Big Z wants new ballpark

[NCCubFan]

http://www.myembarq.com/news/read.php?id=16883973&ps=972&cat=&cps=0&lang=en

[manbearcub]

I think he is on record as saying this before, isnt he?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

It doesn't surprise me that the players would want a new park. Compared to other parks, the players clubhouse at Wrigley is extremely cramped and lacks the amenities they can get in other parks.

[OleMissCub]

I want alot of things that i'm not going to get, like a 16/m a year job.

[RedFlash]

I know the new owners are prolly going to eventually looked into getting a new stadium, but isn't the biggest problem, location?

[BCVM22]

By the start of the 2010 season, the Cubs will be one of only eight teams (Cubs, Red Sox, Jays, Rays, A's, Dodgers, Marlins, Royals) to not play in a "modern" venue (a baseball-only venue built or renovated extensively after 1990) and of those eight, the Marlins will have a new ballpark within five years, Kauffmann just finished its renovations (though to the best of my knowledge, they don't include upgrades to the clubhouse facilities), Fenway is upgraded a little bit every offseason and the Rogers Centre is still a relatively modern facility, though I obviously can't speak as to the quality of the clubhouse facilities of the last three.

 

The punchline to this is that I think that it's slowly getting to the point where, if Chicago weren't the world-class city that it is, if Wrigley weren't the cathedral/gold mine that it is (beautiful old ballpark in a cozy urban neighborhood surrounded by bars, apartments and restaurants that doubles as a tourist attraction when the Cubs aren't playing or aren't fielding a competitive team) and if the Cubs weren't as legitimately competitive as they've been (or made an effort to be) in the last decade or so, the team might eventually start losing out on potential free agents just on the basis of the difference between the facilities the Cubs can offer as compared to what the Mets, the Yankees, the Phillies or any other similarly-payrolled team with a new facility could offer.

 

This may just be me, but I thought it was worth bringing up anyway.

[The Logan]

He said the same thing after playing in Milwaukee vs. Houston.

 

I think there's a broad line between "I want a new stadium" and "I want a new clubhouse" that Z has completely mixed up. One of which can be fixed relatively cheaply in comparison, while the other cannot. One is something fans won't care too much about, the other is. Z needs to reword his statements as I think it's fairly obvious he just wants a new clubhouse. But of course there will be dolts who will be up in arms about this because they don't read between the lines

[cubswin2009]

I'd like a new stadium too. People are going to disagree with me on this but I think they need to build one out in the suburbs and make sort of a replica of Wrigley Field without the poles and much bigger. I love Wrigley but let's face it, it's a worn down stadium and a jumbotron (keep the replica scoreboard though) and a parking lot. Plus, I like the Cubs for the Cubs not for Wrigley Field. This will never be allowed though.

[Andy]

Carlos being Carlos

[Soul]

Who does Z want to pay for it? I'm guessing.....anyone but him. ;)

[Derwood]

They need to play two summers off site (a la the Bears when they renovated Soldier Field) to more or less gut Wrigley down to the foundation and rebuild it from the clubhouses up. Keep the scoreboard and the outer "shell" of the ballpark, but redo everything on the inside. You could make it look and feel almost exactly the same but with modern amenities.

 

The problem is where do they play? Reinsdorf would probably either refuse to share Comiskey or charge them a ridiculous amount to play there, and there is no other ML sized facility anywhere close by (unless they could figure out how to configure Soldier Field to a usable ballpark).

[Old Style]

If Z wants to play in a new stadium, then he should ask to be traded.

[Sammys Boombox]

I'd like a new stadium too. People are going to disagree with me on this but I think they need to build one out in the suburbs and make sort of a replica of Wrigley Field without the poles and much bigger. I love Wrigley but let's face it, it's a worn down stadium and a jumbotron (keep the replica scoreboard though) and a parking lot. Plus, I like the Cubs for the Cubs not for Wrigley Field. This will never be allowed though.

 

I have very mixed opinions on getting a new stadium. If it is done similar to what the Yankees did, then I would probably be fine with it. However, I DO NOT want a jumbotron. It won't be long before they're having hat dances and all kinds of stupid stuff that has nothing to do with the game, including advertisements and such. I would be fine with one that was solely baseball related (lineups, replays, etc.), but that won't happen. The jumbotron will be used in those ways, and it's not worth the baseball info we would get from them.

[Cynosure]

Big Z needs to think about things before he says them.

[Sammy Sofa]

The man's right. Wrigley is a dump. It needs to be gutted and totally reworked at the very least.

[David]

The man's right. Wrigley is a dump. It needs to be gutted and totally reworked at the very least.

 

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[David]

That said, I wouldn't be in favor of a new park in the suburbs or something.

 

 

A lakefront park would be the coolest thing ever IMO but it wouldn't work due to weather and crap.

 

We have this conversation every year.

[Sammy Sofa]

That said, I wouldn't be in favor of a new park in the suburbs or something.

 

 

A lakefront park would be the coolest thing ever IMO but it wouldn't work due to weather and crap.

 

We have this conversation every year.

 

I wish that they could have gotten the land where Cabrini was. Then the stadium would have had the Skyline righ along the outfield.

[rocket]

Wrigley is fine the way it is.

 

Though it doesn't really affect me if they gut it, I usually only catch the Cubs on the road in Cincinnati anyways.

[UMFan83]

Zambrano has said a lot of strange things this spring, starting with his being a White Sox fan comment to this now.

 

Would it be really hard to gut the clubhouse and build a bigger more modern one? I am not sure how it would affect the foundation of the actual ballpark to start digging large underground holes under the park. I assume if it was easy, it would have been done already.

[BeerHere]

The man's right. Wrigley is a dump. It needs to be gutted and totally reworked at the very least.

It's not a popular opinion here, but I completely agree. I get slammed every time I say it here, but history or not, Wrigley is trashed. I go to other parks whenever I can and I'm ashamed of the park we have to put up with. I love the Cubbies but not Wrigley.

 

And before anyone asks, I was a season ticket holder for 14 years up to the 2007 season when my daughter was born. I still go to 10-12 games per season but I sit in the bleachers. I grew up in Des Plaines and have been going to Wrigley since I was 8 (I'm 37). The fans deserve a better park.

[fivepercent]

i dont think its a dump now, but i wouldnt be against a rennovation as long as the upper deck stays close to the field.

[SpongeWorthy]

Is there really any momentum to have the Cubs play in another area of Chicago? I figure that'd be almost as big an impediment as tearing down Wrigley itself.

[Butterscup1679666578]

he can have a new park when he's playing for the sox in a few years.

[chuckywang]

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I just want one World Series championship with the Cubs playing at Wrigley. I don't want to see highlight reels or pictures of a Cubs championship season and not be able to see the Cubs playing at Wrigley Field. Give me that, and I couldn't care less if the Cubs built another stadium.