To DH or not to DH...that is the question.

Cubs Den, which has become one of the better Cubs blogs out there over the last few years, brought up the question of what to do with Dan Vogelbach, who is quickly becoming one of the most exciting and anticipated of the Cubs prospects.

Vogelbach may be only a few years away from getting a shot at a big league roster.  The problem is, for the Cubs, he plays first base, a position that is firmly in the more than capable hands of Anthony Rizzo.

So what do the Cubs do with him?

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Over the last few years, the noise about the National League adopting the DH has increased.  I personally hate the DH.  Yes, I like seeing pitchers hit.  I don't know why.  I like pitching and defense.  I like boring baseball.  I'm a dork too.

But, it's time for that to be moved aside.  The NL needs to adopt the DH.  It's time.

The National League is the only major baseball league in the world that still has pitchers hit.  The DH is a rule that is not going to go away.  For the National League to hold on to the rule of having pitchers hit accomplishes nothing.  No league that has switched to the DH is ever going to go back to having pitchers hit and the National League is not proving that its style of baseball is immensely superior to the baseball played in leagues with the DH.

In fact, in Major League play, the National League teams are at a distinct disadvantage.  While American League teams have a dedicated designated hitter on their roster, the National League teams must use a bench player to fulfill the role when the rule is in use during the season and in the World Series.

To that point, the truth is, Major League Baseball is not an organization divided into 2 distinct "leagues" anymore.  The labels "American League" and "National League" are really nothing more than that...labels.  The two "leagues" are really nothing more than conferences like in basketball, football or hockey.  There is one major baseball league.  Bud Selig has dismantled the two league system by introducing inter-league play, combining the umpires of both leagues into a single group and closing the two league offices.

The only thing left that really separates the two leagues is the rules set.  No major sports league has different rule sets split between the different teams.

That's the most important part of this argument now...rule sets really should be consistent in all of Major League Baseball.

Do I like the DH?  No.  Do I like inter-league play?  No.  Do I like that both the National League and American League have been combined into a single entity?  No.

Unfortunately for me, it is to the point where I, and everyone who agrees with me, must accept that those three things are not going to change.  As a result, it is time for the NL to adopt the DH.

And when that happens, the Cubs will have a place on their roster for Dan Vogelbach.

CBS Chicago: Wrigley Renovation deal possible by opening day

Jay Levine of CBS Chicago is reporting that progress has been made in the Wrigley Field renovation negotiations....enough progress that an announcement of a deal could be made by opening day or shortly after.

We all know the primary issues involved here....signage...video boards...night games...concerts...street festivals...parking.

The report from indicated that the Cubs intend to construct a parking structure near the ballpark, which I can assume is on the large Grace St. lot which they own and already use for parking. (I've suggested in the past that they should consider putting a parking garage on that site.  That lot has been under utilized for years.)

The other aspects of the agreement will probably not leak out until an official announcement is made, but we can assume that more advertising, night games and a new video board are all in Wrigley's near future.

I do expect that the Cubs will get pretty much everything they have been asking for here, and the news of a potential parking structure on Grace St. is a big plus that could create another revenue stream for the team bringing in, I would estimate, $2 to $3 million a year.

I also expect that the Cubs might look to nix the current rooftop deal where the building owners give the Cubs 17% of their revenue.  The revenue is not enough to really make much of a deference for the team.  This would be compensation for potential obstructions that a video board and advertising will create as well as keeping the rooftops from having any actual agreement with the team that could limit what they could do to the ballpark in the future.

While I'm much more in favor of the team building a new ballpark altogether, having the status-quo linger on for another 1 or 2 years is much worse, so this is good news.

Video Board

Today in the Tribune, it was reported that the Cubs have every intention of putting up a video board at Wrigley Field.

Tom Tunney suggested (and then retracted the suggestion) last week that the Cubs should move the center field scoreboard and put a video board in center field and make it "as big as they want".

The Tribune report stated that the Cubs want to put a video board up in either left or right field leaving the center field scoreboard in place.

I personally think having both scoreboards is kinda silly...but thinking about it, I believeTunney's idea has some merit.

Supposedly the Cubs want a minimum of a 6000 square foot video board.  While this would be almost 3 times the size of the current center field scoreboard, it is actually considerably smaller than many of the other video boards put up around baseball over the last few years including Yankee Stadium, Miller Park, and Minute Maid park (which are all close to 10,000 square feet).

A lot of questions come up in relation to this...but it seems entirely possible that this could be done without hindering the rooftop views significantly.  I'd be curious as to how a structure of this size would affect the wind patterns at Wrigley.

Anyway...having some fun, here are a couple of quick renderings I did...one with the old scoreboard moved and the other with a video board in left field.  These aren't quite to scale...but my calculations should be pretty close.

Enjoy.

A difference in fan bases: Cubs vs. Bears

Last week, the Bears cut ties with Brian Urlacher.  Urlacher had been a constant face of the franchise for the past 13 seasons.  He felt he could still contribute.  The Bears felt, even if he could contribute, it wasn't in their best interest to keep him around.  (Yes, the Bears did make a low-ball offer, but it was more of an insult than an offer.)

One thing that struck me about the situation with Urlacher...a majority of the fans felt it was the right move to let Urlacher go.  Only a small minority of people were up in arms about the future Hall of Famer potentially playing in another uniform...or even just retiring.  The Bears are transitioning to a new system. They have a new coach and defensive coordinator.  It felt like it was a good time for a fresh start and Urlacher probably didn't fit in to the plans.

Ok...now let me transport you back to 14 month ago.

The Cubs had just completed an overhaul of their on-field and off-field management personnel.  Theo Epstein took over and Dale Sveum was named manager.  The Cubs introduce an almost entirely new coaching staff in the process.  In those early days of January, Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein were in the process of putting together the Cubs roster and one name continued to be brought up in relation to that...Kerry Wood.

