April 7, 2017

 ESPNChicago.com, Is this the year Brett Anderson puts it all together? http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/43576/is-this-the-year-brett-anderson-puts-it-all- together

 ESPNChicago.com, Ball sticks to 's chest protector, helping Cubs to big http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19094865/ball-sticks-chest-protector-st-louis-cardinals--yadier- molina

 CSNChicago.com, On The Brink Of Heartbreak, Joe Maddon Predicted To The Cubs Would Win The http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/brink-heartbreak-joe-maddon-predicted-andre-dawson-cubs- would-win-world-series-wrigley-field-babe-ruth

 CSNChicago.com, Kyle Schwarber Makes Cardinals Pay For Yadier Molina’s Hidden-Ball Trick As Cubs Win Series In St. Louis http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/kyle-schwarber-makes-cardinals-pay-yadier-molinas-hidden-ball- trick-cubs-win-series-st

 CSNChicago.com, Cubs-Cardinals: Joe Maddon's Had Enough Of St. Louis After 'Second Spring Training' http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/cubs-cardinals-joe-maddons-had-enough-st-louis-after-second- spring-training

 CSNChicago.com, Cubs Realign Rotation So Jon Lester Will Start Wrigley Opener Against Dodgers http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/cubs-realign-rotation-so-jon-lester-will-start-wrigley-opener- against-dodgers

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs on alert for Brewers baserunners ahead of first meeting in 2017 http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-brewers-stolen-bases-20170407- story.html#nt=oft03a-1gp2

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs to open first homestand with festive World Series theme http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-home-opener-banner-raising-spt-0409- 20170407-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, For Cubs fans, sticker shock goes with trip to Wrigley http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-cubs-costs-met-20170406-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Kyle Schwarber gives Cubs lift with 3- homer in victory over Cardinals http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-cardinals-spt-0407-20170406-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs provide theories, amusement to Yadier Molina's sticky situation http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-yadier-molina-cubs-cardinals-notes-spt-0407- 20170406-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Workout, grilled cheese sandwich conclude 'second spring training' for Joe Maddon http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-joe-maddon-second-spring-training-for-cubs- joe-maddon-20170406-story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs adjust rotation, Jon Lester to face Dodgers in home opener http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-jon-lester-dodgers-in-home-opener-20170406- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, Cubs' Hector Rondon rebounds, Carl Edwards Jr. dominant in win over Cardinals http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-hector-rondon-carl-edwards-jr-20170406- story.html

 Chicago Tribune, The story behind the most meaningful 'W' flight in Cubs history http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-w-flag-world-series-spt-0409-20170407- story.html

 Chicago Sun-Times, Kyle Schwarber’s long homer picks up Ben Zobrist, calms Cubs fans http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/kyle-schwarbers-long-homer-picks-up-ben-zobrist-calms-cubs-fans/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Stuck ball aids Cubs’ decisive rally against Cardinals http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/stuck-ball-aids-cubs-decisive-rally-against-cardinals/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Kyle Schwarber tunes up for as Cubs beat Cards 6-4 http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/kyle-schwarber-tunes-up-for-playoffs-as-cubs-beat-cards-6-4/

 Chicago Sun-Times, Trucks to be banned, traffic restricted around http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/trucks-to-be-banned-traffic-restricted-around-wrigley-field/

 Cubs.com, After Yadi's oddity, Schwarber delivers with HR http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/222692608/cubs-kyle-schwarber-hits-huge-3-run-home-run/

 Cubs.com, Schwarber's HR picks up Lackey, wins series http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/222654054/kyle-schwarber-homers-as-cubs-beat- cardinals/?topicId=27118368

 Cubs.com, Off-days allow Cubs to flip starting rotation http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/222658210/jake-arrieta-jon-lester-swap-rotation- spots/?topicId=27118368

--

ESPNChicago.com Is this the year Brett Anderson puts it all together? By Jesse Rogers

MILWAUKEE -- As the son of a college coach, Brett Anderson grew up speaking the language of baseball, but knowing the game and staying on the field to play it are two different things.

The ' No. 5 starter has endured it all during an injury-riddled career -- from Tommy John surgery to bone fractures to back operations -- with his father there for support during every step of the bumpy ride.

"I deal with this every year with my own guys and guys that are in the majors," Frank Anderson said via a phone interview earlier this week. "It hits closer to home when he's your son. You hate it for him.

"With the track record that he's had -- and the crazy stuff that has happened to him -- I know he can be successful when he's healthy."

This is why Friday night's outing against the Milwaukee Brewers isn't just any trip to the mound for the younger Anderson, who spent his past two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Injuries have kept him from reaching his peak, but there's arguably no better place for him to get there than with the Cubs.

"When he's been healthy, he's been a really good pitcher," Cubs general manager said. "With our defense we're always looking for guys that can get ground balls."

Why take a chance on a pitcher who has started only six, five, eight and three games in four of the past five years? Because in that other season -- 2015, his first with the Dodgers -- Anderson induced ground balls at an MLB-best 67 percent clip, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Since entering the league with the Oakland Athletics in 2009, he has the fifth-best rate of ground balls in baseball. Combine that with the Cubs' defense, and it could be a special year for him.

"Keep the ball on the ground, good things will happen," Anderson said simply. "I've seen what these guys can do."

The Cubs are counting on their pitching "infrastructure," as team president Theo Epstein likes to call it, to keep Anderson healthy enough to take advantage of his new surroundings. They've convinced him to open his mind to new ideas.

"I think it's gone well," catching coach Mike Borzello said. "We talked a lot in spring training about what he likes to do, but I wanted to check with him on how open-minded he would be on trying some things that he hasn't necessarily done in the past."

What new wrinkles can we expect? Pitching coach Chris Bosio gave an idea as it won't just be the same Anderson.

"Different patterns that they were we working on," he said. "Different pitches and different patterns and different parts of the strike zone."

The elder Anderson, now coaching at the University of Houston after a decade at Oklahoma State, witnessed the changes in spring training and came away excited for his son's new opportunity. He never saw Brett waver from his commitment to return from any of his injuries. Instead of running from his ailments, he's known to make light of them by tweeting about simply making it through a workout.

The sarcasm and edge he displays on social media puts him in an interesting spot with his new team. Calling out Cubs fans during the Championship Series battle against the Dodgers probably didn't do him any favors with the crowd he's now pitching in front of in Chicago.

"Right away I heard from people about that," Anderson recalled. "Maybe I can win those people back."

Winning Cubs fans over isn't difficult. He just has to get outs. The Cubs think they can unlock even more from the 29-year-old left-hander.

"If we give him the answers before the test maybe he'll be willing to try," Borzello said. "You try to build that trust as quickly as possible. Over time that happens, but you want it to happen yesterday."

Anderson is open to it all. He knows his prep before pitching is crucial -- he has added breathing exercises, along with core work, to his daily routine. The Cubs' front office believes in the group they've assembled to keep their pitchers healthy and effective. This is why they took a chance on Anderson as the one addition to their rotation.

"We know he's had health problems but it's worth it to see if he can get past that," Hoyer said.

Anderson arrived as a buy-low candidate thanks to an incentive-laden contract that works well for both parties. And while the Cubs are being cautious -- manager Joe Maddon has admitted they're not expecting a full season of starts from Anderson -- they do think they can max out potential that was on display during his bullpen session in St. Louis.

"Everything was moving and dancing around," Anderson said. "I'd rather control the movement than hope for the movement. That's helpful for what I do."

Added Bosio: "It may have been his best session yet."

When Anderson takes the mound Friday, some of his family will be in attendance, but his dad has to work -- Houston has a game Friday night, too. That doesn't mean he won't be keeping up with the action.

"I can follow along with my Apple Watch," Frank said. "Could you imagine saying that 10 years ago? I would tell you, you were crazy."

Whether the younger Anderson picks up his own device after his outing remains to be seen. He's not sure if he'll be as active as Jon Lester is after starts. He has to see how it goes, but as long as he's pitching everything else is gravy.

"It depends on the day," Anderson said. "If I feel like engaging the fans I'll do it. You know you're going to get all different responses, so it depends on my mood. Hopefully, I'm in a good one."

Anderson said that last sentence with a smile, then went to throw one last time before the rains came in St. Louis. He's ready -- ready to return to baseball for more than just a couple of starts.

"He's been around a while but he can continue to pitch for a quite a while," his dad said. "Not a lot of mileage on the arm."

--

ESPNChicago.com Ball sticks to Yadier Molina's chest protector, helping Cubs to big inning By Mark Saxon

ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina wasn't sure how a baseball stuck to his chest protector after a wild pitch by Brett Cecil in the seventh inning, but it wasn't as funny after Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer two batters later to propel the Cubs to a 6-4 victory Thursday.

TV close-ups of Molina's chest protector later showed a white, star-shaped smudge low on his chest protector where the ball was stuck a few seconds earlier. Molina took exception when a reporter asked if he puts pine tar or another foreign substance on his gear.

