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Rumor? - Cubs deny consider playing at the Cell for 2013


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QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 08:50 AM)
i would hate to be a MLB schedule maker if this happened. Accomodating both the Sox and Cubs schedules so they dont cross would have a big ripple effect on the entire league schedule

 

I am sure the computers plus a site like Milwaukee would be utilized.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 08:52 AM)
I am sure the computers plus a site like Milwaukee would be utilized.

 

I know it is a computer program, but I am thinking there are going to be some crazy Circus Trip-esque type roadtrips that will come about to make this work. Those are never fun

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QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 09:55 AM)
I know it is a computer program, but I am thinking there are going to be some crazy Circus Trip-esque type roadtrips that will come about to make this work. Those are never fun

I don't imagine it would be incredibly difficult to pull off as long as there weren't any other really odd quirks trying to be put into the system at the same time. 162 games, 81 for each team at home, then the nice benefit of 6 games against each other, and 10+ offdays as wild cards to move things around. As long as you schedule those 2 teams first and build the rest of the league around that, its' do-able.

 

The real worry is rainouts/makeup days. You've really got to make sure you plan in advance so that there are days when the ballpark actually is open late in the year.

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QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 08:50 AM)
i would hate to be a MLB schedule maker if this happened. Accomodating both the Sox and Cubs schedules so they dont cross would have a big ripple effect on the entire league schedule

It wouldn't require much. They rarely are both home at the same time. It wouldn't require much tweaking. I do think a day/night, where they are playing other opponents is out of the question though. Logiistically it would be rough with batting practice and the clubhouse situations. I don't think it could happen.

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QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 14, 2012 -> 11:24 AM)
I would be interested to see what the attendance figures would look like away from Wrigleyville, especially if it's a Cubs team that's still rebuilding. All the Cubs fans that love to use their attendance in Cubs/Sox arguments would have to put up or shut up.

 

This. Me and my Cub fan co-worker have had this argument for years--if the Cubs have to play at The Cell, will their "loyal" fans show up? This will be the experiment. And this is coming from a guy who can walk to Wrigley, so Sox games for me means an hour round trip on the el every time I go (more like 90 minutes if you include the walking).

 

That said, it will be interesting to see what happens to Wrigleyville businesses if the Cubs are gone for an entire season. That is their money-maker, the summer, and some of them I don't think will be able to survive. Think of the rooftops also. Maybe that's why the whole thing is being denied, because of the potential outcry from all the bars in the neighborhood (although this has got to be done sometime).

 

I'm all for the idea though. Makes perfect sense--why wouldn't you do this? And where else would they play? Thillens?

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Won't the Cubs have to do a remodel as the Angels and Royals did?

Where there's ugly construction for a couple seasons but they do it while still playing games?

Cubs can't afford to leave Wrigley for a full season like many of u stated, not for a mere remodel.

 

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QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 03:03 PM)
Won't the Cubs have to do a remodel as the Angels and Royals did?

Where there's ugly construction for a couple seasons but they do it while still playing games?

Cubs can't afford to leave Wrigley for a full season like many of u stated, not for a mere remodel.

The Cubs will pretty much have no choice but to do a remodel in the next few years, if for no other reason than to keep the structure safe. It won't be for long.

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Interesting now that Yahoo Sports is picking up on this rumor also:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...kfq9xE1CCURvLYF

 

Article:

 

It's the question that bubbles up whenever the Chicago Cubs talk about taking the scalpel to Wrigley Field and putting it through the extensive renovation it desperately needs: Just where would the team play if the construction work required shutting the Friendly Confines down for a season?

 

For all the silly talk about making Cubs fans drive 90 miles north to Milwaukee's Miller Park, there's really only one logical option, of course. That would be U.S. Cellular Field, home of the crosstown rival Chicago White Sox and located about a brisk eight-mile jog from the corner of Clark and Addison. There are even some local rumbles that the Cubs are considering taking up residence at The Cell for the 2013 season, though team officials are currently denying that arrangement.

 

There are any number of issues the Cubs have to work through before they even think about subletting somewhere, namely securing some public funding for this work.

 

U.S. Cellular Field (Getty)But as Neil deMause of Field of Schemes speculates, the surfacing of this story could be the Cubs way of floating a "trial balloon" to see how their fans regard the idea of trucking it south for an entire season. I suspect the more practical members of the Cubs' fanbase wouldn't see a problem with taking up residence at U.S. Cellular for a year, especially if it meant returning to retro-fitted comforts of Wrigley the following season. There's also a precedent of such a move working: The Yankees played two seasons at Shea Stadium when old Yankee Stadium was being renovated over 1974 and 1975.

