Righty could return in early June; Cashner, Wells progressing

CHICAGO — The Cubs lost another starting pitcher Tuesday as Matt Garza went on the disabled list, but they got good news on Andrew Cashner and expect Randy Wells back this weekend in the rotation.

Garza was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 18, with a right elbow bone contusion.

“I’m not happy going on the DL,” Garza said. “I’d rather get healthy and come back in a start or two and get after it.”

It wasn’t a specific pitch that caused the problem, Garza said, but something that’s been nagging him for some time. He underwent an MRI on Monday, which showed there was no structural damage.

“We’re just happy it’s just a bruise,” Garza said. “It could’ve been worse. There’s a lot of reasons things like that happen. It’s more wear and tear. If you’re a runner and your knees are sore, it’s usually a bruise. It’s something that happens.”

If all goes well, Garza (2-4, 3.72 ERA) could be ready for the Cubs’ series in St. Louis, which starts June 3. He will not throw for a few days to give the bruise time to heal.

“Optimistically, we feel that as soon as the full range of motion is back and he gets rid of the discomfort, he could be ready to pitch in St. Louis,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said.

The Cubs have been scrambling to fill two spots in the rotation with the loss of Cashner and Wells after their first turn in the rotation. They can’t afford to lose Garza for long.

“It was the best news we could hope for,” Hendry said of the MRI results.

Cashner has been on the disabled list since April 6 with a strained right rotator cuff and was examined on Monday by orthopedic specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum, who confirmed what the Cubs team doctor reported, which was aggravation of the shoulder. Cashner felt some discomfort before he was to pitch in a game at extended spring camp in Mesa, Ariz., last week.

“No surgery is needed or even close to being needed,” Hendry said of Cashner, who will restart his rehab.

Yocum was unable to provide an explanation as to why Cashner aggravated the shoulder but felt the right-hander will heal fine.

Wells, on the disabled list since April 5 with a strained right forearm, pitched four innings in his second rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Iowa. He was back at Wrigley Field on Tuesday and will start Saturday in the second game of the Cubs’ series against the Pirates.

“He threw the ball with a lot of snap, a lot of velocity,” Hendry said of Wells’ last rehab start. “He wasn’t sharp but the arm strength was good and the slider was good, and he’ll be ready to go Saturday.”

Wells said he was ready to throw 90 pitches. Being sidelined has been “difficult,” he said.

“You start asking a lot more questions and you start paying a lot more attention to minor things [when you're hurt],” he said.

Nagging elbow injury forces Garza to DL | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood

Cubs pitchers Kerry Wood and Andrew Cashner highlight April 26 debut event

CHICAGO (CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM) — WGN Radio and the Chicago Cubs have teamed up to present Cubs Corner at Wildfire Chicago, a series of seven one-hour radio broadcasts hosted over lunch featuring Cubs players, coaches, legends and management with WGN Sports Night hosts David Kaplan and Brian Noonan.

The first Cubs Corner broadcast will take place Tuesday, April 26, featuring Cubs pitchers Kerry Wood and Andrew Cashner. On-site registration begins at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a live broadcast from 12-1 p.m.

Each Cubs Corner broadcast will feature a question-and-answer radio format between David Kaplan, Brian Noonan and the Cubs’ featured guests. Members of the audience will have an opportunity to submit questions for the guests toward the end of each show.

Tickets to each Cubs Corner broadcast are priced at $75 per person, which includes tax and gratuity. Tickets for children 12 years of age and under may be purchased at $40. Valet parking will be available at a discounted rate of $6. Each ticket includes a lunch of signature Wildfire dishes, including dinner rolls, individual salads, an individual main course plate including filet mignon, grilled herb marinated chicken breast, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables and an individual flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Vegetarian and allergy-friendly meal options are available upon request.

Dates and featured guests for additional Cubs Corner broadcasts will be posted on Cubs.com, WGNRadio.com and WildfireRestaurant.com. Wildfire Chicago is located at 159 W. Erie St. Chicago, IL 60654. For more information or to make a reservation, please call Laura Rosen or Shannon Ryan of Wildfire Restaurants in Chicago at 312-787-9000 and mention the Cubs Corner events.

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WGN Radio 720, the 2010 IBA Large Market Station of the Year, is dedicated to being the #1 source of Chicagoland news, entertainment, sports, and information.  WGN Radio is the official broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Blackhawks, and Northwestern University and celebrates over 85 years of broadcasting in Chicago.  Listen online or on iPhone, Droid or Blackberry – details at wgnradio.com/listen. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/wgnradio and follow us on Twitter @WGN_Radio.

