Steve Stone on Crain's Chicago Business Re: New ownership, Wrigley renovations

Worth a read, especially regarding ticket prices.

6 months ago chilango2 14 comments 0 recs |

Comments

Well, it isn't

1967 any more, I think we all know that. With big markets, come big payrolls. Nobody seems to be overly upset about the high-priced tickets of the NFL, NBA and the NHL.

Has anybody checked the ticker prices of the L-A Dodgers recently? I really don’t hear Dodgers fans up in arms, they just keep coming. There may be a price ‘tipping point’ in smaller markets, though.

Stone is only speaking of the inevitable. The clock can’t be turned back.

by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on May 4, 2009 11:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

how do the prices of tickets

correlate with the average income of their market is a better way to judge if they are over priced or not IMO

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on May 4, 2009 11:59 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

More ramblings by the

bitter old Stoney. It gets old reading him ripping the Cubs organization.
He’s never run anything in baseball other than his mouth.

by cubswin on May 4, 2009 12:55 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

100% agreed.

Why Ed Sherman chose Stone, who has not been associated with the Cubs in five years and who is now a White Sox broadcaster, for these remarks is mystifying.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 4, 2009 1:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just putting it out there

I thought y’all get a kick out of it.

One day I hope to come up with something worthy of this space.

by chilango2 on May 4, 2009 1:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stone’s perspective is worthy here. He spend a ton of time as a Cubs announcer under TribCo ownership, was involved with at least one group trying to buy the team, and still is incredibly well connected to the baseball world. He was also WSCR’s baseball expert for BOTH Chicago teams for several years, up until last year.

by dmlichte on May 4, 2009 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

ya, man...

… bitter old Stone, who said that Ricketts would be great for the Cubs and spent a good amount of time talking about the good of TribCo, along with the bad. But I people will read what they want to read.

by dmlichte on May 4, 2009 3:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ya know I used to defend

that arrogant bastard simply because I thought he knew what he was talking about. But that was 2004 and before in the booth at Clark and Addison.

And he did know what he was talking about…when it came to what pitch was going to be thrown on a 2-2 count with 2 outs, runners on 1st and 3rd in the 6th inning of a tie game.

Here, he’s just Bitter-old Stoney. And from now on I guess that’s how I will view him because it is very apparent he is still jilted by his girlfriend that kicked him to the curb in 2004.

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on May 4, 2009 2:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

here we go...

… with the anti Stone stuff. Those of you are going on that route, what do you disagree with what he said?

by dmlichte on May 4, 2009 3:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Nothing groundbreaking

but I don’t see anything that’s anti-Cub or bashing the team, the new owner or Wrigley. All he is saying is that renovations need to be made and that he suspects the prices of it will be passed on to the fan in the way of ticket prices, which may price some people out of seeing many games.

What a horrible whiny old curmudgeon he is!!!

The anti-Stone posters sound a lot more bitter than Steve does.

by ScottT on May 4, 2009 4:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Its just one of those things

Its become fashionable for people to jump up and down on Stone. Everyone else is allowed to give their opinion, positive and negative, but when Stone does, he’s just bitter and angry that he never got to be a GM, owner, president, pitching coach, etc, even when his opinion is pretty neutral.

by dmlichte on May 4, 2009 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

I'm not in the anti-Stone club.

I just think his time has passed, and there’s nothing in that link that’s groundbreaking or anything really newsworthy.

A lot of people are already priced out of seeing games.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al on May 5, 2009 8:33 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stone

It may not be newsworthy to those of us who spend far too much time on the Cubs but for the mainstream Cub fans as well as people who read Crains, this may be news to them. If you don’t think Stone should have been interviewed for the piece then criticize Ed Sherman, but again, even if Stone is no longer with the Cubs he’s very well connected to the Chicago baseball world, even the Cubs, and provides a good perspective on the ownership transition. It just strikes me that even in this story, that is not groundbreaking, people find a way to label his opinions as bitter.

by dmlichte on May 5, 2009 9:11 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Steve Stone....

knows as much or more about Chicago baseball, and the Cubs in particular, as anyone in this town. I know I am a totally biased Steve Stone fan, but I have never seen anyone who understands the inner-workings of the game the way he does. And as much as I miss him during broadcasts (no disrespect to Len and Bob, who I really like and respect) the fact that he is no longer employed by the team allows him to speak more freely and candidly instead of towing the company line like he had to do for all those years. Not sure why there is so much anti-Stone feelings here….he is one guy who truly likes, I think, both Chicago teams and cares about the fans.

I thought everything he said was totally accurate, especially regarding the whole ownership situation. But having said that, I still have no problem with these big contracts, because we have reached the point in baseball where you can either spend big, or be a second division team. And don’t tell me about the Rays—watch what happens when those guys hit free agency and are looking for a big payday. Think they’ll get it in Tampa? They’ll be headed to New York, Boston, L.A. or hopefully Chicago. To build a consistent winner, you have to spend money, or you better have one hell of a farm system.

"Don't complain to me about the stormy weather, boys. Just bring the ship into port." --Steve Stone, September 2004

by ctcoff99 on May 8, 2009 1:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs