Tribune News Services
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Cubs officials met today with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who promised to do all he could to persuade the team to move its spring-training facilities from Arizona.
New Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and president Crane Kenney were among those meeting with Crist, who said afterward, "We like palm trees better than cactus and hope that the Cubs might, too."
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Cubs officials met today with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who promised to do all he could to persuade the team to move its spring-training facilities from Arizona.
New Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and president Crane Kenney were among those meeting with Crist, who said afterward, "We like palm trees better than cactus and hope that the Cubs might, too."
The city of Naples is hoping to lure the Cubs away from their current spring home in Mesa, Ariz.
"It's really about getting the best facility," Ricketts said.
Kenney said if the move is made, the team likely would relocate its Class A Florida State League team from Daytona to the new stadium.
"It's really about getting the best facility," Ricketts said.
Kenney said if the move is made, the team likely would relocate its Class A Florida State League team from Daytona to the new stadium.
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Way to go blandest22. You pissed off all the Marlins fans with that crazy proposal.
The Illinois governor should offer to trade the Cubs to Florida for the Marlins. At least the Marlins have won the WS in my lifetime.
Tell Crickets to send them to Mars...for Spring Training. At least on Mars they wouldn't be stinking the joint up.
And their pop-ups would travel alot farther.
Is it true that President Obama would like to deploy the Cubs to Afghanastan as part of the 30,000? Sounds like a nice spring training home for the laughable losers.
Florida is where the Cubs should be. Breaking tradition? How about 100 years of losing. Ho Ho Kam is a dump and they need a state-of-the-art facility in a beautiful non-desert locale like Naples, with winning organizations like the Yankees, Cardinals, Twins, Braves, and Red Sox. No more Giants and White Sox please!!! I take my family to Florida 1-2 times per year and we can't wait to see the Cubs there. They will be the number one team in Florida, just like they are in the desert. Maybe even bigger.
Cubs belong in Mesa and nowhere else. They would be insane to move to Florida. There is a reason teams have been leaving in droves. The rain cancellations, 3 hour drives between stadiums, and split squads are just a few reasons they shouldn't go.
Not to mention that the Cubs would go from top bill to third fiddle behind the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies.
I believe this is a smart move by the new cubs owner. He desperately wants the cubs to win and if building a state-of-the-art complex in florida helps then by all means do it. I read an article explaining how the last 15 or so world series champions play spring ball in florida. Coincidence?? I think not. He wants a winner and florida is the place.
I keep hearing how great a Cub fan this Tom Ricketts is, but the first major thing he wants to do is break the tradition of the Cubs having Spring Training in Arizona?
I mean it's no bleachers, ivy, rooftops, scoreboard type tradition but Spring Training in AZ is pretty close. I've been going to Cubs games in AZ every march for 30 years & would never want to see that change.
Ricketts' saying, "It's really about getting the best facility," only means, "It'a all about the money." Which makes him more similar to the Tribune Company than a Chicago Cub Fan.
I remember my first game at Wrigley Field sitting behind "the net" and we won that day in the late 40's. I am semi-retired and enjoy watching the Cubs in spring trainning with my grandchildren and other members of my family. It is a tradition durning the kids spring break that we all enjoy. Please don't move the Cubs to Naples. In my former married life being from Palatine I enjoyed Naples very much, but for the water, not baseball. If they move down there I hope when they get by the beach they all get "no see ums' bites. People in FL know what I mean and they itch and bleed for weeks. Keep the Cubs in AZ. These new owners were never in AZ before and it takes just a little time to get use to. They have a preferece for FL, I am sure, but it will upset tens of thousands of people in AZ who retired here for a little bit of that home feeling.
Send the Cubs to Florida with one way ticket, then we can get an expansion team. We would have a better chance of winning the world series!