WGN Radio and Chicago Cubs present ‘Cubs Corner’ at Wildfire Chicago | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Cubs legend Ron Santo died Thursday night from complications from bladder cancer.

Chicago Cubs great and longtime WGN Radio announcer Ron Santo died Thursday night of complications from bladder cancer. He was 70.

In a statement Friday, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts praised Santo for “his passion, his loyalty, high great personal courage and his tremendous sense of humor.”

WGN reports that Santo died in an Arizona hospital from complications of bladder cancer.

Santo was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 18 and later lost both legs to  diabetes.

Santo was a nine-time all-star in his 15-year career. The third baseman was widely regarded as one of the best players never to gain induction into the Hall of Fame.

He ended his career with 342 home runs, more than 1,300 RBIs and a .277 batting average.

Ricketts says that Santo will always be “the heart and soul of Cubs fans” and the team plans to celebrate his contributions in the days ahead.

Originally reported by Chicago Public Radio. Read the original article here.

Ron Santo, Cubs legend, dies at 70 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

He was 70.

“Ronnie will forever be the heart and soul of Cubs fans,” Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement Friday.

He praised Santo for “his passion, his loyalty, high great personal courage and his tremendous sense of humor.”

Santo died in an Arizona hospital from complications of bladder cancer, according to WGN Radio.

Santo was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 18 and later lost both legs to the disease.

A nine-time all-star in his 15-year career, Santo was widely regarded as one of the best players never to gain induction into the Hall of Fame.

The quiet sadness with which he met the news year after year that he hadn’t been inducted helped cement his relationship with the fans.

But nothing brought fans closer to Santo – or caused critics to roll their eyes more – than his work in the radio booth, where he made it clear that nobody rooted harder for the Cubs and nobody took it harder when they lost.

Santo’s groans of “Oh, nooo!” and “It’s bad” when something bad happened to the Cubs, sometimes just minutes after he shouting, “YES! YES!” or “ALL RIGHT!” became part of team lore as the “Cubbies” came up short year after year.

“The emotion for me is strictly the love I have for this team,” Santo told The Associated Press in August 2009. “I want them to win so bad.”

Santo played for the Cubs from 1960-73 and wrapped up his career with the White Sox in 1974. He joined the Cubs’ radio team in 1990.

Santo battled a myriad of serious medical problems after he retired as a player, having undergone surgery on his eyes, heart and bladder after doctors discovered cancer.

On his legs alone, he underwent surgery more than a dozen times before they were ultimately amputated below the knees – the right one in 2001 and the left a year later.

Born Ronald Edward Santo in Seattle on Feb. 25, 1940, Santo was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 18. But he kept it from the team until he made his first All-Star game in 1963, and fans didn’t know about his diabetes for years after that.

Even though the Cubs failed to make the World Series in his lifetime, Santo once said his association with the team probably prolonged his life.

“If I hadn’t had this when my troubles started, I don’t know if I would have survived,” he said in September 2003. “I really mean that. It’s therapy.”

Santo was a fan favorite on a team that included Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins. Many taverns near Wrigley Field include photos of Santo, including one in which he famously clicked his heels as he ran off the field.

By all accounts it was a tremendous career. In his 14 years with the Cubs and his final season across town with the White Sox, the third baseman hit .277 with, 2,254 hits, 342 home runs and 1,331 runs batted in. He also was named to the All-Star team nine times won the Gold Glove award five times.

He hit .300 or better four times, had the best on-base percentage in the league in 1964 and 1966 and led the league in walks four times.

But the team routinely finished at or near the bottom of the standings.

One of the few times the Cubs didn’t was in 1969, when they finished second after leading the New York Mets by nine games as late as Aug. 16.

That year, a photograph was taken of Santo that became synonymous with both the team’s failure and the supposed curses that have long haunted the team: There, in the on-deck circle at Shea Stadium, is Santo, a bat on his shoulder as a black cat scurries past.

Santo’s disappointment with being passed over for induction into the Hall of Fame was well known to viewers, who watched him receive the news on the phone in 2003 thanks to television cameras he allowed inside his house when he thought he would be getting in.

In 2003, he was honored by the Cubs, who retired his No. 10, hoisting it up the left-field foul pole, just below Banks’ No. 14.

“This flag hanging down the left-field line means more to me than the Hall of Fame,” Santo told the cheering crowd at Wrigley Field when his number was retired.

