Chicago Sun-Times

Ricketts talks up Wrigley Field renovation, but what about Cubs?

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:30:22 -0500

The pictures look impressive. The rhetoric is almost inspiring. But with every shiny new announcement of a Wrigley renovation deal that’s not even close to being approved, it gets harder to keep your eye on the ball. You know, the ball the Cubs pitcher just threw into the outfield. Or the one the Cubs opponent just hit onto Waveland. Or the one the Cubs cleanup hitter just swung at and missed with a man on third. This is what all the ownership bluster is about — or should be. The baseball. It’s certainly how history will measure this debt-burdened, street-fair-pushing, …

Scott Feldman throws his first complete game

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:30:43 -0500

If the Wrigley rooftop owners continue to oppose the Cubs’ ballpark renovation plans, first baseman Anthony Rizzo thinks he might have a solution. “I would tell them, ‘Come into the ballpark and get a better experience than watching it from afar,’ ’’ said Rizzo, who singled and scored in the Cubs’ 6-2 victory over the San Diego Padres, which came about 12 hours after chairman Tom Ricketts threatened relocation if opposition to ballpark signage prevails. Cubs life without Wrigley Field? Manager Dale Sveum laughed at the suggestion. “I stay out of that,” Sveum said. “But it shows the urgency for those …

TELANDER: Ricketts has moving speech

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:32:37 -0500

On Wednesday morning, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts took off one of his chain-metal gauntlets and dropped it with a clank to the floor. “The fact is that if we don’t have the ability to generate revenue in our own outfield, we’ll have to take a look at moving,’’ Ricketts told the audience at the City Club of Chicago. “No question.” When you say, “No question,’’ that means, well, no question. Like, you’ll do it. That is, you’ll leave antique Wrigley Field to the preservationists, let the rooftop owners view weeds inside a crumbling brick mess and head for the suburbs. …

Ricketts: New Wrigley Field revenue needed for Cubs to stay

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:18:04 -0500

The Cubs need the millions in revenue that Wrigley Field renovations would generate or the team will have to consider moving, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said Wednesday. “If we don’t have the ability to generate revenue in our outfield. we will have to take a look at moving. There is no question,” he said.

Edwin Jackson drops to 0-4 as Padres beat Cubs 13-7

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:00:58 -0500

CHICAGO — Carlos Quentin homered and drove in three runs and the San Diego Padres battered Cubs starter Edwin Jackson in a 13-7 win over Chicago on Tuesday night. Edinson Volquez (2-3) was good enough to beat the Cubs for the fifth time in his career, working 5 2-3 innings and allowing four runs while striking out three in his first outing against Chicago while with San Diego. Volquez is 5-0 in seven career starts against the Cubs, including 3-0 at Wrigley Field. Quentin was 3 for 4 with the home run and two doubles. He is 34 for 101 …

Edwin Jackson’s bad night dooms Cubs

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:19:29 -0500

One month into the new regime’s first big free-agent deal, and Cub fans don’t seem to like it any better than some of the old regime’s free-agent deals. The boos began for $52 million right-hander Edwin Jackson about the time Yonder Alonso’s three-run homer landed on the other side of the center field wall Tuesday night — and reached overpowering levels when he was lifted after allowing a run-scoring single to the pitcher four batters later. “I would have probably booed myself as well, so I don’t blame them,” said Jackson, whose worst start as a Cub — in a …

Padres’ Chase Headley would look good in Cubs uniform

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:15:06 -0500

As the Cubs front office spends much of its rebuilding efforts trying to acquire pitching, another glaring area of need could grow into something too big to ignore if and when they turn a competitive corner in the next two years.

Samardzija has decent outing but gets a no-decision in 5-3 Cubs’ win

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:21:57 -0500

Jeff Samardzija was due for the kind of turnaround his team has had in its last six games. He got his team’s support but couldn’t help himself enough to qualify for Monday’s eventual 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. ‘‘Too many walks,’’ he said of the elevated pitch count that limited him to only five innings. ‘‘You can’t put that many guys on for free.’’ Samardzija, winless since Opening Day, walked four and two of those led to runs, including the first to leadoff man Everth Cabrera who late scored with the help of two wild pitches. Samardzija’s teammates …

Cubs support top prospect Jorge Soler

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:21:41 -0500

Lately, top Cubs prospect Jorge Soler has been getting as much attention as some of the major leaguers — but it’s not always good. Class A Daytona manager Dave Keller benched him Sunday for not running hard in two at-bats Saturday against Lakeland. This comes two weeks after the Cuban native was suspended for five games after carrying a bat into a near-altercation with a Clearwater player. Soler, 21, was in the lineup again Monday. Team president Theo Epstein said that despite the incidents, Soler “has shown a real interest in learning to play the game the right way.” Manager …

Former Cubs manager Lee Elia no longer haunted by legendary profanity-laced rant

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:08:56 -0500

The White Sox were “winning ugly’’ in 1983. The Cubs? They were dealing with a different kind of “ugly.’’ It came in the form of a profane outburst by their manager after a particularly frustrating 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers 30 years ago Monday. Long before the era of social media, Lee Elia’s postgame tirade to reporters criticizing Cubs fans instantly managed to become the stuff of legend. Radio reporter Les Grobstein had his tape recorder on, and the rest was history. “I knew we had something, but to think about this 30 years later … I’d have …

Manager Dale Sveum’s closer-by-committee approach has worked for Cubs

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 02:18:08 -0500

MIAMI — Like most managers who do it, the Cubs’ Dale Sveum is using a closer-by-committee approach because he has to. Nobody got the job done as the main guy. But Sveum said Sunday he might consider using the committee approach all season if it keeps working, even if someone such as Carlos Marmol or Kevin Gregg is pitching lights-out. Especially if both are. ‘‘I think it could work,’’ said Sveum, who considers those two right-handers and left-hander James Russell his ninth-inning options now. ‘‘It’s just the mentality of those last three outs. If you have three or four guys …