The Unofficial Opening Day

By Neil on January 18, 2008 18 Vote 0 Votes

Harry Caray referred to it as the "unofficial opening day", some refer to it as the "kick-off to spring training", call it what you want but the bottom line is baseball is just around the corner. The 23rd Annual Cubs Convention officially begins later this afternoon at the Chicago Hilton. Pat Hughes will once again have the honor of introducing the Cubs past, present and future during the Opening Ceremonies before the annual highlight reel from last season fires up the Faithful for the weekend.

Last season is over, let the new year begin....but most importantly, let the winning continue.

The Cubs Convention is the original 'fan fest'. Every other organization has just borrowed ideas from John McDonough's original concept....only this year, for the first time the creator will not be in attendance. The excitement, however, should be the same if not more than in previous years after the Cubs winning the Central Division a year ago.

Lou Piniella knows what to expect this year and reports have indicated 'Sweet Lou' has dropped a few pounds and is in better shape than last season. So it will be interesting to see how he handles himself this year. Piniella was very candid and often humorous....let's hope that much has not changed.

The Meet Cubs Management session on Saturday morning should be very interesting as well as other events throughout the day. But with the impending ownership change, Sunday morning's meeting with Cubs Business Management could be the largest attended session of the weekend.

Not only will there be current and former Cubs in attendance, there will also be representatives from the Iowa Cubs, Tennessee Smokies and Peoria Chiefs. XM Radio will be in attendance and WGN Radio will air shows from time to time on Friday and Saturday, including Sports Central Live with Dave Kaplan on Friday night....plus if the Internet rumors are correct, there could be a surprise, but we will have to wait and see.

The CCO will have daily recaps from all 3 days of the Convention and a big wrap up of the weekend on Monday morning. Pitchers and catchers report to Mesa in just 26 days and Jim Hendry said he still has work to do.....

2008 Cubs Convention Schedule

Friday, January 18th

5:00pm - 5:30pm - Opening Ceremonies
6:00pm - 6:45pm - Autograph Treasure Hunt

7:00pm - 9:00pm - Sports Central Live with Dave Kaplan and Tom Waddle, Broadcast Live on 720 WGN

- 7:00pm - 7:30pm - Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa and Alfonso Soriano

- 7:30pm - 8:00pm - Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella

- 8:00pm - 8:30pm - Ryan Theriot, Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster

- 8:30pm - 9:00pm - Pat Hughes, Ron Santo, Rick Sutcliffe and Glenn Beckert

7:00pm - 8:30pm - Cubs Bingo

Saturday, January 19th

9:00am - 10:00am - WGN Radio's Meet Cubs Management with Spike O'Dell and Dave Eanet
- Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Randy Bush and Crane Kenney

9:00am - 10:00am - Injuries, Anatomy and Santo....Oh My!

9:30am - 10:30am - Cubs Jeopardy

10:30am - 11:30am - Vine Line Presents Baseball in Latin America

10:30am - 11:30am - WGN Radio's Not for Women Only with Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey

- Ryan Theriot, Scott Eyre, Matt Murton and Matt Sinatro

11:00am - 12:00pm - Baseball Conditioning Clinic

11:30am - 12:30pm - Lou and His Crew

11:30am - 12:30pm - Hitting Clinic

12:00 - 1:00pm - WGN Radio's A Day in the Life of a Major Leaguer with John Williams and Cory Provus

- Derrek Lee, Rich Hill, Ryan Theriot and Daryle Ward

12:30pm - 1:30pm - Life Is A Minor

1:00pm - 2:00pm - Cubs Win, Lose or Draw

1:30pm - 2:30pm - WGN Radio's Storytelling with Cubs Legends with Steve Cochran

- Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Lee Smith and Rick Sutcliffe

2:00pm - 3:00pm - From the Stretch hosted by Len Kasper

- Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Hill and Ryan Dempster

2:30pm - 3:30pm - 8/8/88....or the Day After

3:00pm - 4:00pm - For Kids Only Press Conference

3:00pm - 4:00pm - Wheelchair Cubs

3:30pm - 4:30pm - Cubs Forever: Celebrating 60 Years of WGN-TV and the Cubs

4:00pm - 5:00pm - The North Side Mystique

4:30pm - 5:30pm - Pitching Clinic

8:00pm - 12:00am - Rock 'n Roll Revue

Sunday, January 20th

9:00am - 10:00am - Meet Cubs Business Management
10:30am - 11:30am - Down on the Farm
10:00am - 12:30pm - Baseball Hall of Fame Exhibit

Scheduled Attendees

Ernie Banks
Glenn Beckert
Bob Brenly
Bill Buckner
Randy Bush
Jose Cardenal
Tyler Colvin
Jody Davis
Andre Dawson
Ivan DeJesus
Ryan Dempster
Bob Dernier
Mark DeRosa
Scott Eyre
Oneri Fleita
Mike Fontenot
Sean Gallagher
Kevin Hart
Jim Hendry
Rich Hill
Bobby Howry
Pat Hughes
Ferguson Jenkins
Len Kasper
Crane Kenney
Dave Kingman
Derrek Lee
Ted Lilly
Bill Madlock
Carlos Marmol
Sean Marshall
Matt Murton
Andy Pafko
Milt Pappas
Gerald Perry
Felix Pie
Carmen Pignatiello
Lou Piniella
Mike Quade
Rocky Roquet
Larry Rothschild
Jeff Samardzija
Ryne Sandberg
Ron Santo
Matt Sinatro
Dwight Smith
Lee Smith
Alfonso Soriano
Geovany Soto
Rick Sutcliffe
Tim Stoddard
Lester Strode
Ryan Theriot
Alan Trammell
Steve Trout
Jerome Walton
Daryle Ward
Tim Wilken
Billy Williams
Michael Wuertz
Carlos Zambrano

Also, the "Boys of Spring" will premiere during the convention. The film is a documentary by Tim Sheridan and "covers the history of Chicago Cubs Spring Training, from Catalina Island, to the early days in Arizona, to the present day." Click here for more info from www.boysofspring.com.