 

The Cubs' fanbase, however, has never been particularly noted for its reasoning skills. Half of the Lincoln Park chad-trixie contingent operates under the (untrue) belief they'll be shot the minute they step off the train at 35th Street while another segment would rather travel to another state for a game than a different neighborhood in the city.* With the Cubs lately drawing a large segment of their attendance from the summer tourist crowd/Iowa tour bus caravan, I'm guessing their totals would crater if Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer don't have a winning product on the field by then.

 

*You probably only understand this paragraph if you live here, folks. And for the rest of you Stewies: No, it does not make any sense at all.

 

Of course, there's also the issue of whether or not South Siders would be down with welcoming Cubs fans to their turf for an entire summer.

 

And to answer that question, a trial balloon won't be necessary at all.

 

(No, they would not.)

Edited by SpainSOXfan09
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QUOTE (sunofgold @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 05:44 PM)
Just wondering. Why not tear it all down and rebuild it. They would have about 18 months to complete it. Just work around the clock for 18 months. Then they could make it much better and then not worry about it again for a long time.

Because the fact that it's historic wrigley field is literally that club's biggest asset. If they started from scratch, it would no longer be historic wrigley field, even if it's on the same spot and built to a similar design.

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QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 08:50 AM)
i would hate to be a MLB schedule maker if this happened. Accomodating both the Sox and Cubs schedules so they dont cross would have a big ripple effect on the entire league schedule

The sox and cubs play both at home a couple times a season already anyway. A lot of the vendors work at both parks so they try to keep one team home and the other on the road already. The two or three times a season it does happen the cubs usually play during the day and the sox at night. I don't think they've both been playing at home at the same time in awhile.

 

So I don't think this would be a problem.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 08:06 PM)
The Cubs will pretty much have no choice but to do a remodel in the next few years, if for no other reason than to keep the structure safe. It won't be for long.

 

But the Royals didn't have to play elsewhere for a year. They just did the ugly construction work during the season and during any warm weather they had after the season.

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But the Royals didn't have to play elsewhere for a year. They just did the ugly construction work during the season and during any warm weather they had after the season.

 

I wonder if a hinderance could be the cramped space where Wrigley is located. I mean to set up major renovation work I suppose they could move equipment and materials inside but probably some would need to be set up outside of the stadium as well. Dunno just takin a stab at tryin to understand the impact of shutting it down for a whole year.

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QUOTE (sunofgold @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 04:44 PM)
Just wondering. Why not tear it all down and rebuild it. They would have about 18 months to complete it. Just work around the clock for 18 months. Then they could make it much better and then not worry about it again for a long time.

 

I am pretty sure the shell at least is a registered National Historical site. Even a remodel is a big pain in the ass involving tons of extra permits and agencies.

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QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 09:42 PM)
But the Royals didn't have to play elsewhere for a year. They just did the ugly construction work during the season and during any warm weather they had after the season.

 

They also were drawing 8000 people a night, so no one was put off by their work. The Cubs don't have that sort of flexiblity

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QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 09:42 PM)
But the Royals didn't have to play elsewhere for a year. They just did the ugly construction work during the season and during any warm weather they had after the season.

Also, Wrigley will probably need to be torn to the bones. The guts (concourses, bathrooms, walk ways, ect) need major work as well as some structural improvements (remember the falling concrete?). If they want to add wider seats/aisles and add leg room, it's a LOT of work.

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The density of the area around Wrigley and the nature of the work that needs to be done dictates that the Cubs will have to vacate Wrigley for a year. As has been noted by others, Wrigley is in pretty bad shape and they are either going to have to do this work or build a new stadium, so either way there is going to be at least one season without baseball at Wrigley.

 

US Cellular is the only feasible option I can see for the Cubs for that season. Maybe it happens in 2013 or maybe a year or two later, but it pretty much has to happen soon. I think that the move to two 15-team leagues may make the scheduling a little bit easier, but if there are more than a couple rainouts, one or both teams may have to make up those games on the road.

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QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 16, 2012 -> 10:00 AM)
US Cellular is the only feasible option I can see for the Cubs for that season. Maybe it happens in 2013 or maybe a year or two later, but it pretty much has to happen soon. I think that the move to two 15-team leagues may make the scheduling a little bit easier, but if there are more than a couple rainouts, one or both teams may have to make up those games on the road.

It might well take someone actually getting hurt because of the quality of the facilities for it to really happen.

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