Nov. 28--Reports the Cubs likely will open the 2015 season without the Wrigley Field bleacher reconstruction finished shouldn't be too surprising to anyone who has followed the franchise for the last 106 or so years.
There was bound to be a hangover after the Party of the Century, and if a bleacher-free Wrigley for a few home games next April is the price we'll pay for a modernized ballpark, so be it.
The Cubs blamed an aging pipe system under Sheffield Avenue and the cold weather for the construction delay, conveniently absolving themselves from any responsibility for the potential opening night embarrassment.
Bleacher fans the delay inconveniences will get refunds or be moved to the grandstand.
Delayed gratification is a concept the Cubs have been marketing for decades, so this really is just another example of building suspense. "We're Working On It," was the marketing campaign in the mid-1990s, and it still fits 20 years later.
Remember the project itself took forever to get started, which the Cubs blamed on the threat of a lawsuit from rooftop owners. Even when they decided to go forward anyway there was another brief delay after Mayor Rahm Emanuel felt a new wrinkle blindsided him -- removing parts of the outfield wall and ivy for see-through doors for new bullpens under the bleachers.
The Cub eventually agreed to ditch that idea, though the bullpens still will be moved under the bleachers after the 2015 season, with smaller doors. The Cubs' business operations' plan always seems to be an inning or two behind the baseball operations' plan. Let's not forget the Cubs were supposed to have a new TV deal in place by now, and we're still waiting on that.
Of course, this really won't matter come opening night on April 5, when the new Wrigley Field will debut on ESPN with new manager Joe Maddon, a new jumbo-sized video board in left field and new advertising signs obstructing the views of the remaining rooftops that haven't been sold to the Cubs.
Sure, the ballpark may look strange with some empty bleachers under a giant video board dwarfing the center field scoreboard. Since the center field seats were untouched, presumably fans can sit there. Perhaps the Cubs can put a giant tarp over the rest of the bleachers like the A's do with their empty upper deck at O.co Coliseum, or install some wind screens on top of the bleacher walls, assuming they didn't throw them out after the agreement with rooftop owners in 2004.
If the bleachers aren't finished, it wouldn't be the first glitch in a Wrigley rebuild. Back when the bleachers and the iconic scoreboard were constructed in 1937, the Cubs didn't factor in the view from the upper rows of the lower grandstand.
In an interview with a shirtless Bill Veeck back in the '80s, he pointed to the scoreboard and said: "I built that scoreboard. The inventor showed me a model, and I thought it'd work great for day baseball. But I did something dumb."
Veeck turned back and pointed toward home plate.
"See, from the top of the lower deck over there, you can't see the whole scoreboard," he said, shaking his head. "It never even occurred to me."
That design flaw didn't prevent fans from enjoying themselves at Wrigley, and neither did another grandiose bleacher plan that flopped. The Cubs originally planned to have several Chinese Elm trees placed on the concrete footings leading up to the new scoreboard.
But the winds blew all the leaves off the first batch of trees, and a couple of more attempts failed, leaving them with empty footings that fans have sat on for the last 60-plus years.
The Cubs are sure to have a few more hiccups in their renovation, and maybe some more delays are in store before now and April. Sources say there may be more cold weather between now and opening night.
In the end, the new Wrigley will be worth the wait. Then we'll go back to waiting for that championship season the Cubs have been promising for years.
psullivan@trbpub.com
Twitter @PWSullivan
