Year #1-Ricketts Regime

[NewUserName]

Ive been a Cubs fan since the '84 playoffs when my grandmother got me watching them. Between then and 2003, I say through some complete [expletive] teams. Aside from '89 and to a lesser extent, '98, mediocre would describe the better seasons. However, I was a big fan, so I sat through it none the less as did most fans. However, since '03 and '07-'08, Cubs fans have developed something called expectations. Loveable losers wont do any more. Will I give up on them? Absolutely not. However, a lot of fans very well might. While the 100 year drought is a pretty cool sports story, 101, 102, 105, 110 years if just pathetic. Sure, we can all see who needs the bandwagon fans, but the answer is the Cubs as a business and an organization. When Wrigley Field constantly sells out, a lot of it is the "uneducated fans" and "bandwagon fans", and there money is just as good as the more knowledgeable and dedicted fans. If the baseball idiots, as Boers and Bernstein calls them stop going to games, thats a lot of revenue lost, and in order to put money into the team, you need to fill those seats, no matter if they're a life long fan or just in it for the over priced beer or they think that Blake DeWitts a hottie.

 

A lot of people say that no matter how the Cubs or White Sox do, The Cubs will always have the Chicago baseball market cornered, at least the North Side and suburbs but I remember 2005 when I saw an abundance of Konerko and Buerhle jerseys walking around Old Orchard and Northbrook Court which promptly dissapeared in 2007 when the Cubs got good again.

 

the problem with this is, that it is appeasing the "uneducated fans" that causes the Cubs to do things like sign Soriano to his albatross of a deal. Which has been a concern of mine for awhile...sometimes to be great you have to give up on good. The Cubs make boat loads of money when they are good, so they are less reluctant to make the moves that could make them great.

[CubColtPacer]

I know you shouldn't read much into these things but:

 

Going forward, we recognize the need to recommit to fundamentals. We

need to stabilize our defense and cut down on errors. We need to

improve our offense and become more efficient in both moving runners and

hitting with players in scoring position. It is too early to determine

whether this will be addressed with internal moves, trades or through

free agent acquisitions. But we know we must improve in these areas.

 

Given that we had the highest payroll in the NL in 2010, I get a lot of

questions about our payroll commitment for 2011. As I said earlier, we

are still working on our 2011 baseball plan, so it is hard to be too

specific at this time. What I can tell you is that our overall baseball

budget (scouting, player development and payroll) will be about the same

in 2011 as it was in 2010. Continued long term success will come

through superior scouting and player development, and we are committed

to improving that facet of the organization. As a result, this likely

means a shift of some of our resources from the major league payroll

toward scouting and player development, but we are still very much in

the evaluation phase.

 

Is a depressing 2 paragraph run.

 

That first paragraph is a gun shot to the nuts. I'm all for improving defense, but focusing on errors? Improving offense? Sure!! Move runners over and hitting with RISP. Did Hendry hack into Ricketts' email account?

 

That one paragraph pretty much ruined the off-season for me.

 

IMO it's meaningless. We have no idea if Ricketts believes this or not. If Ricketts thought that errors and hitting with RISP were important he would write that paragraph. If he thought that those things were meaningless but that the offense and defense needed to be improved he would still write that same paragraph because that's what most of his season ticket holders want to hear. So that paragraph was basically guaranteed to be written the same way regardless of what he actually believes.

[jersey cubs fan]

 

IMO it's meaningless. We have no idea if Ricketts believes this or not. If Ricketts thought that errors and hitting with RISP were important he would write that paragraph. If he thought that those things were meaningless but that the offense and defense needed to be improved he would still write that same paragraph because that's what most of his season ticket holders want to hear. So that paragraph was basically guaranteed to be written the same way regardless of what he actually believes.

 

I'm not sure where you are coming up with this nonsensical theory. Why would he still write that paragraph if he didn't believe that crap? Just because people want to hear it? No, that's not how it's written. It's written like a fan with a rudimentary understanding of the game of baseball whose faith in good 'ole baseball people is far too high. Very disappointing words.

