Curse, schmurse: New Cubs owner vows to win series

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CHICAGO (AP)—Tom Ricketts and his family took ownership of the Chicago Cubs and wasted no time making a promise to the team’s long-suffering fans: They will bring a World Series title to a team that has gone 101 years without one.

“I’ll be honest. I think we have a team that can do it next year,” Tom Ricketts said without hesitation Friday at a Wrigley Field news conference. “The fact is, there is enough talent coming back to this team next season.”

Cubs fan have heard that before, of course. For the record, Ricketts doesn’t buy the talk of a curse that was put on the team at the 1945 World Series—the Cubs’ last appearance—by a man who was ejected from a game with his pet goat.

“There is no curse. There is no curse,” Ricketts said. “If anybody on our team thinks he’s cursed, we will move him to a lesser-cursed team.”

There were plenty of smiles and a few jokes from the new owners on a rainy day in Chicago, and Ricketts said no shakeups were planned for a team that failed to make the playoffs for the first time in three years.

General manager Jim Hendry, whoise contract runs through 2012, has earned the chance to lead the team into next season, Ricketts said. Crane Kenney, who was the team’s chairman, will stay on as team president and be responsible for the business of the team.

And the new owner said he wants manager Lou Piniella to return next season, the final year of his four-year deal.

“Everyone was disappointed with the performance of the team in 2009. Expectations were very high and they weren’t met,” Ricketts said. “In the big picture, Jim has taken us to the playoffs three times in the past seven years after a team that only went three times in the previous 57 years. So I think he has a track record that affords giving him the chance to take us into next season.”

Ricketts wouldn’t comment on the future of outfielder Milton Bradley(notes), who was suspended for the final two weeks of the season for criticizing the atmosphere surrounding the Cubs. Bradley, who struggled mightily in his first season in Chicago, has two years left on his contract for $21 million.

“It’s Jim’s decision, it’s his responsibility to put the best team on the field next year and that will be his decision on what to do with all the players,” Ricketts said.

The family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder of Omaha, Neb.-based TD Ameritrade, this week closed the $845 million deal to buy a 95 percent controlling interest in the Cubs, Wrigley Field and 25 percent of Comcast Sportsnet, which broadcasts a number of Cubs game. The Tribune Co. retains a 5 percent stake.

“It is a dream situation, a dream job. It’s the best franchise in sports,” Tom Ricketts said an interview with The Associated Press. “And I don’t know any fans who wouldn’t want to end up in the situation we’re in today. The good news is that even though it’s a dream job, it’s still a business.”

Ricketts and his siblings Laura, Todd and Pete—all Cubs fans who have spent plenty of weekends in the Wrigley Field bleachers—will be on the board of directors that Tom will head as chairman.

Tom Ricketts, who met his wife in those bleachers and once lived across the street from the venerable ballpark, now runs the team he has cheered for since the 1980s.

“Everyone needs to know we are here for the long term and we are here to win,” Ricketts said.

A long-term plan will be devised to make improvements to Wrigley Field, the second-oldest ballpark in the majors that was built in 1914. Smaller upgrades will be implemented by next season.

Ricketts said there would be a small bump in the team’s payroll—one that was around $135 million last season—and a slight increase in ticket prices. There has been no discussion of a naming rights deal for Wrigley. And the Cubs are exploring new spring training options after years in Mesa, Ariz.

“You got to watch your expenses, you got to be careful with your payroll, you’ve got to look for ways to improve, improve your relationship with the fans and to keep growing the business,” he said.

He said his management style will be to hire qualified people, let them do their jobs and yet hold them accountable.

“You’re not going to see me or anyone else in this family calling the dugout during the game,” he said, though you will probably will the owners at games. “We’re going to walk around and see folks and be in the stands.”

Tribune announced on Opening Day in 2007 that the Cubs and Wrigley Field would be sold at the end of that season. But the process took much longer, slowed by the recession and Tribune’s 2008 bankruptcy filing.