“This couldn’t be any better,” he said. “With the adversity that I have been through if it wasn’t for all of you, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

Santo had been active in fundraising for diabetes research, with his Walk-for-the-Cure raising millions of dollars.

Originally reported by Huffington Post Chicago. Read the original story here.

Ron Santo, one the greatest players in Chicago Cubs history and longtime WGN radio announcer, has died | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Tom Ricketts (WBEZ/Tony Arnold)

The owners of the Chicago Cubs are trying to gain public support for their plan to get government-issued bonds to renovate Wrigley Field.

Cubs’ Chairman Tom Ricketts addressed the media Tuesday morning in a room full of business and labor leaders.

Ricketts thanked a number of them that showed up at the media conference, including Teamsters Local, Chicago and Cook County Building Trade, Chicago Bricklayers Local 21, Plumber Local 130.

Ricketts wants to take $200 million in bonds from the state and repay the money over time with taxes on Cubs tickets.

He has so far failed to get support for his plan from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley or Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

“This public-private partnership would, in the long-run, create a significantly larger economic base in Wrigleyville and higher tax revenue for all levels of government,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts says he’s not certain what would happen structurally to the 96-year-old Wrigley Field if legislators don’t approve his bond plan. The framework has been patched over for years. Ricketts said one thing that’s not an option is moving the Cubs out of Wrigley Field.

Tuesday afternoon in Springfield, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters the Chicago Cubs were pulling their financial plan. A Ricketts’ family spokesman responded by saying their plan stands and nothing has changed.

“As we discussed in our press conference this morning with the state’s labor leaders, creating jobs and economic development is a top priority and we are working with elected officials to draft legislation and determine the best way to move forward as expeditiously as possible,” Dennis Culloton, a spokesperson for the Ricketts family, said in a written statement. “Nothing has changed and we are hard at work.”

Originally reported by Chicago Public Radio. Read the original article here.

Madigan says Cubs deal off, but Cubs say it’s still on | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley are expressing skepticism about a plan by owners of the Chicago Cubs that seeks state help with the renovation of Wrigley Field.

Daley said Monday he likes the idea of keeping the Cubs at Wrigley Field for at least 35 years.

But he says he will not saddle his successor with a plan that hobbles amusement-tax growth.

The Ricketts family wants Illinois to float up to $300 million in bonds to finance renovations at the 96-year-old ball park.

The bonds would be paid off with the amusement tax currently paid by fans attending Cubs games.

Quinn says he is “very skeptical of the whole thing.”

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts tells the Chicago Tribune he doesn’t have a Plan B if the state rejects his proposal.

Originally reported by Yahoo. Read the original story here.

Quinn, Daley nix Ricketts’ plan for Wrigley Field | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The owners of the Chicago Cubs are looking for some cash to renovate Wrigley Field, and they’re hoping taxpayers will contribute.

The Ricketts family wants the State of Illinois to help fund the Wrigley renovations. They have a plan to get $300 million in bonds from the state.

The Cubs would then pay back the money using the amusement tax that’s tacked on to Cubs’ ticket prices.

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts says the financial plan is about making the fan experience better. He expects the renovations would take three to five years to complete.

The Ricketts bought the Cubs from the Tribune Company last year for $845 million. The Ricketts’ plan to get state funding would need approval from legislators first.

Originally reported by Chicago Public Radio. Read the original article here.

Cubs’ owners want tax money to renovate Wrigley Field | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The Cubs promoted Sam Coghill to managing director of corporate partnerships, overseeing the club’s sponsorship sales and account management team. Sam will report directly to Wally Hayward, executive vice president, chief sales and marketing officer.

Coghill joined the Cubs as assistant director of sponsorship sales just prior to the 2009 season. She is responsible for sponsorship sales within Wrigley Field and association between corporate partners and the Chicago Cubs.

Prior to joining the Cubs, Coghill worked for the Atlanta Braves from 2004-2009 as a corporate partnership manager. She was part of a team responsible for creating unique partnerships that provided exposure and value to clients.

Coghill began her sponsorship career in Minor League Baseball in positions with the Buffalo Bisons and Indianapolis Indians. She also worked a season with the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League.

Coghill is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington with a degree in Kinesiology, Sport Communication and Broadcast. She lives in Chicago with her husband Jeff and they are expecting their first child this fall.

In addition, Michael Kirschner will join the Cubs as a director of corporate partnerships, reporting directly to Coghill. Michael Kirschner joins the Cubs after serving as director of marketing partnerships for Madison Square Garden, where he developed, sold and managed partnerships across the company’s array of entertainment venues and productions.

