Ricketts promises Cubs fans Series title
October 30, 2009
CHICAGO (AP)—The new owner of the Chicago Cubs knows what fans want to hearand he didn’t wait long to deliver.
Tom Ricketts was only a few moments into his first news conference as ownerof the storied franchise Friday when he said the Cubs will win the World Seriesand end an infamous drought that dates to 1908.
When, who knows? How? Well, Ricketts said, there is no “magic bullet” butconsistent talent will get the Cubs to the top.
Ricketts said there are plans to improve Wrigley Field but also preserve thefeel of the venerable ballpark on Chicago’s North Side.
The family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder of Omaha, Neb.-based TDAmeritrade, this week closed a deal to buy a 95 percent controlling interest inthe Cubs, the ballpark and 25 percent of Comcast Sportsnet, which broadcasts anumber of Cubs game. The Tribune Co. retains a 5 percent stake.
The price tag was $845 million.
“It is a dream situation, a dream job. It’s the best franchise in sports,”Ricketts said earlier this week in an interview with The Associated Press.
“And I don’t know any fans who wouldn’t want to end up in the situationwe’re in today. The good news is that even though it’s a dream job, it’s still abusiness. It’s a great team, but the challenges of managing business will besimilar to the challenges of managing other businesses.”
Tom Ricketts was a market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and afinance executive before starting investment bank Incapital LLC in 1999. He willserve as chairman of the board, one that will include brothers Pete and Todd andsister Laura, who joined him Friday.
Business principles will apply to baseball, Tom Ricketts said.
“You got to watch your expenses, you got to be careful with your payroll,you’ve got to look for ways to improve, improve your relationship with the fansand to keep growing the business,” he said. “I think those are challenges thatwe’re all ready for.”
He said his management style will be to hire qualified people, let them dotheir jobs and yet hold them accountable.
“You’re not going to see me or anyone else in this family calling thedugout during the game,” he said.
General manager Jim Hendry, criticized for offseason moves after the Cubsfailed to make the playoffs for the first time in three years, has earned thechance to lead the team into next season, Ricketts said. Hendry has a contractthrough 2012.
“Everyone was disappointed with the performance of the team in 2009.Expectations were very high and they weren’t met,” Ricketts said. “In the bigpicture, Jim has taken us to the playoffs three times in the past seven yearsafter a team that only went three times in the previous 57 years. So I think hehas a track record that affords giving him the chance to take us into nextseason.”
Ricketts said he also wants manager Lou Piniella to return for the 2010season, which would be the final year of his four-year contract.
“I’m not going to speculate about 2011,” Ricketts added. “I think we’lljust take it one year at a time.”
The Cubs had a payroll of approximately $135 million this past season andRicketts said he anticipates it increasing slightly this year. He wouldn’tcomment on the future of mercurial outfielder Milton Bradley(notes), who was suspendedby Hendry for the final two weeks of the season for conduct detrimental to theteam after he criticized the atmosphere surrounding the Cubs.
Bradley, who struggled mightily in his first season in Chicago, still hastwo years left on his contract for $21 million.
“It’s Jim’s decision, it’s his responsibility to put the best team on thefield next year and that will be his decision on what to do with all theplayers,” Ricketts said.
He also confirmed that Crane Kenney, who was the team’s chairman underTribune’s ownership, will stay on as team president and be responsible for thebusiness of the team.
Tribune announced on Opening Day in 2007 that the Cubs and Wrigley Fieldwould be sold at the end of that season. But the process was slowed by therecession and Tribune’s 2008 bankruptcy filing. At one point, a second bidderemerged late, fueling speculation that the Ricketts family would not be the newowners.
Ricketts said he never negotiated directly with Tribune CEO Sam Zell.
“Just with people from his organization and they were fine. They are hardbargainers, I suppose, but it was just a complicated negotiation,” he said.
Did Ricketts ever have second thoughts?
“I would say it was a little more difficult than we imagined and certainlythe environment that existed when the transaction began was not the environmentthat we had when the transaction closed,” he said. “It was a very volatilecapital market that also led to months of delay as we worked through the issueswe had with the financial side of the transaction.”
Ricketts called the work ahead “daunting,” particularly the work onWrigley.
One option is to build a building next to the stadium with more food choicesand chances to learn about team’s history. Improving the clubhouses is alsopossible, and he wants to immediately improve things like the restrooms andconcourse congestion.
In the long term, Ricketts said the family is exploring several options andwill try to make an improvement each year at Wrigley, which opened in 1914 andis the second oldest park in the majors. He said that plan will last about fiveor seven years.
Any changes, Ricketts said, will not tread on the atmosphere that makesWrigley Field unique. He knows that from being a fan himself, and he met hiswife at a Cubs game long ago.
“We can’t mess with that special feeling,” Ricketts said.
