There will be baseball at Wrigley Field soon.
On the field? Plans are for a much-delayed Opening Day in the big leagues to take place on July 23 or 24. Before then, the Cubs will begin a second preseason camp at their home ballpark on July 1.
But what about in the stands? Will it look like baseball there, too?
To an extent, yes, Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney indicated Thursday in an appearance on WSCR-670’s Dan Bernstein Show.
How does 8,000 fans sound?
Maybe not when the season gets started, but eventually. That’s the hope as the Cubs, like all of baseball, eye a truncated 2020 campaign that will be — from start to finish — fraught with concerns amid an ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The state previously announced that outdoor sporting events could resume with a maximum of 20% capacity. That would mean no more than about 8,300 fans could attend a Cubs game at Wrigley, which has a capacity of 41,649. Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed doubt that the Cubs or White Sox will be cleared by the city to have such crowds out of the chute, but that clearance could come eventually.
Bottom line: All the talk of vacant field boxes, desolate grandstands and barren bleachers that has been present in gloomy baseball forecasts over the last few months may have been overstated and a bit premature.
“There was always a path to bring fans back into Wrigley, obviously a smaller group than would normally attend games,” Kenney said.
“We do see that happening this year.”
Kenney said the team is working with medical professionals to keep everyone safe and is working with the city to allow fans to attend games.
“We probably ought to plan for masks on for the entire game when you come into the stadium,” he said. “This is about: How can we safely bring fans back into the ballpark?”
Kenney also said he expects the team’s Marquee Sports Network to reach a carriage agreement with Comcast, the area’s largest cable TV provider.
“I would expect we do reach an agreement with Comcast,” Kenney said. “The pace has picked up, and we’re optimistic we’ll get something done soon.”
