Very interesting article. I had no idea the WGN/Tribune "alliance" with the Cubs went back that far. How many of those games are still around on tape, I wonder?

Very interesting article.

i'll second that. it's a very good read.

This was a great read. Money quote

All the while, Phil and Bill Wrigley presided over the most incompetent baseball operations department in the game

The WGN-Tribune-Cubs relationship really explains a lot about how an incompetent ownership was allowed to continue for decades -- and when it came time to sell out, tapped its "partner" rather than having an open bidding on the Cubs. That's why the Ricketts family will be the first legit Cubs fans to run the team since William Wrigley, Jr. died in 1932.

We'll have more similar historical tracks in future blogs at www.TrueSlant.com/GeorgeCastle.

Wrigley presided over the most incompetent baseball operations

Somewhere, Mike Royko is chuckling. Or fuming, or both.

Very good stuff, and deserves a mention on the 'parity' thread.

Problem is, Bobby Dernier, that Royko did too much chuckling about the Cubs in his column while the Tribune and WGN used a hands-off approach to PK Wrigley. I wrote another blog that singled out Royko as a guy who could have done a lot of good by exposing the rot in ownership/front office in the 1970s, but instead played the Cubs for laughs. Royko had that kind of clout then.

But Tribune Co. execs meddled too much in baseball matters while mimicking the Wrigleys in not hiring the best and brightest to run the franchise.[/quote

This isn't really true.

The Tribune brought int Dallas Green and Dallas Green installed his system and his personnel and was given carte blanche. Dallas and his system at the time was either the best and brightest or among the best and brightest. After collusion and the rising of salaries and costs the Tribune company pulled back from the expensive Dallas Green system but they then went out and got Andy who again was viewed as being among the best and the brightest. The problem with the Tribune ownership wasn't that they wouldn't hire the best and the brightest but that they wouldn't let their GM behave like he was running a large market team with large amounts of yearly revenue. I think they were willing to do it with Dallas but a couple things got in the way. One was collusion and the second thing was the soaring cost of free agents. Suddenly it became very costly to purchase mediocrity or worse on the market. With Andy they still couldn't purchase the high priced free agents but they did let him go after the expensive prospects..

Problem is, Bobby Dernier, that Royko did too much chuckling about the Cubs in his column while the Tribune and WGN used a hands-off approach to PK Wrigley. I wrote another blog that singled out Royko as a guy who could have done a lot of good by exposing the rot in ownership/front office in the 1970s, but instead played the Cubs for laughs. Royko had that kind of clout then.

It seems everything was rotten in the 70's. The malaise was everywhere.

Royko was a political columnist and had a few more important things on his mind. His Cub columns were comic relief and I'd glad he saved his reformist spirit and biting tongue for the political targets that deserved it far more.

The article's OK but it's missing perhaps the most critical pieces of information -- how long is the current contract and at what money? I think it also overlooks a couple key facts of the recent history. Once owned by the Trib, it didn't matter from a corporate perspective what WGN paid for the broadcast rights -- profit is profit. It was just a question of whether they wanted this profit on the WGN books or the Cub books. They chose WGN presumably to both limit their Cub revenues (eventual revenue-sharing and helping baseball's eternal cry of not making money) and to make their broadcast arm more attractive to stockholders since that's where they intended their major expansion. The scenario mentioned in the article continued when WGN reacquired limited Sox television rights -- I recall at one point WGN was paying as much for something like 40 Sox games as they were for 60 Cubs games which was nuts given their ratings.

And while it's true the Trib wasn't calling for the Wrigleys' heads, I'd have liked to see evidence that the Sun-Times and Daily News (and whoever else was still around) were. I certainly don't recall any major howling during the 70s but maybe that was a calm period following the reasonably successful 68-73 stretch (plus a miracle early season run in 77). That's not to doubt the cozy relationship of the Trib and Cubs but it's also true that the sports pages of all papers in those times were much calmer, uncritical and geared more towards marketing.

He also downplays the success the Trib did have in a baseball sense. They were nowhere near as baseball-incompetent as the Wrigley sons. They took over in 1981 and the Cubs had a winner by 1984. Only recently have they had regular above-500 teams but the Trib also put the Cubs into the playoffs in 89, 98 and 03 -- nothing special but a lot better than what Cub fans were used to.

