"Theo Mania" has taken over Wrigley Field as Theo Epstein left a high-profile gig with the Boston Red Sox to assume the role of President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs.
So much for the Cubs' dismal 71-91 record this season, which was tied for second-worst in the National League. Many North Side supporters are certain Epstein will lead this storied franchise to glory, finally.
Has anyone started printing 2012 World Series tickets yet for the Cubs?
"The term 'off-season' is a bit of a misnomer. Sure, we have a little down time [after the end of the regular season], but things don't slow down too, too much in the off-season," Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts said in an interview. "We have organizational meetings in November. We have to gear up for the Cubs Convention [in January], spring training [which starts in February], and next season as a whole."
On Oct. 27, 2009, the Ricketts family officially took over 95 percent ownership of the Chicago Cubs. Laura's brother, Tom, is the board chairman, while Laura and brothers Pete and Todd are on the board.
The Cubs are the first Major League Baseball team to have an openly gay owner: Laura, who has a partner and daughter, and they live on the North Side.
"Being on the board of directors for the Cubs, we take a huge responsibility to the city, to the fans, to the community, to the team as a whole," said Ricketts, whose duties include serving as the chairwoman for Chicago Cubs Charities.
"There's always plenty to do [during the off-season], probably more than could be done. I'm really trying to balance my involvement with the Cubs, with being a mom and wanting to be there with my daughter. Like any working mom, I kind of struggle with that."
Take, for instance, this interview. Ricketts talked while her daughter slept, and yet a baby monitor was in front of her as she spoke.
"It hits slowly, in different ways," Ricketts said when asked to reflect on her family's two-year run in charge of the Cubs. "I don't think about it on a day-to-day basis, but every once in a while it will sort of wash over me. For instance, friends visiting from out of town want to see a Cubs gameand to be able to take them on the field after the game, to see their joy and excitement, [let them] touch the ivy [on the outfield walls], go into the Cubs dugout. Little things like that are reminders of just how fortunate I am to be in this position."
Ricketts often is with her daughter in the owner's suite during games, along with her partner and/or her assistant. Plus, she often is entertaining VIPs during games. "Very, very rarely do I get to just sit and enjoy an entire baseball game as though I was an everyday fan, which is something I really miss, actually," she said. "But I'm not going to complain; I feel very fortunate to be in the position that I'm in."
Ricketts also served as a board member of Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest civil-rights organization for the LGBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS. She served out her six-year term.
"I've been really, really proud of playing a small role in some of the amazing work that Lamba Legal does," Ricketts said. "Across the country, Lamba Legal is having a major impact on all of us. Things have really changed and we have really progressed over these [past] six years."
Here in Illinois, for instance, civil unions are now alloweda law that Ricketts lobbied for in Springfield.
Ricketts has even hosted a same-sex wedding at her North Side home, and she was at the mass ceremony this past summer in Millennium Park to support friends and the community as a whole.
"It definitely is humbling and an honor, a responsibility to represent and serve our community, the LGBT community," Ricketts said. "I think the LGBT community is a big part of the Wrigley Field neighborhood and a big part of the city as a whole, and a big part of our fan base.
"I'm really happy that we were able to get the civil union's bill passed."
Ricketts confirmed she and her partner have discussed having a civil union, "and it'll happen, at some point," she said.
Ricketts said it was great to see so many members of the LGBT community attend the gay day at Wrigley Field in early-September. In fact, she added with a smile, "I wish I could take credit for that day, but I didn't really have a hand in organizing it."
Still, she posed for an on-field photo with Windy City Gay Idol winner TJ Chernick before he sang, among others.
So, when will there be an openly gay active player in one of the big four male sports?
Ricketts hesitated to reply: "I don't know and I'm kind of hesitant to speak like I'm an authority in that regard because I'm not an athlete and I'm new to professional sports as well. The Cubs were very happy to create an 'It Gets Better' video [in 2011] and we had great support from the players and coaches who participated in that video.
"I absolutely think we will [have an openly gay athlete,] but I don't know when. The country as a whole is evolving in regard to its attitude about gays, and you can see that in the many advances that we've made over the last few years.
"When I was in high school, I was not aware of one single person who was out at my high school. In fact, I wasn't even out to myself, yet. But our culture is changing; we're evolving toward more understanding and acceptance, so it's bound to happen at some point; I just couldn't say when."
That said, Ricketts is well aware that anti-gay attitudes and comments still exist. "But one of the changes that's out there is the tolerance for those comments or behaviors," she said.
"I don't know if the people who use anti-gay slurs really mean them in the sense of slurring the LGBT community, or what. But I think people need to be more careful about the language we choose and more aware of how that language affects others."
When asked about Chicago's gay community, Ricketts tagged it "very diverse, very vibrant." She said the LGBT community "is a big part of the fabric of our city, and being increasingly recognized as such."
Ricketts said she has several "regular spots" that she visits in the heavily gay Andersonville neighborhood, but does not frequent gay barsor any bars, for that matter.
"I just don't go out to the bars often. We're more into having friends over for dinner or playdates [for kids,]" she said.
Ricketts previously played softball in Chicago's gay leagues, but not anymore.
"I'm not that good anymore, though I was an all-star … at [age] 13," she said, laughing.