Grand entrance: Ricketts sees World Series for Cubs

Posted October 30, 2009 11:00 pm

By Bruce Miles

There were a couple of very noticeable differences at Wrigley Field Friday.

For the first time in nearly 30 years, there were real, live, approachable faces in charge of the Cubs, a whole family of them, as the Ricketts family staged a grand introduction at the ballpark.

The second is that, unlike the previous owners, these people know how to manage a rain delay. After hoping to conduct their news conference outdoors with the grass and ivy as a backdrop, the owners moved the proceedings indoors as the rains kept coming, and things went off without a hitch.

Overall, it was an all-smiles entrance for chairman Tom Ricketts and siblings Laura, Todd and Pete as they began their public reign as owners of the Cubs.

Tom Ricketts said he wanted to send out three messages.

"No. 1 is we're going to win the World Series," said Ricketts, echoing the proclamation of former team president John McDonough, who served in that role from 2006-07. "We're going to win the World Series by striving in every day and every way to be the best franchise in baseball.

"We're going to invest in the best facilities in baseball, world-class facilities where every player wants to play and every coach wants to coach. We're going to invest in the best personnel, and we're going to hold them to the highest standards of excellence and accountability."

The next two areas involved Wrigley Field and Chicago.

"The second thing we want to say to the fans, fans like us, is we love Wrigley Field, and we're going to do everything we can to improve the Wrigley Field experience for the fans that are coming to today, to preserve the Wrigley Field experience for future generations of fans that come so they can share in that special unique magic that is Wrigley Field.

"Thirdly, we want to tell everybody how much we love the city of Chicago. Wrigley Field is a ballpark in the neighborhood. We intend to be very good neighbors. We intend to be active in giving back to the city of Chicago and the surrounding areas."

Ricketts' strongest statement may have been to let fans know this is no short-term commitment.

"Everyone needs to know that we're here for the long term," he said. "We're here to win."

While Tom Ricketts will serve as chairman and his siblings as board members, Crane Kenney, a former Tribune Co. lawyer, will go from being chairman to president. Kenney later said one of the Cubs' goals will be to bid for the 2014 All-Star Game, which would be the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field.

General manager Jim Hendry and field boss Lou Piniella will be back, and Hendry seemed to welcome the challenge laid down by the new boss, who said the Cubs have to have a team that's "playoff worthy every single season."

"It's time for everybody to put the past behind us and move forward," said Hendry, GM since the middle of the 2002 season. "You have a family here that's going to own this franchise here long after we're gone from this earth. They're going to own this thing for decades and decades. I think that's a great thing for the city of Chicago because they don't have any agenda except to do well for the city, the organization, the fan base.

"It's a huge investment for him and his family. He should be, obviously, comfortable that he has the best people possible moving forward. I hope I'm that guy for a while. I have no doubt I'll be treated fairly and honestly, and that's all a guy in my job should expect."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=333063">Mike Imrem: Random thoughts on the Ricketts warranty <span class="date">[11/04/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=333063">Grand entrance: Ricketts sees World Series for Cubs <span class="date">[10/31/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=332928">Ricketts' one goal: 'Best franchise in baseball' <span class="date">[10/30/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=332985">Excerpts from Tom Ricketts' interview with the Daily Herald <span class="date">[10/30/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=332929">As owner, Ricketts looks to keep a fan's perspective <span class="date">[10/30/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=332919"><B>Burt Constable:</B> Ricketts turns from die-hard fan into owner <span class="date">[10/30/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=332930"><B>Mike Imrem:</B> Can Ricketts handle the challenge of Wrigley? <span class="date">[10/30/09]</span></a></li> </ul>  <div style="display:none"> </div>  <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script> <object id="myExperience46550033001" class="BrightcoveExperience"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /> <param name="width" value="300" /> <param name="height" value="254" /> <param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /> <param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/> <param name="isVid" value="true" /> <param name="@videoPlayer" value="46550033001" /> </object>  </div> </div> </div>

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