Anyway, someone paying that kind of money for the Cubs without the chance to (soon) negotiate the broadcast rights and/or build a regional network seems kinda crazy. Here is what looks like decent coverage and apparently the rights extend through 2022 although the article linked in what I linked "assumes" Ricketts must have negotiated some flexibility (that's good reporting!). Unless WGN paid something like a fair price this time, that sounds like a silly thing for Ricketts to have accepted in buying the team.

If I recall Castle wrote "Million to One" about the Cubs and I have that book and I recall that Castle is extremely critical about the Cubs for much of the post original Wrigley era. I read it something like 10 years ago but I just got the impression that it was a huge hatchet job. Everything seemed to be slanted to prove that everything was horrible about the Cubs.

I was just thinking something similar to Walt after reading this. The Tribune Co has done a much much better job with the Cubs than Wrigley did. In fact coming of age in the 80's was probably the best time to be a Cub fan since being in 1890 and being born in the 70's I didn't have to worry so much about plagues, wars, depressions, organized crime, and so forth. My dad was born in 1947 and his first three decades of Cubs baseball saw one bright spot, the Leo Durocher Cubs, while the rest was largely carp. In my first three decades of Cubs fandom I have something comparable to the Leo Durocher Cubs in the 00's, if not better thanks to expanded playoffs. Plus some bright spots in the 80's and a lone bright spot in the 90's. Yeah, it isn't the Yankees, Dodgers, or Cardinal like success but the Tribune did a pretty good job for an ownership group that owned a team for almost 30 years in these modern times.

Man, some of you guys have some rose-tinted nostalgia glasses on the Cubs.

Average record, Cubs in the 80's: 74-82, 4th place out of 6 teams
Average record, Cubs in the 90's: 74-82, 4th place out of 6 teams (5 yrs), 5 teams (4yrs), 7 teams (1yr)
Average record, Cubs in the 00's: 81-81, 3rd place out of 6 teams

They're better lately, of course, but there's still a lot of seesawing between 60 and 80+ wins.

They're better lately, of course, but there's still a lot of seesawing between 60 and 80+ wins.

Which makes average yearly record pointless.

Man, some of you guys have some rose-tinted nostalgia glasses on the Cubs.

Where is anyone saying the Cubs were the greatest team of all time?

Where is anyone saying the Cubs were the greatest team of all time?

Kayne West?

The 80's was a fun time to be a Cubs fan. Fron 1984 and on I should say, though Lee Elia was fun. The Cubs from 1984 and on were a talented fun team that always seemed to be an injury or something else away from winning games. The 90's for me was mediocrity and I drifted away from the team. The Cubs had only two really bad seasons and those were sandwiched around the 1998 season and 1999 had Sammy Sosa. The 2000's and had 2000, 2002, and 2006 as really bad with 2000 and 2002 being seasons in which it was just plainly obvious that they were bad teams.

It seems everything was rotten in the 70's. The malaise was everywhere.

Well, what do you expect? We were listening to Disco, and addled by drugs.

We're still addled by Drugs in the 21st century. Disco, not so much.

Where is anyone saying the Cubs were the greatest team of all time?

I'm saying that they had a lot of financial advantages that they didn't take advantage of. They haven't even averaged .500 during the last 3 decades!

No, you're saying that now in your second post. Your first post said that we had rose colored glasses on when we said the Tribune wasn't all that bad and that they were better than Wrigley.

First, Walt Davis: Royko was badly needed because the Chicago sports commentators and columnists prior to the 1980s were milquetoast, house men, uninformed or alterantely whimsical/cynical fools who did not bother to light a fire under the Wrigleys. Royko needed to fill that gaping hole, but didn't. His final column before he died in 1997 ripped the Cubs for not integrating their organization sooner, causing them to lose. Fans needed him to write that 25 years previously.