Kirschner implemented cross-platform partnerships and advertising programs across divisions of MSG venues (Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, The Beacon Theatre, The Wang Theatre in Boston and The Chicago Theatre), sports teams (New York Knicks, New York Rangers and New York Liberty) and media networks (MSG Network, MSG Plus and FUSE Network).

Prior to joining Madison Square Garden, Kirschner worked for the National Basketball Association in its Global Marketing and Media Programs department. Kirschner also worked for the Tribeca Film Festival as director of sponsorship development.

A graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Kirschner currently resides in Chicago with his wife Cami and their daughter Mazie.

“We’re very excited that Sam, Michael and our Corporate Partnership Team can provide engaging experiences and marketing platforms to drive direct business results for our sponsors,” said Wally Hayward, executive vice president, chief sales and marketing officer of the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago Cubs restructure sales & marketing team and add leadership positions | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Longtime Chicago Cubs ticket operations director Frank Maloney has announced he will retire at the end of the 2010 calendar year. Maloney will remain with the club as a consultant next season.

In 29 seasons in the Cubs ticket office, including the last 27 as its director, Maloney oversaw nine single-season attendance records, including Wrigley Field’s first two-million fan season in 1984 and its first three-million fan season in 2004. Maloney steps down from his post having helped the Cubs to seven-consecutive seasons with three million fans at Wrigley Field starting 2004, one of only five organizations to reach that mark in each of the last seven years.

Prior to joining the Cubs, Maloney had a distinguished career in college football, serving as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, from 1968-73 and as the head football coach at Syracuse University from 1974-80. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1962 and served as head football coach at Mt. Carmel High School from 1963-67.

“After nearly 30 years with the Cubs and more than a decade in college football, it is simply time for me to lessen my day-to-day grind,” said Maloney. “While I won’t spend as many weekends and late nights in the box office next year, I am eager to lend my expertise to the organization as we move forward. I am so thankful to my wonderful staff and appreciate all of their efforts throughout the years.

“Frank is a Wrigley Field institution and led the Cubs to a number of milestones as the leader of our box office,” said Cubs President Crane Kenney. “We congratulate him on nearly 30 tremendous years of service to our organization and look forward to tapping into his expertise in the future.”

Colin Faulkner will join the Cubs as vice president, ticket sales and service on November 1.

“I’ve been working with the Cubs on my transition for some time now and couldn’t be happier to welcome Colin to the Cubs organization,” said Maloney. “I was very impressed with Colin during the interview process and know he is the right person for the job. I look forward to helping Colin with his transition to the Cubs as we head into next season.”

Faulkner has spent the last 10 years with the NHL’s Dallas Stars, where he most recently served as their senior vice president of marketing. He joined Southwest Sports Group in 2000 as an account executive for the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars and began working exclusively with the Stars two years later, holding positions such as director of sales and vice president of sales and service along the way. Faulkner oversaw marketing and sales strategy with the franchise and helped the club to a record 238-game sellout streak during his tenure.

Prior to joining Southwest Sports Group, Faulkner was a corporate account executive with the MLS’ Dallas Burn from 1998-2000. He graduated with a degree in marketing from Baylor University in 1998. Faulkner, his wife Jaime, and their three children will relocate to the Chicago area.

Cubs Ticket Operations Director Frank Maloney to retire at end of year | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Some 66 years after he first visited Wrigley Field, Bud Selig returned Friday and toured the grounds with Tom Ricketts.

In some ways, the commissioner saw a younger version of himself in the Cubs chairman.

Ricketts will walk the concourse and buy food from the concession stands, like Selig once did at Milwaukee County Stadium when he ran the Brewers.

Selig called the Cubs one of those institutional teams, and at once they are a private business viewed as a public trust.

Year 1 is almost over for Ricketts and his family. New ownership took that time to learn about the business and baseball sides of the operation, though the years it took to complete the purchase from Tribune Co. gave them a head start.

The listening tour took them through the ancient ballpark and a Wrigleyville neighborhood that can be both welcoming and hostile. They visited the minor-league affiliates and met with reporters trying to figure out their angle.

For all their due diligence, the Ricketts family still faces major decisions on several different fronts. Cubs fans are still waiting to see what type of investments will be made with the major-league roster, where they should book flights for future spring-training vacations and who they will be second-guessing next season.

The Cubs started with an Opening Day payroll around $145 million, knowing that some contracts, like those with Derrek Lee and Ted Lilly, would fall off the books. Their financial commitments for 2011 will begin near an estimated $120 million.

