Business & Tech

Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts Talks Baseball

Ricketts addressed hundreds in Woodridge Thursday.

Moneyball, ticket prices, payroll and why Ryne Sandberg was snubbed as Chicago Cubs manager – area Chamber of Commerce members posed those questions and more to Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts Thursday.

Check out our full Q&A from the event below.

Seventeen local Chambers of Commerce, including the , hosted a multi-chamber luncheon and business expo at Bobak’s Signature Events in Woodridge.

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Ricketts went down the list of his family’s priorities for the team: 

  • Win a World Series 
  • Preserve and improve Wrigley Field
  • Become a better neighbor and a bigger part of the Chicagoland community

Ricketts highlighted some changes fans will see this season at Wrigley Field. The stadium has worked with AT&T to provide better cell phone reception for both phone calls and Internet usage.

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Fans will be able to buy tickets to hang out at a new Budweiser patio during the game, located in the right corner field. There will also be expanded food options and an LED board that will display stats throughout the game.

To win more games, Ricketts said the team focuses on bringing in the best players, training them in the right way and offering the best facilities they can. He pointed to new facilities in the Dominican Republican and a new spring training complex in Mesa, Ariz.

“(Facilities) were the one thing we could control the most,” Ricketts said. “We jumped on and invested in it.”

The team is also looking forward to four of the first 60 picks on Draft Day.

“All Cubs fans should be very confident that we will get the right players and train them in the right way,” Ricketts said.  

Theo Epstein, newly appointed president of baseball operations for the Cubs, has been spending long nights with his team working on a training manual to set Cubs standards for every aspect of the game.

Ricketts also highlighted three new additions to the team’s starting line-up: Right-fielder David DeJesus, First Baseman Brian LeHair and Third Baseman Ian Stewart. Stewart in particular will make a big difference to the Cubs defense this year, he said. 

“Some people have written off the team for 2012,” Ricketts said. “But we’ll get players working better who have had bad years, and every year there are surprises…The field will be in good shape, the team will be in good shape. It should be a great season.”

What are your thoughts about Moneyball?

I thought the book was pretty interesting. I think baseball people will tell you that the thing they left out was that the (Oakland Athletics) also had terrific pitching. That’s a running start on having a good season.

I think that Paul DePodesta in the story, who is played by Jonah Hill, got the short end of the stick. In real life, DePodesta is a big Harvard football player and a handsome man.

At the end Billy Beane turned down the Red Sox job and they gave it to Theo Epstein, who went on to get two World Series.

When you look at Wrigleyville, what do you picture it looking like in 10 years?

There are some things we’d like to do -- take some land and do some things for families, for instance. It would be nice if we had a few kind of nicer restaurants to get established there, do a little more with the land that we have.

The stuff up and down Clark Street, we don’t really control that. They're mostly ports bars. It's probably the best use of the land. I doubt they will repurpose themselves.

The other thought for outside is to make the whole neighborhood better. For now it's one day at a time. We just have thoughts. There's nothing concrete about it yet.

Why has Ryne Sandberg not been chosen to be the Cubs' manager?

I love Ryne. We have great relationship. He is one of the best baseball players of all time and certainly one of best Cubs players. 

It's ultimately how many games do you think that person can win for the team. Theo feels Dale is better for managing the club now.

He is a person of high character. It just hasn’t been the right fit yet

Why doesn’t Wrigley Field have a Jumbatron?

We haven’t decided if that makes sense for us. It's a geographic problem. Where do you put it? If we ever go that route we need to be careful not to turn it into the Jumbatrons at other stadiums. 

If you're sitting there trying to enjoy the baseball game, it’s just noise pollution. If we ever go down that route, we'll try to respect traditions at Wrigley. We're not considering it in the near future.

The seventh inning stretch was great when Harry Caray did it, but now there are a lot of people coming in who have no connection to Chicago. Has there been thought of stopping it?

I've heard that comment before. The problem is we can get 40 to 50 stretch singers. To get 81, it’s a stretch. It's just not as easy. 

I think it's good because it brings celebrities into the crowd. We get people to the park who are not huge park fans. We had the Spielbergs. Kelsely Grammar was there last year. All the people who come to town come to Wrigley

It's making sure we get the right people. It's a function of having a lot of dates to fill.

Have you been working with the city to have more night games?

It's not a focus for us. The number is limited by city. ordinance. We’re not looking at adding right now. 

The neighbors are concerned night games would be disruptive or trash the neighborhood, which hasn't happened. I don’t think there would be big drama but not looking at it right now

What are your thoughts about the Cubs in terms of payroll?

It's not really the amount of dollars you spend. It's what you get for those dollars. The first year as owners we were the third highest payroll in league, and we lost 90 games. It's about spending your money wisely. 

It's the way the income statement works. You get every dollar you can. We sell season tickets, sell suites, get all your revenue in to pay expenses and overhead and everything and every dollar left goes to your baseball guys. It's up to them to allocate. Do you spend more on amateurs or coaches or free agents? The allocation of those dollars will be in Theo’s hands.

What is the set date for completing Wrigley?

2014 would be a nice year to renovate Wrigley because it's the 100th anniversary, but that's not going to happen at this point. 

2016 is the 100th anniversary of the Cubs in Wrigley. In 1914, the Chicago Whales played at Wrigley. 

The completion date will be a function of the start date. We'll see how it goes.

Have there been thoughts for more parking?

The overall plan with different election officials includes more parking and hopefully making it a little easier in and out. I know it’s a challenge and makes it difficult for people driving in. But we have a lot of limitations. It's a neighborhood.

Building parking is very expensive, relative for what you get for it. We definitely want to improve the experience for people who drive, but it comes in context with the bigger picture.

You said it was a dream of yours to own the Cubs. How did you know when you could make that life change and accomplish that goal?

I've moved out here in 1983. I stuck around, was a trader and finished business school. I started my own bank. As that was going really well I saw see the Tribune's transactions and thought if they were to sell private equity they would sell the team to get a little pressure off balance sheet.

I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I went to my siblings and said, why not take assets that we have and build a legacy and a family business out of the Cubs. It’s been wonderful. I get to work with my siblings, give great speeches, do fun things. So far it's just a dream come true.

Do you have plans to reduce ticket prices?

We want to make sure we have enough tickets for people bringing families. We make upper deck inventory very inexpensive so it's accessible. I never want someone to say they can't afford to go to a Cubs game. 

The other angle is we've got to let that next generation of fan come in. Fan bases are built over generations. Of all people who are Cubs fans, there's a always a family connection -- my father, my family always cheered for cubs. We want to bring more kids in with more deals. 

We also go out to Chicago schools. We have a lot of very challenged kids. We try to get them into the park. We go to an elementary school and cover all costs.


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