Ricketts, a market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and a finance executive before starting investment bank Incapital LLC in 1999, said he never negotiated directly with Tribune CEO Sam Zell.

“Just with people from his organization and they were fine. They are hard bargainers, I suppose, but it was just a complicated negotiation,” he said.

Did Ricketts ever have second thoughts?

“I would say it was a little more difficult than we imagined and certainly the environment that existed when the transaction began was not the environment that we had when the transaction closed,” he said.

Ricketts called the work ahead “daunting,” particularly the work on Wrigley. Any changes, Ricketts said, will not tread on the atmosphere that makes Wrigley Field unique.

“We can’t mess with that special feeling,” Ricketts said.

Updated Oct 30, 5:51 pm EDT
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240 Comments

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  1. Cubs Dynasty
    240. Posted by Cubs Dynasty Mon Nov 2 8:55am EST

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    Stilhavinfun - Your posts237, 238, 239---------looks like you are sharing unstable fractioned mental ramblings to me......to many drugs and roids for you....here are psycho lyrics Puddle of Mudd that you definitely can relate to

    To back in the days when we were young
    When everything was like a loaded gun
    Ready to go off at any minute
    And you know we're gonna win again

    Yeah you know we're gonna win again
    Yeah you know we're gonna win again
  2. stillhavnfun
    239. Posted by stillhavnfun Mon Nov 2 1:33am EST

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    johnm 230 im gonna call ya on bashin the hawks old man wirtz deserved the comments you made but rocky was his son torn up buy what pops did to that team over 30 yrs and the kid is on a mission to see his childhood love grow and be what is was back in 70 when i was 10 year of age huge change now he has control of the ship and whatch closely cause the hawks started a rampage 2yrs ago and its not goin away any time soon.Rocky Wirtz part of my heart was yanked out buy your dad when he at the podium in 97 and your gonna help rebuild that love i have for the hawks thanks any chance you can rebuild the chicago stadium as it was with the organ mannned by wayne messmer any one that knows what i mean im sure would want the same it was a MESSMERIZING NATIONAL ANTHEM that i'll cherish to my grave.todays isn't bad but i have a good memory.
  3. stillhavnfun
    238. Posted by stillhavnfun Mon Nov 2 1:07am EST

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    To all you cards and sox fans that see dynasty's posts just remember when your wrenching tryin not to toss your cookies that there are cards and sox fans that seem like there sniffin glue also.regardless of who lushy people root for they all make me want to puke...."YUCK"! Our cubs suck to all of you that choose drugs over reality you lose and its a great fit that your a faithful cubs fan,but good god put the drugs away straighten up watch cubs baseball when your straight and sober and if you truly no anything about baseball you'll see that the only thing they deserve is ridicul,and we should also be voicing our disgust about selig stickin his nose in and strong arming cuban out of the bidding for the cubs,now that pissed me off,cuban has a track record with the mavericks and a good 1 at that and what do we get with ricketts family.a little bit here and a little bit there but never enough.dynasty i'll bet you the ricketts family knows diddly about running a mlb franchise,and it'll be 1 mistake after another for 12 years before they start moving in a positve manner toward a world series hopefully they are quick learners and the leaning process and mistakes will only be 12years.here's an idea for you all that kill us with that crap about next year, every time it's a thought in your head to say it first take a deep breathe and hold it til next year.that's my process of eliminating that dumbass statement.Quit babying this franchise and start getting on them and get on them hard if they hear it enough that we are disgusted and intend to start seeking other forms of entertainment and then see a drop in attendence maybe they will make serious moves to right the ship and not just for 1 year .Rocky had 2 choices when pops died 1 fix it and make worth having or 2 get rid of it, look at what a determined man can do in just 2or3yrs people he is the writing on wall that if the owner really truly wants it,he goes out and gets it 1,2,3,maybe 4 years not a 100.i have said b4 and i'm sayin it again the difference hawks and cubs talking about Wm.Wirtz at the podium in 1997 admitted to the city of chicago that spending the kind of money yr to yr that it takes to put a championship team together isn't gonna happen for those of you who don't believe me
    he's quoted in saying that is not business wise or economically sensible.cubs been the same way for a 100 yrs, but wont just come out and admit it.the big lie! And personally I'm sick of it and refuse to let them insult my intelligent 's anymore just as i quit patronizing papa wirtz and made a commitment to return upon his departure,and that i did.
  4. stillhavnfun
    237. Posted by stillhavnfun Sun Nov 1 11:50pm EST

