Tom Ricketts on breaking Chicago Cubs curse, World Series rain delay & celebration | Ross & Rizzo

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Lovable Reunion

Episode: Tom Ricketts on breaking Chicago Cubs curse, World Series rain delay & celebration | Ross & Rizzo
Air Date: June 2, 2026
Hosts: Anthony Rizzo & David Ross
Guest: Tom Ricketts (Chairman/Owner, Chicago Cubs)

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Episode Overview

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Chicago Cubs’ historic 2016 World Series victory, hosts (and 2016 team heroes) Anthony Rizzo and David Ross sit down with Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts for an in-depth, behind-the-scenes conversation. The episode dives into Ricketts’ lifelong Cubs fandom, the family’s journey to ownership, the strategic overhaul of the team and Wrigley Field, and the emotional rollercoaster of breaking the “curse.” This is an intimate, candid exploration of what it took to deliver one of the most meaningful championships in sports history, told through stories, laughter, and a few teary moments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Ricketts Family’s Dream & Early Fandom

• Growing Up a Cubs Fan: Tom Ricketts recounts a modest upbringing in Omaha and how the 1984 Cubs team converted him into a diehard.
  • “We grew up in Omaha, you know, pretty modest background... Once that ’84 team hit, I was hooked.” (05:31)
• Meeting His Wife in the Bleachers: Met his wife, Cece, at Wrigley Field during the bleacher days; the Cubs were a central theme of his social life post-college.
  • “I met my wife in the bleachers. True story.” (08:00)

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2. Buying the Cubs: A Family Affair & Early Obstacles

• Family Buy-In: Tom shares the moment he called his siblings and even his skeptical father (“That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”) about using family wealth to purchase the Cubs.
  • “Stupid and no are totally different answers... Stupid, I can work with stupid.” (12:57)
• Convincing His Father: Taking his dad to a day game at Wrigley, showing him the unique neighborhood and ballpark vibe, helped win him over.
  • “He’s like, ‘Oh, I get it. I get why you guys want to do this.’” (13:41)

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3. Wrigley Field’s Transformation & Creating a Championship Culture

• Rebuilding the Cathedral: Tom and the hosts laugh about the state of the old facilities—small clubhouses, bad tunnels, coverings to hide messes.
  • “I’m walking through that first time, and I’m like, oh my God, this is so bad.” (15:00)
• Pride in Modernization: Addition of amenities, bathrooms, shade at spring training, and revolutionary player areas.
  • “You can’t tell everyone they’re in a first class organization and then give them third class facilities.” (22:44)
  • “We have most shade of all the spring training.” (23:26)
• Handling Pushback: Navigating resistance from neighbors and preserving history while modernizing (“This is the baseball cathedral. Stadium number one...”). (22:09)

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4. Building a Winner: Strategic Patience, Theo Epstein, and Team Culture

• Theo Epstein’s Hiring: A secretive, deliberate search led to Theo, whose humility and emotional intelligence won Tom over.
  • “The first thing out of his mouth was, hey, look, everything you’re reading about my success, it’s not me, it’s a whole bunch of people...” (32:49)
• Player Development & Trades: Honest communication with fans about rebuilding—“We’re going to have to build this brick by brick.”
  • “We had to be really honest about the fact that we had great players toward the end of their careers... prioritize future wins over current wins.” (35:07)
• Changing the Narrative: The “lovable loser” image faded in 2014, pride took over, and expectations rose steadily.
  • “I felt like the loser part, lovable loser stuff, started to leave in ‘14 a little bit.” (37:51)

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5. Signature Signings, Joe Maddon, and Clubhouse Dynamics

• Lester and Ross Arrive: Story of recruiting Jon Lester, who wanted veteran support (“He wants us to sign David Ross.”). (40:25)
• Joe Maddon’s Impact: Joe’s laid-back style, fun media handling, cultural shift—crucial in banishing “the curse.”
  • “He never bought into the curse stuff. He kept everybody loose.” (42:44)
• Player/Owner Connection: Ricketts’s accessibility, attending games with a beer in hand and being present for players & fans alike.
  • “Seeing you there with a beer in your hand, enjoying the game with your family, was just as a player, seeing that, I thought it was the coolest thing.” (26:28)
• Charity as a Core Value: Rizzo shares how Ricketts' support helped anchor his charitable foundation and cemented a giving culture within the team.
  • “Now raised over close to $30 million because you said yes and put the stamp of approval.” (27:35)

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6. The Championship Run: Playoffs, Rain Delay, and the Emotional Weight

• 2016 Playoffs Logistics: Ricketts chartered special planes for families and the team—thoughtful touches that boosted morale.
  • “You chartered us two planes... and then we get to the playoffs and we have a roundtable meeting…” (50:44)
• Clinching the Pennant ([53:38]–[55:18]):
  • Ricketts hadn’t prepared for the on-field trophy presentation and found himself holding the pennant trophy on TV, playfully cursing (caught via lip-reading by his brother).
  • “He goes, go back and read your lips... ‘this thing’s f---ing heavy!’” (55:15)
• World Series Game 5 at Wrigley:
  • “It’s the only game we won at home. The only World Series game probably ever won in Wrigley, I think.” – Anthony Rizzo (57:17)
  • Ricketts recalls the tension, superstition (don’t talk about the parade!), and the behind-the-scenes chaos of hosting family and parties.
• Game 7, The Rain Delay, and Victory:
  • Ricketts spent the final, historic innings jumping between seats, sharing the moment with as many family members as possible—including being mistaken for an ordinary fan during Rajai Davis’ game-tying homer.
    • “The guy next to me grabs me and starts jumping.” (62:41)
  • Memorable quote: “There are days you’re like, wow, if something goes the other way, or if Kipnis straightens out that ball in the ninth... there’s a few things that are just kind of too scary to think about not happening.” (72:20)
• Aftermath and Parade:
  • Ricketts describes a sleepless night post-Game 7, followed by returning to a still-messy Progressive Field and prepping for Chicago’s epic parade day.
  • Parade highlight: “There was a little kid on his dad’s shoulders, Grandpa, we did it, holding up a sign... I check up when I talk about this stuff.” (69:02)

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7. Legacy, Standard, and Emotional Resonance

• Shifting from ‘Lovable Losers’ to Champions:
  • “If you’re not lovable losers, then you’re expected to win. And that’s got to be the standard.” (75:02)
• Symbolism of the Last Out Ball:
  • Rizzo discusses giving Ricketts the ball from the final out, declining seven-figure offers, stressing where it belonged.
    • “Giving you the ball was—I think this is right where it belongs, because of what you and your family invested.” (70:48)
• What it Means to Cubs Fans:
  • “People care so much. And every time I think I met the greatest Cub fan in the world, a few days later, I meet someone could also be the greatest Cub fan in the world.” (74:34)
  • Memories are about family first, and baseball is the social connective tissue.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Kind of a dream come true for me as well... winning the World Series is a dream come true.” – Tom Ricketts (05:31)
• “You can’t tell everyone they’re at a first class organization and then, you know, tell. Here’s your third class facilities.” – Tom Ricketts (22:44)
• “We had to be really honest about the fact that we had... to prioritize future wins over current wins.” – Tom Ricketts (35:07)
• “He never bought into the, like, the curse stuff... kept everybody loose.” – Tom Ricketts on Joe Maddon (42:44)
• “If Kipnis straightens out that ball in the ninth…” – Tom Ricketts (72:20)
• “Every time I think I met the greatest Cub fan in the world, a few days later, I meet someone could also be the greatest Cub fan in the world.” – Tom Ricketts (74:34)
• “We shifted, all of us shifted a culture here... now expected winners every single year.” – Anthony Rizzo (74:51)

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Timestamped Highlights

• Ricketts’ Cubs Fandom & Ownership Dream: 05:31–07:23
• The Siblings & Dad Buy-In Story: 12:18–13:50
• Wrigley Field Tales/Meeting His Wife: 08:00–10:37
• Hiring Theo Epstein & Decision-Making: 29:25–34:34
• “Lovable Losers” Shift: 37:51–38:45
• Game 7, Rain Delay, and Postgame: 61:41–68:01
• Parade Memories & Cultural Legacy: 68:12–76:01
• Symbolic Hand-Off of the Last Out Ball: 70:12–71:47
• Final Reflection on Winning & Cubs’ Culture: 72:20–76:01

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Tone & Atmosphere

• Intimate, jovial, candid, and emotionally warm. The hosts and guest share genuine affection, humility, and pride, with plenty of playful ribbing, self-effacing humor, and deep gratitude for what they experienced together.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Tom Ricketts’ journey from Wrigley bleacher bum to owner is the ultimate Cubs “everyfan” success story.
• The Cubs’ transformation wasn’t just about talent—it was sustained investment, emotional honesty, patience with fans, and a relentless desire to serve both the team and Chicago.
• The 2016 championship erased more than a curse; it redefined the Cubs’ organizational identity for generations and permanently raised standards.
• At its heart, Cubs baseball is about community, family, and making memories that cross generations.

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For the full emotional impact (and plenty of laughs), this episode is a must-listen for Cubs faithful and baseball romantics everywhere.

Transcript

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[David Ross]

Your bill, ladies.

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

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[David Ross]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

No.

[Tom Ricketts]

The Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card.

[David Ross]

Visit Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Terms apply.

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

Your social media feed delivers plenty of advice, but it doesn't know you. It doesn't ask questions. It doesn't give physical exams or order tests. Doctors do. At the American Medical association, we believe the best care starts with a real conversation, with someone who understands the science and your unique health. So stay curious, ask questions. But when it's time to make decisions, make them with a doctor. Learn more at AMA Health vs Hype.org that's AMA Health vs Hype.org Javi I

[David Ross]

think Javi Sneakly was a lot of people's favorite player on that team. Like, talk to people they love.

[Tom Ricketts]

I mean, I cried when we traded him. Like, great story. Like we're out on a family vacation and, and you know, is, you know, everybody's getting traded. It's, it's the red wedding. That whole week it was awful. Like, but

[David Ross]

that's good.

