Of course I know his title isn't "President" - that would be Crane Kenney.
Tom Ricketts is "The Chairman", which is a MUCH cooler title but didn't fit in my plans for a Tom drawing with a powdered wig.
Tom spoke in Mesa last Saturday, and he didn't say he'd never approve a 10 year $300,000,000 million dollar contract for Albert Pujols. But why would he say no to that now anyway?
He spoke about pride and even though the Cubs didn't spend alot of money in this off-season, that didn't change the player's desire to win.
Awesome.
And he answered more Pujols questions and talked about ballpark stuff at Wrigley, the new unnamed facility in Mesa and in the Dominican Republic, and about some "financial flexibility" he may have at the end of this season (which brings everybody back to Pujols)...
He also said, "I've always said, organizations win championships."
A quote which I googled because it seemed vaguely familiar.
Turns out it was a quote from former Bulls GM Jerry Krause (or actually, misquoted) way back when he was, you know, wishing he'd gotten a little more credit for the Bulls championships instead of that one guy who used to be on the team? Jordan Sparks? Michael Jackson?
Something like that.
Anyway, I won't hold that against The Chairman. That particular quote has a different ring when it comes out of different people's mouths. And Tom's a relative baby when it comes to "quotes" - maybe he never heard Krause use it.
Speaking of quotes, I have one quick story to tell you.
Awhile back, I got stuck at O'Hare on the day the Bears were playing the Patriots.
Remember? Snowing like crazy, all the flights were getting cancelled.
Inside the American terminal, there are a couple places you can get a beer and watch a television, so I went to one of them called O'Briens.
And it's really crowded, and some of the people sitting there had obviously been there waaay too long.
So I'm watching the Bears get creamed and it's really not much fun, and a guy 2 barstools away has been explaining that his flight has been delayed 3 times and he's been sitting there for hours. Nice guy.
But suddenly he lets out a big, "AHHHH!" and jumps up out of his stool grabbing the back of his leg like he pulled a hammy. He was in serious pain.
Without missing a beat, guy on the other side of me gravely says, "I've seen this before. Bar cramps."
I laughed so hard at that one I didn't really care about the Bears.
Aaaannyway, back to Tom Ricketts.
I'm still liking him.
People are wishing he'd make some kind of "signature move" that happens on the field rather than... something to do with bathrooms.
I say, "Patience, people."
It'll come.
