Winning at the gate

June 27, 2002

BY MIKE KILEYSTAFF REPORTER

Let the attendance-poor White Sox chew on this odd piece of Cubs gristle. Fans are pouring through the turnstiles this season at Wrigley Field, and apparently they will continue to do so through September 29, even though the Cubs appear headed for their worst stretch of performances in front of the home folks in more than 40 years.

So no matter what the Cubs do this weekend at Comiskey Park, they are the real winners in the battle for Chicago's hearts, minds and wallets. In the world of business, what else is there than the almighty dollar?

Not since 1956 to 1960, all years in which Cubs teams fell short of 40 home victories, have the boys of summer given their home fans less to cheer about than in the last four seasons. With this Cubs club 16-22 at home, it would have to go 24-19 in the remaining 43 home games to avoid falling short of 40 home wins for the third time in the last four years.

Does this team look capable of a winning record of any kind? The main difference from 1956-60, a stretch when no season had more than 979,904 show up at Wrigley, is the present fans aren't turned off by the bad baseball. The last three years have seen more than 2.7 million turn out every season, and this one will be no exception.

No wonder president/general manager Andy MacPhail was in New York again Wednesday trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the players union. Who would want the Wrigley Field gravy train to be suspended for even a little while?

You can be bad, and the fans will still come. What a deal.

Manager Jim Riggleman bowed out in 1999 with a 34-47 home record, and 2.8 million came to watch after 1998's playoff year. Riggleman's replacement, manager Don Baylor, narrowly improved on that with a 38-43 mark in his Cubs debut year in 2000. Last year's 48-33 home record was a welcome break in the trend, but only 16 home victories so far bodes very ill for the final tally.

Maybe the Cubs can go back to the college of coaches.

That's what happened in 1961, after this string of bad showings at home: 39-38 in manager Stan Hack's final year in 1956, followed by 31-46, 35-42 and 38-39 in manager Bob Scheffing's unproductive era. And, finally, Charlie Grimm and Lou Boudreau were both managers in 1960, when a 33-44 home record forced the decision that a college of coaches would be a smart move.

Managing by committee also got the Cubs nowhere for the next five years, but at least they won 40 home games or more four times to give Cubs fans some enjoyment.

And, of course, there were even fewer home games back then.

While it's stating the obvious, it's still amazing to think that there is no pressure on Cubs management to consider making changes or improvements to the club. Why should it when the club already is getting close to the maximum for the minimum?

Bad baseball was a way of life at Wrigley Field when fans weren't packing the joint. Now that Wrigley is an in-place to meet and greet, bad baseball is a way of life that can be too easily accepted by management.

Until someone can change the entrenched philosophy that less is more, the Cubs will be a joke to some--but their ideal is one that every marketing student should be made to study in detail.

Just how can anyone make so much money for giving the people what they don't want?