Cubs 2021

[Angel Hernandez]

My friends who are Cubs fans are already telling me "atleast we sell out our ballpark"  when things are going bad and they dont want to talk about the the actual team those fans glorify themselves. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by Angel Hernandez

[southsider2k5]

15 minutes ago, Angel Hernandez said:

My friends who are Cubs fans are already telling me "atleast we sell out our ballpark"  when things are going bad and they dont want to talk about the the actual team those fans glorify themselves. 

The Justin Beiber Effect.

Popularity doesn't equal quality.

[NWINFan]

6 hours ago, Angel Hernandez said:

My friends who are Cubs fans are already telling me "atleast we sell out our ballpark"  when things are going bad and they dont want to talk about the the actual team those fans glorify themselves. 

Ah, yes, the attendance championships. How I envy them.

[South Side Hit Men]

Sounds like the Jake Arrieta era is over. 

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/cubs-jake-arrieta-seeks-storybook-ending-4-years-too-late

[The Grinder]

On 7/5/2021 at 3:09 PM, Angel Hernandez said:

My friends who are Cubs fans are already telling me "atleast we sell out our ballpark"  when things are going bad and they dont want to talk about the the actual team those fans glorify themselves. 

Isnt Wrigley Spearmint Gum Field the orginal corporate named park?

(I know it was named after the family, not the product but sounds good!)

[The Grinder]

On 6/30/2021 at 6:04 PM, NWINFan said:

Cub fans are saying Arrietta has nothing left in the tank and this is what happens when you trying to fill a hole with a waiver pick-up.

Sounds like our boys

[caulfield12]

Marquee Network, that 10-12 games over .500 roll was nice while it lasted…months of bitterness and recriminations coming soon.  At least the ownership group/family won’t attract any vitriol, haha.

Edited July 7, 2021 by caulfield12

[35thstreetswarm]

On 6/25/2021 at 6:21 AM, South Side Hit Men said:

Four Cub pitchers combined for a no-hitter last night, defeating Walker Buehler and the Dodgers 4-0 at Chavez Ravine. Far from a perfect game, all four Cubs pitchers walked at least one batter, with starter Zach Davies walking 5 in his 6 innings of work.

Alec Mills pitched the last Cubs no-hitter in Milwaukee last year. Perhaps this defeat will be the difference in home field advantage between the White Sox and Dodgers come October. The Cubs remain atop the NL Central with a 42-33 record.

 

[Freeze frame of laughing faces and clinking glasses.]  Narrator: “yes, we were on top of the world.  Little did we know…”

[South Side Hit Men]

1 hour ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

[Freeze frame of laughing faces and clinking glasses.]  Narrator: “yes, we were on top of the world.  Little did we know…”

They have gone 2-13 since. Setting aside the tanking years (see below), the last time the Sox went through a stretch that bad was twice under Robin Ventura in 2013.

Recent "Trying" bad stretches:

• 1-13 July 22- August 4, 2013
• 2-15 August 30 - September 15, 2013

 "Tanking" bad stretches:

• 2-17 July 4-29, 2017
• 2-14 April 2-18, 2018
• 2-13 April 28 (Game 2) - May 16, 2018

The Chicago White Sox have never gone through a 2-18 stretch, a feat the Cubs will reach if they lose their next five games.

On the opposite end of the spectrum,

Chicago White Sox teams which were never under .500 (season high water mark):

• 1917 (48 games over .500). Manager Pants Rowland (World Series Champions)
• 1919 (41 games over .500). Manager Kid Gleason (American League Champions #) 
• 1920 (39 games over .500). Manager Kid Gleason (Second Place American League)
• 2005 (36 games over .500). Manager Ozzie Guillen (World Series Champions)
• 1959 (35 games over .500). Manager Al Lopez (American League Champions)
• 1901 (34 games over .500) .Manager Clark Griffith (American League Champions *)
• 1957 (29 games over .500). Manager Al Lopez (Second Place American League)
• 1990 (27 games over .500). Manager Jeff Torborg (Second Place American League West)
• 1982 (14 games over .500). Manager Tony La Russa (Third Place American League West)

* - Pre World Series Era.

# - Intentionally lost the World Series

Edited July 11, 2021 by South Side Hit Men

[Kyyle23]

It's crazy how fast they went from playoff contender to sell off, and now there is some Locker room bitching from Contreras.   

[CentralChamps21]

Mods please change thread title to Cubs 2022.

[Kyyle23]

20 minutes ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

Mods please change thread title to Cubs 2022.