"Do I put anything on my chest protector? No. That's a dumb question," said Molina, who could not locate the ball as it clung to him, which helped set up Chicago's rally.

Catchers sometimes put pine tar somewhere on their uniforms, often around the shin guards, to help give them a better grip. There are no rules against the practice, though it is against the rules for players to have pine tar on their skin, or to place it on the ball. Umpires could have addressed the matter had the Cubs made an issue of it, but that wasn't the case Thursday.

"That play changed everything,'' he said. "If we get that first out, everything changes.''

It allowed Cubs pinch hitter Matt Szczur to reach first base after a swinging third strike to lead off the seventh inning. Molina repeatedly spun around, looking for the ball, and smiled upon seeing where it wound up.

After a walk to Jon Jay, Schwarber homered to right to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead.

"First time in ... how many, 13 years? I don't know how that happened," Molina said. "I didn't feel anything different than any other ball, so I don't know how that happened."

Cecil left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters. The former Toronto pitcher, who signed a four-year, $30.5 million contract with the Cardinals last winter, allowed four runs without recording an out and took the loss in his second game with the team.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny also said, repeatedly, that he had no idea how the ball stuck to Molina.

"I've never seen that before," Matheny said. "I don't know what happened. That's all I can tell you."

The Cubs did not ask umpire Quinn Wolcott to check the ball. None of them seemed particularly surprised and assumed that Molina was simply using a sticky substance to get a better grip on the ball, given the blustery conditions.

"It was probably Tuf-Skin, sticky spray, something like that, maybe pine tar," said Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward, who used to play for the Cardinals. "Probably Tuf-Skin. I've never seen that happen. We joked about it the next time I came up to the plate. We had a saying when I was over here: 'Never seen it.'

"It definitely came into effect right there. It was hilarious. Guys that aren't pitchers have stuff on all of the time, on their glove, whatever. It is what it is. have stuff all the time."

Added Cubs manager Joe Maddon: "I don't know if they've come out with Velcro on the protectors or it's just a fuzzy baseball. It was definitely Velcro-ed to his chest.''

Schwarber, who broke into the major leagues as a catcher, also said foreign substances are commonly used by backstops.

"Catchers like to put pine tar on their shin guards and throw balls to second base and get a good feeling," Schwarber said. "Maybe it rubbed off some and it stuck. You never know. That's a pretty crazy theory. I don't know. I put pine tar on my shin guards. It happens."

--

CSNChicago.com On The Brink Of Heartbreak, Joe Maddon Predicted To Andre Dawson The Cubs Would Win The World Series By Tony Andracki

Joe Maddon pulled a Babe Ruth.

In the dugout before Game 5 of the World Series at Wrigley Field, the Cubs manager called his shot, telling Andre Dawson his team would win that night, push the series back to Cleveland and take the final two games from the Indians.

Which, as we all know, is exactly what happened.

Dawson — the Hall of Famer and Cubs legend — recounted the story Thursday morning:

"I can remember a comment he made. He's like, 'We're gonna win this game and we're gonna go on the road and we're gonna win the series,'" Dawson said. "I looked at him and he said, 'I think the guys are pressured a bit too much and we need to get away from Wrigley Field,' which obviously was the outcome."

That's not the first time we've heard the possibility the Cubs may have been feeling the pressure playing in front of the tense Wrigley faithful. But it's interesting Maddon had the same thought before the Cubs even mounted their epic comeback down three games to one in the World Series.

Dawson played six years with the Cubs and won the National League MVP in 1987 after leading the league with 49 homers and 137 RBI.

He admitted he swelled with pride watching the final two games of the World Series, likely echoing the thought of all former Cubs everywhere.

"For everyone that's ever put on a Cubs uniform, it was just joy and jubilation that it actually and finally happened," Dawson said. "There were a few bumps in the road in getting to the final result, but I was quite happy I could say I wore that uniform once and finally the fans here in Chicago got the wish and the dream that they so longed for."

Dawson also recounted his trip to Chicago the day before that epic parade and rally that featured five million Cubs fans. He even gave his daughter a warning about how wild that celebration might get at Grant Park.

--

CSNChicago.com Kyle Schwarber Makes Cardinals Pay For Yadier Molina’s Hidden-Ball Trick As Cubs Win Series In St. Louis By Patrick Mooney

ST. LOUIS – Yadier Molina looked all around home plate and couldn’t find the ball as pinch-hitter Matt Szczur ran to first base after whiffing on Brett Cecil’s curveball in the dirt for strike three. Hands on his hips, the Gold Glove catcher couldn’t help smiling after realizing it somehow got stuck in his chest protector.

Welcome back to the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry, where late-game crazy happens. As the young Cubs shredded their “Lovable Loser” label and grew up into World Series champs, they became a relentless team that pounced on the smallest mistakes and capitalized on the random bounces. In some ways, it mirrored The Cardinal Way and how momentum could keep building and building at Busch Stadium.

It all came crashing down on the Cardinals in the seventh inning on a brisk, sunny Thursday afternoon, Szczur reaching base on that hidden-ball trick, ex-Cardinal Jon Jay drawing a walk and Kyle Schwarber doing the damage that turned him into a Mr. October before his first full season in The Show.

Schwarber launched a first-pitch fastball that traveled 404 feet and stayed just inside the right-field foul pole for the go-ahead, three-run homer. Amid a raucous celebration inside the visiting clubhouse after a 6-4 win, Schwarber heard someone yell out: “You made it past Game 3!”

“And then we all went crazy,” Schwarber said.

Schwarber got carted off Chase Field during Game 3 last year with what was supposed to be a season-ending injury. Major surgery on his left knee that reconstructed his ACL and repaired his LCL didn’t stop him from hitting .412 with a .971 OPS in the World Series, cementing his legendary status around the Cubs.

This time, Schwarber flicked his bat and admired the flight of the ball after jumping Cecil, the lefty reliever the Cardinals handed a four-year, $30.5 million contract after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010. The early returns on the Schwarber leadoff experiment: 3-for-10 with a .500 on-base percentage and a season-opening series win in St. Louis.

“There are a lot of lineups that are probably bunting right there with their leadoff guy in that situation where he goes deep,” said pitcher John Lackey, who batted eighth and lasted six after a three-run first. “But our guy’s trying to hit it in the seats.”

What makes a ball stick to a chest protector like that?

“You’d have to ask somebody else,” said Lackey, who played with Molina for a season-and-a-half in St. Louis. “I wouldn’t know anything about sticky stuff.”

Molina called it a “dumb question,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, when asked if he put something on his catching gear.

“I didn’t know if they came out with Velcro on the protector or it’s just like a fuzzy baseball,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “I’m not sure what happened. It was definitely Velcro-d to his chest. And it helped us, yes.”

Schwarber – an emergency catcher who might have to wear a brace on his left leg for the rest of his career – offered this theory: “Catchers like to put pine tar on their leg guard for extra stick to throw the ball to second base, things like that, get feeling. So maybe it might rub off some if he overloads and it just stuck? You never know.”

“Probably Tuf-Skin, sticky spray, something like that, maybe pine tar,” said Jason Heyward, who played with Molina on a 100-win St. Louis team in 2015. “Never seen that happen. We joked about it next time I came to the plate. We had a saying when I was over there – ‘Never seen it’ – that definitely came into effect.

“You think you’ve seen it all – and then baseball shows you that you haven’t seen it all.”

That’s the beauty of this game, the helter-skelter moments in this rivalry and the intensity and unpredictability with a talent like Schwarber. On Opening Night, Schwarber had a horseshoe hanging down from his locker, a memento from the Clydesdale he hit in the butt during a batting-practice show in spring training.

By the time Schwarber showered and changed into jeans, a gray hoodie and cowboy boots, the horseshoe had been packed into his bag for Milwaukee. Even the uber-talented, supremely confident Cubs will take all the luck they can get, because the rest of is coming for them now.

“I turned around the horseshoe, too,” Schwarber said. “I turned it up so I could make it through.”

--

CSNChicago.com Cubs-Cardinals: Joe Maddon's Had Enough Of St. Louis After 'Second Spring Training' By Patrick Mooney

ST. LOUIS – Instead of trolling Cardinals fans with a Snake Plissken eye patch and an "Escape from St. Louis" dress- up theme, Joe Maddon wore sunglasses and a Cubs hoodie to his media briefing late Thursday morning.

"We're concluding our second spring training," Maddon said, sitting in Busch Stadium's visiting dugout. "We got one in Arizona and we got one in Missouri."

Instead of giving the Cubs the courtesy of getting settled in Chicago — and rescheduling Wednesday's rainout for another mutual off-day — the Cardinals kept the defending World Series champs in St. Louis for a sixth straight night.

