberg around the batting cage this year in Philadelphia. (Ryno is the Phillies manager and Sarge broadcasts for the Phils.) Matthews asked Ryno if he still thinks of the last game in San Diego in 1984. Ryno said, every day.
According to Gary Matthews, Jim Frey’s idea was for Rick Sutcliffe to start the first game of the World Series, which is why Sutcliffe did not start game four of the NLCS. Gary asked Frey: “What if we don’t make the World Series?” Matthews said that, to this day, San Diego players say that they are glad they did not have to face Steve Trout’s sinkerball again in the series.
Bob Dernier said that the guy who has taken an undue beating is Leon Durham. In an otherwise right-handed lineup, Bull was our lefty. Also, Sutcliffe noted that Durham hit a two-run home run in the first inning of game five.
At the end of the panel, the audience gave the panel a standing ovation – and the panel gave the audience a standing ovation.
14. Finally, as I said last year, the only reason the Sheraton works for hosting the Convention is because the Cubs are bad and the crowds are down. When the Cubs get good, the Sheraton won’t be able to handle it.
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