When Brian Addison was a boy, his father took him to Wrigley Field to watch the Chicago Cubs. Now a 34-year-old Chicago marketing executive, Addison describes Wrigley Field as his favorite place on earth. He hopes that his 11-month-old son, Gavin, will be able to enjoy Wrigley just as he did.
But the Addisons might not get that chance, writes Enea Zhonga of Scripps Howard News Service. After Sam Zell took over the Cubs and Wrigley Field as part of his purchase of the Tribune Co. last year, he announced that he plans to sell the team and the stadium, prompting fears that new owners would sell the naming rights to the historic park for millions of dollars.
“It's a signal of how business has truly invaded the world of sports,” Addison said. “To me, it's strange to call it by any other name. It's like if you had a family member who all of a sudden changed their name. It's going to feel totally foreign.”
Chicago-based Beam Global Spirits and Wine shares Addison's concern. The company recently placed a billboard at the intersection of Clark and Addison streets adjacent to Wrigley that declares “Save Our Ballpark's Name.”
The billboard also contains a link to the Web site SaveOurName.com, where fans can register to save Wrigley's name. More than 500 fans signed the online petition Tuesday.
But Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney said his No. 1 priority is to win a World Series, which the Cubs haven't accomplished since 1908. The stadium, built in 1914, became Wrigley Field in 1926 after the chewing gum magnate and the team's then-owner changed the name from Cubs Stadium.
“My first goal is to win a championship,” Kenney said. “My second goal is to do it in this great ballpark, and my third is do it with the name Wrigley Field. But if a new owner believes that those priorities are the right ones and we have an opportunity to improve the ballclub with the naming rights people, we'll look at that.”
TRIVIA TIME
Name the four streets that enclose Wrigley Field's block.
LET A WEIGHTLIFTER DO IT
Officials have rejected Maria Sharapova's request to carry the Russian flag in the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
“She wanted to be a flag-bearer, but I advised against it,” Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev said yesterday. “I don't want her to spend three or four hours in hot weather waiting to march . . . We want her to be fresh, not tired, during her matches.”
Sharapova, ranked second in the world, headlines the Russian women's tennis team in China. She will be joined by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina, ranked fourth, fifth and ninth in the world, respectively.
THIS DAY IN BALL
On today's date in 1916 the Cleveland Indians wore numbers on their sleeves in a game against the Chicago White Sox, the first time players were identified by numbers corresponding to the scorecard.
TRIVIA ANSWER
Clark Street runs northwest to southeast along the third base side of the park; Addison Street runs east-west along the first base side; Sheffield Avenue north-south behind the right-field bleachers; and Waveland Avenue east-west behind the left-field bleachers.
– COMPILED BY STEVE OAKEY
FROM NEWS SERVICES, ONLINE REPORTS
