Results tagged ‘ Spring Training ’
2/18 Mesa, Spring Training update
The Cubs have not picked an architect yet to build their new Spring Training complex but do expect to break ground in the fall and hope to have it completely ready by February 2014. Todd Ricketts, one of the team’s owners who is coordinating the Cubs’ Spring Training efforts, stopped by the team’s current facility on Friday for an update. Last November, Mesa voters overwhelmingly approved plans for an $84 million complex in the Riverview Park area.
Ricketts has met with the Cubs athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, and Minor League coordinators to get their wish list for the 50,000-square foot facility. The team is still deciding whether to combine the Minor League and Major League complex, or have them separate. A 15,000-seat stadium also will be built on the site. The Cubs’ current ballpark, HoHoKam Park, seats 12,500.
Ricketts has toured all of the Cactus League facilities and taken notes. This spring, the Rockies and Diamondbacks will open their new complex.
“There has been a ‘Keep up with the Joneses’ mentality with all these Spring Training facilities,” Ricketts said. “We’re less about the glitz and we’re more about the business.
“We want a facility that will be able to help us win,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking for. I don’t know if that means having a state of the art hydrotherapy table or not. We’ll have some of those things but at the end of the day, it’s simple — getting your body in shape and getting the players ready to play. It’s a simple thing — you just need a little space to do it.”
– Carrie Muskat
2/18 Cubs to salute Santo, Mesa
The Cubs will pay tribute to late broadcaster Ron Santo and host a pair of special days at Spring Training games to thank Mesa voters for their support last fall of Proposition 420 to keep the Cubs in the city.
It will be “Ron Santo Day” on March 10 when the Cubs play host to the Indians at HoHoKam Park. Santo passed away Dec. 2, and this will be one of many tributes to the former Cubs third baseman and broadcaster.
Mesa Little Leaguers, campaign supporters and volunteers will receive special pre-game recognition at a pair of games this spring as thanks for their help passing the measure to authorize financing for a new Cubs Spring Training facility in the city. On Feb. 27, the Cubs’ Cactus League opener against the Athletics, it will be “Mesa Little League Day.” The team will host 400 Little Leaguers and their parents, and include young ballplayers in on-field activities prior to the game.
The Cubs also will recognize supporters and volunteers at “Thank You Mesa Day” on March 7 when the Cubs face the Angels.
– Carrie Muskat
2/13 DeWitt arrives in camp
How eager was Blake DeWitt to get out of the snow in Missouri? He took a cab from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix directly to Fitch Park on Sunday.
“I couldn’t wait to get out here,” said DeWitt after getting out of a taxi with his suitcase, bat bag and gear bag. “I think everybody’s looking forward to this season. I think everybody’s excited about how we finished the season last year and the moves we made this past offseason. There’s a lot of potential here.”
DeWitt has been mentioned as one of Cubs manager Mike Quade’s options at leadoff.
“To be honest, I haven’t even thought about it,” the infielder said. “It’s one of those things where you prepare yourself for anything. If they ask me to do it, I’ll be more than happy to do it. It’s a big responsibility. But it’s also a big responsibility hitting eighth. You’ve got to play hard and do whatever you can do to help the team win.”
– Carrie Muskat
2/13 Mountain climbing with Dempster
How do you develop teamwork and unity? Go for a run up Camelback Mountain at sunrise. That’s what Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster and 20-something other players did a couple weeks ago. Dempster said they had two vans full of players who met at Fitch Park at 5:45 a.m., then went for the run.
“A lot of those guys were Minor League guys, too, but a lot of those guys were whoever showed up and that says a lot,” Dempster said.
– Carrie Muskat
2/13 Samardzija ready to go
This will be an interesting spring for Jeff Samardzija, who is one of the candidates for a spot in the Cubs rotation. He’s out of options.
“I’m not too worried about that,” Samardzija said Sunday on his way into Fitch Park in Mesa. “I came into camp the last couple years with a big grand plan of what I wanted to do. I’ve done to camp and done everything I can preparation-wise and obviously a lot of guys will get a good look and it should be a good camp.”
The Cubs are not picked as favorites in the NL Central. That doesn’t bother Samardzija.
“I think we have a great core group of guys,” he said. “It’s a fun team. I don’t think you can project this team’s season just by who’s sitting in the locker room right now. You have to see how this team starts and how we roll. I think the best thing we have here is how we are a team. Everyone gets a long very well, everyone enjoys each other and has fun. Hopefully, we can start fast. I think that’s a big key to the season. Obviously, you can’t clinch a division in the first month but you can get off on the right foot, which always helps instead of playing catch up the rest of the year.”
In January at the Cubs Convention, Samardzija said he was ready to go then.
“I’ve been ready for a long time,” he said. “That hasn’t changed. I’ve cherished this last month. I’ve really laid low here in Arizona and took my time and didn’t go anywhere and stayed here and worried about one thing. It’s been nice to do that. To be down here and getting ready for camp is a different feeling.”
Pitchers and catchers will have their first workout on the field Monday.
