Epstein rocks Cubs Convention

Hope springs eternal during spring training, but it runs rampant at the Cubs Convention.

Despite their team coming off a dismal 71-91 season, fans were over the top in their enthusiasm over the weekend at the 27th annual convention.

Most, if not all, of the credit goes to new team president Theo Epstein, who heard his name chanted more than once at the Hilton.

“Like I said in my opening statement, 2011 wasn’t what we wanted it to be on the field, but off the field we’ve added some people that I think will get the organization going in the right direction, and I think we have a bright future,” said team chairman Tom Ricketts, who hired Epstein this past fall.

“I think that’s what people are feeling here. That’s what the excitement is about.”

If I were to rate the rock stars, using guitars for the weekend, it would go like this:

ŸEpstein: 4 guitars (and he played a charity gig in Boston on Saturday night).

ŸKerry Wood: 3½ guitars. His appearance and the announcement of his re-signing Friday night brought the house down during the opening ceremonies.

ŸRicketts: 3 guitars. As I’ve pointed out in the past, these last three conventions mark the first time Cubs fans ever have gotten to address the owners of the team in this kind of setting.

There was no “Mr. Tribune” to address during Tribune Co. ownership, and there was no Cubs Convention during the Wrigley days. And it would be hard to imagine P.K. Wrigley ever sitting before the fans like this.

The Ricketts family took all questions Saturday (and one resume from a job seeker), handling the tough ones as easily as the softies.

I opined last year that the family seemed to be finding its “voice” at the 2011 convention. Baseball people I’ve spoken with have said it takes a new owner five years to learn the business. The Ricketts family seems to be on an accelerated pace.

High and tight:New pitching coach Chris Bosio appears to be an old-school type.#147;As far as the starting pitching goes and the philosophy, throw strikes, work fast, let the guys behind you play their game, get back in so we can let Rudy#146;s (hitting coach Jaramillo) guys swing the bats,#148; Bosio said.#147;We#146;re going to be aggressive over the plate in the zone. We might knock a couple guys down in between.#148;That drew applause from the crowd during the coaches session. It#146;s an approach that hasn#146;t been seen on the mound in a constructive way since Ted Lilly was with the Cubs.Bosio added that he wanted his pitchers to make Wrigley Field #147;a homefield advantage, hopefully like we#146;ve never seen before.#148;Stop saying that word:The #147;rebuilding#148; question came up time after time over the weekend. Manager Dale Sveum, whose job depends on wins and losses, wasn#146;t hearing of it.#147;The bottom line is we#146;re putting together a team,#148; Sveum said. #147;We#146;re not rebuilding. We#146;re just building for a long time. We want to build a team that#146;s very competitive on the field this year.#147;The plan is to win right now. The long-term plan starts right now.#148;Make mine a double shot:The Cubs really ought to think about a sponsorship deal with Starbucks.You know the story now of a fan spotting Theo Epstein at a Starbucks after his supposedly secret job interview in Chicago.Turns out Dale Sveum and new bench coach Dave McKay also had some coffee talk at a Starbucks.McKay, a longtime coach for Tony La Russa, noted that Sveum has #147;a little bit of La Russa in him.#148;Tom Ricketts laughed about Epstein having his cover blown.#147;We were so secretive,#148; Ricketts said. #147;We flew him in secretly. We picked him up secretly. We did all these things. Then he hopped out of the car to get an iced coffee.#147;If you#146;re going to go to Starbucks, you might as well just fly United and put up a billboard, for God#146;s sakes.#148;That#146;s the ticket:The biggest non-baseball news was the announcement of a patio deck and an LED board on the right-field-corner wall.Reaction was mixed on whether the Cubs should have a replay board. There are no plans to do so for 2012, said business president Crane Kenney.Kenney also said the percentage of season-ticket renewals was in the #147;high 90s.#148;#147;I think a lot of it has to do with the new direction on the baseball side and how strongly people are committed to seeing this thing get turned around,#148; Kenney said, #147;and the sustained success Theo talks about is something we#146;re all going to try to achieve.#148;