PEOPLE, PLEASE
No telling yet how many or when, but Cubs expect fans in the stands
“WE PROBABLY OUGHT TO PLAN FOR MASKS ON FOR THE ENTIRE GAME WHEN YOU COME INTO THE STADIUM. THIS IS ABOUT: HOW CAN WE SAFELY BRING FANS BACK INTO THE BALLPARK?”
CRANE KENNEY (left), Cubs president of business operations, addressing how this season might look
There will be baseball at Wrigley Field soon. On the field, plans are for a much-delayed Opening Day on July 23 or 24. Before then, on July 1, the Cubs will begin a second preseason camp at their home ballpark.
But what about in the stands? Will it look like baseball there, too?
To an extent, yes, Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney indicated Thursday in an appearance on WSCR-670’s “Dan Bernstein Show.”
How does 8,000 fans sound?
Maybe not when the season gets started, but eventually. That’s the hope as the Cubs, like all of baseball, eye a truncated 2020 campaign that will be — from start to finish — fraught with concerns amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The state previously announced that outdoor sporting events could resume with a maximum of 20% capacity. That would mean no more than about 8,300 fans for a Cubs game at Wrigley, which has a capacity of 41,649. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed doubt that the city will clear the Cubs or White Sox to have such crowds out of the chute, but that clearance could come eventually.
Bottom line: All the talk of vacant field boxes, desolate grandstands and barren bleachers that has been a part of gloomy baseball forecasts over the last few months may have been overstated and premature.
“There was always a path to bring fans back into Wrigley — obviously a smaller group than would normally attend games,” Kenney said. “We do see that happening this year.”
Lightfoot seemed somewhat taken aback by Kenney’s vision, but she didn’t slam the door on it.
“That’s a discussion that we have not had with any of the major sports teams in that level of specificity,” she said. “I know that Crane Kenney went on [radio] . . . and made some statements, but we have yet to hear from the Cubs specifically about ‘What is your plan for safety?’ ”
Lightfoot said she’s “happy and anxious to engage in that conversation.”
“There’s no bigger sports fan than me — I want to be able to enjoy live sports in the stands myself,” said Lightfoot, a Sox and Bears season ticket-holder. “But we’ve got to do it at a time when we know that’s appropriate under the public health guidance. And we’re not there yet.”
Kenney said the Cubs are working with medical professionals to keep everyone safe, and working with the city to allow fans to attend games.
“We probably ought to plan for masks on for the entire game when you come into the stadium,” he said. “This is about: How can we safely bring fans back into the ballpark?”
And what about the Wrigley rooftops? They should be open — with limited fans and social distancing — for Game 1.
All of this is encouraging, not only to fans but clearly to the Ricketts family, which owns the team and controls a majority of the rooftops. But with each paying customer who forks over dough, it’ll be a bit harder for Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts to keep painting a dire picture of the team’s finances without ticket revenue for a season.
On the Marquee
Don’t expect to see cardboard cutouts or “virtual fans” or any such nonsense filling the empty seats on Marquee Sports Network’s telecasts of Cubs home games. The team’s network probably will manufacture some crowd noise, though. Not to do so would be, according to Kenney, “jarring.”
Kenney also said he expects Marquee to reach a carriage agreement with Comcast, the area’s largest cable TV provider, before the start of the season. Terms sheets are being exchanged.
“The pace has picked up,” Kenney said. “We’re optimistic we’ll get something done soon.”
Let’s sign three
The Cubs announced the signings of three pitchers from the 2020 draft: left-handed reliever Burl Carraway (second round), lefthander Luke Little (fourth) and right-hander Koen Moreno (fifth).
Many believe Carraway, 21, has the shortest path to the majors of all the Cubs’ picks. That includes first-rounder Ed Howard, the Mount Carmel shortstop who signed Monday.