Its unclear how much flexibility general manager Jim Hendry will be given, but it could mean the difference between acquiring a front-line starter or a first baseman or looking at solutions from within.

We havent made any decisions on where payroll will go next year, but I think it will be slightly lower than this year, Ricketts said Sunday, sitting in the dugout before the seasons final home game at Wrigley Field.

Within the past 11 months, Ricketts has brought in executives to oversee marketing (Wally Hayward) and corporate development (Alex Sugarman), as well as a manager of statistical analysis (Ari Kaplan). In the immediate future, Ricketts said he doesnt foresee another high-level hire joining the front office to help with baseball operations.

Ricketts will continue to travel between Chicago and Mesa, Ariz., as the Cubs try to secure their spring-training home for decades to come. That will hinge upon Proposition 420 outlined on the citys November ballot. Developers representing Naples, Fla., will be curious to see how voters respond.

Right now theres no Plan B, Ricketts said. Were just focusing on Mesa. If it doesnt work out, well just review our options at that point.

Around that time, the Cubs should have a new manager in place or they will have already reintroduced Mike Quade at a formal press conference announcing his hire.

Ricketts doesnt view the World Series as a hard deadline the Cubs may or may not be waiting for Joe Girardis season to end in New York and he doesnt want to rush into a decision.

We have a process in place where Jim is going to keep talking to folks and bring a few at the end of the season, Ricketts said. That will narrow it down and I will talk to them then. Im just looking forward to getting that process behind us.

Ricketts has already indicated that he doesnt need a manager to sell tickets Ryne Sandberg will be evaluated on his own merits but attendance has become an issue.

Wrigley Field has seen some of its smallest crowds in years, though the Cubs reached three million fans on Saturday for the seventh season in a row. Only four other franchises the Yankees, Angels, Cardinals and Dodgers are on similar runs. Ricketts said his staff hasnt made any final decisions on ticket prices for next year.

As for the Wrigley Field experience, there are no concrete plans yet for the proposed triangle building on Clark Street.

Ricketts implied that the facility will need significant capital improvements before the Cubs can host an All-Star Game, something theyve lobbied the commissioners office for to recognize Wrigley Fields 100-year anniversary in 2014.

By then Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner three players Ricketts mentioned by name should be established major-league veterans, if not All-Stars.

The chairman also cited the minor-league systems .542 winning percentage, which was second-best among all major-league organizations this season. Reinforcements are needed the Cubs havent spent a single moment above .500 this year.

Were very disappointed with the record, Ricketts said. But behind that I think there are some really encouraging things going on. (Were) really building a great foundation for the future.

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The chances of this happening again in the finale seems unlikely.

The Brewers again try to get their offense on track and avoid being swept by the Cubs when they face struggling rookie Casey Coleman on Sunday at Miller Park.

On Friday, Carlos Zambrano and Carlos Marmol combined on a three-hitter in Chicago’s 4-0 victory. The Cubs (62-80) again three-hit the Brewers on Saturday, as Ryan Dempster and three relievers teamed up in a 1-0 win.

“Your team throws a shutout, great job by all the guys in the bullpen,” Dempster said. “It was a lot of fun.”

It likely wasn’t as fun for the Brewers, whose six hits in the series have come by six different players.

The Brewers (65-76), who were swept in a three-game series by the Cubs from April 23-25 in Milwaukee, have never been held without a run in three straight games in a series. They were, however, held without a run three times in a four-game set in San Diego from April 29-May 2.

The Cubs haven’t held an opponent without a run in three straight games in a series since July 5-7, 1976, when they blanked San Diego in the first three of a four-game set.

Coleman (1-1, 5.81 ERA) hasn’t done much to show that he can keep the scoreless streak intact.

He gave up four runs – all in the second – and eight hits with five walks over six innings, but didn’t get a decision in Monday’s 5-4 win over Houston. The right-hander has yielded four runs in each of his last two starts after allowing four in his first two starts combined.

Coleman made his major league debut in a relief role during the Cubs’ 18-1 loss to the Brewers on Aug. 2, surrendering six runs and eight hits in 2 1-3 innings. Ryan Braun and Corey Hart were a combined 4 for 4 off him, while Yovani Gallardo (11-7, 3.80), Milwaukee’s scheduled starter Sunday, gave up one run and two hits in six innings to earn the win.

That was the last time Gallardo yielded fewer than four runs until Monday, when he permitted two runs and four hits in seven innings without recording a decision an 8-6 loss to St. Louis. The right-hander was 0-2 with a 12.27 ERA in his previous three outings.