[Tom Ricketts]

That's what Randy Bush called it. And like, I'm really just down on the whole thing. It's just kind of a bummer. And I walk back to the, to the, to the, to the Family. And I'm like, hey, we just. We just traded hobby. And. And then. And then. And then one of my kids, like, who we get? I'm like, oh, this first rounder named Pete Crowe Armstrong. So my son Nick goes, oh, that dude. That kid slept on my couch.

[Anthony Rizzo]

No way.

[Tom Ricketts]

Like, yeah. So it turns out PCA is friends with one of Nick's friends and literally, like, spent spring break on his couch like, the year before.

[David Ross]

Like, wait a minute. What was going on that week? Really? We got to. We got to nix this trade immediately.

[Tom Ricketts]

No. Yeah, right. Cancel. Cancel.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Abort.

[David Ross]

No, that was a good story. You got anywhere to be?

[Tom Ricketts]

No, I'm all good.

[David Ross]

Let's go.

[Tom Ricketts]

Let's do it. Let's go. All right, Game on.

[David Ross]

It's on. Riz. Riz has got to run the show.

[Anthony Rizzo]

This is going to be the only intro I read off the paper because I can't mess this up because you're too important. Anthony Rizzo. David Ross. Tom. Rick. Kills me to say Tom. Welcome back to another episode of the Lovable Reunion. Today we have our most important guest of them all, the man and family who had a vision that started as a dream and along the way built something bigger than baseball. A culture, a family and a team that people everywhere could believe in and delivered a moment that Cubs fans will never forget. It's hard for me to call you anything other than Mr. Ricketts, but today I'm going to call you Tom.

[Tom Ricketts]

Hey, thanks. Thanks.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Welcome, Tom Ricketts to the show.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. Beautiful intro. Thank you.

[David Ross]

That was a good one.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I have a hard time calling you Tom, and I used to always call you Mr. Ricketts, and you used to always say, please just call me Tom. And now through the years, I found out it actually made you annoyed that I called you Mr. Ricketts.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. You can go back to that if you want now. No, it's. Yeah, a lot of guys, it's kind of funny. It's the only place I get called Mr. Ricketts is by the players.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I think we'll take it when the

[David Ross]

boss man walks in, though. Yeah. You feel a little bit of that. I felt. I was telling. We were having kind of story time before, and I'm like. I remember being the manager. All of a sudden you have a different perspective about the boss, and you're like, wait a minute. He bought this trash can. He bought his rug.

[Tom Ricketts]

Like, you know, he's.

[David Ross]

He's paid for everything, a lot of stuff.

[Tom Ricketts]

Bought that left fielder, right?

[David Ross]

Exactly.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Did you ever think, like, you Came to my wedding, right?

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

It was fun, and it was a great time. Is there ever a time you thought, yeah, I paid for this?

[Tom Ricketts]

No, never. Because I would.

[Anthony Rizzo]

If I, like, I put myself in dream as being an owner, I'd be like, oh, that's cool. Like, sometimes I would see you in the parking lot, and I'd have my nice car, and I'd be like, what if everybody thinks, like, I'm just this

[David Ross]

little assigned for everybody's. Everybody's nice rides?

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. No, no. I never would think that way. I would think you earned this.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.

[David Ross]

That's nice.

[Anthony Rizzo]

So the dream of buying the Cubs, right? You grew up a Cubs fan, and you and your family get together, really turn a dream into reality, and you buy the team. What can you still. Can you believe that you're the owner of the Chicago Cubs? The chairman, everything.

[Tom Ricketts]

I mean, you talk about a dream coming true, you talk about winning the World Series is a dream come true. It's kind of a dream come true for me as well. Like, the. You know, we grew up in Omaha, you know, pretty. Pretty modest background, you know, regular childhood. Like, worked at Burger King, did all the things regular kids do. We just had a normal life. Came out to university here at University of Chicago, and I started 83. 84 was, of course, the 84 team, which is, you know, the. One of the most iconic teams in the history of the. Of the club. And all these great players and all these really compelling guys that you just wanted to cheer for. And it just swept the city up. And my first baseball game was it as it was at Wrigley. And I was kind of a Cub fan, but I cheered for the Royals as well, because I was in Omaha. But then once. Once that 84 team hit, I was hooked. And so then we, you know, we cheered for that. You know, we cheered for them. And then after college, we moved around every. Every year, moved different apartments, but we always, you know, went to Cubs games. And that was our thing. That was like our. Every Saturday and Sunday, we would have, like, 10 bleacher tickets. And in fact, one year, we lived literally right above the Sports Corner bar.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Really?

[Tom Ricketts]

And so people would come by and buzz, hey, Rickus, I got some tickets. Or one night, you guys are probably. One night I was up there, and the doorbell rings, and the guy's like, my buddy Woody's like, hey, you got to come downstairs, man. And I walked out. He's playing pool in the Sports Corner Bar with John Kruck.

[David Ross]

No way.

[Tom Ricketts]

Which I Knew Croc from my fantasy teams and I. Anyway, but anyway, so we had. Our whole social life was around Wrigley. And now that was before, like, you know, my family made a lot of money. My dad made a lot of money. But, like, but, you know, it was our social life. We were there all the time. And. And in fact, my business school essay, when I applied to business school, they asked, you know, what's your dream job? And I said no to baseball team. But no way. We had.

[Anthony Rizzo]

No, no, we got to get that paper.

[David Ross]

Yeah, we do. I need to get that.

[Tom Ricketts]

I found it once a few years ago, and then I put it somewhere that I can't find it again, but it's out there.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Wow.

[David Ross]

Speaking of can't find things, I asked for the W flag one time when I managed and called you and you were like, yeah, I gotta find that thing somewhere, but I have. No, no, you put it in my office.

[Tom Ricketts]

Okay.

[David Ross]

Yeah, yeah. No, you.

[Tom Ricketts]

You.

[David Ross]

You took care of me. You always take care of us. But yeah, you put that. I called you, I said the one thing I want to symbolize me as a manager and what we're all about is just like, keep it about the W. And you. You framed it nicely and put in my office.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, it was up on your wall.

[David Ross]

Yeah, it was up on my wall.

[Tom Ricketts]

But you.

[David Ross]

I think you had to find it for a minute. It's like you've got. You've got a lot of memorabilia laying around here. That's. That's for sure.

[Anthony Rizzo]

You met so Cece here.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, I met my wife in the bleachers.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Wow.

[Tom Ricketts]

True story. We always. We always sat in the front row of center field because two reasons. One, it's a great seat. I mean, you know, of course, people forget. People don't realize, like, so many other ballparks, like, the bullpens are between. Man, there's outfield, then the bullpen, then the fans. Wrigley, it's not like that at all. Right. They're right on top of you in the outfield and that. And we never could get in motivated, early enough to be on the wall. Then right and left. That's. That was just too early in the morning for us. But we would take the front row of center field on every game and get there in time to get the front row, because not only could you see the game very well, but you could send somebody down to get beers and you could just hand the beers up. And this is before the tyranny of the two beer limit. So you could send a guy down with 64 bucks and get 16 beers passed back up to the whole crowd.

[David Ross]

Oh, wow.

[Tom Ricketts]

So that was. That was our routine. And we were there every time.

[Anthony Rizzo]

What was the beer of choice? Was it Old style? Back then was the only old style

[Tom Ricketts]

in the stadium or it was 50, 50. You know, I probably did some old style, but, you know, I'm very, very happy with our bud partnership. So.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Of course.

[David Ross]

Yeah, of course.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. A little bit of both. In fact, there are a lot of old style. In fact, it was funny, we, when we bought the team Old style, sent me a big box and I'm like, oh, it's going to be like a lamp or a poster or something. And I pull this box open and it's a 12 pack of just, just two six packs. That's a $9 value. But anyway, I thought I put it in the fridge, put it, I put in my office. And then we pulled it out like that Friday afternoon, passed out some old styles, and I literally took my first swig and I'm like, oh, that's what old style tastes like without peanut shells in it.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, my God.

[Tom Ricketts]

Because all the time old style. And anyway, so yeah, we sat in the center field bleachers. My wife and a bunch of her college friends were sitting right next to us.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And what was the pickup line? What was the icebreaker?

[Tom Ricketts]

Gosh, you know, I don't know if I remember what the pickup line was, but what happened was we met there. And of course, the bleachers is one big party, as you guys know, and you meet a lot of people, and then we're like, hey, we'll meet you girls at Taste of Lincoln Avenue. You know, we're gonna. Taste of Lincoln Avenue is this festival that was down like, on like, you know, Wrightwood and Lincoln. And of course that's like saying, I'll see you around. Cause there's, you know, it's. Of course it's such. It was there. There's 50,000 people there or 20,000 people there, but got lucky. Friend of mine had a little, little party out in his, like, garden apartment with a bunch of kegs sitting out. Looked up and they were all my wife and all of her friends lined up to go into like, the, the, like the porta potties or something. I'm okay. We know you guys.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Wow.

[Tom Ricketts]

And then I was just chatting with her, and she was a fourth year med student out with really fun friends, you know, having a few beers on a Sunday afternoon. I thought that was a respectful kind of. That's kind of A cool way to start.

[David Ross]

Yeah, it's a good first date.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, it's a good first date. And so followed up from there.

[David Ross]

Well, you got a little. Gotta get a cool story. Coming back now and being the owner of the Cubs and.

[Tom Ricketts]

Right.

[David Ross]

That's how you. Where you met your wife and like, how that story plays out. It's pretty special.

[Tom Ricketts]

And one day her friends bought, you know, bought some bleacher tickets and said it's the anniversary of you guys. Of like July 29th. No anniversary. Go sit in the front row. Like now. They've rebuilt the bleachers twice since then, so. So. So my seat actually isn't just like it was, but it's pretty close.

[David Ross]

That was my first year here with all the construction, with the bleachers in 15. And we played with no. No fans.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah. To start, right?

[David Ross]

Yeah. Start. Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah.

[David Ross]

You'll be pissed that wasn't ready by opening day. One of the. One of the many things you got to do. Hey, we have some very exciting announcement to share with you guys.

[Anthony Rizzo]

We've had so much fun filming the Lovable Reunion. We have the perfect exclamation point for this series.

