Wrigley Field renovations win over former Cubs exec MacPhail
Andy MacPhail sat in the visitors dugout at Wrigley Field Thursday and marveled at the place he called home for almost 12 years.
"I'm immeasurably impressed," said MacPhail, today the president of the Philadelphia Phillies. "I am so taken with they've been able to do, facilities wise, improvements they've made, even with the basics. The outside facade of the stadium looks great.
"I just went through the (Cubs) clubhouse. Amazing. It's all well done. It's all thoughtfully done. I could not be more impressed with how the facilities have evolved in a tiny footprint."
MacPhail was president of the Cubs from late 1994 until resigning on the final day of the 2006 season. The Cubs won the 1998 wild card and came within five outs of the World Series in 2003.
The Tribune Co. owned the Cubs in those days, and MacPhail was their point man for the baseball part of the conglomerate. The Cubs were never able to get over the hump as far as sustaining winning under MacPhail. The parent company threw gobs of money at the team after MacPhail's departure and got two division titles but no postseason victories for all those hundreds of millions spent.
The most ambitious undertaking at the ballpark was the initial bleacher expansion more than a decade ago. The Ricketts family took over in late 2009. The Cubs now are in the process of a breathtaking renovation of the 103-year-old ballpark.
"I think it would be difficult for a public company to invest the kind of money the private ownership was able to do here," MacPhail said. "It's one thing to have the money. It's another to execute everything as well as I think they have. I think it's remarkable. I was prepared not to be a big fan of the (video) boards, but I think they're done extraordinarily well. They are not as obtrusive as I thought they were going to be. They're very informational. You haven't lost any of the experience of coming to Wrigley Field."
There are always the might-have-beens when it comes to MacPhail's tenure in Chicago. He later moved on to Baltimore and helped start an Orioles resurgence. He took over the Phillies presidency in June 2015.
The biggest what-if for the Cubs came in 2003, when the Marlins scored 8 runs in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the National League championship series to erase a 3-0 Cubs lead before going on to win that fateful night and also Game 7 at Wrigley Field.
"It's the nature of baseball.," MacPhail said. "We got close in '03. I got a World Series ring in '91 (with the Twins) because Lonnie Smith (of the Braves) didn't pick up a ball in the outfield. Sometimes good things happen to you, and sometimes bad things happen. It's the nature of our sport.
"Sometimes I think you look back, and things worked out just the way they were supposed to. It would be hard to replicate the excitement they had here in '16, although things were pretty much a frenzy in '03 as well."
MacPhail is the son of the late Lee MacPhail, a former club executive, American League president and a negotiator who helped end the 1981 players strike. (Andy MacPhail played a big role in preventing a stoppage in 2002.)
Andy MacPhail's grandfather, Larry MacPhail, was a flamboyant executive and innovator.
Today the MacPhail legacy continues with Andy's sons - Reed works for MLB, and Drew is a member of the Dodgers organization.
"Can't find honest work anywhere else, that's the problem," Andy joked.
But seriously, he expressed pride that his sons carry on the family legacy.
"There are two things from the father's standpoint when your children follow your profession," he said. "You like to think they were excited about it and energized by it as you were as a parent going through it. The second plus that I hadn't thought of is they really have more of an empathy for me and what I did in my career because they have lived it a little bit themselves. They understand it can be a grind. They understand how disappointing it can be. At the same time, they understand how exhilarating it can be. I think they get a little better appreciation for what their dad did."
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Scouting report
Cubs vs. New York Yankees at Wrigley Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet Friday; FOX Saturday; ESPN Sunday
Radio: WSCR 670-AM
Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Kyle Hendricks (2-1) vs. Michael Pineda (3-1) Friday at 1:20 p.m.; Brett Anderson (2-1) vs. Jordan Montgomery (1-1) Saturday at 6:15 p.m.; Jon Lester (1-1) vs. Luis Severino (2-2) Sunday at 7:08 p.m.
At a glance: The surprising Yankees lead the American League East at 17-9. They had Thursday off. Former Cub Starlin Castro is off to a hot start and a line of .362/.402/.543 with 5 homers and 16 RBI. But the big story is Aaron Judge, a 6-foot-7 outfielder. He is at .330/.433/.818 with 13 home runs ant 27 RBI. Aroldis Chapman, who helped the Cubs win the World Series, is 6-for-6 in saves for the Yankees. Adam Warren, who spent time with the Cubs, also has pitched well out of New York's pen. The Cubs will be making their second straight appearance on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
Next: Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, Monday-Wednesday
- Bruce Miles