Wood was coming off of a decent season as a setup man having signed with the Cubs for practically free as he desperately wanted to rejoin the Cubs.  Questions posed to Hoyer and Epstein about Kerry Wood's situation were answered with some of the similar phrases that we recently heard from Bears GM Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman...he's the heart of this franchise...he has been a great leader...has something to offer...love to see him retire with this team...they're in discussions to bring him back.

The Cubs decided to bring back Wood.

So why did the Cubs bring back Wood and the Bears decided not to bring back Urlacher while both teams were in such similar situations?

Well, it can be said that it was different with football...Urlacher was (and probably still will be) a starter...the Bears are still trying to field a competitive team next year while the Cubs were completely rebuilding...

In the end, though, it really seems to me that the only reason the Cubs brought Kerry Wood back last year was because the fans demanded it.  Wood served very little purpose being on a roster that was being completely rebuilt last year...and after only a month, even Wood realized he had no place on that team and retired.

Bears fans decided that Brian Urlacher, a future Hall-of-Fame inductee, was not needed on their team and were able to accept him either retiring or playing for another team.

Cubs fans felt that Kerry Wood, a player who never lived up to the hype that surrounded his early career, must return.

Please take a minute and have that soak in a bit.



Can you imagine the situation if Bears fans had demanded Urlacher return?  They'd have a broken down middle linebacker giving up big plays in the middle of the field hurting their team.  Yet Cubs fans demanded the Cubs sending an on-the-verge-of-his-arm-flying-off Kerry Wood to the mound every 3 days to promptly give up a lead.

If the Cubs are to actually break this cycle of losing, it is thinking like this that needs to stop.  The fans can be partly to blame for the state this team is in.  We, as fans, need to start looking at the big picture.  Tradition... sentimental feelings...these are things that distract from what should be our ultimate goal...winning the World Series.  And those feeling shouldn't be moved to the side only when we talk about players.  It also applies to the place where the team plays as well.

Would Bud Selig let the Cubs replace Wrigley?

This headline is more of an attention grabber more than anything.

The last few days, after about a month of silence, Wrigley Field renovation talk has spiked yet again.

First, two days ago, the Cubs announce that if they get approval to do what they want with the ballpark, as part of the hotel complex they plan to build across the street, they plan to put in a very large fitness center.  I guess that is also something that is needed in Wrigleyville.  Whatever...

This resulted in a couple of reactions from other parties involved here.  First, according to the Sun-Times, Mayor Rahm Emanuel was not too pleased with the Cubs announcement, as it would appear the Cubs are trying to sweeten the pot here by bribing the people of Wrigleyville who don't own rooftops...using bully tactics against their enemies.

The other reaction came from the Alderman of Waveland and Sheffield Avenues, Tom Tunney who has now pretty much planted him self down in opposition to any renovation plan that blocks the views of the rooftops which he represents.

Today, the mayor met with Tom Ricketts and Tunney in an attempt to move closer to getting a resolution to this problem.

I personally didn't think it would take this long, but it is obvious that after there was no proposal brought before the city council a few weeks ago to increase the number of night games, it seems that Tunney and the rooftop owners are going to play every single card they have to prevent the Cubs from creating the revenue from advertisements that they want.

I've said this before...and I'm going to say it again...IT'S NOT WORTH IT!

Move.

Build a new stadium.

If no agreement is reached by opening day, which many people believe is required to be able to start the renovations on time after this coming season is over, the Ricketts family should wake up, stop being fans for a little while and dump this love they have for this crumbling 100 year old rat infested structure and look for sites to build a new ballpark.

The biggest mistake the fan-owners made when they bought this team was to say outright that the Cubs would continue to play at Wrigley Field no matter what.  That should have been their biggest bargaining chip when renovation time came.  This isn't the same as the White Sox saying that they would move to Florida if they didn't get a new ballpark. The Cubs are the ones with the money here and they are the ones who will be financing whatever it is that happens here.  They'll stay in Chicago.

Would they lose some tourists and some fair weather fans in the process?  Yeah...probably...but if the Cubs put a winning team on the field, that won't matter.  Besides, fuck the tourists.  The Cubs shouldn't be focused on running a historical monument.  If the city want's to keep the ballpark as a historical monument, then the Ricketts should sell the place to them, take the money, build a new stadium and let the city give tours of the 100 year old monument of failure as it crumbles to the ground.

Believe it or not, there are a number of decent sites within the city that could adequately handle a new Cubs stadium...and almost an infinite number of sites available in the suburbs.  If the Rickettses want to be allowed to run there business as they see fit, then they should move somewhere that they are allowed to do that.

The Yankees tore down the most storied ballpark in baseball history.  The Cubs very well can leave Wrigley too.  

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Ok...with all that said, the Cubs aren't going to move because the Ricketts family is stupid when it comes to this matter.  I still think they'll get a large portion of what they want.  They have already made a ton of investments in the areas around the ballpark and own a number of properties in Wrigleyville other than the ballpark.  Dumping Wrigley and all the other properties they own and moving somewhere else would result in a dramatic loss on their investments.  On top of that, Bud Selig would probably step in and require an agreement be reached for the Cubs to stay at Wrigley for the "good of baseball".

That being said, if they had threatened to move, they likely could have gotten a lot more than they have...including some amount of public financing, more night games, the triangle building and all the advertisements they want.  That strategy worked wonderfully when they wanted a new spring training facility...just ask Mesa how that worked out?

Please continue to watch this issue over the next couple weeks.  A deal is still likely to come before opening day.  I just hope that any compromise made is to the Cubs advantage.