Then, Mr. McCoy...I appreciate your passion. You're lucky you missed some bad baseball pre-1980's. Trib Co. did meddle in the team. They undercut Green and forced him out in 1987, hired the unqualified Jim Frey as GM, and Frey did something far worse -- fired Gordon Goldsberry, who ran Green's effective scouting and farm system, best it's been in team history. The guilty parties were John Madigan and Don Grenesko. These guys thought they knew baseball Then in 1991, after Frey was stripped of power, Trib overseer Stanton Cook's hired-gun attorney pulled Maddux's contract off the table after he had agreed to five years, $25 million and waived his no-trade clause, against Scott Boras' advice. Cook successor Jim Dowdle thought he had the Trib Tower meddling problem licked by hiring MacPhail, a baseball guy who'd make out the budget with just one guy above him -- Dowdle (later Dennis FitzSimons and Crane Kenney) to sing off on it. Trib Co. found that MacPhail was spending less money than they had anticipated. He was too conservative to run a Top 5 club that the Cubs are in the game.

Sure, Trib uplifted the overall operation and got the Cubs into periodic postseasons, but they still have a long way to go. At the end of MacPhail's time, the Cubs ranked 29th of 30 teams in front-office staffing. They didn't have enough scouts and development people to do a first-rate, Red Sox-style job.

Again, stay tuned to my future blogs at www.TrueSlant.com/GeorgeCastle. I've covered this team for three decades.

PS, Walt:

No, I don't know how long the WGN contracts go. But Ricketts is also buying 25 percent of Comcast Sports Net, and that prevents him from starting up his own YES-style Cubs Network at the beginning. His priority over that is refurbishing or rebuilding Wrigley Field. That's gotta be done ASAP. The player facilities are far behind everyone else in the game, and it affects the Cubs' ability to prepare for 21st Century baseball.

Then, Mr. McCoy...I appreciate your passion. You're lucky you missed some bad baseball pre-1980's. Trib Co. did meddle in the team. They undercut Green and forced him out in 1987, hired the unqualified Jim Frey as GM, and Frey did something far worse -- fired Gordon Goldsberry, who ran Green's effective scouting and farm system, best it's been in team history. The guilty parties were John Madigan and Don Grenesko. These guys thought they knew baseball Then in 1991, after Frey was stripped of power, Trib overseer Stanton Cook's hired-gun attorney pulled Maddux's contract off the table after he had agreed to five years, $25 million and waived his no-trade clause, against Scott Boras' advice. Cook successor Jim Dowdle thought he had the Trib Tower meddling problem licked by hiring MacPhail, a baseball guy who'd make out the budget with just one guy above him -- Dowdle (later Dennis FitzSimons and Crane Kenney) to sing off on it. Trib Co. found that MacPhail was spending less money than they had anticipated. He was too conservative to run a Top 5 club that the Cubs are in the game.

Sure, Trib uplifted the overall operation and got the Cubs into periodic postseasons, but they still have a long way to go. At the end of MacPhail's time, the Cubs ranked 29th of 30 teams in front-office staffing. They didn't have enough scouts and development people to do a first-rate, Red Sox-style job.

Again, stay tuned to my future blogs at www.TrueSlant.com/GeorgeCastle. I've covered this team for three decades.

I have no doubt that the Wrigley tenure was backwards in a lot of ways and downright bad by the end. But my issue is with the belief that the Cubs would not get the best and the brightest. Your last post even disproves this statement. The Cubs went out and got Dallas Green who did a wonderful job for the Cubs and created one of the better developmental systems in the bigs. Yes, the Trib cut back on it and the well dried up. Yes, their GM screwed up the Maddux FA but that one is really all on Larry and not on the Trib. And if we want to pin the blame of losing Maddux on Himes and the Trib then you also have to pat them on the back for getting Sammy Sosa.

As for conservative Andy with his limited staff he did build a farm system that at one point was considered the best in the league and did produce a bunch of pitchers and some useful position players.

The Tribune Co owned the Cubs for almost 30 years and at one point had a front office staff that was the best in the business and a very good farm system. Let us see the Red Sox continue this great administration run into their second and third decade before we start holding up the Red Sox as the gold standard. 25 odd years ago the Cubs would have been the gold standard.

