Chicago Cubs

By neil@chicagocubsonline.com (Chicago Cubs Online) Let the free agent frenzy begin ... just not on the North Side of Chicago. The majority of changes the Cubs are looking to make this winter will reportedly come via the trade route and not opening up the checkbook of the Ricketts family. So on the third anniversary of Alfonso Soriano's mega deal be...

By neil@chicagocubsonline.com (Chicago Cubs Online) The Ricketts family spent time last week while they were in Mesa for the organizational meetings touring various sites in the area. Many feel the Cubs would not leave Arizona and are using Florida as a negotiating ploy to gain more leverage to get what they need in, or near, the Mesa area. But n...

There have been two big developments with the Cubs. One is that the team finally has changed hands, from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family, headed by Tom Ricketts. The other is that the Cubs pulled off what they feel is a coup by hiring hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, who spent 15 years in that...

Tom Ricketts has one simple plan for the Cubs .

Previous Cubs owners have been like a Kinks lyric: They want to fly but they can?t even swim.

There were a couple of very noticeable differences at Wrigley Field on Friday.

By Jeff Gordon Now that the Cubs are a family-run operation, it will be interesting to see how life changes on the North Side of Chicago. The Ricketts family used some of the billions earned building Ameritrade from scratch to rescue the ballclub from…

Laura Ricketts met a friend for lunch in Wrigleyville the same August day her family signed an agreement with Tribune Co. to purchase the Cubs . Her friend suggested they take a Wrigley Field tour to celebrate. They were sitting in the bleachers when the news reached another member of the tour...

By Kurt capitalize off the fame of the ballpark by selling naming rights you will face staunch opposition from the vast majority of the fans.  They apparently don't realize that Wrigley Field was the first ballpark to be named after a brand.

By BY NEIL HAYES nhayes@suntimes.com Laura Ricketts met a friend for lunch in Wrigleyville the same August day her family signed an agreement with Tribune Co. to purchase the Cubs. Her friend suggested they take a Wrigley Field tour to celebrate. They were sitting in the bleachers when the news reached another member of the tour...

By BY CHRIS DE LUCA cdeluca@suntimes.com Now that Tom Ricketts has control of the Cubs and Wrigley Field, he has plans to make immediate upgrades to the ballpark that turns 100 years old in 2014. Enough upgrades, he hopes, that Major League Baseball will agree to hold the 2014 All-Star Game at Wrigley.

By Jake Karmel Past owners have included William Hulbert, the first president of the National League, who took over the then named Chicago White Stockings in 1876. Albert Spalding took over as the team's general manager after the 1876 season. Spalding, became the team owner after Hulbert's death in 188...

The sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family is complete.

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The $845 million sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family was completed Tuesday, more than 2 1/2 years after the baseball franchise was put on the market.

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By Associated Press The sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family is complete.

Related articles from Palm Beach Post, Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, NBCSports.com, CBSSports.com.

The sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family is complete.

Related articles from Palm Beach Post, Kansas City Star, ESPN, Chicago Sun-Times, NBCSports.com, CBSSports.com.

The $845 million sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family was completed Tuesday, more than 2 1/2 years after the baseball franchise was put on the market.

Related articles from Palm Beach Post, Miami Herald, ESPN, Chicago Sun-Times, NBCSports.com, CBSSports.com.

CHICAGO — The $845 million sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and other assets from the Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family was completed Tuesday, more than 2 1/2 years after the baseball franchise was put on the market...

Related articles from Kansas City Star, Miami Herald, ESPN, Chicago Sun-Times, NBCSports.com, CBSSports.com.

By Chuck(noreply@blogger.com) The Ricketts Family is, as of this minute, the owner of the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field. According to Crain's, the deal closed this morning. The banks funded the deal, the cash changed hands, and the Tribune is out as a decision maker.

By BY DAVID ROEDER Staff Reporter The Chicago Cubs have a new owner. The Ricketts family officially assumed control of the team today upon the closing of its $845 million deal with Tribune Co.

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By Al The family closed a transaction Tuesday morning to take control of the team, Wrigley Field and other assets in a deal valued at $845 million. The family will hold a news conference Friday at the ballpark. Discuss, etc. Also see kaseyi's FanPost.

At 11 a.m. Friday, Tom Ricketts and his family will be introduced as the ninth owners of the Cubs. Ricketts is a bona-fide Cubs fan, not a corporate entity hiding inside a neo-Gothic tower on Michigan Avenue. He likes to drink beer and sit in the bleachers. He knows the pain of 2003 and the disappoi...

By Al Rudy Jaramillo is widely regarded as the premiere hitting instructor in the game," said Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry. "The addition of Rudy to our franchise is a strong statement from our new owners, the Ricketts family, and we thank them for allowing us to move quickly to fill this impo...

The sale of the Chicago Cubs moved closer Tuesday as a bankruptcy court judge said the team can go to the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts in a $845 million deal.

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Major League baseball owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family.

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Major League baseball owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family. The vote was made during a conference call Tuesday. Tom Ricketts, who has headed the sale for his family, could take day-to-day control of the Cubs by the end of the mon...

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By Holtzmaniac Per the normally useless Dave Kaplan, the other 29 owners of MLB teams met via conference call today and approved the sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts family.  Before things become official, it has to go through some bankruptcy issues next week.  After that, the banks putting up the cash to fu...

CHICAGO (AP) -Major League baseball owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Chicago Cubs from Tribune Co. to the Ricketts family.

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By Rob(noreply@blogger.com) First, the Cubs sale to the Ricketts family was unanimously approved by MLB owners. Secondly, Maury digests the attendance numbers (PDF) now that the regular season is final. The Angels are down 2.84% versus last year, while the Dodgers are up 0.85% versus 2008 attendance. Oakland (-17.39%) a...

By Sky Andrecheck Sunday's home loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks capped a 29-year ownership by the Chicago Tribune. The Cubs, which were bought by the Tribune for just $20 million in 1981, made for a handy investment - they sold this year to the Ricketts family for $900 million. While the Tribune was clearly a...

By Kurt But when the sale of the Tribune to Sam Zell was announced in April, 2007, the Cubs had a new defacto owner who pledged immediately to sell off his billion-dollar asset as quickly as possible.  Naturally, I thought that meant '07 would be a lost season -- after all, with a new owner the Cubs per...

By Chuck(noreply@blogger.com) Tribune Co. never figured out how to build a franchise that could be competitive for the long term. They never put a system in place. They never learned how to win. Meanwhile, across town, the Sox have figured it out. Ricketts could do far worse than to follow their lead.

By hosts@cubscast.com Episode: 548 - Breaking Bad: The Cubs Escape LA with a Lone Win, Ricketts Family and Tribune Agree on a Price for the Team, Good Bad and Ugly from the Weekend, and More (August 24) - Cubscast 2009 Season Podcasts - Cubscast.com - Hosted By: Lou, Sheps & Sneetch

By Chuck(noreply@blogger.com) Thomas Ricketts, who is leading his family’s bid for Tribune Co.’s Cubs, has lined up financing for the deal, but a dispute over price is delaying the transaction. At issue is about $40 million to $50 million — roughly 6% of the original bid, which also includes Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in...

By Rob(noreply@blogger.com) The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Sam Zell has sold the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field to a group headed by the Ricketts family for approximately $900M. The deal will need approval of MLB and the bankruptcy court, since Tribune Corp. is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.