Year #1-Ricketts Regime

[Tarver]

'06 was guys who could catch the ball.

[davell]

Did I miss something about the stat guy Ricketts hired, or is this just making fun of the RISP comment?

[Guest]

Did I miss something about the stat guy Ricketts hired, or is this just making fun of the RISP comment?

You missed something. We had a thread that critiqued his public body of work when he was hired.

[CubColtPacer]

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).

 

And Koyie Hill was signed as AAA depth that offseason (the majors had Barrett and Blanco). Plus DeRosa wasn't seen as a wizard at 2B and while Theriot probably fits the comparison best he was seen as likely to get a job before the Cardinals won the WS. I don't think that year's comparison works at all.

 

Some of the others work better although the same problem applies where several of the players that can fit into that year's "mold" were already on the team to begin with.

[UMFan83]

Yeah a lot of that was partially in jest, with things made up where I couldnt make a good connection to the World Series champ. The only ones that really apply are 2005, 2006 and sorta 2009. 2005 and 2006 for sure because I think there were quotes or speculation that Hendry was trying to emulate the Red and White Sox those years after they won it all.

[Tracer Bullet]

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

 

you could write 4 sentences about improving the offense and defense that satisfy the ticket holders without identifying specifically maybe the dumbest stats you could identify. Not all Cubs ticket holders are this stupid about baseball and I would venture to guess that most either think what Ricketts wrote was stupid or didn't read it. I can't believe you wouldn't read this in combination with his not firing Hendry and be a little concerned.

[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.

 

you could write 4 sentences about improving the offense and defense that satisfy the ticket holders without identifying specifically maybe the dumbest stats you could identify. Not all Cubs ticket holders are this stupid about baseball and I would venture to guess that most either think what Ricketts wrote was stupid or didn't read it. I can't believe you wouldn't read this in combination with his not firing Hendry and be a little concerned.

I disagree. I bet most totally agreed with everything he wrote, as would most baseball fans.

[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.

 

you could write 4 sentences about improving the offense and defense that satisfy the ticket holders without identifying specifically maybe the dumbest stats you could identify. Not all Cubs ticket holders are this stupid about baseball and I would venture to guess that most either think what Ricketts wrote was stupid or didn't read it. I can't believe you wouldn't read this in combination with his not firing Hendry and be a little concerned.

 

I'm saying that the purpose of this letter is not to outline the Cubs' offseason strategy. It's to make season ticket holders happy so they buy tickets next year after an awful season. Since most season ticket holders are fans, and most fans are morons who would value nonsense like RISP hitting and error totals, it's far from a stretch to think that Ricketts is telling people what they want to hear. He also talks up putting money into the farm system after spending in this year's draft was cut from last year, for a real example of him contradicting his words in the letter.

 

That said, I'm not saying that Ricketts doesn't believe any of it. It does lend credence to the idea that he's more Bleacher Bum than Billy Beane in how he's letting the team be run. But to extrapolate "oh no the offseason is going to be about errors and RISP" from something like this is ridiculous.

[Tracer Bullet]

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

 

you could write 4 sentences about improving the offense and defense that satisfy the ticket holders without identifying specifically maybe the dumbest stats you could identify. Not all Cubs ticket holders are this stupid about baseball and I would venture to guess that most either think what Ricketts wrote was stupid or didn't read it. I can't believe you wouldn't read this in combination with his not firing Hendry and be a little concerned.

 

I'm saying that the purpose of this letter is not to outline the Cubs' offseason strategy. It's to make season ticket holders happy so they buy tickets next year after an awful season. Since most season ticket holders are fans, and most fans are morons who would value nonsense like RISP hitting and error totals, it's far from a stretch to think that Ricketts is telling people what they want to hear. He also talks up putting money into the farm system after spending in this year's draft was cut from last year, for a real example of him contradicting his words in the letter.

