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Imrem: Cubs' success starts with Ricketts

A collection of people deserve credit for the World Series title the Cubs won this week.

But there's a top man among them and it happens to be the top man himself.

Yes, Tom Ricketts.

Remember, the Cubs chairman is responsible for hiring master architect Theo Epstein.

Some of Ricketts' success was by design. Some of it was luck. All of it combined to result in a championship.

Shortly before the Ricketts family closed on the purchase of the Cubs on Oct. 27, 2009, Tom Ricketts sat down with three of us from the Daily Herald.

Cubs beat writer Bruce Miles was there for the baseball talk. News columnist Burt Constable was there for everything else. I was there for comic relief.

Looking back at a transcript of the conversation, this exchange stands out.

Q: Can you picture yourself as the owner when the Cubs win the World Series?

A: I'm not sure I've pictured myself there yet.

All Ricketts had to do Wednesday night to see himself in that position was snap a selfie.

It took just seven seasons for the Rickettses to do what a variety of other Cubs owners couldn't since 1908 - win a World Series.

At first glance in 2009, Tom Ricketts was just like every new team owner in every sport in every city.

Mr. Mystery.

The initial impression was that Ricketts would endure a steep learning curve.

As it turned out, the Cubs chairman was a quick learner.

The Rickettses closed on the purchase of the Cubs on the last Friday of October and three days later Tom Ricketts attended organizational meetings in Mesa, Arizona.

The first real hint that Ricketts had a chance to figure out sports ownership was the first summer of 2010.

Without fanfare, Ricketts toured each of the Cubs' minor league affiliates.

"I've never heard of a new owner doing that," a member of the Cubs' organization said as the playoffs were about to begin last month.

Ricketts introduced himself to everyone associated with the Cubs on the lower levels and explained who he was, what his vision for the Cubs was and what they could expect of the parent club moving forward.

A good guess is that while teaching them about himself, Ricketts was learning baseball that he couldn't have picked up as a fan.

Ricketts saw how teams operate in the minors. He got a feel for what life is like down there. He found out what the facilities were like in places like Iowa.

All the while, by design or not, Ricketts networked with baseball people.

Ricketts became smarter in many ways, including reinforcing his suspicion that he wasn't smart enough to make baseball decisions.

In other words, Ricketts wasn't going to become his own general manager the way, say, Jerry Jones has with the Dallas Cowboys.

Ricketts said at our meeting in 2009 that he didn't plan to hire a so-called "baseball man" for the Cubs.

But when Epstein became available two years later, Ricketts was flexible enough to make him the Cubs' president of baseball operations.

Easy call, both then and in retrospect, but 28 other major-league owners weren't quick enough to hire the man who won two World Series in Boston.

Tom Ricketts learned so much so fast that today he can picture himself as the owner of the Cubs when they won the World Series.

mimrem@dailyherald.com

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