[David Ross]

On Thursday, July 16, at the Chicago Theater, we'll be hosting the Lovable Reunion live in partnership with Marquee Sports.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Me and Rossi will be joined on stage by Joe Madden, Dexter Fowler, to really, the biggest moments from the run and some things that didn't make into the podcast. And the show will be moderated by the voice of the Cubs, John Boog Shami.

[David Ross]

Tickets go on sale June 5th. The link is in our bio. But for our loyal viewers who are watching this right now, you can use code reunion for early access.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Get your tickets now and we'll see you July 16th at the iconic Chicago theater.

[David Ross]

Let's go get your tickets, people. I actually want to go back to like when you made that phone call to your siblings and how all that went down. Like, you gotta just hop on a call and say, hey, this is a real viable option.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, well.

[David Ross]

So everybody on board?

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, the siblings were. The funny part was I. I did reach out to my dad. My dad was, you know, he was a very, very successful man, made lots and lots of money and put some of. In. In the kids names and that's kind of what we were, know, managing or what we oversee. And. And I just called them up, said, what would you think if we took, you know, this. This pocket of money and made it like the equity component of our bid for the Cubs? And my dad who, not a sports fan, said, that's the stupidest thing you've ever said. And I'm like, okay, well, I get. So I'm a salesman, right? So stupid and no are totally different answers. Yeah, I'm like, stupid. I can work with stupid.

[David Ross]

So, like, I go back, I know

[Tom Ricketts]

I can work with stupid. So I went back and I'm like, I started doing all the math. Like, well, actually, these aren't bad investments. They tend to go up. They're recession proof. They're, you know, like. We weren't thinking of it in those terms exactly, but it wasn't. It's not, it's not a. It's not a dumb thing to do. And at the time, we didn't really understand all the, all the problems that we had with the ballpark or any of the other issues. But. But then, you know, so eventually, you know, we actually. Dad came out, we had a. He had a. We had a party. We on one of the rooftops. And Dad's like, wow, I really. This is really different. I understand what you're looking at. This is not exact at all what I expected. And I'm. No, I mean, it's a ballpark, but it's a unique ballpark. And it's a. It's in a neighborhood, but it's a unique neighborhood. It's a special game day experience that, that no one else has. And that's. And he's like, oh, I get it. I get, I get you why you guys want to do this. So the siblings, of course, were all in. They're all pretty much.

[David Ross]

Did you bring them to a day game or a night game?

[Tom Ricketts]

A day game. Day game. Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's the best one, I think. I think it's so cool looking back and seeing some of your interviews. And I texted you, I got chills watching it. Everything that you said early on as the owner came true. You came in and you said, we're going to rebuild the infrastructure here. We're going to make it the best facility for not only the fan experience, but the player experience. You rebuild Mesa first, which was incredible. Then you start doing all the renovations here in Steps to Bin Dominican. The facilities there. I think we were. You were a pioneer in that, right? You were one of the first facilities that.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, we, we now. I think a lot of guys were already down there, but our facilities were bad. Pretty bad.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Bad first state of the art. And it's so cool to walk back and say, I'm going to redo all of this. I'm going to build a championship team, and we're going to win a World Series here. And literally the year. Pretty much the year that everything got done, we win the World Series. So we were talking maybe the curse was maybe in the clubhouse or something.

[David Ross]

That net that dropped down in front of the tv, right? Like, remember that? Oh, my gosh. My blogger was right there. And then we get this nice facility. We come in 2016, and things just take off.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, yeah, I remember that. That net. Like, I. I never really was in the clubhouse before we closed on the deal. Like, I walked around the park, but it was quick. It was cursory. Like, the. You know, the seller gave you some materials, and I'm like, I can't. We hired a. An architecture firm to help us look at it a little bit, but you really don't. You don't get much feel for it. And we're like, hey, we'll have to solve that problem afterward. And I'm walking through that first time, and I'm like, oh, my God, this is so bad. Like, and that little tunnel across from where the. Where the media room was, and it was just, like, dirt and, like, where the quick creatives or whatever we throw on the field. And I'm like, can we at least put a curtain over this? I mean, it was. It was. It was awful.

[David Ross]

And.

[Tom Ricketts]

And the tea. I thought it was a joke when they explained what that tea was. And I'm like, that's it. And what do we do with it?

[David Ross]

Even the board to protect the team

[Tom Ricketts]

so the ball doesn't break the television.

[David Ross]

Ridiculous. That's how you're supposed to get loose and you're hitting on carpet like it was.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, it was a show I'm so excited to see. In July is Bon Jovi at the Garden.

[David Ross]

Let's go. Slippery when wet.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I'm looking at tickets on SeatGeek.

[David Ross]

You get me one?

[Anthony Rizzo]

Can you sing me a song?

[Tom Ricketts]

Every rose has.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's poison.

[David Ross]

Okay, outtakes. This is why I want to give a sponsor shout out to seatgeek where we get our tickets. There's nothing better than getting on there and getting really good seats last minute. That's how I roll.

[Anthony Rizzo]

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[David Ross]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[David Ross]

Bro. I love using SeatGeek. You can just hit the month of June, scroll through. I can't decide. Ed Sheeran. Morgan Wallen. Garth Brooks. Ooh, Post Malone. Look. I mean, look. Look at all the options here in June. Megan Maroney.

[Tom Ricketts]

Ha.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Now let's do post.

[David Ross]

I love Post Malone. Seatgeek.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Where are we sitting?

[David Ross]

We're going to pick some green dots. The best deals are the green dot deals. We're going to send Front row.

[Tom Ricketts]

Huh?

[David Ross]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

And of course, I have a code for you guys. You can use code level reunion10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at Seatgeek.

[David Ross]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Thank you, seatgeek.

[David Ross]

Thanks, seatgeek. Shout out Soup Geek SG in the house.

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[Tom Ricketts]

car online on Autotrader right now?

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Tom Ricketts]

Wow, your search can really get that specific.

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Really?

[Tom Ricketts]

And you just put in your info and boom. Car's in your budget.

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[Tom Ricketts]

Honey, you can really have it delivered.

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[Tom Ricketts]

Mommy, look. I think your kid is walking up the slide. Kyle.

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[David Ross]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[David Ross]

Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[Tom Ricketts]

But yeah, but I've been obviously like, you know, just had a great team. You know, Crane was already here so he kind of knew some of the things we'd have to do. Brought in a lot of great people to help and just started like making the list of all the things we had to fix. And it's a long list. It was a long list and it took a long time. And then you know, you start, you start with what you think is going to be the, the a plan and then over time, like the city has ideas and slows you down a little bit and, and then while you're delayed, you change it around a little bit. And you know, we got player input and, and you know, tried to make it as best we can, but yeah, all the facilities now, I mean I'm, you know, obviously the greatest thing we ever did is what you guys did in 2016. But I'm just super proud of how the ballpark looks and how it plays and, and how fans like it and, and you know, there are people that come to the game now who take it for granted. But the guys who were coming 15 years ago, yeah, they know, they know it took an inning to go to the bathroom during a playoff game. They knew. They knew it took a half hour to get out of the park because we didn't have enough exits. They knew there was almost no elevators like all. And, and like food. We added 50% more bathrooms. Things like that that people appreciate.

[David Ross]

Well, I think that's what's amazing, that you started as a fan owner but still your fandom is, is real and big and how you interact with fans.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[David Ross]

On a daily basis like that. That you've got a fan vision as the owner, which I don.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's normal, Rossi. We used to have to park right here like next to the stadium, next to like the dumpsters. Right. And to get out of the. The stadium, there was a ramp up to the concourse, so it's sold out every day here. So there'd be games where, you know, you have family in town, you got to get out somewhat quick. And I remember just sneaking through the crowd, and every once in a while I'd bring like a broken bat or something and just tap someone on the shoulder, hand it to them, and keep going. And they were like. It would take them a second to register, but I'd better be gone. And they'd start screaming like, oh, my God. But I remember the grief that you got for all of it, right. From the neighbors and all the. The stuff. And I'm like, in my head, I'm like, this is already an amazing ballpark. And you see these renderings, and it's already been around for 100 years because in 2014, we were celebrating the 100th year. Right. Of Wrigley. And I'm just, in my head, I'm like, these people are crazy. And I. I understand the baseball historians, but the video, getting everything up to speed of the times. This is the baseball cathedral. This is stadium number one, Right. It's here. Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium.

[David Ross]

There.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's it. That is the only.

[David Ross]

Well, the Yankee Stadium's new. Like, they moved that, right?

[Anthony Rizzo]

Exactly. So it's really here. Fenway and Dodger Stadium. But if there's one thing that you can look back on of all the renovations, what. What is like your baby? What. What are you, like, most proud of? Of the renovations.

[Tom Ricketts]

Oh, that's a great question.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Well, or to help us win a championship.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, I mean, the clubhouse, that was quite a turnaround. Yeah. But you guys, when you guys came back on opening, was it before opening day?

[David Ross]

Yeah. It was like Christmas walking.

[Tom Ricketts]

Remember that? Yeah, that was. That was so pathetic.

[David Ross]

I think I've got a video on my phone. Everybody had their videos. I just like, that place was amazing.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, I think, I think, I mean, in terms of. In terms of, you know, I think said that were desperately needed. I think that was number one. I mean, you can't tell everyone they're at a first class organization and then, you know, tell. Here's your third class facilities. So in spring training, you know, this. With best spring training by far, like, we crush everyone in spring training. I think the. The signature move there came from my wife, and she's like, more shade. And we're very proud of. We have most shade of all the spring training.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I never thought of that. So it was her first Thought it's a genius call.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. And it makes a big difference to

[David Ross]

people when it's a packed place, too. I look on now, you know, sitting back, you look at it, it's like. It's like spring training. It is the spot to be in spring training, too. So I guess sold out.

[Tom Ricketts]

We're in our own category.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, by far. It's a different world. And speaking of spring training, and I did forget to set the scene. We are at the most iconic sports venue in the world, Wrigley Field, in Tom's office. It kills me to say Tom. So Mr. Ricketts in his suite overlooking the stadium. And it's amazing.