"Yesterday concluded my week in the Four Seasons health spa," Maddon said. "I got a workout in every day. I got a steam in every day. I got a Jacuzzi in every day. And I got a nap in every day. So after going seven weeks of spring training with one day off, basically, you get three off in a week here in St. Louis. It's just the insanity of what we do."

Maddon apparently didn't find any inspiration on TripAdvisor.

"Didn't really go out often," Maddon said. "We went out one night to Carmine's and I was considering The Hill last night, but could not motivate myself at all. So I went and ordered off the kids' menu – grilled cheese and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and club soda. So I had a big night."

Maddon did notice the stretches of sunshine on Wednesday in St. Louis and how the rain stopped long enough for the Cubs and Cardinals to probably play Game 3.

"It appears that way, yeah," Maddon said. "The information all indicated that it was going to rain heavily all day, and everybody made their best guess, which I appreciated, because the worst thing to do is hang around all day — game started, game stopped, game started, game stopped — and that's what it read like.

"The intel we got was that it was going to pour all day. It's an imperfect science regarding weather prediction. Yeah, I'd rather have a day off in Chicago, no question. But that was the call and I'm good with it."

It only took two games — a walk-off loss and a one-run win — to show that the Cubs have the Cardinals' attention and the rivalry still creates drama and excitement.

"They've been definitely intense games," Maddon said. "I'd like it to be, in essence, Game 163, 164, from the end of last season. I want us to always play the same game. I've talked about that from Day 1. So if you're feeling the same game, that's good. That's a good thing. I don't want to differentiate between games in April or August or September.

"I've always been amused by the fact: ‘Well, it's early, it's April.' They don't count as point-five. They count as one- plus or one-minus. It's the same game. And I want our guys to be able to react in that way.

"There's only one variable right now – a week in a hotel in St. Louis. That's not easy. People have to understand you're totally out of your routine at that point."

--

CSNChicago.com Cubs Realign Rotation So Jon Lester Will Start Wrigley Opener Against Dodgers By Patrick Mooney

ST. LOUIS – The last time the Los Angeles Dodgers showed up at Wrigley Field, the Cubs clinched their first National League pennant in 71 years, sprayed beer and champagne all over the place and partied through the night.

The Dodgers will be The Other Team again when the Cubs raise their World Series championship banner – and now have to face the NLCS co-MVP in that prime-time matchup.

The Cubs rearranged their rotation so that Jake Arrieta will face the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon at Miller Park while Jon Lester will start Monday night's season opener in Wrigleyville.

That alignment gives the Cubs two lefties – Lester and Brett Anderson – for a three-game series against Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager and a Dodger lineup that finished last in the majors last year with a .622 OPS against left- handed pitching (or 45 points lower than the next-to-last team).

"It was just right in front of us," manager Joe Maddon said. "This was so obvious, we just couldn’t walk away from it."

--

Chicago Tribune Cubs on alert for Brewers baserunners ahead of first meeting in 2017 By Mark Gonzales

The Cubs adjusted their rotation so that left-hander Jon Lester will face the Dodgers and their predominately left- handed hitting lineup on Monday.

But as a bonus, Lester won't have to face the speed-oriented Brewers, who stole 35 of their 181 bases last season against the Cubs.

Nevertheless, catcher Willson Contreras and his pitchers will be on alert — particularly against Jonathan Villar.

Last season, Villar stole 10 of his National League-leading 61 bases against the Cubs and was thrown out only once.

Villar stole second and third base off Lester and since-retired catcher at Milwaukee on July 24.

--

Chicago Tribune Cubs to open first homestand with festive World Series theme By Mark Gonzales

The Cubs haven't played a home game as defending World Series champions since 1909. So there will be plenty of festivities commemorating their championship in the first homestand of the season at Wrigley Field.

Most noticeably, the Cubs will wear white uniforms and caps with gold lettering and trim for Monday night's home opener and Wednesday night's ring ceremony — in keeping with recent Major League Baseball tradition.

The Cubs advise fans to arrive early for pregame ceremonies that will start at 6:15 p.m. Monday. Cubs alumni will join players in the raising of the 2016 championship banners. Members of the Ricketts family, which owns the team, will throw the ceremonial first pitches.

Julianna Zobrist, the wife of Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist, will sing "God Bless America." Wayne Messmer will sing the national anthem for the 33rd consecutive home opener.

Cubs Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg and Billy Williams will lead the seventh-inning stretch.

The party will continue Wednesday night with the ring ceremony. Former Cubs catcher David Ross throwing the ceremonial first pitch and leading the seventh-inning stretch.

Twenty fans were selected to serve as honorary ring bearers during Wednesday's ceremony.

The Commissioner's Trophy will be housed in the Trophy Room in the new Park at Wrigley. Fans can take photos with the trophy starting Thursday. The Park at Wrigley features the new office and retail building along with a Cubs store.

The Cubs will give a replica championship banner to the first 30,000 fans before Wednesday's game against the Dodgers and a replica World Series trophy to the first 10,000 fans before the April 15 game against the Pirates.

--

Chicago Tribune For Cubs fans, sticker shock goes with trip to Wrigley By Kathy Bergen and Patrick M. O’Connell

Like many Cubs fans, Nick Penze has his share of cherished memories. As a child, he met Ernie Banks at a car dealership. Later, he watched his father pencil in scores on their program as the North Siders walloped the Montreal Expos.

And last fall, he sat spellbound in Wrigley Field as the Cubs staved off defeat in Game 5 of the World Series, a crucial victory on the way to their first championship since 1908.

Now, like many fans who will be at Monday's home opener, Penze is finding that creating new memories at Wrigley Field is becoming more of a gold-plated proposition. The tab for the season tickets he shares with two friends shot up by nearly 30 percent this year, bringing their average from about $70 to $90 per game for outfield box seats.

"It felt like a little punch in the stomach," he said.

But that's just the start.

The team's family owners, led by Tom Ricketts, plan to roll out four luxury clubs starting next spring, each with special entrances, high-end food, gleaming bars and private bathrooms. These will be in addition to the hived-off areas that already dot the stadium, from the casual Budweiser Patio to the plush Assurance Club.

It's all part of the way that the historic ballpark and surrounding neighborhood, with its coming boutique hotel and high-end restaurants, are being transformed by the Ricketts family into a compartmentalized kingdom that caters to those with income to spare.

A business executive himself, Penze understands the owners' desire to mine their success on the ballfield.

"They finally delivered on their promises and now they want to get paid," he said "But 30 percent seems like an awful lot. Could you start with 10?"

To one economist, the Ricketts family runs the risk of losing the Bleacher Bum mystique that gave Wrigley its allure.

"The moment it becomes a purely gentrified experience at Wrigley Field, and middle classes and lower-middle class Americans feel excluded, he's going to kill it," said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College. He's betting, however, that Ricketts will be shrewd enough to avoid such an outcome.

The Ricketts family is hardly alone in catering to the well-heeled — in fact, the team owners are rather late to this trend at professional sports venues. And plenty of more affordable tickets are still available, the team points out, some as low as $9.

The Cubs have been unapologetic about the changes, saying they need to find new sources of revenue if the team and its stadium are to remain competitive. While other teams can build new stadiums, often with generous public subsidies, the Ricketts family has committed to modernizing Wrigley Field largely without public financing.

Even for a family as wealthy as the Rickettses, that takes money. Having sent their emotionally attached fans into collective euphoria last year, they now have wide berth to raise ticket prices.

"People waited 108 years for a World Series Cubs — what's that worth?" said Mark Tebbe, a technology entrepreneur who shares skybox season tickets with friends. "It's priceless."

Lining up to pay

There certainly is the demand. While the Cubs raised 2017 season ticket prices an average of 19.5 percent, the renewal rate was 99 percent this year, the team reported. And another 112,733 fans are on the waiting list.

"The demand for our tickets has simply far exceeded the current pricing levels," a team spokesman, Julian Green, wrote in an email. "It is important for the club to realize some of that value that would otherwise be lost to the secondary market so we can reinvest those funds into the team and ballpark."

Indeed, ticket prices in the secondary market were 96 percent greater than face value during last year's regular season, and 670 percent higher in the postseason, the team said.

Many Americans — particularly those at the top of the income ladder — have come to expect a rich palette of amenities, whether at sports venues, airports or train stations, said Janet Marie Smith, an architect who played a key role in the remake of Fenway Park and is now overseeing renovations at Dodger Stadium, whose Lexus Dugout Club offers fans a luxurious den.

"It's a mistake to be overly critical of older buildings that have to change in order to stay alive," she said.

Today's fans, especially younger ones, "expect to be able to see replays, they expect Wi-Fi, they expect to have good lighting, they expect not to lose three innings going to the bathroom," said Marc Ganis, a sports industry consultant.

"Then you've got corporate and wealthier fans who want places to do business, entertain clients, bring the family," he added. "And by the way, those are the people and companies that pay most of the freight."

