New Cubs owner vows to win World Series
Last Updated: Friday, October 30, 2009 | 1:33 PM ET
The Associated Press
Tom Ricketts talks about taking ownership of the Chicago Cubs during an interview Thursday. (Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press)The new owner of the Chicago Cubs knows what fans want to hear and he didn't wait long to deliver.
Tom Ricketts was only a few moments into his first news conference as owner of the storied franchise Friday when he said the Cubs will win the World Series and end an infamous drought that dates to 1908.
When? Who knows. How? Well, Ricketts said, there is no "magic bullet" but consistent talent will get the Cubs to the top.
Ricketts said there are plans to improve Wrigley Field but also preserve the feel of the venerable ballpark on Chicago's north side.
The family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder of Omaha, Neb.-based TD Ameritrade, this week closed a deal to buy a 95 per cent controlling interest in the Cubs, the ballpark and 25 per cent of Comcast Sportsnet, which broadcasts a number of Cubs games.
The Tribune Co. retains a five per cent stake.
The price tag was $845 million.
"It is a dream situation, a dream job. It's the best franchise in sports," Ricketts said earlier this week. "And I don't know any fans who wouldn't want to end up in the situation we're in today.
Tom Ricketts was a market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and a finance executive before starting investment bank Incapital LLC in 1999.
He will serve as chairman of the board, one that will include brothers Pete and Todd and sister Laura, who joined him Friday.
The business of baseball
Business principles will apply to baseball, Tom Ricketts said.
"You've got to look for ways to improve … your relationship with the fans and to keep growing the business," he said. "I think those are challenges that we're all ready for."
General manager Jim Hendry, criticized for offseason moves after the Cubs failed to make the playoffs for the first time in three years, has earned the chance to lead the team into next season, Ricketts said. Hendry has a contract through 2012.
Ricketts wouldn't comment on the future of mercurial outfielder Milton Bradley, who was suspended by Hendry for the final two weeks of the season for conduct detrimental to the team after he criticized the atmosphere surrounding the Cubs.
Bradley, who struggled mightily in his first season in Chicago, still has two years left on his contract for $21 million.
Tribune announced on opening day in 2007 that the Cubs and Wrigley Field would be sold at the end of that season.
But the process was slowed by the recession and Tribune's 2008 bankruptcy filing.
