Future looks bright for McDonough, Stone
Regardless of which group winds up buying the Cubs -- but especially in light of who's considered the frontrunner -- it seems nearly certain that team president John McDonough will be somewhere in the Cubs' front office next year.
Maybe even in the same chair he occupies today.
Private-equity legend John Canning, of Chicago's Madison Dearborn Partners fame, has put together a roster of superstar partners such as Andy McKenna, Patrick Ryan, Rich Melman, Larry Levy, Michael Krasny, Ed Kaplan and Craig Duchossois, all billionaires or names that carry enough local clout to scare the daylights out of any other bidders.
McDonough knows them all, and it would be illogical to make a change -- or remove McDonough completely from the equation -- considering McDonough's track record and their familiarity with him.
Furthermore, in the last 15 years it has become painfully obvious that the president of the team has to be someone from Chicago who gets "the Cub thing.'' No one gets it better than the Edison Park native who built the top marketing operation in sports.
"It's the No. 1 question I'm asked, about what will happen to me, and I don't have an answer, but I hope my time here speaks for itself, and I think it will all take care of itself,'' McDonough said Thursday. "Who knows?
"If I've learned anything the last 10 months since I took this job, it's that whatever you think will happen, probably won't. That's the beautiful part about baseball is you have no idea what will happen tomorrow.
"I'm very fortunate to be in this position, but none of this is about me or what's next. I have no time to contemplate what will happen to me. I can't get caught up in that.
"I'm very comfortable with the 24 years I've been here and what we've accomplished, and I want to ride this out and be here when the Cubs finally win.''
A Stone's throw?
And for those hoping to see a Steve Stone return to Wrigley Field perhaps in a front-office capacity, which constitutes a huge percentage of Cubs fans, all-world restaurateur Rich Melman's name has been linked with John Canning for months. Melman and Stone go back to the mid-'70s.
"Richard and I have been partners for 33 years. That's true,'' Stone said Thursday. "But who knows how any of this will turn out? There will be crazy twists and turns, and you never know because there's a long way to go in the process.
"I do know, having been through the process myself, that baseball likes local ownership and experience in the game, not first-time owners.''
Canning owns 11 percent of the Milwaukee Brewers, and his group is loaded with Chicago power brokers. On paper, it looks like the perfect sell.
"All I know is the difference between me and all the names on that list is they all have a (boat)-load of money,'' Stone laughed. "I assume that to be a part of that ownership group you have to have a minimum amount of capital that I probably wouldn't accumulate in several lifetimes.
"I can see why you'd make an assumption because Richard and I have such a lengthy relationship, but there are a lot of groups involved and the process is long and cautious, and I'm merely an interested observer like everyone else.
"I think any number of groups are in for the long haul, and many of them are extremely qualified.''
Stone also worked for Andy McKenna on the North Side, and years ago worked with Ed Kaplan when Stone was trying to purchase a club.
"I'm in the dark like everyone else,'' Stone said. "I do know that Richard, like millions of Chicagoans, would like to see the Cubs win before he departs the planet.
"We do have that in common.''
Pitching glitch
Don't be surprised if Lou Piniella starts thinking about a replacement for Rich Hill or Sean Marshall, who lost Thursday.
Since mid-June, when the Cubs have been the hottest they've been all year, Marshall is 2-3 with 3 no-decisions, a 5.40 ERA and is averaging only 4ˆ¿ innings per start, while Hill is 1-2 with 6 no-decisions, a 4.69 ERA and is averaging 5ˆº innings.
Piniella hates using up his bullpen like that and perhaps someone at Triple-A Iowa (Sean Gallagher?) can help.
"We have to start getting more innings from our starting staff,'' Piniella said. "We're going to play 34 games in 35 days. That's a lot of baseball in the hot summer months.''
Left turn
Since being released by the Cubs in the spring of 1992, Jamie Moyer has won 191 big-league games, and he gives much of the credit to Lou Piniella, who managed Seattle when Moyer arrived in 1996.
"Lou just let me pitch,'' Moyer said. "He gave me the ball and didn't try to change me or tell me what I was doing wrong.''
Said Piniella: "He doesn't throw hard, but he changes speeds and doesn't beat himself. If I were a left-handed pitcher, I would certainly look at Jamie Moyer and see what I can learn.''
Iron man
Cubs broadcaster Pat Hughes still is upset about a vicious bout with food poisoning last week that cost him a consecutive games streak approaching 2,900.
"Last time I missed a game was July 1989 and I left Texas to go back to Milwaukee to be there for the birth of my oldest daughter,'' Hughes said Thursday. "I was proud of the streak and didn't want to see it end.''
Thinking ahead
While discussing his tired bullpen arms, Lou Piniella on his late-inning strategy Thursday: "Look, you can't go after every game like it's the last one of the season.''
Pass patterns
It's only a matter of time before center fielder Jacque Jones runs himself into a wall or a ball.
Hot, hot, hot
By the time the first three innings were completed after 104 minutes Thursday, it was 90 degrees with a heat index of 95 at Wrigley Field.
And finally ...
Lou Piniella on whether he's caught up in seeing every inning the Brewers play: "No, usually I go home, watch a movie, and go to bed.''