The Cubs season just went over a bizarre Rolling Stones in their destructive prime edge.
At 2:30 p.m. yesterday, a package arrived at Wrigley Field addressed to Tom Ricketts. Inside, it contained a severed goat's head. The police were called to the scene to investigate the "intimidating" package.
At 3 p.m., the Cubs abruptly canceled their night game with the Brewers. The cold weather was given as the reason. Some people are not so sure.
Last night, Theo Epstein's star international prospect, Jorge Soler, was ejected from a Class A ball game. There was an altercation on the field during the game. The teams were separated, but Soler went back to the bench, got a baseball bat, and then charged the opposing team. Baseball altercations are mild pushing and shoving events. But running to get a deadly weapon in a wood bat is criminal assault. Afterward, the Cubs manager Dave Keller said that Soler was dealing with some "emotional issues." Really? Every player has to deal with emotional issues.
The Daytona Beach newspaper reported the problem started at the end of the seventh inning. Soler slid into second base following the final play of the inning. The opponent appeared to have landed on Soler, and Soler took offense. Soler and Clearwater second baseman Edgar Alonso exchanged words. Teammates came out to separate the two. Then the teams headed for their dugouts. But Soler came "sprinting" out of the Cub dugout with a bat toward the Clearwater dugout. Keller said
those few seconds were “kind of like a nightmare.”
Soler was the Cuban star that the Cubs invested $30 million. Now, early in his U.S. professional career, the Cubs have a Baby Zambrano on their hands. It calls into question on how the Cubs new baseball gurus failed to realize or deal with Soler's anger and emotional issues. This is a severe blow to Epstein's talent character evaluation/scouting skills.
These events come after another stormy day of counterattacks on the Wrigley Field redevelopment issues. Alderman Tunney has thrown up his hands, saying that each side keeps changing the terms of any proposal. The neighborhood associations continue to stress that they are not at the table in these discussions with the city. The rooftop owners have threatened a lawsuit to force the Cubs to honor their agreement. Ricketts admitted that the rooftop deal is "awkward" for the Cubs, i.e. has no loopholes to block the rooftop views which will occur with new jumbotron or advertising signage.
The last report was that the Cubs, who are allowed 20 night games per season, want to increase the total to 40 baseball games and 4 other events (concerts). This more than doubles the current status quo. Neighbors objected to that proposal on traffic, parking and security reasons. Then MLB injected that it wants the city to allow the league to "flex" any Cub game into a night game (which means all 81 home games and playoffs) when the team is "competitive" (which is a vague concept).
The neighborhood residents and businesses believe they are being steamrolled by the Ricketts grand plans to pour $500 million into Lakeview. Plans, they say, they have never seen so most of these "negotiations" are being conducted blindly. Which is to a developer's advantage to cloud the participants in multiple plans then in the end do what he wants to do because he will argue that everyone was aware of it and "agreed" to it.
Ricketts has said that the Cubs do not plan to move out of Wrigley Field. However, he is steadfast in saying that he won't put any of his money into Wrigley unless he gets what he wants - - - which is a significant change in the current building structure, more scoreboard/advertising signs in the outfield, and a massive hotel-retail-fitness center complex across the street. It appears that the Cubs do not want to go through the normal public zoning hearing process (where one presents a proposal, the public gets to review and comment on it, and public officials make a decision on the proposal). The Cubs just want a rubber stamp deal on their own terms. Wrigley is a unique property in a unique setting (a residential neighborhood). There are competitive interests that go beyond the Ricketts need to generate millions more in ball park revenue to fund his business and redevelopment plans.
The goat's head in a box delivered to Wrigley Field is not symbolic of lifting the curse of the baseball team, but an apparent angry response to the deteriorating situation between neighbors. It will be interesting to see how the Cubs deal with their new emotional partners, the Lakeview residents and Soler.