Still, the moves toward additional upscale offerings at Wrigley, and their attendant costs, are riling some longtime fans, of limited and not-so-limited means.

The ground shifted dramatically this winter for season tickets holders in coveted seats behind home plate. Construction began there on the subterranean American Airlines 1914 Club, which promises a "premier" experience beneath 700 seats starting on opening day 2018. Earlier plans called for 600 seats associated with the club, named for the year Wrigley opened.

Among the club's expected perks: multiple bars, carving stations, an array of desserts, grab-and-go snacks, in-seat service, invitations to VIP events and early access to special ticket sales, including for concerts. First-base, third- base and upper-level clubs are expected for the 2020 season.

Season tickets to those 700 spots, which were replaced with more comfortable seats for this season, are sold as a package deal with club membership, in multiyear contracts. The prices are soaring, some fans say.

Breaking point

For former Wrigleyville Ald. Bernie Hansen and a group of family and friends, the cost for their season tickets became too much and they gave up a pair of seats near home plate, which will become club seats, as well as five others down the left-field line.

"I'm sure there's a lot of those big-money Cubs fans who will eat up the season tickets," said Hansen, who was in Arizona, watching spring training. "It'll be all corporations and rich guys — it won't be families."

Next season, the 1914 Club ticket prices, which include food and bar drinks, will run from $400 per ticket to $695 per ticket for the front row.

In Chicago, similar club packages at White Sox games run $240 to $265 per ticket and $865 at a Bears game. The Bulls, however, are a different matter — a courtside seat at a Bulls game runs $1,800 in the regular season, not including food or drinks.

For some fans, a club-ticket splurge is worth it, at least occasionally.

"For a special client, if tickets were available to one of the better divisional rivalries, I can certainly see those tickets being worth the expense," said Jarrett Fradin, a commercial real estate broker with the Kudan Group.

As of the end of March, 1,342 Cubs fans had paid $500 to get on the waiting list for tickets linked to the four planned luxury clubs. Existing season ticket holders in those seats get first dibs.

"Our efforts to improve the premier experience ... won't affect fans who desire a sun-soaked fun experience in the Budweiser Bleachers or affordability in the upper deck," Green stated in an email, noting that an eventual 1,600 luxury club seats will make up less than 5 percent of ballpark seats.

While the steep price hikes for prime seats rankles some, a more critical question for most fans, Hansen said, is how much the Cubs will "jack up the regular tickets — will even normal families be able to go to the ballpark without mortgaging their house or car?"

The average price for a nonpremium Cubs ticket last year rose nearly 15 percent, to $51.33, the third most expensive in pro baseball behind the Boston Red Sox and the , according to Team Marketing Report. The White Sox, in contrast, came in No. 11, with an average ticket price of $29.55, close to the Major League Baseball average of $31.

Wrigley Field also ranked third for fan costs among the nation's baseball parks last year, with an outing for four estimated at $312 last year, including four hot dogs, two small beers, four small sodas, parking and a couple of ballcaps, according to the report. The tab would have been $82 cheaper at a White Sox game.

The Cubs do not share year-over-year data on ticket-price hikes for individual games.

For Charlie Ryan, a retired salesman who used to go to games, the prices have become prohibitive. "They are changing the profile of their customer," said Ryan, who lives nearby. "They are moving away from the everyday person."

Holly Swyers, an associate professor of anthropology at Lake Forest College and author of a book on bleacher regulars, sees a shift in the makeup of that boisterous crowd.

Unlike decades ago, when fans could snag tickets for a few dollars, a ticket to the bleachers costs $23 minimum as of Thursday, and usually at least twice that price for more popular dates and opponents.

"People just got priced out and what remains is not accessible often to younger people and people who don't have as much money," said Swyers, "And that eats away at the fan base."

It's not just Wrigley

The coming changes will accelerate the profound transformation that the Ricketts family has been pushing around Wrigley Field.

Across the street, just west of the ballpark, the family is building the 175-room Hotel Zachary, along with four restaurants led by some of the city's most respected restaurant groups.

At the ballpark's western entrance, a tavern-style restaurant will anchor a new plaza that will have shops along its northern edge, including a two-story flagship Cubs store.

Many neighbors and businesses welcome the upscale shift, though some have reservations as well.

"My college days and drinking days are more limited than they used to be — I'm now a family guy," said Laurence Jankelow, 33, a technology executive who owns a duplex near the ballpark. "The changes they are making in the neighborhood are very family-oriented — new restaurants, things that aren't bars. I'm in favor of those things."

Others, like seasonal worker Arby Amay, hope the neighborhood retains some of its unpretentious feel.

"I like the mom-and-pops and the little dime stores," said Amay. "I hope they can make it modern, but still keep some of the old stuff."

Having brought home the first Cubs World Series championship in over a century, the family has huge stores of goodwill locally, which translates into ever-increasing revenue.

"Right now the Cubs are the hottest ticket in America," said Jim Anixter, a longtime fan. He is frequently seen sitting behind home plate during Cubs home game broadcasts wearing a pink cap.

Anixter will be among some 40,000 fans pouring into Wrigley on Monday, in spite of his astonishment at the size of the price hikes on 16 season tickets behind home plate.

His company, A-Z Industries, a Northbrook-based wire and cable firm he co-founded, kept its four front-row seats, he said, despite a price hike from about $29,000 each to about $56,000 in 2018, a price that includes membership to the 1914 Club. It gave up its other 12 seats behind the plate, exchanging them for seats along the right-field line.

"I'm not related to Commonwealth Edison," said Anixter, the 72-year-old company president. "The common part, but not the wealth part."

Nick Penze, the season ticket holder, will also be at Wrigley on Monday — his 22nd home opener – despite any misgivings about the price increase. He now lives in Utah but manages to attend 10 to 12 games a year.

This home opener, though, has special significance, sure to add to his many fond Cubs memories.

"I'm taking my son," he said. "It will be his first."

--

Chicago Tribune Kyle Schwarber gives Cubs lift with 3-run homer in victory over Cardinals By Mark Gonzales

The rarity of second baseman Ben Zobrist committing an on a routine play and pitcher John Lackey collecting two hits was upstaged Thursday as two stranger developments gave the Cubs a festive sendoff from what seemed like an eternity at Busch Stadium.

The first oddity — a third strike that bounced and stuck in the middle of the chest protector of Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina — enabled pinch-hitter Matt Szczur to reach first base to start the seventh inning.

The second — the sight of 6-foot, 240-pound slugger Kyle Schwarber as the leadoff hitter — is developing into a perfect blend for manager Joe Maddon.

Schwarber punctuated his new role when he smacked a three-run homer off left-hander Brett Cecil shortly after Molina's mishap to lift the Cubs to a 6-4 victory over the rival Cardinals.

The fact Schwarber has a .500 on-base percentage in three games leading off isn't lost on him or his teammates. And that he hasn't sacrificed his power is a dangerous weapon for the Cubs.

Schwarber's game-winning homer occurred one day short of the one-year anniversary of his tearing two ligaments in his left knee in his third game last year that sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season.

During the Cubs' raucous postgame celebration, Schwarber recalled a teammate yelling that he made it healthy past game three.

"And we all went crazy," Schwarber said with a smile.

Schwarber has reached base in seven of his first 14 plate appearances and manager Joe Maddon's decision to bat the starting pitcher eighth should create more run producing opportunities for Schwarber from that top spot.

After Szczur, hitting for Lackey, reached first on Cecil's wild pitch, Jon Jay drew a walk before Schwarber transformed a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead with his that traveled an estimated 404 feet down the right-field line.

"Some of the guys batting at the bottom of the lineup could be batting in the middle of the order somewhere else," Schwarber said.

For his part, Lackey helped his cause after Zobrist mishandled a throw from shortstop Addison Russell on a potential inning-ending play that led to three runs in the first.

In the fifth, Lackey singled off , who missed all of 2016 after right elbow surgery. The he wasn't afraid to test the arm of former teammate Dexter Fowler as he beat a throw to third on Jay's single that scored Jason Heyward with the Cubs' first run.

"(Fowler) kind of came in slow on the ball, and I saw that and kept going," Lackey said.

Lackey's hitting and hustle illustrated Maddon's pleasure with how his players didn't become lackadaisical after arriving last Friday in St. Louis and having to stay an extra day because of Wednesday's rainout.

"We're concluding our second spring training," Maddon quipped. "We've had one in Arizona and we've had one in Missouri.

"After spending a month in St. Louis (winning two of three games) is pretty neat."

--

Chicago Tribune Cubs provide theories, amusement to Yadier Molina's sticky situation By Mark Gonzales

Yadier Molina pleaded ignorance to why a ball stuck to the middle of his chest protector in a strange occurrence in Thursday's 6-4 victory over the Cardinals.

"I got Velcro," Cubs manager Joe Maddon quipped after the Gold Glove catcher couldn't find Brett Cecil's wild pitch on a third strike that enabled Matt Szczur to reach first base and ignite the Cubs' game-winning rally in the seventh inning.