We will in 2022

[CentralChamps21]

4 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

We will in 2022

Look up. The joke is flying around up there.

[NWINFan]

1 hour ago, Kyyle23 said:

It's crazy how fast they went from playoff contender to sell off, and now there is some Locker room bitching from Contreras.   

The Cubs are still the popular franchise with the Disneyland surrounding their ballpark. But the Lovable Loser days are over. Their fans are not going to be happy with another tank job. The team may actually see that popularity fade some if the losing continues. They are going to have to spend their way out of this especially if the White Sox keep winning and maintain success.

[ron883]

On 7/5/2021 at 3:09 PM, Angel Hernandez said:

My friends who are Cubs fans are already telling me "atleast we sell out our ballpark"  when things are going bad and they dont want to talk about the the actual team those fans glorify themselves. 

I'm glad none of my Cubs friends say annoying shit like these. All my friends, whether Cubs or Sox fans, have no ill will towards each other's teams. We'd all happily go to a ballgame on either side of town. 

[The Grinder]

On 7/14/2021 at 1:26 AM, ron883 said:

I'm glad none of my Cubs friends say annoying shit like these. All my friends, whether Cubs or Sox fans, have no ill will towards each other's teams. We'd all happily go to a ballgame on either side of town. 

In fact with some exceptions, I'd say most of my cub fans are actually pretty nice people. Its their team that sucks!!

[Bob Sacamano]

On 7/14/2021 at 1:26 AM, ron883 said:

I'm glad none of my Cubs friends say annoying shit like these. All my friends, whether Cubs or Sox fans, have no ill will towards each other's teams. We'd all happily go to a ballgame on either side of town. 

Some of my friends were this way but now that both teams have won world series in our lives plus just getting older, it's kind of gone.

[The Grinder]

28 minutes ago, manbearpuig said:

Some of my friends were this way but now that both teams have won world series in our lives plus just getting older, it's kind of gone.

IIRC both sides have won 3 World Series now, but the tiebreaker goes to the Sox as they defeated the cubs the one time they played eachother 

[ThirdGen]

On 7/5/2021 at 3:09 PM, Angel Hernandez said:

My friends who are Cubs fans are already telling me "atleast we sell out our ballpark"  when things are going bad and they dont want to talk about the the actual team those fans glorify themselves. 

Except for they are not selling out the ballpark.  Average attendance around 34000, only two sellouts.  And they have had 5 home dates against St Louis.

Tourism is still low, and out of towners are a significant source of ticket sales in normal years.  Tourists don't care about the quality of the team, they just want to hang in an old ballpark.

[South Side Hit Men]

4 hours ago, ThirdGen said:

Except for they are not selling out the ballpark.  Average attendance around 34000, only two sellouts.  And they have had 5 home dates against St Louis.

Tourism is still low, and out of towners are a significant source of ticket sales in normal years.  Tourists don't care about the quality of the team, they just want to hang in an old ballpark.

Most baseball fans have fun in any stadium, even the putrid ones like Tampa, or closed ones like Montreal and the Metrodome.

It's silly that Cubs (or any other) teams fans brag about attendance, but the Cubs and Sox earned their attendance, or lack thereof, the previous decade.

The vast majority of Cubs fans in attendance are from the area. They have an 100,000 + season ticket waiting list. Hopefully the Sox will have sustained success this decade which will also result in high demand and competitive teams as well.

The Sox and Cubs had similar attendance throughout the decades, rising and falling based on the teams fortunes, until Jerry came up with the brilliant SportsChannel scheme, kicked Harry Caray over to WGN / the Cubs, and the 50/50 town became a 60 Cubs /40 Sox town.

Since both teams have abandoned over the air broadcasts, and new Sox ownership will take over sometime this decade, I expect the split to revert a slow march back to normal over time, assuming both teams retain a similar stadium capacity.

Average yearly wins and game attendance:

• 1900s: 83/ 6,578 vs. 90 / 6,165
• 1910s: 80 / 7,312 vs. 83 / 5,324
• 1920s: 73 / 8,119 vs. 81 / 10,563
• 1930s: 68 / 5,379 vs. 89 / 11,388
• 1940s: 71 / 9,257 vs. 74 / 11,548
• 1950s: 85 / 14,518 vs. 67 / 11,235
• 1960s: 85 / 13,444 vs. 74 / 10,914
• 1970s: 75 / 13,740 vs. 79 / 16,909
• 1980s: 75 / 18,641 vs. 74 / 22,096 <= Jerry Arrives - Disconnect between winning and attendance began (Sox better team/less fans - first time in Chicago History).
• 1990s: 82 / 25,741 vs. 74 / 29,554
• 2000s: 86 / 27,161 vs. 81 / 37,503
• 2010s: 74 / 22,212 vs. 82 / 36,873

Turned into

[southsider2k5]

There is no bigger waste of time than spending it on attendance arguments.  Your team is the Justin Beiber of baseball, who cares?

