‘It’s a special experience’
With full capacity at Wrigley, Ricketts takes it all in with fans
With Wrigley Field at full capacity, fans return to the stands — and Chairman Tom Ricketts takes it all in with them.
The entire city had been waiting for Chicago to reopen Friday, and like anyone else, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts was geeked from the moment he awoke.
Wrigley Field would be at 100% capacity for the first time since the final home game of 2019, and a sense of normalcy finally returned to the corner of Clark and Addison Streets.
“I get emotional all day,” Ricketts said in the Wrigley Field press box dining room as Joc Pederson homered in the fourth inning of an 8-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. “Just getting to see the whole neighborhood come back to the life, getting to see the ballpark legitimately full, it’s really great.
“I think for everyone that comes here, it’s a special experience.”
The Cubs made the most of the reopen, coming back in thrilling fashion with 35,112 fans on hand on a perfect afternoon.
There was not a cloud in the sky or a care in the world as Chicago celebrated baseball and better days ahead.
As uber-fan Bill Murray made his way up to the Marquee Sports booth to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch, I invited him into the press box during the bottom of the sixth inning. Dancing and antsy during Anthony Rizzo’s 14-pitch at-bat, Murray let out a shriek when Rizzo’s game-tying home run sent the ballpark up for grabs.
The “no cheering in the press box” edict had been violated, but it was so loud no one even noticed.
“When was the last time you heard that noise?” Murray said. It had been a while.
Rizzo compared the atmosphere to “8-8-88,” the first scheduled night game at Wrig
ley Field, which happened before he was even born. It was one of those days the Cubs couldn’t have scripted any better in a season that so far has defied logic.
The Cubs couldn’t buy a hit in the first two weeks of the season but have played like one of the best teams of the National League since. And now that they’re contenders in spite of trading ace Yu Darvish in the offseason, the narrative has changed from probable trade-deadline sellers to potential buyers. With a summer of packed houses on tap, the Cubs have no excuses not to do whatever is necessary to win in 2021.
“Obviously getting fans in the ballpark sooner will give us more flexibility,” Ricketts said. “We really couldn’t predict what was going to happen this summer. We were hoping to have a full ballpark at this time, but you never could tell. Not only is it great for the fans … but yeah, it will give us more financial flexibility this summer.”
The Cubs also have the financial resources to re-sign Rizzo, Javier Báez and Kris Bryant to extensions, though President Jed Hoyer suggested Friday that signing all three might be wishful thinking. Ricketts said the decision is “in Jed’s court,” adding he will not get involved.
“One hundred percent leave it up to Jed,” he said. “I feel like I have really good personal relationships with all three of those guys, and they’ve meant so much to this organization and the family and all that. But you’ve got to leave it up to Jed.
“It’s his decision on how he’s going to build this team going forward, and I’ve never really interjected myself in those kinds of conversations. … Right now we’re just winning baseball games and want to keep going, and we’ll worry about that stuff at the end of the season.”
With the collective bargaining agreement expiring after the season and no certainty there won’t be a lockout in 2022, MLB’s future is up in the air. Will there be a DH in the National League? Will the luxury tax change? Ricketts said he wasn’t sure how the CBA would affect the Cubs payroll.
“But hopefully the CBA will get resolved, as it has been in the past,” he said. “It’ s definitely a variable, but it’s hard to handicap what it all means. Any team going into next year is going to be careful on expenses, just because you may end up with a situation where you have a new CBA, but for now we’re just assuming that it will work itself out and we’ll be back in the game next year.”
Does Ricketts believe a work stoppage will be avoided?
“I’m always optimistic,” he said. “I’m not on the negotiating committee for the league and I don’t speak for anyone else. All I know is both sides have an incentive to do what’s right for the game . ... Hopefully they’ll get together in time so there is no stoppage.”
Ricketts declined to say whether he was upset with his team for not reaching the 85% threshold of fully vaccinated tier-one personnel to relax COVID-19 protocols, deferring to Hoyer and Ross’s handling of the situation.
“Rossie is the best and he’ll handle it the right way,” he said.
Asked why the Cubs will play in City Connect uniforms with “Wrigleyville” on the front of the jerseys instead of “Lakeview,” Ricketts said: “Lakeview is the neighborhood. Wrigleyville is kind of the aura. … Anyone who is sitting in any bar in the world watching the Cubs is in Wrigleyville.”
Whatever you call it, the place was rocking Friday, and the sounds of a packed ballpark were music to everyone’s ears. Hoyer recalled the empty stands of 2020 felt “almost normal” midway into the shortened season.
“Theo (Epstein) said to me, ‘We can’t normalize this, this is bizarre,’ “Hoyer said. “Having the small crowd early in this season, it never really felt the same. It’s pretty awesome to be here now.
“This is the beauty of the place. It’ll be really loud all weekend, as it should be, and great weather. Everyone I’ve talked to in the city is so excited. This (Cubs-Cardinals series) is sort of symbolic of the opening of the city of Chicago.”
What we learned during the pandemic is that Cubs players and executives are replaceable. Wrigley Field and the neighborhood continue to be the North Star to Cubs fans of every generation.
“It’s different than any other ballpark, certainly any other neighborhood,” Ricketts said. “It means so much to so many people. To not have it for almost two years, that was rough. All the bars are open. It’s such a big part of everyone’s life.”
It was good to be home.