The last words that Chicago Cubs Chairman and Owner Tom Ricketts said to the media was, after being asked what was wrong with his team, “nothing, just injuries.” For almost two weeks, we’ve waited to hear from him again. Finally, he spoke.
Addressing the media before tonight’s game, Ricketts touched on a number of topics. We’ll undoubtedly have more on this later, but in the interest of timeliness, here are the high points:
Ricketts still has confidence in Jim Hendry, though discussing it acknowledges that he’s heard the calls for Hendry’s termination. “I have 100 percent confidence in Jim,” Ricketts said. “He’s working very hard to do everything he can to get this season back to where we want it to be.” But he also said, “we’re just going forward right now. We’ll see what the off-season looks like. We’re comfortable with Jim.”
In manager Mike Quade, Ricketts also expressed confidence. He said Quade has the players playing hard and not giving up.
He said that Wrigley Field is not a dump, and instead is “the third largest tourist attraction in the state. It generates over $600 million for businesses in the area, and it’s an economic engine in the city.” Very savvy, Mr. Ricketts.
He didn’t care for Carlos Zambrano’s comments a couple weeks ago, but didn’t think they were a big deal, either.
He believes the team’s debt is a non-issue, and will in no way limit the Cubs’ ability to pursue free agents. We’ll hold you to that one, sir.
He said he doesn’t think he needs a “baseball guy” to look over everyone else’s shoulder in the organization.
Again, these are just the bullets – I’m quite certain there will be more to come. I’ll have a full write-up and reaction later. But, for now, have at it.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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NEWSLETTER
The last words that Chicago Cubs Chairman and Owner Tom Ricketts said to the media was, after being asked what was wrong with his team, “nothing, just injuries.” For almost two weeks, we’ve waited to hear from him again. Finally, he spoke.