[UMFan83]

Ive been a Cubs fan since the '84 playoffs when my grandmother got me watching them. Between then and 2003, I say through some complete [expletive] teams. Aside from '89 and to a lesser extent, '98, mediocre would describe the better seasons. However, I was a big fan, so I sat through it none the less as did most fans. However, since '03 and '07-'08, Cubs fans have developed something called expectations. Loveable losers wont do any more. Will I give up on them? Absolutely not. However, a lot of fans very well might. While the 100 year drought is a pretty cool sports story, 101, 102, 105, 110 years if just pathetic. Sure, we can all see who needs the bandwagon fans, but the answer is the Cubs as a business and an organization. When Wrigley Field constantly sells out, a lot of it is the "uneducated fans" and "bandwagon fans", and there money is just as good as the more knowledgeable and dedicted fans. If the baseball idiots, as Boers and Bernstein calls them stop going to games, thats a lot of revenue lost, and in order to put money into the team, you need to fill those seats, no matter if they're a life long fan or just in it for the over priced beer or they think that Blake DeWitts a hottie.

 

A lot of people say that no matter how the Cubs or White Sox do, The Cubs will always have the Chicago baseball market cornered, at least the North Side and suburbs but I remember 2005 when I saw an abundance of Konerko and Buerhle jerseys walking around Old Orchard and Northbrook Court which promptly dissapeared in 2007 when the Cubs got good again.

 

Great post!!!!

 

If I hear David Kaplan say one more time : "The next Cub manager should understand the Cubs history." it makes me want to drive a stake thru his heart. What history? 102 years of losing history? Years of being the doormat? This franchise wallows in the 1969 history. Ernie, Fergie, Santo, Billy, Hundley..blah..blah. That was 41 years ago. I want a GM, manager, ownership and players who could care less about that and want to win today..each game and not take a nap during May-September.

 

I do despise the glorification of the 1969 Cubs. Granted, they were a great team, but they choked. Same goes for the '84, '03, and '08 teams. Sure, I enjoyed every moment of the 2008 season, at least until October, but then again, Im sure the folks on the Titanic were having a grand old time up until the end of their ride, and in the end, thats what they(the survivors anyway) remembered it for.

 

It does disturb me that the 69 Cubs are revered here in Chicago, despite having one of the biggest collapses in baseball history. It's mostly because 69 (and 70) were the closest shots the Cubs had of playing postseason basebal between 1946 and 1983. Sad but true. Anyways, I can't imagine another franchise that would have a team similar to the 69 Cubs be revered so much. I doubt the Phillies fans look back on the 64 Phils very fondly. But maybe I'm wrong.

[BeerHere]

The draft probably bothers me more than the 2010 results. There is only so much that a new owner could do in the first year with the big league club so I'll give him some leeway there. After all the talk about building from within, investing in the farm, better international scouting etc.....to follow all that up with a money saving first pick in the draft was disappointing. I believe that after all the picks were settle that the Cubs spent about average relative to the rest of the league. For a large market team with a middle of the pack system (at the time), an aging big league roster, after making comments that the fans wanted to hear, to follow that up with a cheapish draft, was and continues to be, very disappointing to me. Now I hear that the payroll will be reduced for 2011. There were a LOT of no-shows for the final 20 home games. Those tickets were already sold and concession revenue was certainly below expectations. I encourage people to not go to send a message to the Cubs. Ricketts immediate response was to lower the payroll. That bothers me too.

 

Better scouting, drafting and player development are the keys. Can't do that without spending some cash and I now fear that this owner may be more concerned about making money than putting a good product on the field. It may be the early years of the Tribune all over again.

[Guest]

No one has ever ever ever written or said something they didn't believe whole-heartedly in the name of appeasing their constituency. Ever.

[jersey cubs fan]

No one has ever ever ever written or said something they didn't believe whole-heartedly in the name of appeasing their constituency. Ever.

 

And your point is? An owner appeasing his fans is going to talk about making the team better, getting better players, investing in the team, etc. Writing nonsense about batting with RISP (something his untouchable GM has repeatedly tried to focus on) after hiring a strange stat dude who is all about needless situational statistics is a strong indication he is directing the organization to be focused on things they should not be focused on.

[Guest]

No one has ever ever ever written or said something they didn't believe whole-heartedly in the name of appeasing their constituency. Ever.

 

And your point is? An owner appeasing his fans is going to talk about making the team better, getting better players, investing in the team, etc. Writing nonsense about batting with RISP (something his untouchable GM has repeatedly tried to focus on) after hiring a strange stat dude who is all about needless situational statistics is a strong indication he is directing the organization to be focused on things they should not be focused on.

 

My point is that you're picking apart a glorified form letter in order to justify your preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run. I mean seriously, you think lower error totals and better RISP numbers are going to be the focus of the offseason?

[illiniguy]

No one has ever ever ever written or said something they didn't believe whole-heartedly in the name of appeasing their constituency. Ever.

