Selig delivers his pitch for Wrigley

March 11, 2003

BY FRAN SPIELMAN CITY HALL REPORTER

Commissioner Bud Selig on Monday went to bat for the Cubs in the fight over landmarking 89-year-old Wrigley Field, urging the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to rescind the restricted designation or risk signing a death warrant for the storied ballpark.

''No city in America has ever used a landmarks designation as an effective means to preserve a ballpark,'' Selig said. ''What you are considering is unprecedented and, while done in the spirit of preservation, will likely precipitate the loss of Wrigley Field. ... It will be the first step toward the ultimate loss of the ballpark.''

The Cubs included Selig's letter in a news release that quoted team president Andy MacPhail as saying team officials ''appreciate the commissioner's support. ... Everyone's goal is to keep Wrigley Field viable for years to come. The commissioner's comments make the case that landmarking will hamper our efforts to achieve that goal.''

MacPhail could not be reached for comment.

Planning and Development Commissioner Alicia Berg denied landmarks designation threatens Wrigley's future, saying the revised designation gives the Cubs the ''flexibility to continue to make improvements for their fans while ... protecting the features that make it such an international draw.''

Last week, the Landmarks Commission endorsed Mayor Daley's plan to recommend landmark status for Wrigley Field's most historic elements, instead of pushing for a blanket designation. The narrowed designation includes Wrigley's ivy-covered brick walls, the scoreboard, the marquee sign at Clark and Addison, and the ''open nature and sweep'' of the grandstands and bleachers.

The designation must be approved by the City Council. A public hearing is scheduled Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Selig said the designation would tie the Cubs' hands in a way that ignores the ''ever-changing economics'' of baseball.

Fast-track approval of the expansion of the Wrigley bleachers--following Boston's lead at Fenway Park--would be a far better and more justified move, he said. Selig noted that the Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees are the only baseball teams that still play in stadiums built after 1962.

''Changes to Wrigley Field apparently will now be subject to the subjective tastes and individual notions of designers, preservationists and community leaders who cannot be expected to understand the competitive nusances of professional baseball,'' Selig said. ''Every change to Wrigley Field impacts both preservation issues and the ability of the Cubs to field a winning team. If one favors preservation at the expense of operating competitiveness, stadiums become an albatross and are replaced.''

From the Chicago Sun Times