“It’s been very frustrating for me,” Gallardo told the Brewers’ official website. “The last three or four starts weren’t what I wanted them to be. Tonight, I felt comfortable out there. I was in a good rhythm.”

Gallardo has appeared comfortable in both starts against the Cubs this season, yielding one run and six hits while striking out 19 over 13 innings.

Rookie shortstop Starlin Castro is one of the few Cubs to have success against Gallardo, going 3 for 6 with three doubles.

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Cubs look for sweep in Milwaukee | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Lou Piniella wrapped up his career yesterday with a Cubs’ loss. The team’s manager abruptly retired early for family reasons.

Piniella spent more than three years as the manager of the Cubs. He ends his time with the team with a winning record, 316 wins and 293 losses.

After Sunday’s game against the Braves, Piniella got tearful talking to reporters about his tenure with the Cubs.

PINIELLA: These are nice people here and they’re nice fans and I was very appreciative, very moved, very touched.

The Cubs report Piniella ends his baseball managerial career as the 14th winningest manager in the league’s history.

Piniella announced his retirement from baseball earlier this season, but left sooner than expected to tend to his ailing mother.

Originally reported by Chicago Public Radio. Read the original article here.

Lou Piniella Calls It a Wrap, Retires Early | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The 66-year-old manager made the announcement in a release handed out by the team before Sunday’s game. Third base coach Mike Quade has been promoted to interim manager.

Piniella had said last month that he planned to retire at the end of the season. He missed four games this month to be with his ailing mother in Florida.

In 18 years in the majors as a player and another 22 as a manager, Piniella made five trips to the World Series and has three championship rings.

Piniella says he’s retiring after Sunday’s game | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Lee made his Atlanta Braves debut on Friday against the very team that dealt him away two days earlier. Batting cleanup, he waved his helmet as he received a standing ovation in the first inning. He then flied out on Ryan Dempster’s first pitch, stranding a runner at third.

Earlier, when the 6-foot-5 Lee stepped into the clubhouse – ducking so he wouldn’t bump his head on any low-hanging beams – he realized he hadn’t been in there since October 2003.

He was with the Marlins then, and he played a major role as Florida rallied to win an epic Game 6 of the NL championship series. He then drove in the winning run in Game 7, depriving the Cubs of their first pennant since 1945.

“That’s my last memory of that clubhouse – celebrating,” he said. “That’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball. That series was even better than the World Series. I know the fans here don’t like to hear that, but it was fun for us on that side of the field.”

Lee joined the Cubs the following year and was one of several important players who slumped badly as the Cubs lost their grip on a playoff spot in the final week in 2006. The team returned to the postseason the next two years but failed to win a single playoff game. Last season was disappointing, and the Cubs have become a fifth-place laughingstock in 2010.

Lee, wearing No. 27 for Atlanta because Troy Glaus has his familiar No. 25, has been smiling ever since the deal was finalized. All of a sudden, he’s playing for a contender again.

“I didn’t ask to be traded. I was fine. I love those guys,” Lee said. “It’s just a new beginning. I feel like a 15-year-old kid on the first day of school. We play to get to the postseason. There’s a great opportunity here.”

To the Braves, getting Lee for three prospects seems almost too good to be true.

“He’s an All-Star first baseman, an unbelievable player,” pitcher Tim Hudson said. “Around the league, all you hear is good things about him. He fits in well. I was – and everybody in here was – thrilled to death when we traded for him.”

When Lee pulled his car up to the gate guarding the ballplayers’ parking lot several hours before Friday’s game, the attendant at first wouldn’t let him in.

“I got a little upset,” Lee said, “but he told me he was just joking.”

Once inside the ballpark, the strange feelings really began for Lee, who had 179 homers and 574 RBIs for the Cubs.

“It was weird walking past that (home) clubhouse to get to this one,” he said. “Seeing the same workers in the hallway, it was definitely weird walking up the stairs into this clubhouse and putting on this uniform. But I’m excited for it.”

Derek Lee debuts for Braves at Wrigley Field | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Silva was back in Chicago on Monday after spending the night in a Denver hospital. There is no timetable for his return as he undergoes tests.

“Right now, I’m doing whatever they tell me to do, because I know they’re going to do what’s best for me,” Silva said before the Cubs played the Milwaukee Brewers. “I feel better. I was throwing my bullpen and felt like my heart was beating very fast.”

A trainer went to the mound after Silva walked the second batter he faced Sunday. Silva stayed in and allowed a single to Carlos Gonzalez and a ground-rule double to Troy Tulowitzki, before interim manager Allan Trammell and the trainer went back to the mound.

