Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts is President Trump’s baseball whisperer

Chicago Cubs owner Todd Ricketts is advising the President on MLB’s return as part of the country’s economic recovery. Is that good or bad for the Cubs?

Todd Ricketts is a busy guy outside his co-ownership of the Chicago Cubs with the other three Ricketts kids. Ricketts serves as the Republican National Committee Finance Chairman and has recently joined the half-billion dollar club of advisors to President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump.

Recently Trump has been meeting with the leaders of professional sports to assess their plans and gain insight into their thoughts on returning to action in the near future. Ricketts has been a part of all of those discussions as a close advisor to Trump.

In my opinion, Trump can hire whoever he wants to advise him on whatever he wants. For all I care, he can bring on all the Ricketts kids to advise him on how to subscribe to the Chicago Cubs Marquee Sports Network if he wants to. If your whole purpose in life is seeing the Chicago Cubs play baseball soon, isn’t it good if one of our Cubs co-owners is a close advisor to the most powerful person on the planet at this moment in history?

As a loyal Cub fan, I say heck (edited for family reading) yeah!

Chicago Cubs: Each of the Ricketts siblings have varying responsibilities, roles

I’ve said before that our Chicago Cubs are just as much, if not more America’s team, than the New York Yankees. With all the heartache the COVID-19 virus has caused in the Big Apple, there is no doubt that it will be a wonderful story if the New York Yankees win it all in whatever season we play next. Just to honor all those lives lost in that city would be incredible. That’s why I’m glad that we’ve got Chicago Cubs leadership at the big table because the Cubs are truly a national treasure.

Maybe they’re cooking up a Yankees-Cubs big benefit game or series? Remember Live-Aid back in the 80s? Could Ricketts be putting together a baseball ‘COV-AID Series’? You can see why I’m pretty excited we have a Cubs insider at the table with Trump during these recovery meetings. Couldn’t hurt right?

Or could it?

Could this new role put pressure on Ricketts to commit the Cubs to something unhealthy in order to stir economic recovery? Better yet, is this the right Ricketts sibling to be dealing with Cubs issues or even the country’s recovery issues?  The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan recently reminded Chicago readers about (Todd) Ricketts’ rather unflattering history in the spotlight:

Yes, that’s the same Todd Ricketts introduced to the nation in a 2010 episode of the reality TV show “Undercover Boss,” on which he was mired in difficulty trying his hand at vending hot dogs and parking cars at Wrigley Field. Ten years later, Todd Ricketts is serving as fundraising chairman for Trump’s reelection campaign while retaining his seat on the Cubs board with two of his siblings, Tom and Laura Ricketts.

In baseball speak, I gotta ask, do we have the right leadoff hitter?

Chicago Cubs: Not having players’ input seems like a real issue

There is also the issue that there are no players represented on Trump’s task force, just the folks at the top who get paid big money already. These are the people that are going to decide if baseball players can come back and play.

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At least bring in someone from any player’s union so those players are not taken to the cleaners and then put out on the field in unhealthy conditions. Is Ricketts looking after the business, his players or his advising role to Trump? Nothing is clear but we’re hoping this will not adversely affect the Cubs.

Right?

Unless there is another wave of COVID-19 or another massive peak to overcome; then these days you are most likely in one of two camps in America. You are either part of the careful crowd that wants to stay home longer to be sure we have no health spike or rise in cases. Or you are part of the economic crowd that is saying we need to get back to work and open our economy but with added protection to mitigate the virus.

Am I right?

These two groups are socially and fundamentally opposed; so which are you in?