[David Ross]

But what was it? I had this one. Just because it popped in, you buy the Cubs. You're. You and your family own the codes. You walk in the first time as an owner, like, what? Like, that's got to be just, like, chills.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, you know. Yeah, certainly. Well, so one of the things we were coming up to that very first opening day, it was like the brewers on April 2, 2010, or whatever it was. And I'm like, what am I gonna do? So with, like, a week before, I'm like, I got it. So I told Lorraine, my assistant, who, you know, well, hey, print me a dozen baseballs with the date on and do it for every home game. And so every more. Every game, I get, you know, 12 baseballs, and they say, April 2nd covers versus brewers, and tomorrow's April 3rd. And. And so it gave me an opportunity to get out and just talk to people for a couple reasons. One is, like, you know, if. If you're at Wrigley Field and you're just, hi. You're up in a box, like, you know, like, are you just hiding from the fans? You're kind of missing the point. It's a social place. Everyone's having a good time. Everyone is in their happy place. And. And you want to be part of that. And then secondly, I think there's this presumption about ownership that you don't care. It's about the money. It's about your ego. And I just want to get out and talk to people. The baseball is a great way to break the ice. Give it to your kid, talk to their parents. You get some advice on some things you could do better around the ballpark. You can't hear the radio in the women's room or something. Those are things that naturally I wouldn't hear about. So, you know, sometimes I get real advice, so that. That's really important. And, you know, you also just don't want to be like one of the NFL guys with a tie up in. Up in. Up in the upper. Up in the suite.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And almost like a mythical.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, well, it's lording over the, you know. Yeah.

[David Ross]

Separate.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah.

[David Ross]

You are a fan again. Going back to like, you know what? That's like.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Not only did you do that, you do that to this. Tom does that to this day, every single game. Right. You're passing it. He's going up usually to the upper decks. The upper decks, right. And handing out baseballs. You just. That's. That's one of one. No one else does that. There's. I can guarantee it.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, and it's kind of in those first couple of games, it was. People were like, didn't. Didn't know what to do or should we do, you know, do a photo or make a comment or whatever. But, like, now I'm pretty much everyone sees me at every game, so it's just pretty natural and just go try to find.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I think it was, for me as a player, it was so cool being on the. On deck. Like, your. Your seats are right there on our on deck circle. And seeing you there with a beer in your hand, enjoying the game with your family, with your kids was just as a player, seeing that, I thought it was the coolest thing that you were so accessible. Because in spring training every year, Tom would address the team and he talked about family and culture. And I remember you, our first spring training, you talked about charity and giving back and giving back to the fans and. And that's when I was going through, opening, starting my own charity. And I remember going into your office and like, terrified. I was 22 years old. This is 2012, I believe, the end of 2012. And I asked you, I was like, hey, Mr. Ricketts, like, I, I really want to start a charity. Can you help me? And without your blessing, like, the Cubs charity team was amazing, but you helped me now raised over close to $30 million because you said yes and put the stamp of approval and it's just how many lives you've changed outside of the game, especially through your own Cubs charities, has just been incredible.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, what you, what you've done with your foundation is in its own category as well, pretty, pretty incredible. And. And I think it was also nice because, like, you know, the teams kind of go in cycles a little bit. We try to not have that happen, but it typically tends to happen anyway. So, like, the guys for like the good 08 and 09 teams were kind of, like, moving on and, you know, they had some charitable efforts. And then we went through a couple years where not a lot of the guys knew they'd be here very long, honestly. So, like, you know, or they were just. Just trying to get established. And so we didn't have a lot of players doing a lot of community things. And then when you came through in, like, 2014, 2015, and started doing it, and then the other guys had, you know, we brought in, some guys already had their foundations, like. Like Lester and those guys. But then you encourage other guys to do it, and it became part of the team culture in that era. And just, you know, and, like, some

[David Ross]

of the more events in 2016 and 15 and 16 when I was here than I've been with any teams. I mean, we had, you know, Lester's event at Chosen Weed, your event, the cook Off. I mean, all the stuff that we did. Yeah. Like, it was bricks and Harvard culture. Our off days were usually a nice party that somebody was throwing and raising a ton of money.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. And, I mean, I don't know. You guys can answer this question better than me, but it can't hurt the culture to be able to everyone get together at night just for a quick beer. And you guys, you always had an area where it wasn't too uncomfortable with the fans.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Totally.

[Tom Ricketts]

And I think it was. That was a great era for us in terms of community, for sure. Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

A lot of those. A lot of those. As I moved on, a lot of those can be, like, eye rolling. Oh, I have to go to this event. Right. But when we were doing it, even the bricks and ivy was like. It was so much fun.

[Tom Ricketts]

It was fun.

[Anthony Rizzo]

It was just a huge party. And usually we would. Well, early on, we didn't win a lot of games, but when we were rolling, we would always usually come after a win or something, and it'd just be a fun.

[David Ross]

Only no winning. When I got here, it kind of.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, right.

[David Ross]

I don't know about the dog days. Speaking of a guy that's got a lot of wins on his belt, tell me about hiring Theo Epstein. And you get to interview whoever you want. Pick whoever you want. That's the guy you selled on. How did he. What? How did he impress you? Was it his resume, obviously, or what he already did? Spoke for itself. But tell me a little bit about.

[Tom Ricketts]

I think one of the better decisions that we made coming in as ownership was to not, like, change everything right away. You see a lot of guys that come in and they want to bring in their own people right away and try to change, kind of like get off to a fast start or something like that. I mean, I got some advice, actually. Jerry Reinsdorf gave me good advice. Like he said, don't worry about that stuff. Just get your. Get your deal done. You got plenty of time to think about that. And, and so when. When we got in, you know, we had a business leadership, which is Crane, who's still here, who's, I think, the best team, who's, you know, as good as it gets.

[David Ross]

He's been. How long has Crane been here?

[Tom Ricketts]

20 some years.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, a long time. Oh, yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

Predates me for about 10 years anyway. And then. So I would give that. Give those guys a shot and see how they do. And obviously they, you know, we brought in some new people to help him, but performed extremely well. And then Jim Henry was our gm, who, who I love, still love, was a great guy, was so, so good to me. Like, you know, like, in terms of when I would go to all the minor league parks every year, you know, he'd send. Send his guys with me, or he'd answer any question anytime. He was so available and so great. But. But at some point it was like. Well, I think there's. There's kind of a wave of like just the wave of GMs that are just kind of doing things a little more sophisticated in a more sophisticated manner, and we probably should try to get on that wave. And, and so, you know, you let Jim go. And, and what I did, I actually did a. Like this super secret. I made a list of 20 people I wanted to talk to. You know, no candidates, just people like a couple, a few agents, a few former GS.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I was going to ask who'd you lean on?

[Tom Ricketts]

Two former players. You know, Billy Bean sat down with me for like three hours during that's so Cool. We did a secret meeting and some hotel like, conference room because we. I didn't want to be seen at lunch and start the rumor mill. But, like, so I just went around. I was talking to. I went around just as secretly as possible. I didn't even let Lorraine know where I was. I just didn't want anyone to know where I was because I didn't want any rumors. And of course, all that really wasn't a great, great use of my time because the most obvious person was Theo, because during that process, he basically made it clear he wasn't going to be at the Red Sox. You know, at the end, after the year, he was going to just leave and exercise his right to leave. So, you know, then you go through a process like, you. You have to pay a formal request in. John Henry called me, said, I know you want to talk to Theo. I don't think he's really going to leave, but I'll let you talk to him. And so I called him the next morning, and I said, let's meet in New York tonight. We have an apartment in. Family has an apartment in New York. Let's just meet in New York. I'll just. Because I can't go to B.C. with you in Boston or Chicago. That's pretty weird. We just want to have a discreet meeting. And so we met in. At our place in New York. And really the first thing out of his mouth was, hey, look, everything you're reading about, you know, my success, it's. It's not me. It's a whole bunch of people. And like, you know, and. And he really, like, I think that my. My. My image is over inflated. It's. It's not what you think. And then we talked for three or four hours, and by the end of that, I was kind of like, okay, well, this guy's got game. And obviously his record spoke for itself.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And that's incredible. That's incredible. I just showed Rossi a video, and I'll have to throw it up of my high school swing. And speaking of Theo saying it's a team of people, Laz Gutierrez was my scout from the Red Sox that Theo hired under Jason McLoud. Right. And Jed. So it's like that whole team, and they saw something in me where I still ask J. Mack all the time. I'm like, dude, what did you see in me?

[David Ross]

Because videos, like a 11 foot swing, I'm like, that's an ugly.

[Anthony Rizzo]

If you look at any of my high school videos, it's terrible. I show Happer all the time, and he's like, how did you get drafted? Right? But again, that team of people that is hired underneath the baseball, and you

[Tom Ricketts]

guys know so well, like, what. You know, what I learned later as I got to know Theo, worked with him for all those years. I mean, yeah, he was sufficient in the quantitative skills, but he was superlative in the personal skills, understanding people. An incredible communicator. Just a person that he can just get. He has credibility with you immediately. And whether you're a player or an agent or an owner or a fan, whatever, when he talks, you listen because he's. He. He, like, he really understands the game. He understands what you're concerned with. And ultimately, like, Just has also just a really high EQ and so I think that, so you know, that was something I as I got to appreciate over time because if you just read like, oh, it's all, it's all Moneyball stuff or it's all Bill James. That's only a little piece of it in that package when you got.

[David Ross]

He comes in and you guys have to pretty much tear it down. Right. And, and, and, and to the point and lost it.

[Anthony Rizzo]

The whole stadium almost flipped over. Fell over at one point during the renovation.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah right. Chunk of the roof were blowing off. This, this, this could have tipped over. But anyway, keep going.