Lee Hirsch

Went to Cubs Convention this weekend and the biggest surprise to me is that the booth that Bob Feller was sitting had practically no one stopping and talking to one of the greatest pitchers of all time...have Cub fans,even the older ones, have no sense of history of the game....the Convention was still great. The players and the old-timers are very entertaining and it is great to see them.

Gary J

Saw a preliminary report of discussions with the Rangers to swap Marlon Byrd for Murton (over at MLBTR). Makes sense for both clubs as the Cubs need a guy in center and the Rangers need a guy in left.

Brian

Lew,

I have written before about my unrequited love for Mrs. DeRosa. She is beautiful. I met Jim tonight for the first time, great guy all around. I look forward to spending the rest of the weekend with him. What a passion for the Cubs!

Anyway, minutes after meeting him, I brought up Mrs. DeRosa in conversation, and he joked that she gave him a hug in the lobby. I did not find this funny whatsoever! Apparently, Neil, Shaun and Jim thought it was quite a knee slapper. Losers...well, maybe it was funny.

Neil

Yes, Lew an inside joke we pulled on Brian.

Lew

Jim (Tinley Park): Why would D-Ro's wife hug you? Am I missing an inside joke?

Also: It appears Big Z will yield opening day duties this year to Lilly. I like the idea, he should be less of an emotional rollercoaster after the first game. OR Z thinks he'll hit the ball better against a #2 starter.

Jim (Tinley Park)

Just got home from day 1 of the Cub Convention.

Neil, Shaun and Brian are all great Guys and fun to be around. No, DeRosa's wife didn't hug me in the lobby.

Jason B. from AZ

Gary,

Shingo doesn't speak English very well.

Kerry Wood is a 10-year veteran.

Shingo throws slow frisbee slop.

Wood and Marmol throw hard heat.

Sorry...but this guy ain't teaching nobody nothing.

This was just a collosal waste of Jim Spendry's time.

Gary J

Thanks JimK - I accept this award on behalf of the people who actually care about this move or think it has any bearing on anything... ummm.... anyone? Oh. (shuffling off to the corner)

daverj

JimK - LOL ... I'm picturing the scene you paint of Mr. Zero running around with the banner ... hilarious. Of course, Wrigley would have to play the "gong" music from his southside days while he's running with the banner.

JimK

Now this is in fun--while we wait for some news. Gary J should get serious consideration for both the humanitarian of the year award and the right to carry the Mr. Spin Cycle banner representing Maytag along side Mr. Zero in the Sponsors' Race.

Actually, maybe he does help Musha adapt and becomes a batting practice pitcher too. I'm thinking that Howry and Eyre can lend experience to our newer relievers.

Gary J

Paul Sullivan's reporting it too... looks pretty official. Shingo Takatsu is a Cub.

To me this is a little like if we signed Trevor Hoffman two or three years from now once his career was concluding. He might not have the stuff he once had, but he can come in to our bullpen and teach the new closers (Wood/Marmol) all of the tricks he picked up along the way in become Japan's all time saves leader.

It's unlikely he'd be a huge contributor, but he could provide dividends in experience shared. Also could reduce the culture shock for Fukudome since Takatsu has three years experience in the bigs.

I know there's going to be be all sorts of folks on this board way too upset over this move... but let's try to keep the reaction in proportion to the signing. :-)

This move is not a big deal... and not a sign that "Hendry is wasting his time with a move like this when (insert player that Hendry should be pursuing who actually probably isn't even on the market) is there for the taking!" :-)

I don't have much of a feeling about this one one way or the other... other than a minor bump in confidence that Hendry still hasn't closed up shop heading into the spring or waiting on Baltimore.

JimK

David is first with the JH master stroke! With Shingo and Fox, our troubles are over. Cubs Win--our place in the record book! We now have the Guiness Book of Records listing for the most old relievers ever going into spring training.

I'm hearing tht Mr. Zero has something to with Target Corp buying the naming rights to Wrigley Field. I think he carries the Target banner with the white and red zeros aroung the red dot in a sponsors' race that is like the Sausage Race in Milwaukee.

daverj

Rotoworld.com is reporting that the Cubs just signed Mr. Zero. Where did that come from?!?

Matt Haggard

My time of the year. I can finally listen to the radio stations out of Chicago and hear Cubs stuff. YES!!! (Im tired of listening about Alabama football, I need my Cubbie fix =D)

Neil

You're welcome Nick. FYI, I have good reception in the hotel and if anything starts to break, like with the Shark last year, I will post it.

nick

Thanks Neil, it was a good read.

Neil

For a little additional reading for today.... I participated in a Bloggers Roundtable over at Baseball Digest Daily.

Here is the link

http://blog.baseballdigestdaily.com/blog/_archives/2008/1/18/3471727.html

They have a very good site and I will mention this again after the convention.

nick

To all attending the Convention, have a great time! And lets hope Hendry starts off the convention this year with a nice BIG surprise for all of us Diehards.