There is a small undercurrent that will grow in the next few years into an interesting dynamic.
The Cubs have had a losing culture for generations.
When the Tribune sold the team in a bankruptcy move to raise cash, the new owners vowed to win a world championship.
When the front office changed to young geniuses with championship resumes, the fans bought into the rebuilding story line.
And the team continued to lose at historic levels of badness.
But as the team slowly turns around, there are several touchy points to consider as a fan.
The Ricketts family. They run hot and cold in the public mindset. But there is a growing trend that they are deemed unlikeable. Some take issue with the family politics, political issue baggage and blundering in Chicago politics on the Wrigley real estate ventures. A few take issue on how the Ricketts are running the team, as a secondary tenant in a grand scheme of building a mini-Disneyland at Clark and Addison. Some take issue that Tom Ricketts may know how to run a meeting, he does not know how to run a franchise. Ricketts has been compared to P.K. Wrigley.
The front office. Theo and Jed continue to be, in a word, smug. They continue to tell us they have a "plan" and "a process," which is corporate speak for "I know what I am doing" and "you can't understand it." Critics still believe that despite the small blimp of rookie success, that one did not have to do a minor league rebuild only - - - that a balanced approached could have brought 3 years of respectful, competitive play on the field for premium ticket prices. The counter is that the fans have to pay the high prices "to invest" in the hope of the future home grown products. That is condescending to the fan base. Fans don't pay for future performance, they pay to see their team win on the day printed on their game ticket.
The players. The channel of Rizzo, Castro, Alcantara, Baez and Soler have perked up dormant fans. They seem enthusiastic, energetic and having fun in the dugout. They sure swing for the fence like mad men. But box scores of team double digit strike out totals is alarming to a knowledgeable person. Despite hot starts, there is an illusion of success as Baez has fallen to batting .189 and Alcantara around .220. You can't have a roster of six batters hitting under .240 and expect to win a division.
At some point, fans are going to be confronted with mixed actions in regard to their team. Ricketts focus is on real estate development, not the Cubs. The front office is concerned about pooling minor league talent than spending on a competitive major league team. The players may have an undisciplined good time swinging for the fences, but their below average fundamentals will have long term negative consequences.
Can a fan dislike ownership, and still be deeply invested in his or her team?
Can a fan dislike the front office, and still be deeply invested in his or her team?
We have seen that fans can turn off the loyalty switch when their team is filled "unlikeable" players. It will be interesting to see how the factions come together in the near future, when money really has to be spent to get a winning team on the North Side while different agendas are at play.
