The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a group trying to lure the Cubs to move their spring training home to Naples, FL has met with incoming owner Tom Ricketts and chairman Crane Kenney a couple of times.
I know the area pretty well after having lived about 15 miles north in Ft. Myers for a couple of years when I worked for the Twins. Naples would be a fabulous location for a state of the art facility the Cubs would be sure to build. There are tons of people down there year round with the discretionary income to support the effort. The players would definitely love it. There are gorgeous golf courses everywhere, not to mention plenty of shopping for the wives and nightlife for the mistresses. Plus there’s this great little Chinese restaurant called the Dragon Palace you don’t want to miss.
The Cubs would probably have to move their Daytona minor league team in the Florida State League to Naples so the new stadium can be used during the summer, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem. The owners of the Ft. Myers Miracle (Bill Murray, Mike Veeck, Jimmy Buffett, Marv Goldklang, etc.) would probably disagree with that, however.
Shoot me an email when you read this, Mr. Ricketts. I have a couple of great sponsorship ideas for you. (trib)
Photo credit: Chris Sweda/Tribune