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    cubs dynasty i would slap the moron that picked up the rock that you've lived under your entire life,if i
    just knew who it was,come to think of it around the time of scottsdale bowling alley 83rd and cicero a
    guy name eugene franks walked around sniffing air plane glue when the hobby shop in scottsdale shopping center found out what he was doin with it they wouldn't sell it to him anymore he then went to trak auto and bought ether and sprayed it into a rag and walked around sniffing that you sure you ain't him cause your heads in the clouds just like his was,your embarrassing you lush.
  5. Cubs Dynasty
    236. Posted by Cubs Dynasty Sun Nov 1 10:22pm EST

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    Hey 231 John M............did you refer to Wrigley field as a urinal? I believe that juvenile comment puts you in along side of Rosanne Barr..........I bet you do not know why.......
  6. Cubs Dynasty
    235. Posted by Cubs Dynasty Sun Nov 1 10:18pm EST

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    235 Voice of Reason.........Manny was on the juice..........the Cubs have always been clean...gonna win it all...
  7. voice of reason
    234. Posted by voice of reason Sun Nov 1 5:00pm EST

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    Hey Cubs fans...a question:

    When did the CUBS get cursed?

    The Big Bambino did it to the BoSox, and Manny put that one to rest for them. Granted, they will probably wait another 80 years for the nex world series: they won two and now they can go back to being the Boston Red Sox--close but not quite.

    It seems that some people in LA are tired of the post season. Chicago, I think, never tires of being in the post-season. Manny, for all his uniqueness, is a curse lifter. No, he is not the greatest player, but the play of the people around him elevates because Manny likes playing in October.
  8. Realdeal
    233. Posted by Realdeal Sun Nov 1 4:50pm EST

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    Already lying to the fans of Chicago.What a shame.
  9. jeffstorm2
    232. Posted by jeffstorm2 Sun Nov 1 4:44pm EST

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    since John M (yet another sox fan on cubs board...) is braggin bout his teams world series title, since he makes it seem sox are so superior, maybe he can tell us "hicks", how many yrs the sox went w/o da ring? 8? 18? 28? i forget, how many??? more sox "support" on a cubs board... if john won't tell us "hicks", i'll be back later with the "wake-up call"... snicker~snicker
  10. jeffstorm2
    231. Posted by jeffstorm2 Sun Nov 1 4:37pm EST

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    Thanks for your example, john. that's "3 in da box"... this is a sport anyone can play... "sox fans" to a cubs page, like a moth to a flame...
  11. John M.
    230. Posted by John M. Sun Nov 1 4:30pm EST

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    The cubbies (notice) the lowercase when I say anything about the worlds worst professional team. Now some HICK is coming into the "Urnal" expecting a World Series. These people are HICKS. Did this stiff bought the worlds worst team the kiddies.