 

And your point is? An owner appeasing his fans is going to talk about making the team better, getting better players, investing in the team, etc. Writing nonsense about batting with RISP (something his untouchable GM has repeatedly tried to focus on) after hiring a strange stat dude who is all about needless situational statistics is a strong indication he is directing the organization to be focused on things they should not be focused on.

 

My point is that you're picking apart a glorified form letter in order to justify your preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run. I mean seriously, you think lower error totals and better RISP numbers are going to be the focus of the offseason?

One offseason we had to get more left handed. Another we had to get guys who catch the ball. If Hendry is making themoves, yeah I think we could base it on something as foolish as the things you mentioned.

Edited October 11, 2010 by illiniguy

[Guest]

my favorite is still the good character guys.

[bukie]

my favorite is still the good character guys.

Was that 2004 or 2005?

[soapy]

No one has ever ever ever written or said something they didn't believe whole-heartedly in the name of appeasing their constituency. Ever.

 

And your point is? An owner appeasing his fans is going to talk about making the team better, getting better players, investing in the team, etc. Writing nonsense about batting with RISP (something his untouchable GM has repeatedly tried to focus on) after hiring a strange stat dude who is all about needless situational statistics is a strong indication he is directing the organization to be focused on things they should not be focused on.

 

My point is that you're picking apart a glorified form letter in order to justify your preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run. I mean seriously, you think lower error totals and better RISP numbers are going to be the focus of the offseason?

 

While it is certainly possible that the letter is intended to simply say things that "appease the constituency", it's pretty specific wording that leads me to believe there is a good chance he believes it. He could be far more vague about improving on fundementals and being more efficient offensively without singling out things like focusing on errors, moving runners, and hitting w/RISP.

 

To the bolded, you think there's no way that happens? I can see it, particularly the hitting with RISP.

[KingCubsFan]

No one has ever ever ever written or said something they didn't believe whole-heartedly in the name of appeasing their constituency. Ever.

 

And your point is? An owner appeasing his fans is going to talk about making the team better, getting better players, investing in the team, etc. Writing nonsense about batting with RISP (something his untouchable GM has repeatedly tried to focus on) after hiring a strange stat dude who is all about needless situational statistics is a strong indication he is directing the organization to be focused on things they should not be focused on.

 

My point is that you're picking apart a glorified form letter in order to justify your preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run. I mean seriously, you think lower error totals and better RISP numbers are going to be the focus of the offseason?

 

While it is certainly possible that the letter is intended to simply say things that "appease the constituency", it's pretty specific wording that leads me to believe there is a good chance he believes it. He could be far more vague about improving on fundementals and being more efficient offensively without singling out things like focusing on errors, moving runners, and hitting w/RISP.

 

To the bolded, you think there's no way that happens? I can see it, particularly the hitting with RISP.

My guess is that those comments are directly related to comments he heard from season ticket holders at the meetings he mentioned a few paragraphs beforehand. Regardless, even if he does believe it, our offseason will be shaped by Hendry, not Ricketts.

[Guest]

my favorite is still the good character guys.

Was that 2004 or 2005?

2005 - post end of year meltdown, boombox, walkout, corked bat, fighting with broadcast team, etc.

[SouthSideRyan]

Corked bat was '03

[jersey cubs fan]

My guess is that those comments are directly related to comments he heard from season ticket holders at the meetings he mentioned a few paragraphs beforehand. Regardless, even if he does believe it, our offseason will be shaped by Hendry, not Ricketts.

 

And Hendry sure as hell tends to focus on both bad situational stats and overly specific team needs. Plus, Ricketts is keeping him.

[Guest]

Corked bat was '03

Sorry - you're correct. The gist still stands, though.

[jersey cubs fan]

My point is that you're picking apart a glorified form letter in order to justify your preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run. I mean seriously, you think lower error totals and better RISP numbers are going to be the focus of the offseason?

 

Preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run? Are you kidding me? There's no preconceived notion. It's just a simple fact.

 

I was more than willing to give Ricketts all the benefit of the doubt for year one especially since I have a roundabout personal connection and have been offered free tickets. But one year in and he's all on board the Hendry train, hiring what appears to be the wrong type of stats guy and spouting off about nonsense for offseason goals. Why wouldn't I be annoyed?

 

I think your take on this is very strange.

[UMFan83]

my favorite is still the good character guys.

Was that 2004 or 2005?

2005 - post end of year meltdown, boombox, walkout, corked bat, fighting with broadcast team, etc.

