Cubs give Chicago renovation proposal for Wrigley Field

The city has to approve it, and construction probably won't start until 2005.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs are trying to give Wrigley Field a facelift.
Again.
The Cubs gave the city of Chicago a renovation proposal Friday that includes a 1,980-seat expansion of the bleachers, renovation of the exterior outfield walls and a new mult-ipurpose building on the west side of the ballpark that would include a restaurant, parking garage and underground batting cages and pitchers' mounds.
The Cubs also want to build an open-air pedestrian walkway between the building and the stadium.
"These are not really new plans," said Mike Lufrano, the Cubs vice president of community affairs. "This represents the final pieces of the plan that we really proposed starting in 2001 to improve Wrigley Field and the campus surrounding the ballpark.
"We share the interest of the city in getting it wrapped up, giving certainty to the rooftop businesses, to the Cubs, to securing our future in Wrigley Field."
Construction
Lufrano said the Cubs don't expect construction to begin before the end of the 2005 season. The plan has to be approved by the city's plan commission as well as the City Council, and the landmark committee also has to sign off on it.
The Cubs drew the ire of neighbors and city officials when they unveiled their initial expansion plans and request for additional night games in June 2001. Rooftop owners claimed the bleacher expansion would block their views, and neighbors complained that support columns needed for the project would interrupt traffic flow.
Neighbors also raised concerns that additional capacity could lead to more traffic jams and more drunken fans throwing trash and urinating on their lawns.
The neighborhood concerns helped stall the renovations, which the Cubs originally hoped to have completed by the start of the 2002 season. The city council also gave the ballpark landmark status, making it harder to make changes to it.
City gave permission
The city finally gave the Cubs permission in February to add up to 30 night games over the next three years after the club agreed to spend more money to address congestion, litter and other game-related problems. The Cubs also settled a federal lawsuit with rooftop owners in April.
Beth Murphy, owner of Murphy's Bleachers, a tavern just beyond the center field wall, said she worries that an expansion might detract from the aesthetics of the ballpark and that more fans would further clog the congested neighborhood.
"I would rather they not expand," Murphy said. "We haven't seen the impact of the additional night games on the neighborhood. I think it's too soon to be looking at yet another change to the ballpark."
Sosa stays upbeat
Sammy Sosa's return wasn't exactly storybook, for him or the Cubs.
Sosa not only went 0-for-4 in his first game in a month, he bounced out to short to end the Cubs' 2-1 loss to Oakland Friday at Wrigley Field.
"I didn't get any hits, but the most important thing is my back feels great," Sosa said.
It's a long way from that little sneeze that started it all, but Sosa looked loose, both at-bat and in the field. But he also looked lost at times against Oakland lefty Mark Redman and, in the ninth inning, against right-handed submariner Chad Bradford.
"(Redman) pitched great," Sosa said after striking out twice and popping out to right field against him. "Sometimes you don't want to give credit, but he pitched very well. No excuses. What can you do? That's part of the game.
"I will take the same approach (Saturday). You guys expect me to hit two or three home runs in one at-bat. You're talking about over a month that I've been out. This was the first game."
Batted cleanup
Sosa batted cleanup instead of his customary third spot in the order.
"Hopefully, for a couple of days," manager Dusty Baker said. "I'm just trying to take a little pressure off him. I'm still learning my guys.
"I remember last year when he was out, it took a few days to get his stroke back. I thought it was better to move him down (in the lineup) a few days. Hopefully, by St. Louis (on Tuesday), we'll see his stroke."
Actually, Sosa should be ahead of last year's comeback from toe problems that cost him three weeks simply because he batted earlier this week at Class AA West Tenn.
"I've always been a great hitter, but I decided to go to the minor leagues because I wanted to be ready from the first day," he said. "I know sometimes when you're (in the big leagues) ... the first couple of at-bats are going to be like, you know, but I went there to make sure everything is OK."
Comeback
Slowly, the injured pieces are coming back for the Cubs.
Friday it was Sosa. Saturday it will be second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who hasn't played since the opening games of the season.
With Sosa and Grudzielanek back, Baker will have a juggling act trying to keep fill-ins Todd Hollandsworth and Todd Walker happy and sharp.
"The main thing is to figure out a way to incorporate the new old guys to get them sharp but not completely casting aside the guys who were playing and doing well," Baker said. "Those guys don't want to give up their jobs easily. I don't blame them, but they knew the situation when they got here."
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