[David Ross]

No, I just get a little fire. I didn't have the. You know, he talks about how grinding and how much more rewarding was when we won but like going through the, the hundred lost seasons and like just some of, some of that to, to and, and as an owner stay true to like okay, this is the plan.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. I mean it was like we, we sat down and we had to be really honest about the fact that we had. We had some great players that were toward the end of their careers. We didn't really have a wave of young players that could take their place and make us competitive. And you know, we just had to be honest with ourselves about we were going to have to like prioritize future wins over current wins. And then I think one of the things that we did that maybe other clubs do now, but certainly a larger market club had never done is just be honest with the fans as well and just go out and say, hey, look, we can't deliver overnight results. We're going to have to build this brick by brick. We're going to have to be thoughtful and consistent and just bring in one piece at a time and when it's time, you'll know it. And, and so the trades obviously, you know, trading for, for, for Riz, but you know, like the draft and we drafted well, we got a couple of guys out of the draft just like, you know, you know, the areatta trade. I mean there were a whole bunch of little things that happened over those years that just, just put little pieces into the puzzle and, and then obviously like, you know, by, by 14 it was starting to feel like the team's got a future. And then obviously by the middle of 15.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh yeah, it was.

[David Ross]

I tell him I knew this team. I was in Boston in 14 when Jake almost threw that no hitter in Boston. And I remember thinking, I was like, who is this guy? And this. These guys and I went into free agency that year and signed here in 15. But that's. I was like, they've already got one ace because I played that day and I didn't have a chance, which was most days in my career. But it was, it was definitely, you've got. Okay, if they get Lester and area, there's two aces right there. And then we were.

[Anthony Rizzo]

We were building before that. And it's. It's not about me. I say this in every episode.

[David Ross]

He makes about.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I was the first trade in 2012. I stunk in San Diego. So the fact that Theo went out and. And traded for me was. For me was like the most incredible thing ever because I'm an East coast bias guy and I got drafted by the Red Sox and I get traded out west and then I get to the Cubs. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Rookie of the Year was my favorite movie growing up, right? So I remember coming here for the first time. But in spring training, Jeff Baker goes to me, hey, Rizzo, you better. You better pan out. Andrew Kashner's throwing a hundred in Padres camp. No pressure, kid. And, like, that's me on the ass. And I'm like, oh, it was a first round pick. Yeah, he was a stud.

[Tom Ricketts]

High ceiling. I mean, he had. He struggled with injuries, but he, He. He had some.

[David Ross]

He had.

[Tom Ricketts]

He had a high ceiling and he

[Anthony Rizzo]

was, oh, yeah, stud. Great dude, too.

[David Ross]

And you had all these guys coming in. You went through the tough times, but when did you feel, I guess, 14, you're saying, started to turn around, but did you. When did you feel like, man, we're pretty darn good?

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, you know, I felt like the loser part, lovable loser stuff started to leave in 14 a little bit. You know, there's games like your game in Cincinnati where you try to fight the whole bench. I mean, like, that was.

[David Ross]

A lot of people claim that's the. The big moment. That's a moment.

[Tom Ricketts]

It is kind. It is kind of an inflection point in, like, when, you know, like, if a team doesn't have. You kind of feel like if the team is not gelling enough, that they don't care if they lose or they don't care if their players are disrespected on the road or whatever. Like, that's when you got it. You know, when the team started standing up for itself a little bit as a, As a personally and both as an organization and then going into 15, everyone felt okay. But obviously it was like, you know, that. That series against the Giants that, like, we're like, holy cow. Like, this team's real. And then I forget what the. Win 43 of the last 61 games or something. Wow.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Is that what we did?

[Tom Ricketts]

I forget. I don't know.

[David Ross]

We caught. We caught him. Yeah, we definitely caught fire. We swept the Giants here. Yeah, I remember that.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, they're bringing. And then obviously bringing in, you know, bringing in Lester. Like, that was the first commitment to the fans that we think we can win this year. Like, the first time anyone. Because. Oh, yeah, because, you know, we had some guys we brought in, in, you know, 11, 12, and 13, but they were, you know, 14, and they did, you know, they were solid players, but not the kind of guys you expect to see in the playoffs.

[David Ross]

Tell me about. Tell me about signing Johnny. That's. That had to be your first big free agent. Huge.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, that was kind of fun. So. So I'm. We set up a dinner. So Theo's like, you know, we're. We're recruiting John Lester. You gotta come. Come. You gotta come meet him. And I'm great, great. So I'm driving down and calls me on my cell phone, hey, what's going on, Theo? Hey, we're out to dinner. Lester's gonna be here with his agents. You're gonna sit right across from. Okay, great. He doesn't talk much. I'm like, what do you mean he doesn't talk?

[David Ross]

He doesn't talk. That's so good.

[Tom Ricketts]

I'll have to sit in silence across from our. He's. It turned out we sat down and we talked the whole day, but. Talk the whole night.

[David Ross]

Like.

[Tom Ricketts]

But. But I. I was talking about his fishing on his ranch, you know, fishing on his farm, you know, and, like, things are, you know, just guy stuff, you know, and talking about he'd just gone and shot a buffalo or something. We race those. We can. You can have all you want.

[David Ross]

It's like shooting a minivan, depending how you shoot it.

[Tom Ricketts]

But anyway, so anyway, so we. We got along really well. And that. That dinner was great. And then at the end of that dinner was toward the end, he was like, oh, hey, Tom, there's one thing that really concerns me, you know? What's that, John? You know, I just don't want to be the old. Only old guy on the team. And I'm like, wait, you're 31. That's not that old. Like how? Like, well, I don't know. I just. It'd be nice to have another veteran presence in the. In there. And I'll talk to Theo about it.

[Anthony Rizzo]

No way.

[Tom Ricketts]

I didn't know that. So what was that all about? He's like, ah, he wants you. He wants us to sign David Ross.

[David Ross]

Idiot.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I want. Well, we, Rossy and I had met that, that off season and we. First time we really sat down and talked and I told our agent, we had the same agent. I was like, david Ross is exactly what we need. We need that, that veteran leadership like that. And then we get Joe Madden, then we sign John Lester and then you come in and I remember in the 2015 Cubs convention, I was in a Jim doing one of the Cubs caravans.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And I said to the media, we're going to win the division this year, like out of the blue. And everyone was, what are you doing? I'm like, we're going to be good. Because in 14, we. We made those trades after we traded for Addison Russell. We traded away Samarja for Addison Russell. Yeah, we. I remember that shifting. We were in Oakland and we were set. Theo was like, that's it. That's the last time we're were selling. And you felt it.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And then the off season, the momentum kept going and then you bring in the pieces and we just went on that run in 15 and then obviously we were heartbroken. But going into 16, we had.

[David Ross]

We were.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, well. And so that night, guys get up and leave and I'm like, what was that all about? Oh, yeah, he. David Ross. I'm like, the time we had, well, I took AO or something like y. And he was a great guy and I was. He was starting to, you know, he had potential. Like, is he. I'm like, is he right handed or left handed?

[David Ross]

So he.

[Tom Ricketts]

Right handed. Like this a bad match. He was like, you know, he's more of a defensive catcher.

[David Ross]

Facts. I don't even know how I'm even on this podcast, but it's like, it cracks me up though, looking back at my career and being on some of these teams and like the nice things that these guys have said about me and obviously like, you get to go through all that. But like, John was a big, like, big piece of my career, obviously, and taking me along for some, you know, two rings and being a part of that. But yeah, it's like funny to hear everybody's story. Everybody said I'm this nice, lovable guy, but all the stories are me being an somehow on the field or in the dugout.

[Anthony Rizzo]

So.

[David Ross]

But we brought up Joe Madden for a second. Looking back, what kind of impact do you feel like as a manager because you've had a Bunch of different managers. What impact do you feel like was special that he was able to. To do for a lot of winning here?

[Tom Ricketts]

I mean. I mean, I think what Joe brought, you know, in addition to all of his baseball knowledge and all the fun stuff he did on the field and moving people around and keeping guys loose, like, he never bought into the, like, the curse stuff. Like, he kept everybody loose. Like, you know, and you can. You can talk to Depp or the guys that played in 08. That was the 100th anniversary. Right. And it was, like, such that everybody talked about it, and even, like, just. Even people in the organization talked about it. Like, so I think, you know, the last thing in the world you need is your manager to. To, like, make that any worse than it has to be. And I thought Joe did the opposite. He kept you guys loose. He did fun stuff, you know, and. And, like, he. He had enough of a personality that when, you know, like, when there was a bad game, he could just go out and talk about something to the media, and it all kind of went away from us, and it was a good game. He'd give you guys credit. So. No, I think. I think he was.

[David Ross]

I say that all the time. Critical people talk about the curse and all these things we overcame. I was like, I never felt that in the clubhouse because we never felt

[Anthony Rizzo]

like we were our own little culture shifted because of you and your leadership team. We had round table meetings at the end of every single year where Theo and Tom would come down and they would ask for the players advice of, what do we need to be better? How do we. How are we become the best? And a lot of them were, for the early years, was me just blabbing because I was the only constant here. And then as years later, it became the cathedral that it is. But all of that went into the culture shifting of when I first got here. It was, oh, well, that's the way we've always done it.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And I remember looking at Otis, rest in peace, Tom Hellman, our old clubhouse manager. And I go, otis, I go, don't

[Tom Ricketts]

you think we should switch it up?

[Anthony Rizzo]

We haven't won in a hundred years. What do you mean? This is the way we've always done it? And he's like, oh, I never thought about that.

[Tom Ricketts]

I would do that. Fans would come up to me and be like, hey, Rickards, you're screwing this up all up. And I'd be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, you might be right. But answer me this. Which is Your favorite championship? 1907 or 1908. They're like, what? I'm like, what are you holding on to?

[David Ross]

Right.

[Tom Ricketts]

What are you clinging to here?

[David Ross]

Yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

Like, we got to do some stuff that's different.

[David Ross]

That's funny.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah. Because. Well, when we started winning and the culture really started shifting, the expectations weren't, well, just wait till next year.

[Tom Ricketts]

Right?

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's always the phrase, 15 going to 16. It was, no, we're winning. It wasn't. You didn't hear, you know, I didn't hear Danny Mueller our. Our clubhouse attendant now saying, oh, we're gonna wait till next year. It was, no, we're gonna win the World Series this year. And that was real expectation.

[David Ross]

The two championship teams I've been on, they talk about winning in, like, they're not talking about how long it's been since we haven't won it. Talking about why we were winning. And we had that here with this culture. I think, to your point, Joe had such a great way of handling the media that we never had really any outside distractions. We were kind of our own little unit. And then did you feel that you came down to the locker room some like, you're around. Do you feel a different vibe with the 16 team?

