Last weekend's Pride Parade held special significance as two of the city's major-leaguers - both the Blackhawks and the Cubs - were represented with floats in the day of epic gayness. The Blackhawks, Stanley Cup in tow, brought along defenseman Brent Sopel to the gayla. The Cubs, meanwhile, enlisted "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks to head up their contingent alongside the Ricketts family. While the teams' decisions have been celebrated by many, not everyone was thrilled with the Cubs and Blackhawks' newfound pride. more ›

The City's Landmarks Commission gave Cubs owner Tom Ricketts the OK for that proposed Toyota sign to go up in left field at Wrigley Field. Ricketts had pulled out the big guns for the presentation, bringing along Cubs legend Ernie Banks to appeal to the Commission in favor of the sign. Said Mr. Cub, "It is important to have this sign to keep this wonderful place alive . . . for another 100 years." By "keep this...place alive," Banks meant provide a few million dollars in extra revenue for the team. Because even though they have some of the best attendance numbers along with the most expensive tickets in baseball, signing players like Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley to bloated, awful contracts is no way to balance the checkbook. more ›

Cubs great Ernie Banks is turning 79 but he's focusing on helping out a younger Cubs legend: Sammy Sosa. In the wake of admissions by former slugger Mark McGwire that he used steroids, Banks wants Sosa to similarly come clean. "Come clean with it. Explain it to them. ... Just say: 'This is what happened.' It is hard to do, to admit this. Just admit it and live with it and understand it. I am sure a lot of people will forgive him," Banks said. He also expressed a desire to see Sosa come back to Chicago and be embraced by new management: "I would like to see Sammy come back. Throw out the first pitch, sing 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame,' you know, meet some of the players and all of that." more ›

Given the Cubs century of futility, it's only fitting that once again a joyous event in team history is tainted with failure. more ›

Now that the Cubs are in the playoffs, want to convert? Or maybe you've been a Cubs fan but need to brush up on your trivia skills? Tonight, authors Glenn Stout, of the Best American Sports series, and Richard A. Johnson, the curator of the New England Sports Museum, present their latest collaboration, The Cubs: The Complete Story of Chicago Cubs Baseball, at Harold Washington Library. The Cubs details Cubs history covering such items as... more ›

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig must have choked on his frozen custard when he found out that Mark Cuban has officially thrown his hat into the ring to buy the Cubs. On Thursday Cuban made public that he had submitted his application to buy the storied ball club. Bud, of course, has other ideas about who shall buy the Cubs. He has been lobbying for longtime friend John Canning Jr. to purchase the team from the... more ›

Even before the team was officially up for sale, there has been a great deal of speculation about who the next owner of the Cubs might be. While the media -- Chicagoist included -- has focused on the likes of Donald Trump, Ernie Banks and Mark Cuban as possible new team owners, if MLB commissioner Bud Selig gets his way the new owner will be less well known to most of us. Fortune magazine is... more ›

This week, the Cubs announced plans to build a statue of Ernie Banks outside Wrigley Field, honoring Mr. Cub himself. The new statue will be in place before the 2008 season. While discussions about erecting a statue honoring perhaps the greatest Cubs player ever had been going on for a while, Jess Jackson recently got the ball rolling with a public petition, appearances on the Mike North morning show, and a publicized meetings with Tribune... more ›

After months of speculation that the Cubs might be put up for sale as part of a restructuring or sale of Tribune Co., almost immediately after the board's approval of Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's offer, news came that the team would in fact be sold. Now the handicapping can begin on who the new owner will be. There has certainly been no shortage of potential bidders mentioned. Of course, that was before the Cubs went... more ›

Seriously, is there anybody in this town's upper tax bracket who hasn't thrown their hat into the ring of interested buyers, should the beleagured Tribune Company decide to sell the Cubs as part of their fire sale? Even before the Trib's latest troubles, some notable bidders went on record expressing interest in buying the team — including the likes of Ernie Banks, Mark Cuban and Donald Trump. While Chicagoist would be all for a Cuban... more ›

Major League Baseball's latest fan interaction gimmick is having fans vote for their favorite Hometown Hero, voting for the one player who best personifies each franshise over the course of its history. Either teams or a panel of baseball experts selected the 5 finalists, based on the "criteria of leadership, character, and on-field performance." The full list of teams' nominees can be seen here. more ›

While Mark Cuban remains busy cheering his Dallas Mavericks through the NBA Finals, others interested in buying the team have been quietly meeting Tribune Company execs to inquire abou their availability. Last month, Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks, met with Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons to discuss buying the team. Two seperate groups have approached Banks, the Hall of Famer who played shortstop for the Cubs from 1953-1971, about participating in efforts to buy the Cubs.... more ›

Ryne Sandberg's having quite a summer. On July 31st, the former Cubs second baseman was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. On Sunday, the Cubs retired Sandberg's jersey number. more ›

These are the days that Ernie Banks lived for! While MLB no longer puts them on the regular schedule, due to yesterday's rainout the Cubs play a double header against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley today. And it's some double header, too! Fireballer Kerry Wood pitches the first game against Jake Peavy. That game starts at 12:05pm. When the late game begins at 4:05pm, Cubs fans finally get to see Mark Prior take... more ›