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I
still remember that advertising jingle from the early 1980s.
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| Soon to have Captain Morgan (below) and other corporate images in abundance to bolster the building's profitability. |
The
Chicago Cubs had just been sold by the Wrigley family to the Tribune Co., and
long-time baseball man Dallas Green (who had just won a World Series as manager
of the Philadelphia Phillies) had been hired to be general manager and turn the
Cubs into a “winning” organization.
TRUE
ENOUGH, THE Cubs did win a pair of division titles in the 1980s. But the streak
of seasons without a National League championship remains unbroken – let alone
the streak of seasons without a World Series win.
You
can’t win the series if you don’t even make it!
And
that division title of 1984 also gave Chicago sports fans one of the ultimate
Chicago Cub moments – the sight of that ground ball skipping through first
baseman Leon Durham’s legs. Bill Buckner let the same thing happen to him two
seasons later in the World Series while playing for the Boston Red Sox.
But
it was probably his ex-Cub status, more than any Red Sox “curse,” that caused
it to happen.
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| The Cubs' goat |
I
COULDN’T HELP but think of all of this when I learned of current Cubs owner Tom
Ricketts (his family bought the ball club from the Tribune types just a few
years ago) talking of the deal negotiated to permit a renovation of Wrigley
Field that will allow for the addition of features meant to make the stadium a
more profitable facility.
“If
this plan is approved, we will win the World Series for our fans and our city,”
Ricketts said. “We need this project in order to bring our fans a winner. The
financial impact of this proposal will help us do that.”
That’s
some pretty bold talk coming from the operator of a ball club that was one of
the worst in the National League last season, and isn’t all that much better
this year.
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| The Cubs goat in Boston |
I
know some are convinced that one-time Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein is
destined to do some serious re-building apart from the renovations to take
place at Clark and Addison streets. But we forget that the Boston and Chicago
North Side situations are nowhere near comparable.
THE
RED SOX just had to overcome the New York Yankees for a single season to dump
their jinx. The Cubs have to overcome more than a century of ultimate failure
that caused sportswriter George Castle to write a book labeling them, “The
Million-to-One Team” (as in the odds the Cubs overcame in order to lose so
consistently across generations).
Personally,
I’m not convinced that this move will have anything to do with making the Cubs
significantly better on-field.
Tribune
Co. ran a profitable operation of a ball club by putting the emphasis on
turning the ballpark experience into something so unique that people wouldn’t
pay any attention to those pesky ballplayers in baby blue on the field bobbling
all those ground balls.
So
I have no doubt that all the proposed changes to Wrigley Field (including
35,000 square feet of advertising, construction of a new hotel across the
street and a two-story restaurant and bar in the building carrying the “Captain
Morgan Club” corporate name) will add to the financial bottom line of the
Chicago National League Ball Club.
BUT
THAT DOESN’T necessarily translate into more “W’s” in the standings. Ricketts’
comments WILL be long remembered amongst sports fans in Chicago – particularly if
the on-field victory eventually comes so many decades in the future that there’s
no way it can be tied to the upcoming renovations.
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| The ballpark in its original, pre-Wrigley Field, condition. Image provided by Chuckman Collection. |
Whose
real purpose is to ensure that the 99-year-old structure is sound enough to
remain in use for those many more decades of play!
Not
that it really matters much. In the end, Chicago baseball fans got to
experience a World Series just a few seasons ago. We have had it in our time.
As
for those Chicagoans who preferred not to get excited about the Ozzie & Co.
production of ’05, that was their choice. I hope they enjoyed their ivy on the
walls.
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