Chicago the Cubs and idiocy of banning Friday night games

[9RoyHobbsRF]

I admit my knowledge here is limited and based on second hand reports

But apparently there is an ordinance that PREVENTS the Cubs from playing Friday Night games, so teams traveling into Chicago are forced to play Fridays game in the day time

If so it is a dumb ordinance and if they can play night baseball on any other day (my assumption), they should be able to play it every day including Friday

let's look at today's game, yesterday the Giants had to play a night game in Houston, then travel to Chicago, they got into their hotel at 3:30 AM,

that is all well and good but now they are forced to play an early afternoon game vs the Cubs because of the stupid ordinance

my possible suggestions/solutions:
1) any team that is forced to play a day game on Friday vs the Cubs should have the prior Thursday as a day off
2) make the series a 4 game series starting with a Thursday night game
3) at the very least, a team that plays the Cubs on a Friday day game should play an early day game at their previous city on the Thursday travel day
4) get the Cubs to repeal the stupid ordinance and play Friday night games like every other freaking team in the majors
5) tell Chicago to become a real major league city or lose your team

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Now if the Giants were winning this game would you be saying this?

[9RoyHobbsRF]

Now if the Giants were winning this game would you be saying this?

not related

[chicagowhitesox1173]

not related

Your right it's really not related but I doubt you would make this post if the Giants were winning. Alot of teams complain about this when they fly into Chicago with short rest. I think this is the biggest reason why the Cubs haven't won a WS.

This is obviously affecting the Giants today.

[ol' aches and pains]

Until 1988 every game at Wrigley Field was a day game. So things are slowly improving, right? :innocent:

Hey, the Cubs need all the help they can get.

[Dude Paskert]

Until 1988 every game at Wrigley Field was a day game. So things are slowly improving, right? :innocent:

Hey, the Cubs need all the help they can get.

I've heard the visitors to Wrigley don't get a weight room...plus the janitors leave their toilets really dirty and stock them with microthin TP.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

They have added more night games but back in 88 alot of those residents were pretty upset that the Cubs even got lights I recall. I would have to think alot of those residents who were against lights are becoming less and less these days.

[scrabblehack]

It looks like the Cubs are going to finish with around 81 night games and 81 day games. It looks like the rest of the league plays roughly 1/3 day games. This would mean the Cubs play around 27 night home games? I thought when they first got lights it was around 20 per year.

It's probably best that there is some consistency. I think the most common scheme is Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday night then travel Thursday then Friday night - Saturday (day or night) - then Sunday day. Occasionally a team might travel Monday and play Thursday.

I haven't thoroughly checked the Cubs' schedule but I would expect Friday day games then mostly Saturday day and Sunday day. What night games there are are likely Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday -- with one out of those three being a day game (Monday?) If a team plays Sunday day it could play again Monday afternoon.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I've heard the visitors to Wrigley don't get a weight room...plus the janitors leave their toilets really dirty and stock them with microthin TP.

So Wrigley treats visiting players the same as Citizens Bank Park treats visiting fans? :lol:

[stevebogus]

I'm sure the Cubs would dearly love to get that ordinance changed, but there is considerable opposition from those who live near the park and local businesses. I suspect that the city isn't going to budge on that particular issue, and the Cubs would rather try to push for other ways to increase revenue.

Night games are prohibited on both Fridays and Saturdays. There are a quite a few bars and restaurants in the Wrigleyville area, and a Cubs night game on one of those evenings would create tremendous congestion in an area that already has serious issues with traffic and parking. Day games do not interfere with the peak business hours of those establishments, but night games would.

Wrigley is currently limited to 30 night games a season, although in practice they do not schedule for 30. This gives them more flexibility to reschedule a game. This was negotiated upward over the years, from 18 to 22 to 26 and then to 30. I beleive that technically this is up to the City Council, who aren't going to do anything unless the local alderman or the mayor push for it. The alderman has to keep his voters happy, and right now the Cubs ownership isn't likely to get any assist from the mayor due to their father's political activities (Joe Ricketts is a staunch Republican who has spent serious money in opposition to mayor Rahm Emanuel's former boss, President Obama). Typical negotiations include the Cubs paying for neighborhood improvements in return for additional night games, park expansion, or whatever the Cubs are trying to get. Right now negotiations are suspended until the mayor is willing to listen.