Until Cubs quit being Cubs, Ricketts is open to ridicule

Maybe Cubs’ chairman Tom Ricketts would be more credible if the Cubs ever won three straight games this season.It#146;ll be awhile, at least three more days, after the Yankees beat the Cubs 10-4 Sunday night in Wrigley Field.As usual in what now is a 29-42 season, the Cubs made a couple plays more worthy of the funny pages than the sports pages.Until the Cubs string together more than two straight victories, everything Ricketts says is open to ridicule.You know, like when Ricketts expresses 100 percent confidence in general manager Jim Hendry and adds that field manager Mike Quade is doing a good job.Why in the world should anyone be confident that Ricketts is qualified to have confidence in his baseball men?Ricketts isn#146;t necessarily wrong. Hendry and Quade likely are simply the latest victims of the Cubs being the Cubs.Still, the question is why Ricketts would believe that he is capable of evaluating Hendry and Quade.Ricketts has talked the past couple of years about his admiration for both the Red Sox#146; model and for White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.If Ricketts truly is a fan of how Red Sox#146; owners built a winning ballclub and rebuilt an old Fenway Park, he shows it in an odd manner.Ricketts insists that his agenda doesn#146;t include hiring a career baseball man to replace Cubs#146; president Crane Kenney, a career non-baseball man.Ricketts actually scoffed at the notion, making his position on the subject contrary to what Red Sox principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner have done.First let#146;s note that Henry and Werner went to Boston after previously owning other teams: Henry the Marlins and Werner the Padres.In other words, we#146;re talking about two men who already were experienced at and networked in baseball.Still, Henry and Werner hired Larry Lucchino, a longtime executive in Major League Baseball, as Red Sox president and CEO.#147;With the Red Sox,#148; it states in a club media guide, #147;Lucchino manages the franchise on a day-to-day basis with the active involvement of, and collaboration with, Principal Owner John W. Henry and Chairman Tom Werner.#148;What Boston has is Henry and Werner, each involved in his second franchise, and Lucchino, who has been successful with other teams.What the Cubs have is Ricketts, a baseball fan who just a couple years ago was occupied with running a successful securities and investment banking firm.Trading bonds and trading players aren#146;t quite in the same ballpark, are they?Ricketts is following the White Sox#146; formula more than the Red Sox#146; formula.Reinsdorf steadfastly has refused to hire another baseball man to fill a vacuum between ownership and the general manager.For the record, Reinsdorf has won one World Series over three decades as the White Sox#146; managing partner.Meanwhile, this season the Henry, Werner and Lucchino are strong contenders to win their third championship in a decade with the Red Sox.You know, sometimes it#146;s as important for people to know what they don#146;t know as it is for them to know what they do know.Judging by Tom Ricketts#146; remarks last week, he#146;s still sorting that out.mimrem@dailyherald.com