Silva was quickly replaced after allowing two runs in his shortest outing of the season.

“It was a scary moment because I was feeling bad when they put me inside the ambulance. I think it was the first time I ever put my family before baseball,” Silva said. “The only thing I was thinking about was my family.”

Silva has been one of the bright spots for the Cubs, going 10-5 with a 3.92 earned-run average.

In place of Silva, the Cubs purchased the contract of right-handers Casey Coleman and Thomas Diamond from Triple-A Iowa on Monday. Diamond is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Brewers and Coleman will work out of the bullpen.

Diamond was 5-4 with a 3.16 ERA in 21 starts for Iowa. Coleman was 10-7 with a 4.07 ERA.

Abnormal heart rate places Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Silva on DL | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Piniella, 66, who made five trips to the World Series in his career and has three championship rings, said he was looking forward to spending more time with his family. He didn’t rule out consulting for the Cubs or another team, but made it clear he was getting out of the daily grind.

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” he said. “There’s no way that I won’t cherish the memories here.”

But, he added: “I’ve been away from home since 1962. That’s about 50 years.”

General manager Jim Hendry said Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, now a minor league manager in Des Moines, will be a candidate for the job. He said Piniella’s replacement won’t be hired before the end of the season.

Former Tigers shortstop and manager Alan Trammell is the Cubs’ bench coach.

Piniella’s record is 1,826-1,691 (.519), including a World Series win with the Reds in 1990. He won two rings as a player with the Yankees.

Piniella also managed the Yankees, Mariners and Rays.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella to retire | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Hendry said the Cubs and Zambrano will get together at some point next week and decide where he’ll continue his rehab in the minor leagues.

Zambrano was suspended without pay for three games and then was put on the restricted list after a dugout tirade on June 25 at U.S. Cellular Field.

After surrendering four runs in the first inning, Zambrano stormed into the dugout and began shouting before getting in the face of teammate Derrek Lee. Manager Lou Piniella sent Zambrano home early that night, and he was quickly suspended.

After negotiations with Major League Baseball, the players’ union, the Cubs and Zambrano’s agent, the pitcher was required to seek anger management counseling.

After struggling in the rotation, the Cubs moved Zambrano to the bullpen, but not before moving him back to the rotation. He is 3-6 with a 5.66 ERA in 22 games this season.

Carlos Zambrano begins anger management rehabilitation | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO (CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM) — Lou Piniella and George Steinbrenner had their share of run-ins, but the former Yankees player and manager had nothing but respect for “The Boss,” who passed away Tuesday.

“George was like a father figure to me,” Piniella said in a statement issued by the Cubs.

“He treated me well, he treated me fair and he gave me a wonderful opportunity to play and manage the game we all love.”

Piniella played for Steinbrenner and the Yankees from 1974-84, winning World Series rings in 1977 and ’78, and managed the team in 1986, ’87 and ’88, although not without some interruptions.

Steinbrenner dismissed him twice, replacing Piniella with Billy Martin, then rehired “Sweet Lou.”

Piniella guided the Cincinnati Reds to the World Series championship in 1990, sweeping the Oakland Athletics. Piniella reportedly said after the triumph: “See, George, I can manage.”

Despite their run-ins, Steinbrenner respected Piniella as well.

“I don’t know if I’ve had another player who cared so much,” Steinbrenner said in a 2001 Sports Illustrated article by Frank Deford about Piniella. “Such instinct and desire.”

“George will be remembered as one of the most influential and renowned owners of a franchise in sports history,” Piniella said in the statement released Tuesday. “He leaves a legacy of winning and an unwavering passion for success.

“My wife Anita and I send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the Steinbrenner family and the Yankees organization,” Piniella said. “George was very special to me and I loved him.”

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts also issued a statement upon the passing of Steinbrenner, who celebrated his 80th birthday on July 4.

“My family and I are sad to learn of the passing of George Steinbrenner early this morning,” Ricketts said. “He will be truly missed by players, fans and all of Major League Baseball.

“George will be remembered for the leader he was, the championships he brought into being and his many contributions to America’s pastime,” Ricketts said. “My family and all of Cubs Nation send our condolences to the Steinbrenner family, the Yankees and their fans.”

Cubs manager Lou Pinella, a former Yankee, calls Steinbrenner a ‘father figure’ | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Pitchers and catchers had reported to Arizona for spring training earlier in the week, and a game-day-like sense of anticipation boosted the spirits of fans standing patiently in lines at Wrigley Field.