[ThirdGen]

From the Wrigley Field project deliverable statement prior to renovations:

"As previously mentioned, over 3 million people visit Wrigley Field on an annual basis to see the Chicago Cubs. According to a study conducted by the Macrothink Institute, 73% of visitors to Wrigley Field/Wrigleyville are non-Chicago residents, and 30-40% of visitors are from outside the state. Over 50% of visitors identified the Cubs/Wrigley Field as their primary or sole motivation for visiting Chicago. Another study of visitors to Wrigley Field conducted by Scarborough Sports Marketing in 2012, found that 59% of Chicago Cubs game attendees are, employed full time, 54% are white collar workers, and 40% are college graduates. Additionally, nearly 50% of all adults in 17 counties in the Chicago area viewed a Cubs game via a media platform in the past year. 41 The Macrothink survey found that “attendees at Cubs home games may include a larger number of “baseball fans” as opposed to “Cubs fans,” going to Wrigley Field to participate in the tradition and history of professional baseball, that uniquely American game.” This implies that at least a portion of Cubs attendees are motivated to visit not out of any loyalty to or particular interest in the team, but rather out of interest in the sports heritage aspects of the stadium and game experience; “With its ivy-covered walls, natural grass, old fashioned scoreboard, closeness of the seats to the field, and simply years of existence, it’s hard to imagine a major league ball park that represents the history and tradition of the game better than Wrigley Field. The results suggest that some fans do indeed attend games at Wrigley to participate in the game’s history and tradition.”4

Microsoft Word - Wrigley-Field-Project-Deliverable-1.docx (mayorcitysports.org)

 

[South Side Hit Men]

The report posted is to pimp the as of yet under/severely underperforming hotels built in Wrigleyville, similar to pimiping non existent economic benefits to build sports stadiums, host the Olympics, and other taxpayer boondoggles.

The Cubs are nowhere close to drawing "30%-40%" of attendance (12,000-17,000 fans per game) from out of state, it is complete and utter rubbishit.  Any advantage of out of state attendance is primarily driven by the fact their two division rivals are closest to Chicago are the Cubs' division rivals (Milwaukee and Saint Louis), and both have spent enough to field competitive teams drawing significant numbers of fans (home and away). There is not a lot of demand the past few years from Detroit or Cleveland to watch their tanking teams play at Comiskey Park II. The Cubs have a much higher season ticket base, nobody is buying season tickets from out of state.

http://www.mlb.com/cws/downloads/y2009/cp_brochure_09.pdf

I'd expect the Cubs to have similar demographics, perhaps slightly higher income / higher % of city residents vs. suburban due to north side/ north shore income disparity vs. south side / south suburbs.

Edited July 19, 2021 by South Side Hit Men

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/ben-zobrist-says-wife-coaxed-212647125.html

Poor Zobrist... 

[Balta1701]

17 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

The report posted is to pimp the as of yet under/severely underperforming hotels built in Wrigleyville, similar to pimiping non existent economic benefits to build sports stadiums, host the Olympics, and other taxpayer boondoggles.

The Cubs are nowhere close to drawing "30%-40%" of attendance (12,000-17,000 fans per game) from out of state, it is complete and utter rubbishit.  Any advantage of out of state attendance is primarily driven by the fact their two division rivals are closest to Chicago are the Cubs' division rivals (Milwaukee and Saint Louis), and both have spent enough to field competitive teams drawing significant numbers of fans (home and away). There is not a lot of demand the past few years from Detroit or Cleveland to watch their tanking teams play at Comiskey Park II. The Cubs have a much higher season ticket base, nobody is buying season tickets from out of state.

http://www.mlb.com/cws/downloads/y2009/cp_brochure_09.pdf

I'd expect the Cubs to have similar demographics, perhaps slightly higher income / higher % of city residents vs. suburban due to north side/ north shore income disparity vs. south side / south suburbs.

Isn’t a significant portion of those out of state visitors due to people in Wisconsin and NW Indiana coming in then leaving when the game is over? I’ve done that before.