Much Ado About Wrigley...

Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, was a trending topic this week.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal ran a column under the headline, “Why Wrigley Field Must Be Destroyed,” which stirred things up.

Apparently, Cubs fan, Rich Cohen believes the only way to end the team’s nearly a century of losing, is to destroy Wrigley Field (Note: It is the second-oldest ballpark in the majors behind Boston’s Fenway Park (1912).

Two key stats are the basis of his argument:

The Cubs pre-Wrigley: 2,971 wins, 2,152 losses.
The Cubs since (before Monday): 7,382 wins, 7,703 losses.

The reasons the Cubs haven’t won in Wrigley, per Cohen are:

The park is schizo.
Wrigley Field is too damn nice.
Losing some of the time makes you want to win; losing all of the time makes you a loser.

Yikes!

A WSJ video interview with Cohen appears below.

In an interview Cohen did with NPR, he said:

So I’m trying to sort of force a rethink here. I’ve gone through excitement about Dusty Baker coming, about Lou Piniella coming, now about Theo Epstein coming, and I’m just thinking, what’s the real problem here? And the thing I keep coming up with is Wrigley Field, as sacrilegious as that might be to fans.

And in case you are thinking, “the nerve of that guy!”,Â here’s what Cohen had to say about himself:

“You’re hearing the plea of a Cubs fan. You know, I grew up in Chicago. And 1984, the Cubs were one game away from going to the World Series, and they collapsed. And ever since then I’ve sort of suffered, I believe, from that. And I suffer like Cubs fans suffer. And looking at it, what is it, you know, that the Cubs can’t – why the Cubs can’t win. And what’s incredible about the Cubs is that they have one of the – of all the teams in baseball, I think they’re very close to having the most wins. They have the single best season.

Crain’s Business of Chicago took up the topic with its readers (“Should Wrigley Field be torn down?”)

The result of their “rather unscientific poll” was as follows:

Among 1,863 respondents, 47% agree that the ivy and everything else ought to be pulled down, while 53% want to keep the obstructed views alive.

Check out the reaction on Facebook!

Here’s a video interview with Mr. Cohen:

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As a Mets fan who watched the move into Citi Field from Shea Stadium and finish in fourth place for 3 years in a row,Â I’m not sure a new ballpark will make a difference.