    The Southside has an ass for an owner, but he has given us a winner and a basketball winner who won for many years. The North Side hasn't won anything including a hockey game winner in the Wrigley Urnal. The tradition of losing is still wonderful for all of the idiot's up North.
  12. jeffstorm2
    229. Posted by jeffstorm2 Sun Nov 1 3:36pm EST

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    "SCA"- i aint tryin to start a "battle-blog", nor am i insulting u as a fan. i am curious as to what upset u? did i lie about something??? the Report ttl for sox=130, currently. Niether "gost" (nor urself) appear on team report. Are Sox brass "content" with attendance ( i give u the fact Wrigley is #1 TOURIST attraction during summer months...). Lastly, this IS a cubs board, whatcha doing here? Read my comments on sox report, i am (generally) quite polite. i understand I AM A GUEST. you "dispute" a great many sox fans simply "appeared" in '05? that is objective, either of us could be right... i do not dispute sox have a great many TRUE FANS, i just wonder why we find soooo many on the "hated cubs boards"...to bash perhaps? its a waste, we do not respect (most) of ur opinions. we may pay attn to an intelligent/constructive post, but not some moron saying: "Cubs Suck", "completely useless by sept", "102 yrs & waiting" etc. Until Sox fans come here (as i do on sox boards) to COMMENT not insult, things will continue as is. Please, be kind enuf to explain yourself? (ps-gost "earned" that comment i made, "keep a clean house before insulting others"...)
  13. jeffstorm2
    228. Posted by jeffstorm2 Sun Nov 1 3:12pm EST

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    oops! "southciceroave"- OBVIOUSLY, yet another "sox fan"... i wonder what he's doing her...oops! no i don't. typical. i won't even bother to check Sox Report for "sca"...another "sox fan" showin his support on a cub page! anyone see a pattern forming here??? ouch! very "vocal"- i musta touched a nerve? Fishing for "sox fans" on cub boards, could be new olympic sport!!! like i said- too ez. have a nice day, sca- REMEMBER- You came HERE. ~yawn~
  14. <i>southciceroave</i>
    227. Posted by southciceroave Sun Nov 1 3:02pm EST

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    hey jeffstorm2 do everyone a favor and blow it out your a$$.
  15. jeffstorm2
    226. Posted by jeffstorm2 Sun Nov 1 2:16pm EST

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    becuz i'm a "nice guy", i did the "work" for any interested parties- 130 TOTAL sox posts on report (about 100 less than this single cubs board-after MONTHS to post on Sox Report...) - "gosts" name appears, lemme see here, 130 posts, ... 7 were mine...hmmm...that's 5.38%...hmmm...gost appears... NOT ONCE?! wow! surprise-surprise! i know..., he "changed his posting name"? "doesnt post on team report"? "just got a computer"? whatever. don't worry gost, ur anything but alone. now, keep talking, i'm sure after that lil info i posted, we cubs fans are "waiting with baited breath" for ur wisdom... ~yawn~
  16. jeffstorm2
    225. Posted by jeffstorm2 Sun Nov 1 2:05pm EST

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    "space gost post"- its not nessecary to "tell us ur a Sox fan"... u ARE on a cubs board, that proves ur a sox fan! i have an idea! anyone who thinks i am WRONG about sox "fans" not supporting their team, plz do the following: go to/google "White Sox Team Report"- a) count how many posts there aaaallll summer long (this SINGLE Cubs post prolly triples it-last i saw, bout 130...) -b) count how many times "space gost post" posted "on his own teams board"...nuff said. the results WILL NOT surprise you. but, funny "gay slant" gost- got one for ya too! " a cubs fan & a sox fan are at da crosstown, they go in the bathroom together, after they finish using the urinal, the cub fan walks toward the door...the sox fans says; "we were taught to wash our hands after using the bathroom!", cub fan replies; "we were taught not to piss on ours!" you "sox fans" just keep postin more on cub boards than ur own, a wise man once said "the proofs in the pudding".too ez to show the lack of support by alledged "sox fans"! see ur attendance, how long it took to sell the bricks in ur '05 tribute memorial, and where ur FOUND posting... don't worry, next time u guys win the WS ANOTHER few 100,000 will "spring up", of course, "fans their whole lives"! snicker~snicker
  17. Robertinho Nova Yorque
    224. Posted by Robertinho Nova Yorque Sun Nov 1 10:32am EST