As for the TV contracts it would be really really great if we knew the details because if they are as bad as the Florida Marlins lease contracts then the Cubs and the fans could be screwed for a long time. I don't think they will be lopsided like that since WGN has a vested interest in the Cubs staying good. The deals just won't be as beneficial to the Cubs as if they were allowed to negotiate their own contract.

The player facilities are far behind everyone else in the game, and it affects the Cubs' ability to prepare for 21st Century baseball.

The Cubs need barca loungers and Wii to compete in the 21st century. ;)

But to answer it honestly. The Cubs play 81 home games a year what facilities do they need in able to compete for those 81 home games?

The Cubs need barca loungers and Wii to compete in the 21st century. ;)

Have you ever been in the Cubs' locker room? If everybody had barca loungers, there wouldn't be enough space to walk. If they had Wii, they'd have ten guys on the DL with broken jaws. The visitors' room is worse. Visiting football teams must have had to dress in shifts.

Yes, I know all about how small the locker rooms are. I'm simply questioning what improved locker rooms will do for the Cubs. The Cubs play a grand total of 81 games at Wrigley a year. What is it that they are lacking in facilities that is keeping the Cubs back as Castle suggests?

First, Walt Davis: Royko was badly needed because the Chicago sports commentators and columnists prior to the 1980s were milquetoast, house men, uninformed or alterantely whimsical/cynical fools who did not bother to light a fire under the Wrigleys. Royko needed to fill that gaping hole, but didn't.

Wow. Just wow. Yes, Chicago's leading political columnist should have instead wasted his time writing sports. Nobody needed to fill that gaping hole. It's sports.

No, I don't know how long the WGN contracts go.

Why not. It took me a minute.

I have to agree on the "best and brightest" point. Andy MacPhail, at the time he was hired by the Cubs, was almost quite literally everything to everyone. Wunderkind boy-who-would-be-king GM? Check. Veteran GM who won 2 World Series in his first 8 years? Check. Creative and flexible and innovative? Check. Ties to old-school, championship, played the right way baseball? Given a grandfather who owned the Yankees and is in the HOF and a father who did just about everything, is on the shortlist of best executives ever in the game, and is also in the Hall, of course check.

I was born in '78, so I'm not so familiar with Dallas Green being a top of the line GM candidate. I think of Dallas Green vaguely as the Cubs' GM but more so as a mediocre manager with a temper. But MacPhail? I think his hiring has to put to rest entirely the notion that they weren't willing to hire the best and brightest. It didn't work out so well, I don't dispute that. But hell, Steve Phillips only got to one WS, and he's one of the greatest GMs ever! At least that's what I heard when he was debating himself at a fake press conference.

I think they were willing to do it with Dallas but a couple things got in the way. One was collusion and the second thing was the soaring cost of free agents.

I would add a third -- Green clashed with Trib brass over his own title and control. When the '84 team went belly-up in 85 and 86 -- and that '84 team was built to win now; the rising star of Sandberg aside, that was an old team -- it was a no brainer to show Dallas the door. Dallas Green has a history of being... shall we say, a strong personality.

I lived through less than a decade of the Wrigleys - but heard plenty about them from those that had put in more time.

It's funny reading Andy MacPhail listed as a wunderkind - though I suppose he sort of was at the time. Have you heard the man talk? His quips are straight out of the quotable C. Montgomery Burns and Abe Simpson.

Interesting aside...

My cousin's husband went to college with one of the Ricketts' daughters and is still fairly good friends with her. No luck as of yet parleying this connection into a GM interview.

Problem is, Bobby Dernier, that Royko did too much chuckling about the Cubs in his column while the Tribune and WGN used a hands-off approach to PK Wrigley. I wrote another blog that singled out Royko as a guy who could have done a lot of good by exposing the rot in ownership/front office in the 1970s, but instead played the Cubs for laughs. Royko had that kind of clout then.

Hang on a tick. This does not follow. Mike Royko wrote for the Sun Times, until 1984.* He left when Rupert Murdock bought the paper. Only then did he move to the Trib. How could he be silenced from writing about PK by the Trib when he was writing for the rival paper?

* The Daily News until it went under in 1972, then the Sun Times.

He didn't say he was silenced by the Trib, he said Royko didn't choose to aggressively attack the Cubs. Meanwhile, the other paper (The Trib) is in a cushy quasi-marriage with the Cubs, so they wouldn't do it.