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, you know, I think that. I think everyone. It was kind of a wire to wire kind of season. I mean, you got off to a good start, obviously, a few near misses toward the very end there, but, like, I mean, it was. It was expected. It really was.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

When you gave second pieces, we needed.

[David Ross]

You needed.

[Anthony Rizzo]

You know, go out and sign J. Hey, yeah. Massive signing. Lackey Zobrist. Right. Three more pieces.

[David Ross]

Bring decks back.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Re sign decks late in or early in spring training, which was like the one. We were kind of missing that lead off spot going in.

[Tom Ricketts]

And then 15 died hard. 15 was tough. But everybody, everybody. I think Everybody's ready for 16 and hit it. Hit the ground running.

[David Ross]

I feel like 15 was a success, though. When you step back, obviously, like, oh, God, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're loving that.

[Tom Ricketts]

Right?

[David Ross]

Like, from where we were at.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, I mean, the. The 15 playoffs, like, you know, we went. You know, we. Obviously that game in Pittsburgh was insane.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Insane.

[David Ross]

I think that's the single biggest. And this is like, obviously I'm not a Cups historian like you are and know all the. The back the history, but that game, Jake area had a pitch in that environment and we. Us winning that game, to me is one of the biggest wins for this organization maybe ever.

[Tom Ricketts]

Just undoubtedly. And. And leading up to that, you know,

[Anthony Rizzo]

all the media, like, Tweeting.

[Tom Ricketts]

He's like, it doesn't matter.

[David Ross]

It doesn't matter.

[Tom Ricketts]

He's like, it doesn't matter. What do you, what do you think

[Anthony Rizzo]

when you see that? Like, what do you think when you're seeing players do bonehead things and you're, you're the owner, right? So you're almost from a distance. What, what are your, what's your opinion on all that?

[Tom Ricketts]

I don't know. I mean, I mean, I want guys to be themselves. And I don't honestly, like, of all the, all their. Through all the years, there's been very, very few things that the players have done that I think are truly boneheaded. I think most of the guys have always been smart and respectful and thoughtful about what they say and do. And I think that's important, baseball, because a lot of times before you're actually someone the media wants to talk to in baseball, you're a little older, you've been around a while. You're 25 or 26. You're not in some of the other sports, your stars, when you're 19 or 20. And so I think people that are more grown up and have a little more perspective. And then the other thing about, you know, my observation on baseball is, like, guys do not try to pull themselves too far out of the team. Everybody wants to. They don't want the individual attention. Like, they might look for another sports. So. But, but, yeah, so I just think it doesn't matter what they think or.

[David Ross]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Do you have any pet peeves watching as a fan? Like, if something goes astray in the game, is there something that irks you more than others?

[David Ross]

What's your, what's your fandom like? Walks? Is it like, you know, errors? Like, what's your fandom when you're like, what are we doing?

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, I think it's like the mental mistakes, like, you know, when. When someone throws the wrong bass or something, you're just kind of like.

[David Ross]

Or bass running. Jed used to come in and tell me. He's like, tom's pissed about the bass running. Like, I'm on it, I'm on it, I'm on it.

[Tom Ricketts]

It's like, it's. I. There's, you know, look, I, I keep it all in perspective, I think, in general, but it's. Sometimes you're just kind of like, okay, you've been playing this game since you were five.

[Anthony Rizzo]

You know, like, yeah, yeah, totally.

[Tom Ricketts]

And like, but, you know, in the moment, it's in the moment and.

[David Ross]

But you're a fan. But that's what I think what's great about kind of being a fan is like having. Still having some of that. That's what's nice to sit down and talk to you is because it's so like, everybody has players perspective or managers or coaches, but like, owner's perspective's a little different. Especially here with you and. And you being. Coming from your background of being a fan and invested in the team and in the seats and.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And being seen coming. Coming to my wedding, dancing at my wedding. I have pictures, like, iconic pictures, the whole crowd and like you're dancing right in the middle, like the owner of Chicago Cubs. My boss is at our wedding, right? And coming to the charity event and being available, I thought was so special, like I said. And in the seats with your kids sitting there. I remember giving Cole or Quinn, I gave them shit. They. They one year they came in a Smokies, Tennessee Smokies jerseys. I'm like, what the hell is that? And Tom's sitting right there on the center, and then the next day, he has a Rizzo jersey on, and for years he's wearing a Rizzo jersey. And then all of a sudden, he wore a Javi jersey one day. And I. And I saw it because I always looked on the on deck circle and I was like, really happens that quick. And then Javi became his favorite. But just you being available, I thought was so important for our young team to not feel that there were so many pieces. Joe, not feeling the pressure. You never put pressure on us from the outside of, like, we need to win this year. It was a process, and we stuck to that process.

[David Ross]

You had any superstitions when you watch games?

[Tom Ricketts]

Superstitions? No, not. Not really. There are. I do believe that you don't talk about, like, when all the World Series stuff was going down, like, no, don't talk about that, man. Don't jinx it. Don't.

[David Ross]

Don't jinx it.

[Tom Ricketts]

Don't jinx it. Like, I'm like, we're not gonna know. I'm not gonna talk about the parade. Like, we're not gonna pre plan that stuff. Like, like some people in the. Down in the organization, totally. Because it takes more than a day to do that. But, like, I'm like, no, leave me out of those meetings. I'm not talking about. I'm not talking about celebrations or championships or anything like that. You know, just leave me out.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Well, when we get to the playoffs in 2016, we go through the whole year, really started at the All Star break. You chartered us Two planes, which owners at the time did not do. I think you were one of the first to charter all the all star games. Two planes. I think they're both G5s or G6s. So thank you.

[David Ross]

Eight or nine players with seven. Seven. Sorry.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And we had all our families on there and it was so awesome. And then we get to the playoffs and we have a roundtable meeting about the playoffs. And Tom is so generous. Flies all of our families on separate planes to and from all the series and let us still be, you know, the boys on the plane. And that was such a big help too. And then we get to the playoffs, go to the nlds, which was a wild series out in San Francisco. We come back here and clinch.

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[David Ross]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

How much did that mean clinching here to go to the World Series? Was that. I mean, that's a dream come true on its own.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, that was. That was a crazy day. The. Yeah, that was amazing. To get back to the World Series in that game that Kyle pitched such a great game against the Dodgers all night. And because we had a couple of those games early on that we just didn't hit.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, we were down 2:1 on that.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, that. It got a little nervous. Nervous in la. But the funny. One of the funny stories from that night was Crane is like, hey, you know, if we win tonight, we get a trophy on the field. There's a. There's a celebration. I'm like, I didn't know that. He's like, you want to hear anything about. No, don't tell me anything about it. Yeah. I'm like, if it happens, it happens. I'll figure it out.

[David Ross]

Grab your.

[Tom Ricketts]

So then. So the game's over and, like, I think it's Fox or whoever, like, the broadcaster set up, like, a little. Little platform on the field and walk out. And, you know, they hand me this, like, trophy, and it's. It's like this trophy. It's, like, in it, and it weighs, like 40 pounds or something. And the next day, my brother calls me, says, hey, Tom, you can't say fuck on national television. And I'm like, well, that's fine, because I did not say on national television. He goes, go back and read your lips. And you hear me going, this thing's. And then I'm trying to give it to Theo or Crane, but they're playing the NHL superstition, where they're not touching it. You don't touch that trophy because you're still going on. So then I'm just sit there holding it, and someone from VOX is like, here's. Here's another thing for your trophy case. And I'm like, hey, man, we're the Cubs. We don't have a trophy case.

[Anthony Rizzo]

This is. This is our first one in a long time.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[David Ross]

Yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

And. And that one was like, that one's like a traveling trophy. Like. Like your kids had. But they, you know, like the kids do now and like, it. It has, like, you know, the different teams written out over the years.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

And I think. I think we still have that one because they canceled. They. They went on to, like, a A trophy you can keep when you win the pennant now.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, you don't get to keep that trophy. I didn't know.

[Tom Ricketts]

I never. I think we got. We. I think we may still have that one somewhere.

[Anthony Rizzo]

You get.

[David Ross]

May have got the last.

[Tom Ricketts]

But they went. They moved on to. Yeah, they moved on to letting.

[David Ross]

Letting somebody get into president.

[Anthony Rizzo]

How about the party after that outside of Wrigley? I mean, obviously it got better and we'll get to that. But to go to the World Series clinching at Wrigley Field versus the Dodgers,

[Tom Ricketts]

I mean, all that stuff is just. Just amazing.

[David Ross]

Messing up that brand new clubhouse. Absolutely. Destroying that.

[Anthony Rizzo]

What was. What were your. I want to know what your pregame

[Tom Ricketts]

or so games like. But we did. And we. We. We didn't leave the ball short of the cup on the pregaming. Like, we. We got all. All our friends. Like, we took over one of the rooftop buildings with that. One of the. The one with the beautiful apartment. You guys.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, yeah.

[David Ross]

The one you let me stay in during COVID Yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

Amazing.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

So we take that over, invite a couple hundred people and. And it actually helped me during the playoff runs that. That I had so much. There was a lot of planning, like getting everybody's tickets was something she had to spend some time on. And then just planning the parties and getting everybody together, telling everyone where to meet, making sure that all the nieces and nephews were taking care of that kind of stuff. It like consumed a lot of my day, just making sure all that stuff was. The logistics were done. But we had our parties across the street and we went back thereafter. And I think that game, I think, was pretty much an all nighter for us. That was.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, yeah, it was for us. Definitely was for us.

[Tom Ricketts]

It definitely was going back and that one. And then the game five of the World Series was another one that just went on all night.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That was.

[David Ross]

That was.

[Tom Ricketts]

That.

[Anthony Rizzo]

We were going to talk about that with.

[David Ross]

You're down three one. We're down three one. Right. We're going the World Series. We're down three one. Where's the. What's the owner's mindset? Down three one. Game five here. My favorite game. What? Amazing.

[Anthony Rizzo]

We had two games here already and we had. We. We haven't had games here in how many years? 50 plus, I think it was. Haven't won a game here. We get to Game 5, we win. It's the only game we won at home. The only World Series game probably ever won in Wrigley, I think.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, no. 1945.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, that's right. It was 45. I forgot 45.