Pitcher John Lackey, 38, echoed the thoughts of his teammates when he said he never had witnessed such a development. Lackey didn't reveal any theories on how this could have happened, although he did leave the door open for speculation.

"I wouldn't know anything about that sticky stuff," Lackey said.

Right fielder Jason Heyward, who played with Molina in 2015, said it's common for catchers to use Tuf-Skin, a colorless spray used to in the taping of ankles, as well as pine tar. Heyward said he joked later with Molina about the play but didn't accuse him of using any substances.

"Catchers have stuff all the time," said Heyward, adding that pine tar is legal for catchers to use. "I'm not saying he does."

Molina repeated, "I don't know" when reporters asked how the ball stuck to him, adding "that's a dumb question" when asked if he put something on his chest protector."

Rotation juggle: The Cubs found one benefit to having two days off this week.

The breaks allowed them to juggle their rotation to present the most favorable matchups. Jake Arrieta was moved up to start Sunday's finale against the Brewers and left-hander Jon Lester was pushed back to start Monday night's home opener against the Dodgers.

The latter move is designed to combat the Dodgers' predominantly left-handed hitting lineup with Corey Seager, Chase Utley, Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson and Andrew Toles, as well as switch-hitter Yasmani Grandal.

The Dodgers advanced to the 2016 National League Championship Series despite batting only .214 against left- handers (compared to a .264 mark against right-handers).

"It was so obvious we can't walk away from it," Maddon said.

Streak of sorts: The Cubs have won their last five series at Busch Stadium since getting swept June 26-28, 2015.

--

Chicago Tribune Workout, grilled cheese sandwich conclude 'second spring training' for Joe Maddon By Mark Gonzales

Manager Joe Maddon spent his sixth night at the Cubs' team hotel in St. Louis by working out for the sixth consecutive time and treating himself to a room service dinner off the children's menu.

"I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and peanut better and jelly sandwich with a club soda, so I had a big night," Maddon quipped.

Despite several forecasts that called for a torrential downpour throughout Wednesday that never crystallized, Maddon applauded the Cardinals' decision to postpone the game more than two hours in advance of the starting time.

"The worst thing is to hand around all day, game started, game stopped, game started, game stopped," Maddon said. "And that’s when it red lights. That why I give them credit for making the decision. Even if it didn’t turn out we could have played, based on intel at the time, it probably showed we couldn't have played."

The showers stopped long enough to play at least six innings, but Maddon prefers a game without interruptions.

"If you’re in the clubhouse, the worst thing to do is being in the clubhouse is not knowing, you be there all day and then OK we’ll go out, you have the proverbial window, and the window closes and so they called off the jam," Maddon said.

"Even though it might have been wrong, as it turned out, I’m OK with it. It’s an imperfect science regarding weather prediction. I’d rather have the day off in Chicago, no question. But that was the call, and I’m good with it."

The Cubs, who were scheduled to spend Wednesday night and Thursday night in Chicago before riding a bus Friday morning to Milwaukee, were expected to fly to Milwaukee after Thursday's game at St. Louis.

"We’re concluding our second spring training,"Maddon quipped. "We’ve had one in Arizona and we’ve had one in Missouri."

--

Chicago Tribune Cubs adjust rotation, Jon Lester to face Dodgers in home opener By Mark Gonzales

The Chicago Cubs hope to take advantage of the scheduling by switching the starts of Jake Arrieta and left-hander Jon Lester.

Arrieta will remain on a normal five-day schedule as he was moved up to pitch Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Lester was pushed back to Monday to pitch the home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers batted only .214 against left-handers last season, compared to a .264 mark against right-handers, and they were limited to five hits in eight innings against left-hander Clayton Richard in a 4-0 loss to San Diego on Tuesday.

“The off-days always help," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "Without the off-days, we couldn’t have done it. But we’re going it based on handedness.

"Milwaukee is predominantly right-handed, and the Dodgers are predominantly left-handed. It was just right in front of us, so we decided to do it."

Lester will be pitching on seven days' rest when he faces the Dodgers.

--

Chicago Tribune Cubs' Hector Rondon rebounds, Carl Edwards Jr. dominant in win over Cardinals By Mark Gonzales

After hitting a game-winning home run, Kyle Schwarber was quick to point out Thursday that there were other heroes that contributed to the Cubs' 6-4 victory at St. Louis.

Perhaps the most unheralded contributions came from relievers Hector Rondon and Carl Edwards Jr.

Despite allowing three home runs in World Baseball Classic play for Team Venezuela and struggling as recently as March 30 at Houston, Rondon quelled some worries in an important situation.

Rondon needed only seven pitches - all strikes - to pitch a perfect seventh inning. His flawless outing was timely because manager Joe Maddon used him after the Cubs quickly seized the lead on Schwarber's homer.

Rondon sharpness was evident by the location of his pitches.

"That's great for his confidence right there," Maddon said of Rondon, who was pulled after allowing four consecutive hits to the Astros in his final exhibition outing.

Edwards, meanwhile, stranded the tying and winning runs in the eighth by striking out Randal Grichuk on a 97 mph fastball, and then whiffing on an 80-mph curve.

"He was wonderful," Maddon said. "The stuff he threw out there was great. You can go up and down. There were a lot of good things."

--

Chicago Tribune The story behind the most meaningful 'W' flight in Cubs history By Dan Wiederer

The sun had yet to come up over Lake Michigan, over the high-rises along Lake Shore Drive, over the north side of a city still absorbing its bliss. So it was under the cover of dawn, in a hushed and still ballpark, that the two men made their trek.

They entered at Gate K, just west of Wrigley Field's third-base foul pole and headed to the bleachers, navigating toward center field and to a ladder into the manual scoreboard.

It was just after 5 a.m. on Nov. 3. And neither Roger Baird nor Darryl Wilson had gotten any sleep.

They were groggy. They were speechless. They were dizzy with euphoria.

Now, after witnessing a historic triumph from the upper deck of Cleveland's Progressive Field — Cubs 8, Indians 7, curse conquered — here they were together, ascending into the Wrigley scoreboard; unfolding a 5-by-9-foot white flag; and eventually emerging onto a perch above the corner of Waveland and Sheffield.

A little less than six hours after Kris Bryant had fired to Anthony Rizzo for the final out of the seventh game of the World Series and not long before the Cubs players pulled back into Wrigleyville, Baird and Wilson prepared to stamp the exclamation point on the 2016 baseball season. Or more exactly, they readied to hang the final letter.

They had come to fly the "W."

Baird looked at Wilson in amazement.

"Do you believe what we're about ready to do here?" he asked.

For Baird, 56 years old and a Cubs employee for two-thirds of his life, the goose bumps felt surreal.

For Wilson, the Cubs' scoreboard operator and part of the Wrigley machinations since 1987, the significance of the moment was not lost.

In the history of the Cubs organization, in the history of a symbol that has flown since 1937, no "W" flag ever has meant more. And no "W" flag ever will mean as much again.

The two men stared upward.

"We did it, man," Baird said. "Finally. After all these years."

Faith

Thanks to the generosity of the Ricketts family, Baird and Wilson had been part of the Cubs' traveling party during the World Series. Charter flights to Cleveland. Upper-deck seats behind home plate. Consider it a fitting reward for their loyalty.

Baird originally joined the Wrigley Field grounds crew in 1979.

"I thought I was only going to be here a few years," he said. "Then you sort of get reeled in. … I fell in love with Wrigley Field. And as I found out, time goes by fast."

Baird stayed through 18 managers 24 losing seasons and seven playoff appearances before last season's fairy tale began.

"It was always a dream of mine to be working for the Cubs when they won a World Series," he said.

Wilson, 52, has no easy explanation for how he became a Cubs fan growing up near 55th and Damen, surrounded by passionate Sox fans. Contrarian urges maybe.

"I was not one of those guys who goes with the flow," he said.

After Wilson joined the Cubs in 1987, it wasn't difficult to spot the one guy on the South Side constantly wearing Cubs hats and Cubs shirts. The neighborhood harassment was constant also.

"I told them I'm loyal, man. I'm true blue," Wilson said. "… For 30 years straight, I took straight grief for the Cubs. Until last year. Suddenly nobody had anything to say."

Wilson always had appreciated the majestic view from his sanctuary inside the famed Wrigley scoreboard.

"You can see everything. And everyone," he said.

But there's nothing he ever will appreciate more than that 4-hour, 28-minute thrill ride through Game 7 last fall. He was like Ronnie Woo Woo on Red Bull. Cheering. Heckling. Dreaming.

"I became Super-Cubs fan," he said. "… I just couldn't calm down. I don't think I sat down once."