 

2005 we looked for good character guys because of how 2004 ended and because the "idiot" Red Sox won the world series taking body shots off each other.

 

2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball, Hendry somehow decided that he needed to win with speed and small ball as well. So Pierre, Fast Freddie Bynum, Angel Pagan, Ronny Cedeno, Jerry Hairston, Tony Womack, and Neifi Perez all had roles on the team.

 

2007 after the Cardinals won the world series with gritty fielders like David Eckstein, Yadi Molina, Aaron Miles, Taguchi and Rolen, Hendry made the statement that he decided he "likes guys that can catch the ball". Thus guys like Jock Jones, Caesar Izturis, Koyie Hill, Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa found roles on the team.

 

At some point here, Lou bitched out Hendry for being a reactionary bitch and the theme seemed to die down a bit as Lou was allowed to have his own input in the process. However, after the Red Sox won the WS in 2007 with multiple Japanese players playing a role, he went out and got Fukudome, and after the 2008 Phillies won the World Series employing several key lefty hitters, Hendry did start a mini-obsession with acquiring lefty and switch hitting bats in order to have a balanced lineup. Unfortunately, in order to get more balanced, we had to downgrade in several positions.

[jersey cubs fan]

2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball,

 

Or it was the 200 HR and 4 starting pitchers with 200+ innings and sub 4 ERA.

 

 

and after the 2008 Phillies won the World Series employing several key lefty hitters, Hendry did start a mini-obsession with acquiring lefty and switch hitting bats in order to have a balanced lineup. Unfortunately, in order to get more balanced, we had to downgrade in several positions.

 

I believe Hendry has had multiple "need to get lefty" periods of time.

[illiniguy]

my favorite is still the good character guys.

Was that 2004 or 2005?

2005 - post end of year meltdown, boombox, walkout, corked bat, fighting with broadcast team, etc.

 

2005 we looked for good character guys because of how 2004 ended and because the "idiot" Red Sox won the world series taking body shots off each other.

 

2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball, Hendry somehow decided that he needed to win with speed and small ball as well. So Pierre, Fast Freddie Bynum, Angel Pagan, Ronny Cedeno, Jerry Hairston, Tony Womack, and Neifi Perez all had roles on the team.

 

2007 after the Cardinals won the world series with gritty fielders like David Eckstein, Yadi Molina, Aaron Miles, Taguchi and Rolen, Hendry made the statement that he decided he "likes guys that can catch the ball". Thus guys like Jock Jones, Caesar Izturis, Koyie Hill, Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa found roles on the team.

 

At some point here, Lou bitched out Hendry for being a reactionary bitch and the theme seemed to die down a bit as Lou was allowed to have his own input in the process. However, after the Red Sox won the WS in 2007 with multiple Japanese players playing a role, he went out and got Fukudome, and after the 2008 Phillies won the World Series employing several key lefty hitters, Hendry did start a mini-obsession with acquiring lefty and switch hitting bats in order to have a balanced lineup. Unfortunately, in order to get more balanced, we had to downgrade in several positions.

After seeing that, I can see how Ricketts would feel the need to keep Hendry around.

[Outshined_One]

2007 after the Cardinals won the world series with gritty fielders like David Eckstein, Yadi Molina, Aaron Miles, Taguchi and Rolen, Hendry made the statement that he decided he "likes guys that can catch the ball". Thus guys like Jock Jones, Caesar Izturis, Koyie Hill, Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa found roles on the team.

 

That was the Soriano offseason, in fairness. Plus, Jacque Jones signed after the 2005 season and Izturis was acquired in the Maddux deal at the 2006 deadline (ugh ugh ugh ugh).

[SouthSideRyan]

2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball,

 

Or it was the 200 HR and 4 starting pitchers with 200+ innings and sub 4 ERA.

 

 

 

Well the Red Sox didn't actually win because Kevin Millar Cowboy upped. Perception is more important when discussing reactionary offseason plans

[jersey cubs fan]

2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball,

 

Or it was the 200 HR and 4 starting pitchers with 200+ innings and sub 4 ERA.

 

 

 

Well the Red Sox didn't actually win because Kevin Millar Cowboy upped. Perception is more important when discussing reactionary offseason plans

 

No I understand I'm just pointing out how it's annoying that the perception has always been about Ozzie ball but what it was really about was a HR hitting team with great pitching.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball,

 

Or it was the 200 HR and 4 starting pitchers with 200+ innings and sub 4 ERA.

 

 

 

Well the Red Sox didn't actually win because Kevin Millar Cowboy upped.

You can't prove that.