[Tom Ricketts]

And there was a few. Yeah, a few teams before that, but still. Yeah. I remember coming in for game five and our party a little. Our cocktail parties across the street. And sitting across the street from our. Our rooftop is the MVP car.

[David Ross]

Oh, no way.

[Tom Ricketts]

We lose tonight. And that goes home with Jason Kipnis or Corey Kluber or something.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I don't know.

[Tom Ricketts]

And I'm like, the stuff you don't need to.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That was the first bad omen for the Indians.

[Tom Ricketts]

I don't need to see that car.

[David Ross]

And.

[Tom Ricketts]

But, you know, it's funny, like, at night, I don't know if. Guys, Charlie Jones from the Music. Movie producer. Music producer. Producer. Good buddy, you know, and he was there with Houston street, of all people, player. Yeah. And he said, we were at my party, and he's like, hey, Tom, don't worry about it. You know, guys think they can always win three in a row. Four in a row sounds pretty hard. But everybody's. Everybody thinks they can win three in a row. You guys are fine. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to believe you, man. And. But I did also think, like, God, if we get through tonight, you know, we have Jake going in Game 6, and then it's anybody's.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, totally. That game was insane. And then Chapman throwing, I think, two and a third or three and a third to get us there. That was. That was. That game was my favorite game other than Game 7, because winning here, the first game here, I don't know if you felt it, but it. I felt like the energy was just. And now, granted, we didn't give fans much to cheer about, but I felt like the first game was just so, I think, mild.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, playoff. Playoff vibes are a little bit different. And I agree with that game in particular, but. And the games in 08, which you guys weren't at, but, like, it was a little tense. Like, everybody's a little tense until you kind of. Kind of break the seal, break the dam and start. You know, you score a couple runs, then suddenly everybody's cheering and going nuts and. But, yeah, I think we didn't give

[David Ross]

them enough to cheer about till we didn't.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Game five.

[David Ross]

Till game five. Till game five.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I mean, I remember leaving here, I'm like, we're going to roll game six. Like, we're going to do it. And then we. Game seven's a crapshoot, and we go to game six. Win it.

[David Ross]

And taking everybody you took, you know.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, that's right. Let's not forget not only the families you flew. Correct me if I'm wrong, pretty much every Cubs employee to.

[Tom Ricketts]

From Cleveland pretty much took the whole front office World Series games. I give, give, give Crane and the business guys credit for that idea. They came in, hey, we can't leave anymore. But behind. And I'm like, of course not. Let's just. Let's just do it.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's so awesome. So before game seven, what's, what's your.

[David Ross]

Yeah, where are you. What are you doing? Where'd you want?

[Anthony Rizzo]

Like, what's the party? Is it the same business as usual? We got to keep the party going.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, you know what we did. It was actually kind of worked out. Cleveland was the perfect spot for us, too, because it was kind of funny that I'm looking for a place for a pregame in Cleveland and, you know, my assistant's calling around and of course no one's going to let a bar. Hey, can we have a Cubs party at your bar before, Before World Series came in Cleveland. And then I called my neighbor and I'm like, dude, you're from Cleveland. You got to help me out. He's like, I'll make some calls. So he actually had a few of his friends who live in Cleveland start calling around places. And it turns out there was a hotel like two or three blocks from. From the ballpark that had just pretty much opened. They had a rooftop deck and no one had booked it. So we booked that for all the games. Oh, nice. And the first couple games, the weather was kind of crappy if you. Oh, yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't very freeze.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Game was freezing.

[Tom Ricketts]

But those, but those last couple games in Cleveland, the pregame was. Was great. Oh, yeah. So no, I. I had a great time with those games. We. It was, it was hard, though. Like. Like what? We. The way they set us up, we have the whole family. So I got myself and my three siblings and maybe like, you know, 12 or so nieces and nephews, and we, we all, we can't all sit together because they don't have tickets. All right. In the same spot. So what we were doing during game seven was I sat on like the, the. In the front, you know, in the front seats right above the, right above our dugout for a few innings, and I'd rotate over to some other seats and let some of the kids move around, and I went up to the suite to check and check on my in laws and kind of move.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Biggest game in World Series history is bouncing around our owner is bouncing around, caring other people more than.

[Tom Ricketts]

So it's kind of funny, but, like. So I actually, you know what I did last night? I watched the game for the first time since the. Since.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, wow.

[Tom Ricketts]

I came back. So that night we won. And I can tell that story too. But I watched the game the next day at my house because I was like, I said to my wife, I just don't remember anything. Like, I just don't remember what happened. Like, it was. It was too. I was too stressed and I just. It just. I'm sure you guys have the similar feelings times where you don't remember what happened. It was just your two in the moment and whatever. But. So we rotated people around at the ballpark, and so I was gonna head back down to, like, the front seats toward the end, but we had the kids down there, and it's cute. And there's a photo. I just saw it on TV on my. On TV last night of Cole and a couple of my nieces and nephews sitting in the front row in the ninth inning. Wow. And. And I was up with Todd and Pete. We wrote. We were up in like, row 23. And it was in the eighth inning. We were in row 23. And something like that. Just kind of in regular seats in the middle of an aisle, just. We're moving around, and then Davis hits that home run, and everyone's jumping up and down, and the guy next to me grabs me and starts jumping.

[Anthony Rizzo]

No way.

[Tom Ricketts]

Imagine if they got that on camera, dude.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Not me. That's a legendary fan right there.

[Tom Ricketts]

No, sorry, dude, I'm not. I'm the last person. Not the moment. Not the moment, man. But. And then. And then wanted to come down and I was, you know, trying to get back down for the. Then it rained, right? It was starting to rain in the ninth inning or whatever. So then the rain delay went up to the suite, but it was so quick. Couldn't get back down to the regular seats for the. For the last out. But wow, Imagine.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Imagine that fan. I wonder if that fan even. Was it a fan?

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, it was a fan. Just a regular guy. It just started grabs.

[Anthony Rizzo]

But that's what made that 16 World Series so special, is both fan bases were happy for one another, really, because the. The Indians hadn't been. At the time they were called. The Indians hadn't been in. I think they haven't won.

[David Ross]

It was 60 something years, right?

[Tom Ricketts]

60.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And we were going on 180.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, you. Like. So the, you know, before the first game of the World Series, the home team throws a party. And the Indians threw their party at the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in Cleveland. And I'm walking in, I run into Paul Dolan, who's the principal owner of the Guardians. And anyway, Indians. Then he was like, ah, Rick, it's Jesus if any, if we're playing any other team in the world, everyone's cheering for us.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, that's right.

[David Ross]

That's right.

[Tom Ricketts]

Come on, Paul, man, you've won in 1948. I mean, 60 years playing a curse. That's not even a slump for us. Like, you know, that's not a curse. But we had a great experience. There were, you know, and some people did have some negative fan experiences in Cleveland. Mine were all positive.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yes.

[David Ross]

Yeah. None of my family or anything. What? You're in the box during the rain delay.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[David Ross]

What are you thinking? Home run just hit.

[Anthony Rizzo]

We get back out of 17 games. 17 years of I don't know.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. Just happen fast, right?

[David Ross]

We've got Raw, goes back out, gets us out of the 9th. And then the rain comes, Right. What are you up there that you just pacing in the box?

[Anthony Rizzo]

How pissed are you? Go back to the Raja. How heartbroken. I know a fan was jumping on you, but what, where's your, you know,

[Tom Ricketts]

because my head was.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's heartbreaking.

[Tom Ricketts]

Very clearly. I'm like, I just think it's just so hard to get here. Like, it's so, I mean, I'm just, you're just going through the, the amount of blood, sweat, tears, time, money, like all the things it takes and all the, like the good decisions and the luck have to combine in a way to get you to this moment in time and when you're here to like, if it gets away from us now, like, you know what happens next. And I also, I mean that, that's, that's real.

[David Ross]

That's real. I mean, same for us.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Same for us. Yeah, I was thinking of it as

[David Ross]

a curse, you know, of things got to go right. And it's really hard to get there. Health, the whole thing.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah. And you know, and, and you know, the last thing I wanted to second guessing in game decisions too, that that's another one like, oh my God. Some of these didn't go as well as you would hope. And like, wow, this, this is going to, this is going to be a really rough one. So, yeah, it was, it was pretty, pretty intensely stressful. I, I, I was, I was, I was, I was getting through, but thankfully.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Did you take a trash can?

[Tom Ricketts]

I didn't Kick anything.

[Anthony Rizzo]

You don't seem like emotional, Joe.

[Tom Ricketts]

Emotional at home when I'm watching on tv, but in the ballpark, I play under control.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Joe Madden. Well, Joe told us he had the plan, right? His plan was one thing, and he deviated from it. With Lester not coming in on a clean inning. He wanted Lester to come in a cleaning with no runners on, and he deviated, took Hendricks out. I can't wait to talk to Hendricks about that, because Hendricks, for the first time ever, was emotional. I've never heard him yell. And I remember exactly what he said when he put his hand in his glove. And I was like, whoa.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, yeah, we all remember that. Yeah, we talk about.

[David Ross]

We see Raje now and you just like, bro, get away from me. I can't even.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Right. And we won. It's just so wild.

[David Ross]

Still, still that much time, like, for.

[Tom Ricketts]

For me that night. Then we did, obviously we did all that stuff and you know, the, all the, The. The. The trophy presentation in the clubhouse. And, and that was crazy too, just seeing all the people and it just. And for me, like, that night, I, you know, I hung out there for a while. Eventually kind of wandered back to the hotel, walked back into the hotel that we were all staying in, and there's hundreds of people just standing in the lobby. The bars had long since, like, they kicked us out. You know, like, everyone just standing around, just talking. And, And. And then I, I was. It was time to go upstairs, like, three. Three in the morning or something. But. But I. I committed to coming back to be on cbs, the CBS Morning show. Like, they're, like, they're, you know, the CBS Good Morning America or whatever. And, and so I had to be back at the ballpark in the morning.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Oh, so you didn't fly back with us?

