The Chicago Cubs are one of the few remaining MLB teams that do not boast a mascot. But that may change in the future for the Lovable Losers.
As part of the proposed Wrigley Field renovation plan, the Cubs are vying to make the historic venue more "kid-friendly." Some of the measures they are aiming to take to accomplish this include adding batting cages, radar-gun zones, kids apps for smartphones and tablets, and an aforementioned mascot.
“We’ve done a couple things just with trying to get better research on our fans, and just being smarter about what our fans want,” Cubs senior marketing director Alison Miller said. “We’ve done a lot of focus groups in the last couple of months.”
Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija seems reluctant about the proposal.
The idea of a mascot brought pitcher Jeff Samardzija back to his days as a minor league pitcher at Class-A Daytona, where he said fans, players and vendors abused the Cubs mascot on a near daily basis.
“That didn’t go over too well,” Samardzija said.
But would it work at Wrigley?
“Probably not,” he replied. “People aren’t going to go to Wrigley Field and want to see a mascot. There are other things people want to see.”
However, Gold Glove second baseman Darwin Barney disagrees. He likes the idea of a fun-loving mascot.
“What would it be?” he asked. “A Cub? A Bear? I think it could go either way. There’s something fun about having that at the ballpark during the game. Especially with just organ music, there’s not much to keep fans into the games at time.”
What do you think? Should the Cubs get with the times or stick to tradition?
Via Chicago Tribune
Original Story:
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March 10, 2013
