The most quoted line during the World Serious was exhumed from the coffin of the cynical but usually accurate Warren Brown, the late baseball writer and columnist for the old Chicago Herald-American.
In 1945, on the eve of the wartime Series between the Cubs and Detroit Tigers, an Associated Press pollster approached Brown and requested his prediction. Replied Brown:
“Neither team is good enough to win.”
“The Younger Set,” as Mr. Brown often referred to his juniors, have included this comment in many of their reports. But it wasn’t his most famous line.
A toastmaster of national renown, Brown once introduced Dr. Dafoe, who officiated at the birth of the Dionne quintuplets, as the man with the “greatest delivery in the national pastime.”
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Like the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins who forced the Series to the seven-game limit, the ’45 Tigers also needed seven games to subdue the Cubs. It was the last appearance for the Cubs in the World Series. That’s 52 years of empty Wrigley Field Octobers, not counting the long-gone City Series between the Cubs and the Sox, none of which caused much excitement.
The current Sox appear to be capable of a flag. That they are still without a manager is of no concern. Two phone calls, one each by chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and by General Manager Ron Schueler, should be sufficient.
All they have to do is ask Frank Thomas: “Frank, who do you want to manage the club?”
So that settles that.
With the Cubs, the situation is much more complex.
Andy MacPhail, the Cubs’ president, would have to contact Wayne Huizenga, the owner of the Florida Marlins, and ask if it’s true he is going to lose, or has lost, $30 million this year on his Florida Marlins.
Presumably, Huizenga, who has the club up for sale, will tell MacPhail it’s “a ballpark” number, that it could be a million more or less either way.
So, in effect, the advice to the forlorn Cubs would be to set aside $30 million to account for an annual loss.
David Dombrowski, a Chicago area native must also be consulted. It was Dombrowski who opened Huizenga’s purse. First, he hired manager Jim Leyland and then, in rapid succession, presided at the free-agent signings of pitcher Alex Fernandez, outfielder Moises Alou and infielder Bobby Bonilla.
Fernandez, who had been a consistent winner with the White Sox, was the most costly acquisition: $35 million for five years. Alou, previously with Montreal, was hired for $25 million, also for five years. Bonilla, who had been with Baltimore, jumped for $23.5 million for four years.
Dombrowski, the Marlins’ executive vice president and general manager, also corraled three lesser free agents, reliever Dennis Cook and utility outfielders John Cangelosi and Jim Eisenreich. This was all done within one month. The total commitment, according to reliable reports, stopped at $89 million.
Equally important was a 1993 trade with the San Diego Padres for outfielder Gary Sheffield, acquired for the cost of three pitchers which included reliever Trevor Hoffman, the only one still in the big leagues. Reliever Robb Nen also came in a ’93 deal from Texas for Cris Carpenter.
In a heavily attended press conference prior to Sunday’s seventh game, Dombrowksi made it clear the free agent signings were approved by Huizenga.
“I’ve never been in the position where I set our player payroll budget,” Dombrowski said. “That’s an ownership decision. They give you the budget. It’s then up to you to be responsible and figure out how to make that budget work as well as you can.
“And we’re all aware your chances of winning with a $45 million payroll are better than if you have a $15 million payroll.”
A graduate of Western Michigan University, Dombrowski began his baseball career at the age of 22 with the White Sox as an administrative assistant in the club’s minor league and scouting department.
His rise was meteoric. Ten years later, in 1988, he was named the general manager of the Montreal Expos. He was chosen as baseball’s Executive of the Year in ’88 and in ’90 and joined the Marlins at their birth in ’91.
Clearly, now is the time for Chicago philanthropists to step forward.