[Tom Ricketts]

No, I didn't go back. I. I stayed. And I'm kind of, you know, I mean, in some ways, I'm kind of glad I did because, like, I literally, I didn't go to sleep because I figured if I went to sleep, I was sleep for 12 hours. So I just. And it was kind of wired anyway, so then went back to the ballpark and walked back in, and it was still.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Wow.

[Tom Ricketts]

Like, we left it because it rained all night.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

And so there was still like, peanut shells and beer cups everywhere. And they were just starting to clean up, like, the. Clean up the, the, you know, the, the ballpark from. From game seven. And I got to, I got to walk in there, and it's just basically the few. Seeing a few, like, people Working, but kind of by myself. Just like, wow, this is.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Wow. You got to take that in pretty crazy.

[Tom Ricketts]

And then did that, did the show. Flew back as soon as we landed. Phone was blowing up because we had to get all the, the parade stuff done and had to call the city on a few things.

[David Ross]

That's one of my questions. What. How in the heck do you plan a parade and what.

[Anthony Rizzo]

How many days take the Blackhawks.

[David Ross]

Five days.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Is that what it.

[David Ross]

I mean, did you start calling other teams had done.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah, well, they had, I mean our, our marketing group, they had to, they had to like get the wrappers, like the stuff they're going to put on the buses. And it all had to be kind of planned out.

[David Ross]

Yeah, just, just they were already ahead of the game.

[Tom Ricketts]

But the one thing was the city was saying, hey, can't you wait till Monday? Like Monday? Well, I mean we like there's the GM meeting starting Monday. And then it turned out to be 65 or 70. It was 75 degrees, but it was a beautiful day. And the parade was just.

[Anthony Rizzo]

What's your most memorable part of the parade? That route?

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, there was, there's one like, so we obviously, we all left here together and kind of going down on Addison and there was a little kid on his dad's shoulders. Grandpa. We did it. Holding up a side.

[Anthony Rizzo]

All right, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a new dad. So you're gonna get me.

[Tom Ricketts]

I, I, I check up when I talk about this stuff. And then of course, as you guys remember, like being it, you know, when you find, you get. But first of all, people everywhere, all the way down. That was, that was nuts. And then Grant park is. Oh my gosh, it's, it's people as far as you can literally see all the way back to the trees. And yeah, it was, it was pretty amazing.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Remember we rolled in and like they had the confetti and it's just like I felt like a thousand people. Deep people on the fountains, on the light pole.

[David Ross]

My memory is like, I just saw heads and then all of a sudden the treetops. Like it just like you said. Yeah, all the way to the trees and then, and people in those trees, you know, it was, it was, that was a special, epic, epic parade. That thing was amazing.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I have probably one of my favorite stories I would say is, well, the thing I get asked most still to this day is, Anthony, you caught the last out. How did you think to put in your back pocket? And then their follow up question is, what did you do with that ball. And we happened. Tom, I don't know if you know this, now that I'm an ambassador, I have keys everywhere.

[David Ross]

Here.

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

This is the ball.

[Tom Ricketts]

Oh, you brought the ball.

[Anthony Rizzo]

This is the last out ball of game seven of the World Series. And Rossy and I always had the plan, hey, if we just get all the balls, it'll be worth so much money, right?

[David Ross]

So, like, every playoff step, every last

[Anthony Rizzo]

out on the parade route. I remember giving this to Alex Suarez when we clinched.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

And I go, you need to get this authenticated. I trust you for my life. His. His wife Abby, runs my foundation. So I'm like, I trust you. Right? And I have it in my pocket. I. On the parade, I give it to my brother because the plan was to give it to you.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Theo called me up, said, hey, I'm like, theo, of course I'm giving the ball. This is where it belongs.

[David Ross]

When Theo had history in.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, right.

[Tom Ricketts]

I remember that.

[Anthony Rizzo]

So I get a call on the parade route from my agent, and he goes, hey, are you sure you want to sell that ball? I'm like. Or I'm not. Not. Sorry. Sell it, Give it away. I'm like, yes, of course. He goes, all right, I'm just going to tell you what the first offer is. And my brother has the ball because we're here. And I'm like, johnny, you're the big guy. You're the security guard. He was the first offers, 2 million. And I'm like, I just hung up. I was like, stop. And giving you the ball was. I think this is right where it belongs. Because everything. The symbolism of this and what you invested in your family, it just belong. It. It's. I. I look at it. I.

[David Ross]

When.

[Anthony Rizzo]

When Pat brought it in and Jim brought in, I got literally goosebumps.

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, yeah. And you handed it to me at the. At the. At Grant Park.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Tom Ricketts]

And then I had to stop. Oh, I should have had a fake ball in my pocket.

[David Ross]

I just chucked it.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Imagine that.

[Tom Ricketts]

I don't need it.

[David Ross]

Okay. So 10 years later, you look back on this. We're going to celebrate this. This year. We're going to have our reunion in July. Like, super cool. We've already had one party is really amazing. Like, that experience, going through all that as an owner, what do you look back on and try to play pull from that year? That just says, I remember winning my first World Series as a player and going, oh, that's what it looks like. Once you finally get across the finish line, what's that, like, as an owner?

[Tom Ricketts]

Well, I mean. I mean, like, obviously, you know, I'm at first a fan. I'm just kind of like, you know, I feel like a responsible fan, like the one, you know, and I want, you know, to, you know, get us back to the point that we can have the kind of memories that we had that year. And I think we're heading the right direction, and we got good people, and we got great, great team. But, you know, you're happy it happened because you know how hard it is to get there. And there are days you're like, wow, if, you know something. Something goes the other way, or if Kipnis straightens out that ball in the ninth or whatever. Like, you know, like, there's. There's a few things that are just kind of too scary to think about. About that not happening. But ultimately, like, you know, I think it's just a great thing that we all were there to do something for the fans. Like, you know, people still come up to me almost. Not quite every day, but every time I'm at the airport or at a restaurant. And, you know, and, you know, people, they choke up when they come up and talk to you about it. And just to be, you know, even a small part of something that means so much to so many people is. Is a gift and something that I just can't believe I'm so lucky to be a part of.

[David Ross]

And you're a big part.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I was gonna say.

[David Ross]

Yeah, a little bigger part. We talk all the time because we would. Now we're traveling a little bit together. And that's my favorite thing, is people that come up and tell me their. Their Game seven stories and how generational it was for them and where it came from and how their fandom started. Like, that is by far my favorite thing that has come from this World Series.

[Tom Ricketts]

They tell you who. They tell you where they were, but almost immediately tell you who they were with. And that's what baseball is. Baseball is. It's a social sport. The team is a member of your family, and you can go with your grandkids or your grandparents or whatever. It's just different. And people care so much. And every time I think I met the greatest Cub fan in the world, a few days later, I meet someone could also be the greatest Cub fan in the world, you know, and there's nothing that prepares you or could have prepared you guys for the amount of just passion and. Oh, yeah, and love that the team receives from this incredible fan base.

[David Ross]

I remember fans.

[Anthony Rizzo]

I remember I told the story at the lady at the Cubs convention the next year was like an older lady. We're going to win another one. Right? And I got so mad, I was like, ma', am, with all due respect. And you can say whatever you want to say. With all due respect, we just won one before you died. Like, this is all you ever asked.

[Tom Ricketts]

Asked for. Right, Right.

[Anthony Rizzo]

But that's what. That's real. We shifted, all of us shifted a culture here to lovable losers to now expected. Yeah, well, winners every single year.

[Tom Ricketts]

The question, like, you know, like, do you get tired of the pressure or people getting mad when the team doesn't win? And I'm like, well, yeah, in some respects. But on the other hand, do you want to be lovable losers? And if you're not lovable losers, then you. You're expected to win. And that's got to be the standard we. We no doubt hold ourselves.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That's the standard that you've built, honestly, since you've been here.

[Tom Ricketts]

You.

[Anthony Rizzo]

You had a vision. You said it in your early press conferences and your interviews. This is what we're going to do. And you did it. And it's. It's been fun.

[Tom Ricketts]

You guys did fun.

[Anthony Rizzo]

To be fun, to be a small part. I was a small part. We were small parts of it.

[David Ross]

Yeah, I was a really small part.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Yeah, you were. I love looking back at.

[Tom Ricketts]

In the.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Over the 10 years and all the stories of the people going to the graves, the W flags, the chalk on the walls. I think it is so cool that we had you.

[David Ross]

Had you read that, Adam. Redo the.

[Anthony Rizzo]

Redo the wall. Ten years later, of all the bricks and the chalk, I think that's the. That was the coolest thing. But, yeah, the chalk, all the stories. Grandpa, we did it.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[Anthony Rizzo]

All of that is just so real. And Tom, I. In 15, when we beat the Cardinals, you had a quote, and it said, nobody during one of your interviews, it said, nobody here today will forget that they were here today when we beat the Cardinals. And that resonates with me because you come to Wrigley Field now, today, and nobody forgets their experience at Wrigley Field. And that's because of what you and your family built. This organization has built. And 10 years later, Rossi and I couldn't thank you enough to be on here. So.

[Tom Ricketts]

Yeah.

[David Ross]

And I just want to say, like, we don't take for granted that nobody gets to sit down with the owner. Right? Like, this isn't normal. And a lot of people get. Sit down with managers and players and stuff. And so very thankful for that. This.

[Tom Ricketts]

You.

[David Ross]

You've made us. You've always made us feel like family, but. And we are. And I think that's like a special thing that you've given us your time to. To be here. So thank you.

[Tom Ricketts]

No, thank you guys. And this is. This is fun. And we.

[David Ross]

I love hearing your story.

[Tom Ricketts]

Anxious to hear all the stories.

[David Ross]

I cannot believe Indians fan was jumping up and down after Raj's thing.

[Tom Ricketts]

True story.

[David Ross]

Well, thank you, Mike. Thanks so much. So much.

[Tom Ricketts]

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

[David Ross]

That's a wrap.

[Anthony Rizzo]

That is a wrap.

[David Ross]

Good stuff. Thank you, buddy.

[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[David Ross]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

No, I got it.

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[David Ross]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[Anthony Rizzo]

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[Tom Ricketts]

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[David Ross]

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[Podcast Host / Advertiser]

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