– Carrie Muskat
2/13 Johnson shows up early
Cubs pitchers and catchers have to report on Sunday but outfielder Reed Johnson was one of the early birds at Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz. He was eager to return to Chicago, where he played in 2008 and ’09.
“It’s great to be in a spot where you’re familiar,” Johnson said. “It’s tough going to an organization in Spring Training having to start all over again. I feel like there’s still a lot of pieces in place here. [Kerry Wood's] back here, too. We’re all working our way back.”
Position players don’t have to report until Feb. 18 but Johnson has a 1-year-old and a new puppy, and wanted to get settled in Arizona quickly so he showed up at Fitch early.
When Johnson realized he would likely have to sign a Minor League deal, he tried to get back to the Cubs. Fans showed him very early how knowledgeable they are about the game. One of his early at-bats at Wrigley Field, he recalls grounding out to second and driving in a run, and the whole stadium stood up and cheered.
“I think the fans in Chicago appreciate the little things,” Johnson said.
– Carrie Muskat
2/8 Spring Training broadcast schedule
If you’re stuck in the snow and can’t get to Arizona for Spring Training, you’ll be able to follow nearly every Cubs’ Cactus League game via television, radio or Internet radio broadcast. The 2011 spring schedule features eight games televised by Cubs broadcast partners (six by WGN and two by Comcast SportsNet), 11 on the WGN Cubs radio network, and 19 via Internet radio broadcast on Cubs.com. Fans will be able to access the Cubs webcasts on Cubs.com and MLB.com for free by registering for a log-in account with the website. In total, 32 of the 34 games (not including an intrasquad game) are scheduled to be available via one or more broadcast mediums.
Cubs TV play-by-play announcer Len Kasper will join Mick Gillispie, radio broadcaster for Chicago’s Double-A Tennessee affiliate, for most of the Cubs.com radio broadcasts. The first exclusive Cubs.com broadcast will be March 1 from Scottsdale, Ariz., when the Cubs play the Giants.
WGN Radio will broadcast the first two games of the spring — Feb. 27 vs. the Athletics and Feb. 28 vs. the Brewers. Pat Hughes, who enters his 16th season with the Cubs, will handle the play-by-play. The Cubs and WGN Radio have yet to announce his new partner, who takes over for the late Ron Santo.
The first televised spring game will be March 6 when the Cubs host the Dodgers on WGN. Comcast SportsNet’s first game will be March 20 against the Giants from HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
The full broadcast schedule will be posted on Cubs.com later today.
– Carrie Muskat
1/27 Non-roster invitees
The Cubs have invited 21 non-roster players to Spring Training, including Todd Wellemeyer, Braden Looper and infielder Augie Ojeda. Looper and Ojeda agreed to terms on Minor League contracts Thursday. Pitchers and catchers report to Fitch Park in Mesa, Ariz., on Feb. 13, and their first workout is the next day. Position players report Feb. 18 and the Cubs’ first full squad workout will be Feb. 19.
Seven pitchers — including right-handers Looper, Wellemeyer, Chris Carpenter, Angel Guzman, Jay Jackson, and Trey McNutt and left-hander Scott Rice – have been invited to the Cubs’ camp along with catchers Steve Clevenger and Chris Robinson. The seven infielders invited include Ojeda, Matt Camp, Bryan LaHair, Scott Moore, Bobby Scales, Marquez Smith and Josh Vitters. Five outfielders were invited including Jim Adduci, Brett Jackson, Reed Johnson, Luis Montanez and Brad Snyder.
Looper, 36, is 72-65 with 103 saves and a 4.15 ERA in all or part of 12 Major League seasons with St. Louis (1998, 2006-08), Florida (1999-2003), the New York Mets (2004-05) and Milwaukee (2009). He last pitched in the big leagues in 2009, going 14-7 with a 5.22 ERA.
Ojeda, 36, is a career .234 hitter with 44 doubles, nine triples, seven home runs and 81 RBIs in 502 games with the Cubs (2000-03), Twins (2004) and Diamondbacks (2007-10). He’s seen action at second, third, and shortstop. Last season, Ojeda batted .190 in 59 games with Arizona.
Wellemeyer, 32, is 32-34 with three saves and a 4.83 ERA in 208 appearances, including 75 starts. He’s pitched for the Cubs (2003-05), Marlins (2006), Royals (2006-07), Cardinals (2007-09) and Giants (2010).
– Carrie Muskat
1/4 Spring Training tickets
Need a baseball fix? Spring Training is not too far away, with the Cubs’ first game scheduled for Feb. 27 in Mesa, Ariz. Individual game tickets for all home games go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. CT on http://www.cubs.com or by calling 1-800-905-3315. The ticket box office at HoHoKam Park in Mesa will open for the sale of individual game tickets beginning Jan. 17 at 9 a.m. MST.
Season tickets at HoHoKam Park go on sale Wednesday at 9 a.m. MST, and group tickets go on sale Thursday at 9 a.m. MST at the HoHoKam box office, or by calling (480) 964-4467.
– Carrie Muskat
mlblogsmuskat1
Recent Comments