Maybe Kenney is part of the package going back to Boston. I think if Theo said fire his ass then his ass will be fired. Ricketts may be an idiot but no one is stupid enough to let Crane Kenney and his uniform stand in the way of hiring Theo.

Hey, isn't that Theo Epstein?
Lakeview resident 99.9 percent sure he saw Red Sox GM at Starbucks near Wrigley

By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter

12:05 AM CDT, October 9, 2011


Tour groups roamed Wrigley Field on a gorgeous fall afternoon in Chicago, oblivious to the possibility Theo Epstein might be in the ballpark.

Was he, or wasn't he?

There was no confirmed evidence the Red Sox general manager had slipped into town for a surreptitious job interview Saturday. Red Sox ownership has yet to acknowledge a report the Cubs have asked permission to talk to Epstein. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts hasn't commented on the job search, except to say he's conducting one.

No one was talking again … except for one Lakeview resident in a purple T-shirt who believes he spoke to Epstein on Saturday morning at a Starbucks in Lincoln Park.

So was it the real Epstein, or just a reasonable facsimile?

"It was Theo all right," said Noah Pinzur, a lifelong Cubs fan. "I'm 99.9 percent sure."

The last time anyone was 99.9 percent sure of anything, Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano issued a "99.9 percent guarantee" in spring training of 2010 that he wouldn't get into any trouble during the season. The .1 percent won out. Zambrano was suspended in June and sent to anger management counseling.

But Pinzur, who admitted he was hoping fervently the Cubs would hire Epstein even before he allegedly spotted him, insists he wasn't hallucinating.

Pinzur said he was sitting near the window of the Starbucks on Racine and Wrightwood avenues, surfing the web on his laptop, when a Honda SUV pulled up and parked out front with the engine running. The driver stayed in the car, while Epstein, or his doppelganger, walked in wearing a ''Diablos" baseball cap and stood in a short line.

Pinzur couldn't believe his eyes. He had just finished reading a report on the Cubs' stealth pursuit of Epstein, and there he was in living color.

"Excuse me," he said. "Are you Theo Epstein?"

"No," replied Epstein, or the Epstein lookalike. "I get that a lot."

After a brief pause, the real or fake Epstein added: "Who is Theo Epstein?"

Pinzur replied: "He's the guy who may become general manager of the Cubs, or at least we hope."

Pinzur went back to his seat while Epstein, or his clone, went up to order. He got an iced drink for his female companion and a banana for himself before leaving in the SUV and heading north on Racine.

"Once he had to ask me who 'Theo Epstein' was, I knew it was him," Pinzur said. "It was clearly him being driven in the direction of Wrigley Field."

Pinzur googled "Theo Epstein" and "Theo Epstein's wife." He was convinced that the companion who ordered the iced drink was indeed Theo Epstein's wife. Putting two and two together, he concluded that Epstein was headed to Wrigley for his long-awaited job interview.

There was no sign of Epstein outside Wrigley, and no other eyewitnesses could be found. A police vehicle was parked outside the left field gate near the players' entrance of Wrigley, but the gate was shut. Sneaking Epstein into Wrigley on a Saturday afternoon wouldn't have been difficult, or he could have been taken to the Sheffield Avenue apartment where Todd Ricketts stayed during his guest appearance on "Undercover Boss."

Anything is open to speculation with no information available.

Pinzur, however, was certain he was an eyewitness to the start of a new era.

"I just hope they don't ask for Starlin (Castro) as compensation," he said.


Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune

It would only be the President of Baseball Operations... Ricketts has made is abundantly clear that Kenney will continue to run the business side of the Cubs.

I actually can tell you Friedman and Girardi were both in Chicago area yesterday.

Or Friedman probably was. A friend's brother lives in Tampa and works for the Rays and married a woman from here. The wedding was up here last night and many Rays people were there.

And my brother saw Girardi at the Northwestern game. Small rumblings in NY about him being in danger.

SO THAT MEANS FRIEDMAN WILL BE THE NEW GM AND GIRARDI THE MANAGER!

Laurence Holmes is a fucking weirdo, a nerd in denial, and a wannabe. Not a very good radio host either.