For the first 4 1/2 innings, everything seemed delightful. A 5-1 Cubs lead felt fateful. Yet somehow, when the bottom of the ninth ended and a rainstorm sent Wilson into the concourse, he couldn't process how Indians center fielder Rajai Davis had golfed that Aroldis Chapman fastball over a 19-foot wall 325 feet from home plate.

Wilson had no explanation for how 5-1 had become 6-6. Myriad thoughts caromed around his brain.

"I can't say those words," Wilson said. "But it wasn't 'Wait till next year.' I know that."

Eventually, after he witnessed the greatest ending to any baseball game he ever had attended, Wilson snatched fellow Wrigley scoreboard operator Rick Fuhs and lifted him toward the sky.

Hours later, when Wilson returned to Wrigley to raise the "W" flag, he relished the credibility he now could claim.

"I'm nationwide now, man," Wilson said. "Nobody else tops that. Nobody on the South Side can touch me."

A quiet dream

Danielle Turkin, Baird's 31-year-old daughter, was the sole witness inside the ballpark, walking along the back fence inside the Wrigley bleachers as her dad and Wilson climbed the scoreboard.

She literally could feel what the moment meant, her entire body pulsing with nostalgia.

She had felt it intensely the previous night in Cleveland, when in the upper deck at Progressive Field, her dad had wrapped a rally towel behind his neck, wringing it inning after inning as stress relief.

Most of all, Danielle had felt her dad's gratification at that final out when his hug squeezed the life out of her and when those unfamiliar tears spilled from his eyes.

"Just total disbelief," she said.

Baird was entering his eighth season on the grounds crew when Danielle was born, just weeks before Rick Sutcliffe marched the Cubs into opening day 1986. So Baird's two kids — son Roger Jr. is 28 — believe their Cubs devotion was encoded in their DNA.

Danielle adored Mark Grace. Roger Jr. almost passed out when he first met Kerry Wood.

"In a lot of ways," Danielle said, "the Cubs were like the fifth member of our family."

Both kids loved those Sundays when they were asked to tag along to watch dad cut the grass. They would play catch as he mowed and watered, awestruck by the surroundings.

Because of that, Danielle felt something deeper before sunrise that November morning.

"Some of my favorite memories of Wrigley are being there when it's empty, when the whole park is quiet," she said. "You can feel the majesty of it when it's empty."

And that morning, at dawn, the first in her life with the Cubs as World Series champions?

"It almost felt like I was looking at it with fresh eyes," Danielle said. "Like Wrigley had changed."

As Baird and Wilson headed into the scoreboard, Turkin felt her dad's intense pride, his small piece of ownership in the conquest. She understood the meticulous care he always had put into making the Wrigley grounds impeccable.

"Baseball has its own rhythm, its own schedules," Danielle said. "So I know in my dad's mind he wasn't always able to be home or around as much as he wanted to be. And I think in some ways, the Cubs finally winning the World Series brought out this feeling in our entire family like, 'Oh my god. It's all worth it.'"

From below, Danielle watched the "W" take flight. If the pole had been higher, Wilson joked, he and Baird would have raised that flag 10 or 11 more stories.

When the two men came down, they flipped a light to illuminate their work.

What a morning. What a wait it had been.

"I think both of us were still floating," Baird said.

--

Chicago Sun-Times Kyle Schwarber’s long homer picks up Ben Zobrist, calms Cubs fans By Steve Greenberg

ST. LOUIS — Please, a quick show of hands out there in Cubdom: Who enjoys watching Kyle Schwarber hit a baseball really, really hard and really, really far?

So it’s unanimous, then?

Look, there’s no question Cubs fans were thrilled by the sudden, glorious Schwarbomb that curled inside the right- field foul pole in the seventh inning Thursday and saved the day, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead.

The Cubs went on to hang a second consecutive “L” around the St. Louis Cardinals’ necks. Starting pitcher John Lackey hung around just long enough to earn a victory on a day that had seemed to have “hard-luck loser” written all over it. That’s because second baseman Ben Zobrist dropped an underhand toss from shortstop Addison Russell on what should’ve been a simple 6-4-3 double play in the first inning, opening the door to three Cardinals runs that never should’ve scored.

Kyle Schwarber saved the day with his three-run blast, but questions about the Cubs' lineup will persist. (AP/Jeff Roberson)

Ah, but that Schwarbomb — 404 whistling feet of everything’s-going-to-be-all-right.

“We came to play,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We don’t quit. We got behind, but there’s no panic among the group.”

Rest easy. No harm, no foul. Cubs fans could delight in a successful afternoon and season-opening series against the team’s biggest rival.

Except, well, hang on a second here. Until Schwarber’s home run, many of those same fans were going barking mad on social media over the fact that Zobrist had been in position to flub that play to begin with.

Their point, in a nutshell: How can manager Joe Maddon be so foolish as to play Zobrist at second base when Javy Baez is in the building?

It’s no surprise it has come to this. Fans have been heading in that direction ever since Baez started every game of the 2016 postseason, becoming wildly popular for his fielding range, arm, magical flair and obvious everyday- player ability in the process.

And yet, it also means it has come to this: complaining about the same guy, Zobrist, who was last season’s National League All-Star starter at second base and the MVP of the World Series. Which is, on its face, kind of ridiculous.

But this sort of thing happens around every championship team in every sport. The fans become more demanding and opinionated, and a lot harder to impress. They also become more astute in their observations. Let’s face it: It’s next to impossible to argue conclusively that Baez shouldn’t be on the field as often as possible.

The situation at second base has the potential to be a far more sensitive subject in 2017 than it ever was in 2016. Or maybe it’s a given.

Take Thursday’s first inning. It wasn’t just the double-play exchange flubbed by Zobrist that had blowing up. There was a previous hot smash up the middle that Zobrist dove and smothered, allowing the batter to reach first base. It was a fine effort, but perhaps Baez would’ve gotten to the same ball, gloved it and thrown to first for merely his latest circus play?

“Of course people are going to say that stuff,” Maddon said. “What can I say? There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a part of the human condition that you can’t avoid. You can’t avoid that dialogue. It’s going to be there. All I can say is I don’t live by that method.”

And neither is Zobrist, who, by the way, maintains that he feels better physically that he did at this point last season.

“I feel great,” he said. “Of course I want to be out there as much as I can.”

Indeed, as any player would. It was a good first series for the Cubs. It’s bound to be another outstanding season. A tad noisier along the way, though? There’ll be no getting around it.

--

Chicago Sun-Times Stuck ball aids Cubs’ decisive rally against Cardinals By Gordon Wittenmyer

ST. LOUIS — The strangest play anybody in the Cubs’ clubhouse had seen turned into an important one in the team’s 6-4 victory Thursday against the Cardinals, even if Kyle Schwarber’s big home run overshadowed it two batters later.

‘‘Sometimes you think you’ve seen it all, and then baseball shows you that you haven’t seen it all,’’ right fielder Jason Heyward said.

After pinch hitter Matt Szczur swung through a pitch by Cardinals reliever Brett Cecil leading off the seventh inning, the ball eluded catcher Yadier Molina and Szczur took off for first. He reached safely, and Molina eventually discovered the ball stuck to the front of his chest protector, apparently held there by pine tar.

‘‘That’s new,’’ manager Joe Maddon said. ‘‘I don’t know if they’ve come out with Velcro on the protectors and it’s just a fuzzy baseball. It was definitely Velcro-ed to his chest.’’

Jon Jay followed with a single before Schwarber homered to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead.

‘‘I’ve never seen that before,’’ said Schwarber, a catcher through his career. ‘‘That’s pretty crazy. I don’t know how that happens.’’

Rotation shuffle

The way the Dodgers have set up their rotation, the Cubs won’t see perennial Cy Young Award favorite Clayton Kershaw in their home-opening series next week.

But the Cubs made sure to rearrange their rotation to match up with the lefty-dominant Dodgers lineup, moving right-hander Jake Arrieta up to pitch Sunday against the Brewers and pushing left-hander Jon Lester to the home opener Monday.

‘‘We’re just going based on handedness,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘This was so obvious, we just couldn’t walk away from it.’’

Because of days off, the move puts Arrieta on his natural fifth day against the predominantly right-handed Brewers. Lester will pitch on his eighth day against the Dodgers and will be followed in the series by right-hander John Lackey and lefty Brett Anderson.

The move also keeps Lester away (for now) from the Brewers, the team that has been most aggressive in trying to exploit his troubles throwing to bases the last two years.

Who’s left?

Maddon said the Cubs have no immediate plans to make a roster move to add a lefty to the bullpen for the series against the Dodgers. They opened the season with left-hander Brian Duensing on the disabled list (back stiffness) and chose to keep an extra bench player.

That leaves Mike Montgomery as the only lefty in the pen. But the two lefty starters — Lester and Anderson — mitigate the need.

