Chicago Cubs fans were to honor Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox who was making his final appearance at Wrigley Field today. In surprise fashion, they also found themselves bidding fond farewell to their own manager, Lou Piniella.

Earlier today, Piniella informed the Cubs organization that today would be his last in the Cubs dugout as the manager. Piniella cited personal obligations as the reason for his abrupt departure.

After analyzing his mother’s condition, it became clear to Lou that his mind was not on baseball and the time had come for him to step aside, rather than wait until the end of the season.

“When Lou has been up here he has wanted to be with this mother. When he has been down in Florida with her, he has wanted to be with the club,” Cubs owner Tom Ricketts told some fans during the game.

“I wish we had known earlier so we could have done something more special for him.” – Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts.

The Cubs had already planned a tribute to Cox before today’s game and quickly added a tribute for Piniella to include this afternoon. The crowd gave Piniella a standing ovation, which he acknowledged, that perhaps overshadowed the tribute to Cox.

Piniella held two emotional press conferences – one before the game and one after the Cubs 16-5 loss to the Braves. In his post game press conference, he apologized to the media for being so emotional, and started to cry.

“This is the last time I’ll be putting on a uniform. It was a day to remember and a day to forget.”

Piniella said he will remember the good times he had at Wrigley. He will remember the players, the fans, and the staff. He wished Mike Quade, who now takes over as manager for the rest of the season, well, and he admitted that no one who hasn’t been part of the Cubs organization before could imagine what it was like to be part of it.

Piniella also said that he noticed things in and around Wrigley he hadn’t noticed before, though he wasn’t specific when asked what those things were. “I wasn’t daydreaming,” he said. “I was noticing things I hadn’t noticed before.”

Fans can’t help but wish Lou well in his retirement. While there were many Lou bashers the past year, all Cubs fans will remember that he did take the team to the playoffs two consecutive years.

“We’ve raised the bar here,” Piniella said. “The fans expect better.”

In a press release Piniella said, “As I said last month, I couldn’t be more appreciative of the Cubs organization for providing me the opportunity to be their manager. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world and I consider this the ultimate way to end my managerial career.”

Used with permission of the author.

Miriam Romain is a Chicago-based sportswriter and national columnist covering the Chicago Cubs for Examiner.com. The Windy City native is also the Associate Editor for SBNation Chicago and has been published in the Maple Street Press Cubs annuals. In her free time, Romain is working on a book titled “Summers At Wrigley With My Dad.”

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The Cubs limped into the All-Star break with a record of 39-50, uncertain about if, or when, Carlos Zambrano will return to the team and also where they will be playing spring training games in the future.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Cubs and the City of Mesa, the deadline for Mesa present the Cubs with plans for a new Spring Training facility has passed.

According to the agreement, the Cubs are now free to talk to the Florida group trying to woo them to Naples, and that group can now approach the Cubs again.

A naplesnews.com column pointed out that Mesa has not lived up to the MOU. It claims Mesa does not have financing and does not have a site picked out. It also claims the Naples group, called Project Home Run was ready with its own MOU when the Cubs “caved in” to Major League Baseball to stay in Mesa.

The naplesnews.com piece is quick to point out what the City of Mesa has not done pertaining to the exclusive agreement with the Cubs, but it also appears to leave out some key pieces of information such as the fans outcry to stay in Mesa, the sites that have been targeted for a new stadium and how the stadium would be financed.

They even go as far as likening the Cubs bad fortunes to its ties to Mesa. Where do they come up with this stuff?

The writer says Naples is ready to play ball, has financing and a site picked out, but what he fails to also state is that the teams are so far apart very few people would want to come to Spring Training in Florida after all the years in Arizona and the proximity to the other teams.

And what does Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts say about the MOU deadline? Not much, which is expected, although he did tell Comcast Sportsnet that he is not worried about deadlines and the team is working with the City of Mesa on an agreement that will be agreeable to everyone.

Today, Cubs spokesperson Peter Chase issued a statement that the Cubs are encouraged by the progress Mesa has made and they continue to work with the City of Mesa to finalize a deal.

Apparently, new options have become available to the Cubs, including land that is partially privately owned right now, near a light-rail line that will extend to Downtown Mesa in 2016. A downtown location was considered by the Cubs and Mesa in the 1990s when the Cubs decided to renew the lease at HoHoKam.

The question now is, will the Naples group make another move?

Used with permission of the author.

In addition to contributing to Sports Climax, Miriam Romain maintains a Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com. The Chicago native has also been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Some dreams do come to fruition. When asked when was the first time you said to yourself, “I want to own the Cubs?” Tom Ricketts, chairman and new owner of the Chicago Cubs, reminisced about that moment that came in 1990.

“Last fall I was going through some papers on my desk and I found my business school application. It was an essay written in 1990, and one of the questions they asked was to tell what your dream job would be. I wrote “I’d like to own the Chicago Cubs, or a baseball team,” says Ricketts. At the time, he was living with his older brother, Pete above the Sports Corner bar at the corner of Sheffield and Addison. “It has been a dream for a long time.”

While Ricketts did not grow up in Chicago, he became a fan by watching the Cubs on WGN, and he has lived in Chicago long enough to call it home, even attending the University of Chicago. Ricketts was involved in Fantasy Baseball for a while and read everything Bill James wrote.

“Obviously living right up here and going to so many games how can you not [fall in love with the Cubs]? I love business, I love baseball. Being able to do both at once is terrific. And then to combine it with the family, it’s [great],” he states.

Ricketts makes it very clear that the money to buy the Cubs came about because of his father’s success with Ameritrade. When he realized that Tribune was going to have to sell the Cubs, Ricketts went to his family, talked to them about owning the team, they agreed and they threw their hat into the ring.

Since introducing the family, which included his brothers Pete and Todd and sister Laura, at a press conference at the end of October, Ricketts has had somewhat of a crash course on who and what the Cubs are. He knew from a fan’s point of view (a fan who really did meet his wife in the bleachers), but not from the business side.

He and Crane Kenney, president of the Cubs, have made trips to see all Cubs operations, including a couple of trips to the Dominican Republic. Unlike many owners who want to have a hand in everything, Ricketts is watching and learning and letting the people hired to do their jobs do them and be held accountable for their actions.

The family is putting money into the team at all levels, and Ricketts is firm in pointing out that all revenue generated from the team will go back into the team to help continue improving not only talent, but fan game day experiences. Some of those changes will be evident on Opening Day.

In addition to writing her Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com, Miriam Romain has been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is a contributor to SportsClimax.com . Romain is currently covering the Cubs and MLB from Arizona during Spring Training.

Copyright © 2010 – Sports Climax™