Kyle Schwarber's Home Run Ball Placed Back Atop Wrigley Video Board
(CBS) Kyle Schwarber's towering home run in last year's National League Division Series is back where it landed, atop the right-field video board at Wrigley Field, president of business operations Crane Kenney said on the Mully and Hanley Show on Monday morning.
Commemorating a rare feat of strength, the Cubs last October encased the home run ball hit in the Game 4 clincher over the Cardinals before taking it down for the offseason. Following a long winter and construction around Wrigley Field, including work on that video board, the Cubs placed the ball back in its case atop the board. And while Schwarber was lost for the season after suffering a torn ACL and LCL last Thursday in Arizona, his incredible home run will remain honored by the club.
"We didn't want anyone who might have been able to climb up there to get a hold of it," Kenney said of its winter absence. "So, we took it down. But as we debated internally about where does it belong, we thought it kind of belongs where it landed. So it's back up there in a glass case."
Just as Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein was busy this offseason, Kenney's business branch was also hard at work. The organization commenced Phase 2 of construction on the 102-year-old ballpark, which included a throwback facade at Clark and Addison that resembles its look in 1935, plus revamping the infrastructure.
Much of the facade work was simply blasting away decades of paint that wore down the Wrigley Field appearance. Kenney's pleased with what's presented for Monday night's home opener against the Reds.
"In some ways, this project is just uncovering a gem," Kenney said.
The Cubs opted to work their six-phase Wrigley renovations through multiple offseasons as opposed to moving the team out for a season. With the Cubs' bolstered roster, the offseasons have been a month shorter, starting with the NLCS run in 2015 that lasted deep into October.
Listen to Kenney's full interview below.