‘‘We like [righty Koji] Uehara [against] a lefty,’’ Maddon said. ‘‘I like [righty Justin] Grimm [against] a lefty. And [righty Carl Edwards Jr.’s] cutter’s really good against lefties. I like righties on lefties that get lefties out. I like that a lot, actually.’’

This and that

Reigning National League most valuable player Kris Bryant finished the opening series 0-for-13 with six strikeouts. He reached base once, drawing a walk and scoring during the Cubs’ four-run seventh inning Thursday.

• Heyward, who spent much of the offseason and spring training working on his swing, reached base three times on two singles and a hit-by-pitch. He was 4-for-12 in the series, including two infield hits.

• Cubs starting pitchers went 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 17 innings in the series.

--

Chicago Sun-Times Kyle Schwarber tunes up for playoffs as Cubs beat Cards 6-4 By Gordon Wittenmyer

ST. LOUIS — When Kyle Schwarber got done with the first pitch he saw from left-hander Brett Cecil in the seventh inning Thursday, the Cardinals — and anyone else watching — knew what the Cubs were talking about when they touted Schwarber as their new-age leadoff hitter all spring.

‘‘There’s a lot of lineups that are probably bunting right there with their leadoff guy,’’ Cubs right-hander John Lackey said. ‘‘Our guy’s trying to hit it in the seats. It’s a little bit different.’’

Schwarber turned on Cecil’s pitch for a three-run home run down the right-field line to give the Cubs the lead in a 6-4 victory at Busch Stadium. The result completed a rain-extended season-opening series against the rival Cardinals that set a tone for how the Cubs hope to go about their business in defense of their World Series championship.

Schwarber is a big part of that because of his mere presence, never mind his presence as Dexter Fowler’s replacement in the leadoff spot.

That much was made clear by what manager Joe Maddon called a ‘‘raucous’’ postgame celebration, with teammates singling out Schwarber for more than just his mammoth homer.

‘‘It was exciting,’’ Schwarber said. ‘‘Someone yelled, ‘You made it past Game 3,’ then we all went crazy.’’

It was in the third game of last season that Schwarber collided with Fowler in left-center field in Phoenix, suffering a knee injury so severe that it required reconstructive surgery and sidelined him for the rest of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs.

He became a World Series hero by returning to start at designated hitter in the Cubs’ four road games against the Indians.

If he was playoff-ready then, imagine what he would be ready to do if the playoffs started tomorrow.

‘‘I know, right?’’ a laughing Schwarber said after reaching base seven times in 14 plate appearances, including three walks, against the Cardinals. ‘‘I turned the horseshoe around, too. I turned it up so I could make it through.’’

That was a reference to the horseshoe he was given by the Budweiser Clydesdale crew after one of his batting- practice homers hit one of the horses on the butt as the team pulled its wagon alongside the Cubs’ practice field in spring training. Until Thursday, Schwarber had hung the horseshoe in his locker ‘‘upside down,’’ with the luck allegedly spilling out.

Schwarber’s return and position in the order is the most significant change for the Cubs from last season — and what some suggest makes the lineup better.

‘‘It’s really cool,’’ he said. ‘‘From Day 1, I was really looking forward to this. There’s a long way to go, but it was definitely a good win for the team and to get momentum going into the next series.’’

It didn’t look quite so good for much of the game after second baseman Ben Zobrist dropped shortstop Addison Russell’s throw on the pivot of what should have been an inning-ending double play in the first. A run scored on the play, and after two more singles against Lackey, the Cubs quickly trailed 3-0.

‘‘You can’t do much about it once it’s over,’’ said Lackey (1-0), who allowed only one run and two hits in the rest of his six-inning stint and got 10 consecutive outs at one point. ‘‘You’d like for it to look a little different. After that, you just try to battle and try to keep your team in it and try to win the game.’’

--

Chicago Sun-Times Trucks to be banned, traffic restricted around Wrigley Field By Fran Spielman

Trucks will be banned from the streets around Wrigley Field — and other traffic will be sharply constricted — to ramp up security for Monday’s Cubs’ home opener and, probably, the entire season.

The security bubble, which mirrors the plan in place during the playoffs and World Series, will be bounded by Irving Park Road, Belmont, Halsted and Southport.

Within that perimeter, trucks and “anything above a cargo van” will be banned and diverted starting two hours before the game and continuing until one hour after the game.

All remaining traffic will be reduced to one lane, according to Rich Guidice, first deputy director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication.

“We’re gonna do what we call a traffic slowdown at these locations: Street at Grace and Racine; at Newport and Sheffield; Addison and Halsted and Addison and Racine,” Guidice said.

“We’re not going to stop vehicle traffic from coming through. But we’re gonna slow it down. We’re gonna set up a barricade and cone configuration where cars will have to do what we call a serpentine configuration. They’ll slow down,” he said. “We’ll be able to have law enforcement personnel put some eyes on the vehicle passing through the slowdown, and then continue through. . . . When we set this thing up on game day, it’ll probably be about one lane in each direction. That’s what it will come down to.”

Guidice said the security plan will be reassessed after the first three home games at Wrigley. But it’s likely to remain in place for the entire season, he said.

“The Cubs are a high-profile organization. They just won the championship last year. We’re just doing our best to control the crowd and control traffic around the area,” Guidice said.

The security plan marks a significant ramp-up from the plan in place around Wrigley last season prior to the playoffs and World Series.

But it does not go as far as the game day shutdown of Addison and Clark that the Cubs wanted, particularly after the terrorist attack in London that saw five people killed and 40 others injured after an attacker drove a car into a crowd along Westminister Bridge near the British Parliament.

Amid persistent opposition from local Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) and Wrigleyville residents, Mayor Rahm Emanuel once again slammed the door.

“That’s not going to happen. . . . There are no plans for that kind of closure around the ballpark. Nothing is really gonna be closed off. The arterials are gonna remain open,” Tunney said.

“They’re going to have a lot of police out here, a lot of TMA’s and they’re really gonna try to keep the crowd moving. Part of that is to keep the street as open as possible. Once you start closing streets, the fans take over the streets. I don’t think that’s in the safest interest.”

Guidice added, “Wrigley Field is situated right in the middle of a thriving community. We feel that the system we have in place is a good public safety mechanism to control the crowd and control the traffic. We’re comfortable with the position we’ve taken.”

Monday is not just the day the Cubs will hoist the championship banner. It’s opening day for new open-air plaza adjacent to the stadium that the team is calling the “Park at Wrigley.”

Last week, Tunney warned that the Cubs’ plan for securing the plaza and enforcing city rules was “not fully-baked.”

On Thursday, he warned the Cubs to strictly enforce occupancy limits and rules governing the sale of beer and wine at the plaza or risk losing their hard-fought license.

“That’ll be up to Cubs security. They have a responsibility like any establishment. Any establishment has a responsibility to keep their occupancy. And we’ve shut down places before that had more occupancy than they’re legally entitled to,” Tunney said.

“It’s like any other business. This is the business. The occupancy rules. If they cannot keep their occupancy limits, their license is in jeopardy. . . . There’s an entrance off Waveland. There’s an entrance off Clark. There’s an entrance from Addison. There’s plenty of places to access it. There’ll be security at every one of ’em. And two hours before the game, you have to have a ticket to be on the plaza.”

Buildings Department spokeswoman Mimi Simon refused to say what the occupancy level will be.

In an emailed statement Thursday night, Cubs spokesman Julian Green wrote: “The Cubs and the Ricketts family have the most incentive to ensure the safety and security of our fans. It is our top priority every game. We don’t know why the Alderman would even suggest our capability to follow the rules would be anything less than compliant but rest assured we will do everything in our power to ensure our fans and neighbors have a safe and enjoyable opening day.”

The plan approved by the City Council last summer gave Tunney many of the safeguards he wanted to prevent the plaza from turning into what Wrigleyville residents have called the “Midwest’s largest beer garden.”

Liquor sales on the plaza will be limited to beer and wine. Those drinks can be sold only during “stadium events” such as games and concerts and at a maximum of 12 special events per year, each requiring its own special permit.

And on game and stadium concert days, attendance at the open-air plaza will be limited to fans with tickets.

The plaza, which Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts has likened to the town squares of old Europe, will make its debut at 10 a.m. Monday, hours before the championship banner is hoisted at the home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

--

Cubs.com After Yadi's oddity, Schwarber delivers with HR By Nate Latsch

ST. LOUIS -- Kyle Schwarber was just looking for a good pitch. When he got it, he turned it into a clutch three-run home run that was the difference in the Cubs' 6-4 win over the Cardinals on Thursday afternoon.

The left fielder's seventh-inning homer off reliever Brett Cecil not only gave his team a 5-4 lead in a game they had trailed to that point, but it was also the hardest-hit shot he's had off a left-hander in the regular season. The homer had an exit velocity of 112.1 mph, according to Statcast™.

