Welcome Back Baseball, Zell Hell and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, 1 and 2
By Jacki Rossi | February 29th, 2008 | Posted in General
In the words of Harry Caray, “hello again, everybody. It’s a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball.”
By time everyone reads this, you will have had time to dissect the lineup that included Theriot, Cedeno, Fukudome, D. Lee, Murton, Soto, Cintron, and Pie. You will also have discussed whether Dempster was ‘Rambo-ian’ enough. (Lou’s word, not mine). So, what did you think?
Baseball is back and not moment too soon. Finally, we have news to talk about and arguments to be had. I do warn you however, I felt like this week’s column should have been named, Triple Axis of Evil. Ok, a bit dramatic and it doesn’t really fit.
First things first, I don’t agree with Jay Mariotti often, but once in a blue moon it has been known to happen and this week it did – twice. Ladies and gentlemen, we have truly entered Zell Hell, (Mariotti’s word, not mine) and if you look closely, Sam Zell does look like a billy goat or maybe Golum from Lord of the Rings. Beware Cub fans, the future of the name Wrigley Field is held by a man who makes quotes like this, about advertising that his Tribune Co. properties should be embracing: “If we can run ads for erectile dysfunction and we can run ads for penis enlargement, what’s wrong with gentleman’s clubs? Seems like we have a double standard,”
Huh?
This is one topic that is not going to go away especially since Mariottti has called for a Cub fan crusade to voice the voice their outrage. Here are the cliff notes. Tribune Co. - and Cubs - owner Sam Zell once again stated on CNBC that he may sell the naming rights to the 94-year-old ballpark. His methodology centers around the fact revenue for naming rights are soaring, headlined by the $400 million, 20-year deal the New York Mets negotiated to name their new ballpark Citi Field. Coincidently, the Yankees, just turned down a naming rights offer of $50 million a year. Sorry to say baseball purists, this is not your father’s game anymore. Money talks and Zell has the legal rights to sell the name however he pleases. And somehow, I don’t think he cares about the public relation ramifications.
Me? I am walking a fine line here. I sort of feel it is inevitable that it will happen. Don’t get me wrong I feel the goosebumps when I walk up the steps to my seat for a game. I love watching batting practice in June when the ivy is finally green. The thing is, all that will happen if it is called Wrigley Field or International House of Wing (well maybe not, but you get the point)
Last time I checked, according to a Sun-Times poll, 67 percent of Cub fans said they would not attend another game if Sam Zell changes the name. Do you really think a name change will cause fans not to support the Cubs? You are talking about fans that blew up a silly Bartman ball in effort to get rid of a curse. Fans who watched Lou Brock get traded for Ernie Broglio and Greg Maddox defect to the Atlanta Braves. They’ll come back, they always do.
I am also not naïve enough to believe Zell will take the $500 gazillion plus he makes off the naming rights and use it towards a World Series or more importantly developing a consistent contender. He is going to take the money, put it in his pocket and get the hell out of dodge.
Or at least he better.
In shocking news, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, 10-year personal services contract with the Astros could be affected by a possible perjury investigation into whether he lied to Congress about using steroids. On Wednesday, Congress asked the agency to investigate whether Clemens “committed perjury and made knowingly false statements.”
Astros owner Drayton McLane said Thursday he might reconsider the deal — which kicks in when the pitcher officially retires — in light of Clemens’ legal issues. McLane said he’ll also wait before deciding if he’d want Clemens to play for the Astros again if he decided to make one more comeback.
“We’re going to have to wait and see what happens,” McLane said. “The last year, he didn’t make his decision until May. The year before, it was about May before he made a decision. This is still cold February. Hmm, the real question here is not whether he lied or not (he did) but what gives him the right to decide every year when to come back, how to come back and what team to come back to? That hardly seems right.
Finally, Barry Bonds remains unsigned, despite his remarkable résumé. (You didn’t think I would leave Barry out did you) Pending legal issues aside, he still posted a 1.045 OPS last season. Play GM for the day, would you sign him?
I must say that I agree with Rick Morrissey when he said this morning that any company who buys the naming right to Wrigley is not making an intelligent business decision. The most likely result is that the millions upon millions of Cub fans would boycott the company’s product in retaliation for desecrating Wrigley.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080228-cubs-naming-rights-rick-morrissey,1,3707234.column
Face it, the name Wrigely Field is going to get sold, it is not even worth our time worrying about it. Move on.
Yeah I think it will probably get sold. Truth be told, it’s named after a company already. William Wrigley didn’t name it after himself or his grandma. It was his company. Of course the company he named after himself but that’s what people do. Though it will be hard to shake the name, unlike Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, or other such baby stadiums. I agree that whoever buys it will be committing a minor act of suicide, but it wouldn’t last long cause by and large people are lazy with short term memories and it would be business as usual a year later.
If I were a GM I would still look at Bonds. At least as a DH in the AL. The guy is still an 800lb gorilla at the plate and I’m pretty sure he’s drank enough water to be clean now. As much of the money as possible would be pushed to the end of the contract with a strict ‘no payment upon conviction’ clause included.
Zell’s no dummy. He could very well simply be driving up the price of Wrigley Field. He may not want to be the one who sells the name, but the naming rights are an asset that the next Wrigley Field owner will acquire from Zell/Tribune. If WF is worth $400 million today, but is worth $400 million plus naming rights when it is sold, then it should sell for that higher price.
In other words, whether Zell really plans to sell the naming rights or not, he wants to be able to increase the selling price by making it clear the next owner will be getting more than just the building. That alone could drive up the selling price by $20 million or more. If the new owner keeps the Wrigley Field name, Zell will have made a cool $20 million pretty cheaply, don’t you think?
Joe, I read there was “minor discussion” about the Rays signing Bonds. Good move or bad move?
I would be okay if the purchasing company names it presents by. For example, International House of Wing presents Wrigley Field Home of the Chicago Cubs. They would also need to do some major fan friendly upgrades to Wrigley Field. However, if they completely remove the Wrigley Field name, count me in. I will boycot that company. Somethings just ain’t right.