Jed Hoyer speaks to Cubs season ticket holders at the annual STH Family Day

The Cubs are having their annual Family Days for season-ticket holders Monday and Tuesday, three sessions each day, one at 12 noon, one at 3 p.m. and one at 6 p.m.

I chose to go to the early session Monday afternoon, a fairly small gathering of about 250 or so (not surprising with kids in school, they’re expecting larger turnout for the evening sessions, perhaps as many as 2,000), and the Cubs brought out President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer to make a few remarks, moderated by Cole Wright of Marquee Sports Network.

I’ll make a few comments below about Hoyer’s remarks, but here they are in their entirety. Apologies for the lighting, but that’s where they seated Hoyer and Wright, behind section 117, and they put all the fans in the terrace sections closest to that. The video is 16 minutes long and worth your time.

Honestly, this isn’t anything you haven’t already heard in the interviews Hoyer has done recently with local media, talking about “intelligent” spending (you wouldn’t want “stupid” spending, would you?) and bringing a winner to Wrigley Field sooner rather than later. It was mostly, I think, a pep talk for STH to help convince anyone on the fence about renewing their tickets to do so. It was still nice to have him there — probably the first time he’s spoken to fans outside a Cubs Convention session — and also in attendance were Cubs executives Crane Kenney, Colin Faulkner, Cale Vennum and Julian Green.

After Hoyer’s remarks they showed this video of some of the prospects they’re touting for future success in the big leagues:

Can’t really argue with any of that, those are some guys who have had good years in 2021 and are among the best prospects in the system, particularly Brennen Davis. I think Davis has a chance to be a real star in MLB, but he definitely needs some more minor-league time. I’m hoping the Cubs will send him to the Arizona Fall League for some more at-bats this year.

Beyond that there was the usual hot dog/chips/soda free lunch from the team and the field open for catch or photos. Fans could also go into the dugouts and bullpens, the latter for BP or speed pitch. I decided to try the latter. It’s been a while: I peaked at 31 miles per hour. The press box, suites and a couple of the private clubs were open. I did go to the press box, as it has been renovated since I was last up there in 2019. There’s more space for working media and still a “break” area with tables where writers/broadcasters can have a pre-game meal.

Here are some more photos I took Monday afternoon. It’s always nice for the Cubs to open the ballpark to STH, and they couldn’t have asked for nicer weather, 80 degrees, low humidity and unlimited sunshine. Let’s hope for more of that, and better baseball, at Wrigley in 2022.

Al Yellon

Al Yellon