Around the turn of the last century, society began to change. People had more disposal income. They had personal time. They were able to go outside the home and socialize. One of the carry overs from these early cultural changes was the pepper mill. Invented in the early 1900s, the pepper mill was a kitchen tool to season food. But the mill came out of the kitchen to table service with wait staff, for the sole purpose of customer service. The uniqueness of dining out was enhanced by attention to detail and service such as freshly ground pepper table side. This tradition carries forward today. It had expanded to dining out being an entertainment event, with chefs creating Cesar salads or flaming crepes at the table.
The idea that a restaurant needs to add something more than good food to a patron's table is still important today. There are so much competition for the food-entertainment dollar service providers such as restaurants need to enhance the diner's experience in order to keep or grow their business. The wait staff can literally make or break a restaurant.
The exact same principles apply to running a baseball team.
The ball park experience includes many things, including food, drinks and atmosphere. It also has a sense of socialization, history and entertainment. But the focal point of the experience is still the park's "wait staff," i.e. the players on the field. The casual fan comes to the park with family and friends to see "a good game." A die hard fan comes to the park with family and friends to see his team win. Players come to the park each game with the thoughts of winning. In order to have a successful team, fans must believe that the product they are getting on the field is a good value.
Chicago Cub fans are loyal, almost to a fault. In the past, if a player hustled in the field and tried his best at the plate, the fans accepted his faults because the effort was there. Losses were tempered by hard nose play. Effort over talent could win the day. But late in the Tribune ownership era, the Cubs were re-branded as a championship caliber team (in some ways to charge champagne prices for games). Once the bleacher beach beer party crowd left the scene, all that was left was a mediocre Cubs squad running around the grounds like Keystone cops. The newer Cub fan wanted more.
This leads to the current predicament. On one hand, older fans just want to see a World Series in their lifetime. It has been several generations since the last World Series appearance. For some, time is literally running out. That fan loyalty has not be rewarded but cursed. On the other hand, some fans just want to see a competitive team - - - competent in the basic fundamentals of pitching, hitting and fielding - - - who can gel into the playoffs every now and again. This group just wants to have fun at Wrigley Field.
The dilemma is that older fans do not have the time or patience for a complete organizational rebuild. The other fans don't want to see a AAA team at major league prices. Only a sliver of die hard fans agree that the Cubs should tank for a couple years to get high draft picks and rebuild their minor league system to have a steady stream of home grown talent to be competitive for decades to come. This single track of rebuilding causes great concern because a) it is unproven in Chicago, a big market city; and b) the vast majority of prospects do not make it to the majors (the all-the-eggs-in-one-basket approach is risky).
There is another way. The White Sox have been criticized for having the worst minor league system in the league. The team does not spend much money on draft choices or foreign players. The farm system does not systematically produce new players year after year. However, the team is underrated in its ability to field competitive squads. The White Sox young starting rotation is the envy of the majors. The willingness to trade prospects for veteran players to improve the major league roster is the hallmark for the White Sox blueprint for success. They need to field a good team each year in order to draw fans. The ability to trade prospects for veterans, trade veterans for prospects and sign free agents has worked well for Kenny Williams and the White Sox over the years.
The Cubs and Theo Epstein are holding their prospects close to the vest. They are untouchables. Epstein continues to stress that Cub fans need to wait for these top prospects to develop into major leaguers. A long incubation period in the minors is contrary to the success of other teams who have put very young players (Strasburg and Harper in Washington for example) into the fire.
Bad teams tend to spruce up the ball park (or build a new taxpayer stadium like in Miami) in the hope to continue to lure patrons to games. Cosmetic changes in uniforms, give-a-ways, special promotions do little to enhance the on-field experience. Cubs ownership is focused in on creating their own mini-Disneyworld around Wrigley Field by 2015 which will have little impact on fielding a competitive team by that time. The time, money and resources devoted to building Ricketts real estate developments are not Cub assets but belong to other family business companies. The Cubs are mere tenants in Wrigley Field now. A small market team surrounded by side project, big money ownership dreams. It is taking some time for fans to realize this disconnection between the real estate development and the impact on the Cubs as a baseball franchise.
For Cub fans, the wait continues with a team that is comprised mainly of waiver claims and AAA players grinding through another losing season.