If this was 5 years ago or so you guys would be getting emails right now from Tribune employees telling you up and up everything is at the Tribune Co when it comes to reporting on the Cubs.


Anyone else ever get those? I got something like 3 or 4 of them, weird.

More to Walt and McCoy and Misirlou:

--Dallas Green was the only outside, competent GM hired in all that time prior to MacPhail. Andy's arch-conservatism got worse as he went along. His mantra: "Slow, steady, unspectacular," which he actually repeated to his Trib overseers. Otherwise, Wrigley and Trib either shuffled from within or hired Peter Principle guys like Jim Frey and Larry Himes. Frey had never worked in a front office before; he was a manager and hitting coach. Ed Lynch had only a couple of years' front-office experience.

--The Cubs' locker room is not only cramped, but also their weight rooms and trainer's rooms are too small. The batting cage is under the RF bleachers, inaccessible during games. The Cubs players have a net lowered from the ceiling in the clubhouse into which they practice their swings during games. All other teams have an accessible batting cage. Jim Thome said he'd take 100 swings a game in there to stay loose while with the White Sox, where the cage is right behind the dugout.

--Jim Frey told me if he had the power, he would have signed Maddux. The pulling-the-contract-to-which-Maddux-agreed-off-the-table took place before Larry Himes was hired to replace Frey. The damage already was done when Himes took over and, besides, Stanton Cook, the former Tribune Co. CEO who should have been retired by this point, was calling the financial shots.

--Where are all the position players MacPhail produced? Bobby Hill? Hee Seop Choi? Corey Patterson? Felix Pie? All over-hyped. At least Hill and Choi were turned over to get A-Ram and D-Lee. These guys never did anything elsewhere.

--The Daily News went under in February, 1978, then Royko moved to the Sun-Times, owned by the same company. In 1981, Royko enlisted Sun-Times publisher Marshall Field and former A's owner Charlie Finley to make a bid to buy the Cubs, but it was too late -- the inside-deal to TribCo. was already made. Royko did his Cubs quizzes and Slats Grobnik whimsical stuff. Worse yet, he hung out at the Billy Goat Tavern and with Trib columnist Dave Condon, revived the 1945 billy-goat curse story which a lot of people foolishly believe is true, since it's been repeated so often. No one wrote about the curse between 1945 and about 1970 when Royko and Condon revived it. Royko needed to stick his nose in the Cubs' business since Chicago sports media were considered the softest in the country. Royko never was censored by TribCo., but he was past his prime by then. There was behind-the-scenes racist stuff going on with the Cubs in the 1970's which only Royko could have adequately exposed.

PS,

Pat Gillick told me he turned down the chance to run the Cubs late in 1991 because he picked up on the fact in his interview with the team the Trib Co. executives weren't willing to do all what it took to win.

The player facilities are far behind everyone else in the game, and it affects the Cubs' ability to prepare for 21st Century baseball.

The players' treatment of the Gatorade machine does support this theory.

I've covered this team for three decades.

Reminds me of that "heals" guy.

Speaking of Royko, his son Robert was sentenced today to 30 months for armed robbery.

The pulling-the-contract-to-which-Maddux-agreed-off-the-table took place before Larry Himes was hired to replace Frey.

I thought that Himes was in place for at least a year before Maddux left. I remember some story about Himes having some pretty strict rules and Maddux having to sneak cheeseburgers in the locker room or something.

What strict rules for a locker room would prevent Maddux from eating a cheeseburger?

There was behind-the-scenes racist stuff going on with the Cubs in the 1970's which only Royko could have adequately exposed.

This is the sort of thing you should either keep to yourself or tell us the whole story. At least I'm not aware of it. That sounds like a great SABR presentation.

What strict rules for a locker room would prevent Maddux from eating a cheeseburger?

I thought that Himes had established rules for healthy eating and banned fast food from the clubhouse. Again, this is a vague memory from almost 20 years ago, but it's always stuck in my mind.

If he seriously did that, Larry Himes is dumber than ten Lasordas.

If he seriously did that, Larry Himes is dumber than ten Lasordas.

