'Stone Hot' Steve gets rung up

Ex-Cubs announcer is receiving lots of calls from interested parties

Each day, more potential ownership groups vying for the Cubs come together, dreaming the big dream. The process will continue for weeks as more millionaires believe they possess the magic to rescue the franchise. One common denominator among several of the starry-eyed groups is a name familiar to Cubs fans.

Imagine Steve Stone making a splashy return to the North Side. It turns out, many potential investors already have.

Imagine Steve Stone making a splashy return to the North Side. It turns out, many potential investors already have.

''Since the announcement that the Cubs were going to be sold and they were in play,'' Stone said Thursday from his downtown condo, ''my cell-phone minutes have gone up substantially.''

''Since the announcement that the Cubs were going to be sold and they were in play,'' Stone said Thursday from his downtown condo, ''my cell-phone minutes have gone up substantially.''

Though Stone in recent years has played prominent roles in two failed bids to buy ballclubs -- the Oakland Athletics, then the Washington Nationals -- he said he has no interest in being a key financial partner pursuing the Cubs.

So where does he fit in?

''There was probably a time when I wouldn't use this term, but senior adviser to either the president or the owner has a nice ring to it,'' said Stone, who walked away from the Cubs after the 2004 season, having spent 20 years as their television analyst, including 15 as Harry Caray's partner.

''I don't have to be involved in the ownership group because the amount of money is going to be astonishing. I would like to think that whoever gets the team, if he did his homework around the Chicago area, he would find that I would have something to lend to that group.''

Evidently, many of the men spearheading some of the groups that have formed in the early stages have Stone in mind for some sort of high-level position.

If Stone were placed in a prominent role by the new owners next season, he seems to be a huge fan of manager Lou Piniella. But it's doubtful general manager Jim Hendry -- who rightfully backed manager Dusty Baker during an ill-advised showdown with Stone in 2004 -- would survive the transition.

There were times during Stone's tenure as a Cubs broadcaster that the former Cy Young Award-winning pitcher offered advice, only to have it ignored.

''The only frustrations I had over the years were that I did have, at times, some fairly good ideas that were maybe a little bit different than the ideas that the folks had at the time, and I never got a real chance to implement them,'' Stone said. ''I'm not going to point the finger at any one person and say it's this person's fault or that person's fault. Things happen for a reason, and there were a lot of different people in control and a lot of different general managers and a lot of different managers during the time that I was there. But my only motivation was at that point to try to have the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

''Granted, I was merely their broadcaster, but you just want to see them win the World Series.''

Stone brings plenty to the table. He knows the Cubs inside and out, but more important at this stage, he knows the difficult process awaiting investor groups hoping to wade through Major League Baseball's stringent guidelines.

''This process is going to be long, it's going to be difficult, it's going to be fairly fierce and it will take the price to some areas that will automatically eliminate some people,'' he said.

If Wrigley Field is part of the package, the price could start at $800 million and go higher. There has been some debate about whether the aging ballpark will be part of the deal. Stone sees no way the ballpark will be excluded.

''From strictly a business standpoint, because of the pursuits I have had with other teams, the stadium was a big part of a financial stream that could assure that you could eventually pay the bills of your ballclub,'' he said. ''And this is going to go for so much that the idea that someone would come in and purchase the Chicago Cubs and not include Wrigley Field in the financial stream, it just doesn't make a great deal of business sense. And the people who are going to be in the middle of the bidding for this team are going to be exceptional business people.''

Another plus is Stone's close relationship with commissioner Bud Selig. The two visited at U.S. Cellular Field on Monday, when Stone pinch-hit for White Sox broadcaster Ed Farmer.

''I consider Bud Selig one of my dear friends, and in talking to Bud over the years about the Chicago Cubs and their place in baseball history and their impact on Major League Baseball all over the country, he has a special feeling in his heart for the Cubs,'' Stone said.

And Stone knows MLB well enough to predict that media favorite Mark Cuban -- controversial owner of the Dallas Mavericks -- would be a long shot to survive baseball's weeding-out process.

''I've talked with Mark, and I happen to like him,'' Stone said. ''No. 1, he's a Pittsburgh fan. They play in the same division as the Cubs. I don't know about you, but I don't want a Pittsburgh fan running the Cubs. I just don't think that he's right for this deal. Doesn't mean he's not right for another deal, but this is a special deal. This is different. I just think the majority of the people that wind up with the Chicago Cubs are going to be from Chicago.''

Stone is like the rest of us. He has no idea which group will emerge as the new owners. But he can look far enough into the future to see something special.

''The first ownership group and the first front office that is able to win the World Series,'' he said, ''will go down in baseball history and Chicago lore.''

That said, is the next logical move in Stone's baseball life one that takes him to that coveted senior-adviser role in the Cubs' front office?

''I don't know if it's the next logical progression,'' he said. ''I would hope that it would be. And in my heart of hearts, I have to tell you that I hope it would be with the Chicago Cubs.

''Everybody asks, 'Best-case scenario, what would you like to see happen?' Best-case scenario: I would like to see a very aggressive group of new owners who decide that they want to come in and bring some people who have some history with the Chicago Cubs and sit down in a room and actually listen to what they have to say. And maybe -- just maybe -- a few things they say will make some sense. And then you get to implement them.''