Tom Ricketts, the Cubs’ new owner, contributed to the cheerful ambience, arriving at the park before 8 a.m. with coffee and donuts and chatting up the customers as they awaited an opportunity to buy seats that cost, on average, 10 percent more than last year.

Ricketts’s amiable presence seemed to offset any grumbling over higher prices for a disappointing team — no one in line could recall anyone from the Tribune Company, the Cubs’ corporate, faceless former owner, showing up with refreshments for the masses.

Neither could anyone recall the previous owner offering a pricey presale enticement that provided access to the most desirable games and — for ticket buyers willing to pay 20 percent more than face value and then “save” 5 percent by using a certain credit card — eliminated the need to stand in line.

Friday’s buyers found most of the seats for the games with the White Sox, Cardinals and Brewers gone in the online presale, which ended Thursday and which provoked some grumbling and underscored a major challenge facing the Ricketts family: How do you maximize Wrigley Field revenues without alienating a restless fan base that would like some emotional return on its financial investment before it is tapped out?

Based on last week’s sales and on recent history, the Cubs expect to draw three million fans for the seventh straight season. Their ticket prices remain third highest in baseball behind the Yankees and the Red Sox, who can justify the cost — between them they have won 7 of the last 14 World Series.

The Cubs, as we know, have not won a World Series in 101 years or played in one in 65. Yet the team keeps asking its fans to invest in hope and dig deeper while they are stretched to cover the necessities of real life.

Ricketts, a Cubs fan long before he was an owner, said that his own ticket-buying experience involved plying his brother with beer and pizza to get him to stand in line for bleacher seats. But as the sons of a billionaire, they never had to sweat the cost.

He has said all the right things about respecting Cubs history and tradition and honoring the almost sacred trust. He hears from fans who wistfully recall when they were 8 years old, attending their first game with their grandfathers, mesmerized by the lush green setting and the majestic scoreboard and getting hooked on the Cubs forever.

Ricketts understands that the ballpark experience is essential to cultivating loyalty. But beer and sunshine and socializing are no longer enough — not at these prices. For all their success at the gate, the Cubs are chronic underachievers on the field, and it’s no longer cute or funny. Not at these prices.

Marc Whitney, 44, is a Chicago native, a lifelong Cubs fan who indulged his youthful passion by working as an Andy Frain usher at Wrigley Field and seeing 40-plus games a year.

Now living in Milwaukee, he is trying to raise his son in the religion and has been making two or three Cubs trips a year. But, after paying $215.67 online for three right-field-corner, upper-deck box seats to a Friday afternoon game against the Phillies in July, the Whitney family will be making only one Wrigley trip this year.

The face value of those tickets is $156; the additional cost comes from taxes and the “convenience fee” the Cubs charged in the pre-sale.

Similar seats would also cost $156 at a Fenway Park ticket booth, and no wonder — the Red Sox are the Ricketts’s role model for their baseball business.

There are similarities between the Cubs and the Red Sox, beginning with their cozy, neighborhood ballparks, each a shrine-like attraction unto itself as a symbol of history, of baseball as it was meant to be played.

There are also significant differences, beginning with on-field performance. The Red Sox have been to the playoffs in seven of the last eight years and won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.

The Cubs are poster guys for baseball futility, with a 1-6 record in postseason series since their last pennant in 1945 and with a nine-game playoff losing streak.

And they have a thriving, less expensive rival just eight miles to the south that would be primed to steal market share if baseball loyalty weren’t so deeply ingrained in Chicago.

“This has always mystified me: The White Sox play in a newer, nicer park with better amenities, more parking and frequently a better team,” said Marc Ganis, a sports marketing consultant.

“Yet they draw, on average, 40 percent fewer fans. That’s the power of Wrigley Field.”

That power comes at an increasingly steep price. Maybe too steep.

Read the original article from the Chicago News Cooperative.

Prices rise for Cubs, but loyalty wins out | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Also Friday morning, the new owners of the Cubs, the Ricketts family was meeting with fans at Wrigley Field.

Sales opened at the Wrigley box office at 8 a.m. for fans with wristbands.

Lucky fans were happy to meet the new owners, and the feeling was mutual.

“I don’t have to sleep out for tickets anymore, that’s true, but we’re just excited to be here to hand out donuts and coffee and say hello,” Tom Ricketts said.

If you can’t make it to the stadium Friday, you can buy tickets online or over the phone starting at 10 a.m.

Read the original article from FOX Chicago News.

Ricketts family greets Cubs ticket buyers | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.