I'm not confident in my memory.

[attempts Google search on Himes/Maddux/Cheeseburger...]

Eh, nothing on-line that I can find. It would have to be newspaper archives from '91, though. Oh well.

No, I'd bet you're right. A search for- "larry himes" chicago cubs ban food -gave a result from 7/12/87 in the LA Times archive.

Carlton Fisk said he plans to defy General Manager Larry Himes' ban against beer and alcohol in the Chicago White Sox' clubhouses by bringing in a cooler for Thursday night's first game of the second half.

No reason to believe he didn't try to do something similar.

The Carlton Fisk beer ban controversy got a lot of play in the press here. I don't remember anything about Maddux and cheeseburgers, but that could be my faulty memory or a part of the Trib/Cubs happytalk policy.

I thought that Himes was in place for at least a year before Maddux left.

I did, too. I'm almost positive that Himes acquired Sammy Sosa for both Chicago teams, and Sosa and Maddux were teammates on the '92 Cubs.

Himes did acquire Sosa for both teams. I read that multiple places looking for the cheeseburger story.

I'm sure Castle could tell us a lot of things but it sure is a chuckle to hear him say he covered the Cubs for decades as proof that he is the authority in the room on the Cubs.

It could be that Castle is talking about a contract extension that got pulled before Himes was their but my memory always has Maddux being driven away by Himes. In fact there are several recent articles in which Himes admits Maddux is the one that got away in his career, Or something to that effect.

I found this:

Still, Sandberg cited Himes' draconian clubhouse rules and management style as one of the reasons for his departure in his autobiography 'Second to Home,' co-authored by Barry Rozner.

and this:

"Management is trying to change certain food groups in the clubhouses," Boston designated hitter Andre Dawson said. "Two years ago in Chicago, (Cubs general manager) Larry Himes took all sweets out of the clubhouse. He had fruits and juices put in, and we had pasta before games.

So my assumption is that I read the thing about Maddux and cheeseburgers in some column blaming Himes for letting Maddux go. I have no idea why I remember that. I'm certainly not claiming that it's the reason that Maddux left, my only point is that in my mind I was sure that Himes was there at the same time as Maddux.

I have an even bigger chuckle, McCoy, about your qualifications as a knowledgeable fan. Other than reading that one book, you know nothing about me. I've covered the Cubs since 1980 for a variety of publications and on-line sights, and worked the beat for the Times of NW Indiana since 1994. I've hosted my own syndicated weekly baseball show, "Diamond Gems," also since '94. Prior to working in the media, I went to 40 to 55 games a year at Wrigley Field all throughout the 1970s. I don't have to take a back seat to anyone in knowing what I'm talking about. McCoy or whatever your name is (I sign in under my own name), tell me how you know so much about the Cubs, give me your fan's resume.

For other posters: Maddux had agreed to a contract for five years and $25 million and waived the no-trade clause against the advice of Scott Boras. The deal was pulled off the table because Maddux did not agree to it by an arbitrary 5 p.m. Friday deadline. This took place in the off-season of 1991-92. The previous summer, Maddux told me he would settle in full-time in Chicago if he would be signed the following winter, going into his free-agent year. The villains were Cubs chairman Stanton Cook, who was the former CEO of Tribune Co., and hired-gun attorney Dennis Homerin. Himes did not botch this part of the deal, but he certainly did not have the people skills -- and he admitted as much -- to reel Maddux back in after this mess.

As far as the behind-the-scenes 1970s racist stuff, the Cubs traded Oscar Gamble because he was dating white girls. The team demoted or got rid of other African-American players because of their relationships outside their race. Ray Burris told me he was admonished by management for talking to a white woman outside Wrigley Field. She was merely head of Burris' fan club! The Wrigley-era management paid more attention to this petty crap instead of winning games. That was the difference between the Cubs and Pirates, who fielded the first all-black and Latin lineup on Sept. 1, 1971 while beating the Cubs 2 of every 3 games during that period. I talked to Al Oliver and Dave Parker about the Pirates' racial tolerance for my next book. Folks, trying reading my books -- they've been on sale for more than 10 years. Nobody else is writing as much on the Cubs as I have done.