"I was just more looking for a good pitch," Schwarber said. "If it was a slider or fastball, whatever it was, I just wanted to jump on it. He's a good pitcher. To get behind on guys like that, sometimes you just don't want to do it. My approach is I'm going to be selective-aggressive. I got my pitch from pitch one, and was able to put a good swing on it."

The home run was the 17th of Schwarber's young career during the regular season -- of those 17, seven have been go-ahead (five) or game-tying (two) homers -- but just his third against a lefty hurler.

Does he take more satisfaction hitting a homer against a lefty?

"Nope," Schwarber said. "Just being able to come up in a big spot, it's always a good feeling." The Cubs' seventh-inning rally started with a unique twist as leadoff hitter Matt Szczur -- pinch-hitting for pitcher John Lackey -- struck out against Cecil, but reached first base on a wild pitch. The third strike eluded catcher Yadier Molina because it was stuck on his chest protector and Molina couldn't locate it.

"I can honestly say I've never seen anything like that," Szczur said. "I didn't know until the first-base coach said it was stuck to his stomach. I just saw the ball go in the dirt so that's why I took off."

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny didn't have an explanation for how that was even possible. Neither did Molina, who also said he's never seen anything like that before.

"I dropped the ball and it was sticking in my chest," Molina said. "I don't know how."

The Cubs did not ask home-plate umpire Quinn Wolcott to inspect Molina's equipment or the ball, according to ESPN.com. There are no rules forbidding catchers from putting pine tar on their uniforms to help them get a better grip on the ball, particularly in chilly conditions.

"It was probably Tuf-Skin, sticky spray, something like that, maybe pine tar," Cubs outfielder and former Cardinal Jason Heyward said. "Probably Tuf-Skin. I've never seen that happen. We joked about it the next time I came up to the plate. We had a saying when I was over here: 'Never seen it.'"

Former Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay followed Szczur's strange strikeout with a walk, and Schwarber followed with his blast to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead.

"After that strikeout, after that play, it changed everything," Molina said. "We got the walk on J.J. He got a good at- bat. The first pitch [against Schwarber], we tried to go away and we missed in the middle. That was a good swing by Kyle. But if we get that first out, everything changes."

Everything did change ... for the Cubs.

Instead of a game that looked like it could be decided by a Ben Zobrist error that led to three Cardinals runs in the first inning, the reigning World Series champions rallied and won an early-season game -- and series -- against their rivals.

"It was a good team win right there," Schwarber said. "Lackey battled his butt off. He gave us six quality innings. For things to kind of go our way there with Yadi and the ball sticking on the the chest protector, [then] a good at- bat by Jon Jay. I was able to get a good pitch and drive it."

--

Cubs.com Schwarber's HR picks up Lackey, wins series By Jenifer Langosch and Nate Latsch

ST. LOUIS -- A unique sequence of events that included a ball getting stuck in Yadier Molina's chest protector and a 404-foot blast by Kyle Schwarber propelled the Cubs to a come-from-behind 6-4 win to seal a series victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Thursday.

The game, delayed a day due to weather, seemed to be in the Cardinals' grasp until things went awry in the seventh. Reliever Brett Cecil opened the inning with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Matt Szczur, but Szczur reached first when the ball bounced and got trapped in Molina's chest protector. Jon Jay followed with a walk before Schwarber pummeled a first-pitch cutter just inside the right-field foul pole.

"It was a good team win right there," Schwarber said. "[John] Lackey battled his butt off. He gave us six quality innings. For things to kind of go our way there with Yadi and the ball sticking on the the chest protector, [then] a good at-bat by Jon Jay. I was able to get a good pitch and drive it." The loss spoiled Cardinals starter Lance Lynn's strong season debut. Pitching in a big league game for the first time since November 2015 elbow surgery, Lynn had great success attacking the Cubs' offense with a heavy dose of fastballs. He allowed two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings, including a ball with a 69 percent catch probability -- according to Statcast™ -- that eluded Matt Adams. The left fielder's missed catch helped Chicago pull within two in the sixth.

"I wish I would have taken a better route on that one ball," said Adams, who was later double-switched out of the game. "You're just trying to read the ball off the bat and get to the spot where you think the ball's going to go."

A first-inning error by Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist complicated things early for starter Lackey, but the veteran right-hander rebounded from the three-run first to finish six innings. The Cards tagged him for another run in the fifth on Molina's sacrifice fly, which put St. Louis ahead, 4-1.

"They just kept kind of picking away as the game went on," Lynn said. "Then Schwarber put a good swing on a pitch. That's what they do. They're a good team. You just have to keep fighting with them. It was a fun series. They were able to get two of three, but we were in every game. Every game was close. It's going to be like that all year. Two good teams."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Long gone: Schwarber's first home run of the season was also the third of his career off a left-handed pitcher. According to Statcast™, Schwarber had never tallied a harder hit off a southpaw in the regular season. The ball came off his bat with an exit velocity of 112.1 mph. Though Schwarber did hit a memorable postseason home run off the Cardinals that landed on the Wrigley Field scoreboard, this was his first against St. Louis in a regular-season game. Of his 17 career homers, seven have been go-ahead or game-tying ones.

Two for none?: Zobrist's error turned what could have been an inning-ending double play for the Cubs into a three- run first inning for the Cardinals. Zobrist couldn't hang on to a feed from shortstop Addison Russell, and he had an out at second base taken away by a replay review. Aledmys Diaz scored on the play, and subsequent singles by Adams and Randal Grichuk drove in runs, as well.

QUOTABLE

"I don't know. I dropped the ball, and it was sticking in my chest. I don't know how." -- Molina, unable to explain how a ball stuck to his chest protector in the seventh inning

"That's new. I don't know if they've come out with velcro on the protectors and if there's like a fuzzy baseball. I'm not sure what happened there. It was definitely velcroed to his chest. And it helped us." -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon, on the ball that stuck to Molina's chest protector

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

The Cardinals used a timely challenge in the first inning to capitalize on Zobrist's miscue. Second-base umpire Paul Emmel initially called Matt Carpenter out at second, but a review of the play showed that Zobrist never had control of the ball after taking a throw from Russell. The call was overturned, giving the Cards two baserunners with one out.

WHAT'S NEXT

Cubs: Lefty Brett Anderson will make his Cubs debut on Friday as Chicago opens a three-game series against the Brewers in Milwaukee. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. CT. Anderson, who has one career appearance against the Brewers, will face righty Jimmy Nelson.

Cardinals: Mike Leake will make his season debut on Friday, when the Cardinals open a three-game series against the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Leake, who spent the first six years of his career pitching for Cincinnati, will be opposed by Amir Garrett, making his Major League debut.

Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.

--

Cubs.com Off-days allow Cubs to flip starting rotation By Nate Latsch

ST. LOUIS -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon found a way to take advantage of the team's extended stay in St. Louis following Wednesday's postponed game, besides some extra workouts and relaxation at the team hotel.

Maddon has flipped starting pitchers Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta in the rotation for their upcoming starts, with the right-handed Arrieta now scheduled to face the Brewers on Sunday and the lefty Lester set to throw against the Dodgers on Monday.

"Without the off-day we couldn't have done all this," Maddon said before Thursday's series finale against the Cardinals. "But we're just going based on handedness -- Milwaukee [is] predominantly right-handed, Dodgers [are] predominantly left-handed. It just was right in front of us, so we decided to do it. Obviously you can't do it all the time."

The switch allows the Cubs to throw two righties, Kyle Hendricks and Arrieta, in the three-game series at Milwaukee, with lefty Brett Anderson starting the series opener on Friday. Then Chicago will deploy two lefties, Lester and Anderson, in the three-game home-opening series against Los Angeles.

"It was so obvious we couldn't walk away from it," Maddon said, "so that's why we decided to do it." Arrieta (1-0), who tossed six scoreless innings against the Cardinals on Tuesday, won two of his three starts against the Brewers last season.

Lester, who started Sunday's season opener in St. Louis and allowed one earned run in five innings, went 1-0 in two starts against the Dodgers in 2016, giving up just one earned run in 15 innings over two starts. He struck out 10 in a complete-game victory against Los Angeles on June 1.

Worth noting

Maddon joked Thursday morning that the team's extended stay in St. Louis -- after arriving on Friday evening and leaving after Thursday's day game -- was like a second Spring Training.

"We're concluding our second Spring Training," Maddon said. "We had one in Arizona and one in Missouri. I concluded my week with the Four Seasons health spa. I got a workout in every day, got a steam in every day, got a jacuzzi in every day and I got a nap in every day. So after going seven weeks of Spring Training with one day off, basically, you get three off in a week in St. Louis. It's just the insanity of what we do."

What did the manager do on Wednesday night after that game was postponed? Well, he thought about heading to dinner in an area of the city well known for its Italian restaurants, but he instead opted to stay in.

"I was considering The Hill last night, but couldn't motivate myself at all," Maddon said. "So I ordered off the kids menu -- grilled cheese and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and club soda. So I had a big night."

--