Heavily Home-Tilted Spring Slate Was Another Juicy Bit of Compensation for Cubs' Tokyo Trip

[Matthew Trueblood]

The Cubs did spend a week in Japan, but the last time they played in anyone else's Cactus League digs was on March 10th.

Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-Imagn Images

There are valid reasons to feel annoyed that the Cubs had to travel halfway around the world to play games that count in the standings of their domestic league, but let no one say that the league didn't make every effort to ease the burden for them. As the team gears up for a two-game exhibition series against the team from suburban Cobb County, Ga. to wrap up their preseason schedule, it's startling to realize just how many of the team's Cactus League games came at Sloan Park in Mesa—where the team routinely sells somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 tickets per contest.

In finishing with five games at home between the return from Japan and a trip to downtown Phoenix for four regular-season games against the Diamondbacks, the Cubs will go from Mar. 10 to Mar. 27 between Stateside games anywhere but Sloan—and those who didn't like the flights to and from Tokyo can take solace in not needing to board a plane all the way from Mar. 20 to Mar. 31. They'll play 26 preseason games in Arizona, with a whopping 17 of them at home. One of their few road games (a date with the White Sox all the way across the valley, in Glendale) was even banged because of rain. 

Available tickets for Monday's contest with the team who used to play in downtown Atlanta start at $35, for a series that is somehow even lower-stakes than most spring training action. Not counting Sunday's Cactus League finale against the West Sacramento Athletics, the Cubs have already sold over 181,000 tickets this spring. They'll make almost $7 million in ticket sales alone at Sloan Park this spring. It's another way that the league has quietly cushioned the blow of having to play the defending World Series champions 10 days before the rest of the league kicks things off, and give up two home games for the season. As we've already discussed, the Commissioner's Office will also pay the team an amount commensurate with the revenue they sacrificed by not staging those games at Wrigley Field.

All of this does much more to line the pockets of ownership than it does to alleviate the frustration of fans, who still have to stare at the 0-2 next to the team's logo in the standings until at least Thursday. The team itself also benefits, though, from not having to endure even the light annoyances and inconveniences of most spring training schedules. There haven't been many bus rides, or schedules shaped by when the coaches need to depart for a game. There have been a lot of chances for the players (those who went to Japan, and those who stayed home) to get their work done, head home early, and maximize their rest.

It's basically been a full slate of home games for the team this spring, despite the major interruption of that long transoceanic trip. When you take note of their ability to draw fans for exhibition games and the money they make therefrom, it's easy to see why they would have insisted upon getting all the gates they could—but harder to figure out how ownership justifies their failure to spend money the way (for instance) that team from Georgia, or the Padres or the Astros or the Red Sox do. Properly understood, these accommodations also remove any excuses the team might make down the road. They got plenty in return for being willing to play those games. Now, they need to go win the healthy majority of the 160 important ones they have left.

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