Wrigley Field’s Friendly Confine Fallout

By Damian Greene

Caption: The Chicago Cubs historic institution is falling apart at the seams. The once rock-solid foundation has been compromised. The pieces are falling faster than the ratings of an NHL hockey game. Oh, by the way, Wrigley Field is deteriorating, too.

 

About two weeks ago, The Chicago Cubs began an inspection of Wrigley Field to address the issue of small chunks of concrete falling near fans during games.

Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley told Cubs’ officials...

“Fix Wrigley or I'll shut it down."

"We understand our primary responsibility is to provide a safe environment for our fans -- a responsibility we take very seriously," said president Andy MacPhail. "We are confident the steps we are employing will ensure as high a level of safety as is possible."

This past Wednesday, building inspectors gave the Cubs clearance to play at Wrigley Field. Fortunately, the Cubs were on a road trip, with the first game back at home against the Philadelphia Phillies, on July 30th. The game was played, as scheduled, the protective netting was in place and the stadium was deemed safe enough to keep fans from headaches.

I find it quite ironic that the above paragraphs can be rewritten to sum up the Cubs season so far. Let’s try it, shall we?

The Chicago Cubs, favored to make a trip to the World Series, had blocks of their own falling. Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Sammy Sosa all missed significant time because of injury. Aramis Ramirez and Todd Hollandsworth are trying to play through various bumps and bruises. Suspensions were handed to Cubs’ pitchers LaTroy Hawkins and Carlos Zambrano.

Sounds like fallen blocks to me.

Last week, the Cubs began an inspection of its organization to address the issue of a team who, instead of dominating the division, has fallen to 10.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

"Fix Wrigley or I'll shut it down."

The Cubs general manager took those words to heart. Jim Hendry donned his hardhat, steel-toed boots and went to work. Working feverishly to get the holes sealed up before the trading deadline, he installed one hell of a net.

Hendry was the architect of a four-team blockbuster that brought Boston Red Sox superstar Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs and relinquishing shortstop Alex Gonzalez and three minor league prospects.

When asked about the four-team swap, Hendry said, “I'm not usually one to be creative enough to do these four-way deals. I always call them 'Billy Beane' deals. I'm from the school where it's hard enough to do a one-on-one.”

The heart of the Chicago Cubs batting order now consists of Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Nomar Garciaparra, Derrick Lee and Aramis Ramirez.

What will be going through the heads of opposing pitchers facing this lineup...other than baseballs being hit <em>very hard</em> off of Cubs' bats?

This is the lineup the Cubs need to provide the run support that the pitching rotation desperately needs. The Cubs pitching staff has been outstanding, with only a lack of offense that keeps us from comparing them to the Atlanta Braves of the 90's.

But, for the moment, with the protective netting in place and an All-Star shortstop firmly installed, Wrigley Field and the Cubs themselves are now deemed safe enough to keep fans from headaches.

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