Joe Ricketts in Chicago, sources say, but Cubs insist it has nothing to do with team business
April 12, 2013 1:33AM
Updated: April 12, 2013 2:29AM
Joe Ricketts, the father and the financial muscle of Cubs ownership, is in Chicago this week, say multiple sources, and one source says he met with top team executives Thursday with more in-house meetings scheduled Friday and Saturday.
An ownership spokesman denied that Ricketts — who is not officially listed on the team’s board of directors and has been consistently portrayed as unconnected to team operations — is in town for anything related to team business.
But his trip coincides with a breakdown in highly publicized negotiations with city and neighborhood officials on a Wrigley renovation deal that looked all but done less than a week ago.
Ricketts, whose son Tom is the Cubs chairman, was in town only to attend Thursday’s annual Bricks and Ivy Ball charity event at Navy Pier, said the ownership spokesman — an event he has not attended since the Ricketts family bought the team in 2009.
— Gordon Wittenmyer