 

That said, I'm not saying that Ricketts doesn't believe any of it. It does lend credence to the idea that he's more Bleacher Bum than Billy Beane in how he's letting the team be run. But to extrapolate "oh no the offseason is going to be about errors and RISP" from something like this is ridiculous.

 

it's not extrapolating that the offseason is going to be about RISP and errors. It's extrapolating that this team isn't going to embrace advanced stats like many of us had hoped and that Hendry's days are not likely numbered. He doesn't have to mean every word literally for it to be bad news.

[jersey cubs fan]

Screw you Ricketts family.

 

I just got an email from the cubs asking me to fill out a survey about Wrigley Field renovations. The first question is:

Which of the following describes you? (select all that apply)

Full season Cubs ticket holder (81 games)

 

Combo Plan or Double Play Plan Cubs season ticket holder

 

PNC Club of Chicago ticket holder

 

Annual suite holder

 

Suite daily renter

 

Member of Cubs season ticket waitlist

 

Casual Cubs fan / attend occasional Cubs games

 

None of the above

 

I'm not a season ticket holder but I'm not a casual fan either you bastards. I'm an idiot who spends an inordinate amount of money trying to attend Cubs games in Chicago and other cities every year.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Outfieldwall.htm

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Triangle.htm

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Marqueeseatsfood.htm

 

I thought the questionaire was fairly interesting with ideas for new seating sections. My favorite idea is probably the right field corner area being converted somehow. Although unless you have some sort of open air access it could feel really cramped in there.

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Outfieldwall_files/image003.jpg

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Outfieldwall_files/image001.jpg

[Guest]

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Outfieldwall.htm

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Triangle.htm

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Marqueeseatsfood.htm

 

I thought the questionaire was fairly interesting with ideas for new seating sections. My favorite idea is probably the right field corner area being converted somehow. Although unless you have some sort of open air access it could feel really cramped in there.

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Outfieldwall_files/image003.jpg

 

http://www.customintercept.com/surveys/web/Outfieldwall_files/image001.jpg

It looks like they think many people don't go to the game to watch the game? The clubs and bars are nice for before and after the game, but during the game I want a seat.

 

The corner section idea looks terrible. Most of the people won't even be able to see the batter.

 

Edit: It would be better to do an under the bleachers section, but I think they have batting cages and crap under the bleachers.

[Guest]

That RF corner idea looks really cool. Not that I'd actually pay whatever exorbitant sum it would take to sit there, but neat nonetheless.

[treebird]

they should just put a bar under the field. they can put a tv in there or something in case people want to see the score sometimes.

[jersey cubs fan]

That RF corner idea looks really cool. Not that I'd actually pay whatever exorbitant sum it would take to sit there, but neat nonetheless.

 

It was presented as a place where you could have a party of 100 or so people, or multiple groups of 20-40, and they listed costs at $200, $150 and $100/person.

[jersey cubs fan]

What I gather is they are looking at keeping most current wrigley field seating the same but adding the types of clubs where the bigwigs spend money. I'm fine with that if they keep the general seating areas from bullpen to bullpen as is and don't create the moat effect you get in Yankee Stadium.

[Sammy Sofa]

Seems smart to me: capitalize on the people who DO drop a lot of money just to go drink and party at Wrigley.

[jersey cubs fan]

Seems smart to me: capitalize on the people who DO drop a lot of money just to go drink and party at Wrigley.

 

But there are two different versions of that person. The real money is in exploiting those people who really enjoy being in a place nobody else can get in.

[Sammy Sofa]

Seems smart to me: capitalize on the people who DO drop a lot of money just to go drink and party at Wrigley.

 

But there are two different versions of that person. The real money is in exploiting those people who really enjoy being in a place nobody else can get in.

 

Yes, I know.

[daske17]

Those Marquee seats would suck if you're sitting in the back few rows under the canopy.

[jersey cubs fan]

Those Marquee seats would suck if you're sitting in the back few rows under the canopy.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how that would work. I still think they should chop off the upper deck and start over with that somehow.