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    2108 The Chicago Cubs finally wins the World Series the drought is finally washed away! lmafao
  18. space gost post
    223. Posted by space gost post Sun Nov 1 10:16am EST

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    I heard the new owner met his wife at the park did Tom say what the name of the guy was he married
  19. space gost post
    222. Posted by space gost post Sun Nov 1 10:11am EST

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    If this team was playing anywhere else the place would be empty cause fans else where want winners. Only the sap suckers on the northside would put up with this of course the only girls they kiss are there sisters.and that's only on holidays or a cubs win which ever comes first. There is actually nothing up north I want so as long as they stay on there side of madison ave that's great. I go to cross town classic games on the southside as do most sox fans.. whatever they did to a goat up there I feel is there business or don't ask don't tell.
  20. Nate
    221. Posted by Nate Sun Nov 1 9:36am EST

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    This is not a team that can take it to the next level, and Hendry is certainly not worthy of keeping his job one more year.
  21. Cubs Dynasty
    220. Posted by Cubs Dynasty Sun Nov 1 8:32am EST

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    POst 172..excellent comments! I think DeRosa would have been a plus and I did not want to see him go....but just not enough to pick up the 8 games needed to win 2009 Division,,,he would have contributed to at least some fire on the team........the 2009 Cubs looked like they were just going through the motions ---win or lose-------- ALL SEASON LONG.....geeze.....They should have used Gregg as a STARTER and then we could have shut off the TV by the third inning every fourth or fifth day...........just kidding......I think Gregg can bounce back in 2010 depending on whether the Cubs can get a left handed bullpen ace...Gregg may have been under way too much pressure......or had a sore arm....the Dynasty is coming soon...2010 begins....
  22. stillhavnfun
    219. Posted by stillhavnfun Sun Nov 1 4:47am EST

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    #216 got me LOL and its like 3am hey im really dissappointed mark cuban did'nt get the cubs,
    win or loose he would have kept it interesting. i think he would have called stienbrenner had he
    gotten em and told him he's got competition now and made good to his word,cuban would've been hands on no @#$%footin around.its too bad he would've went balls to the wall til he got the title and then told stienbrenner he intends to keep it.having said that BUD SELIG SUCKS he was quick to chop cuban off at the ankles it wasn't even funny,of course there can be only 1 evil empire.
  23. stillhavnfun
    218. Posted by stillhavnfun Sun Nov 1 4:31am EST

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    sorry 190 i meant #211 cause its there!
  24. stillhavnfun
    217. Posted by stillhavnfun Sun Nov 1 4:23am EST

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    To all our faithful fans keep giving us your money, "dumb asses" now sit down shut up drink and keep drinking and don't worry about score or whose winning #190 that includes you ! now stay good and drunk and we'll see ya next year cause like you said cause its there,love your cubs no matter what and we'll continue to love your money and claim you as the best fans in the baseball.OUCH
  25. stillhavnfun
    216. Posted by stillhavnfun Sun Nov 1 4:09am EST

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    190 thinks the cubs are broke and have no money.seriously,your joking right? there are a couple of
    phrases you may have heard of in your life,1 be loopholes in the laws and the 2nd being jumpimg through hoops they pertain specifically to our court system.these acts are what separates good legal representation from the crap.the cubs organization is a cash cow alive and well.plenty of money to be thrown in all the wrong directions,as we are supposed think,but after 45yrs of watching them,maybe they know someting we don't know.maybe they want us to believe they're making mistakes when in fact they purposely fail year to year and the cash cow still lives and isn't showing signs of fading.food for though,i know if i was a billionaire and living large on a substandard product that all of you just kept buying up,i would'nt fix a thing, nope i'd string ya along and milk ya for as much as i could, til my secret was out then i might fix but not before.OUCH HURTS DON'T IT!
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