Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Printable Version

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Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - HemisFear - 02-01-2009

Interesting story.

I'm out Friday night with freinds at Fogo De Chao and it's a lovely evening. About an hour or so into the meal my buddy Harlan turns to me and says "hey Michael, look at the people in the table next to us, I think that's Steve Stone". Sure enough I look over and Steve Stone is sitting in the table directly adjacent to ours. I thought to myself I didn't want to bother him as he ate so I waited until he was done and about 20 minutes later walked up to him and introduced myself. I figured it would be, at best, a simple meet and greet and "I really enjoyed your work and learned a lot from you" sort of thing but sure enough not only was Stoney very nice, intellegent and polite, the guy flat out loves to talk baseball. I ended up spending about half an hour talking with him and the two guys that were having dinner with him. Apparently one of the guys he was having dinner with was one of the White Sox doctors.

At the end of the conversation Stoney was nice enough to take a photograph with my freind and I.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3010...p;id=1573572332

Some items that he shared.

First and foremost the very first thing out of his mouth is "what side of town do you root for" to which I replied "I'm a die hard Cubs fan since I was a very little boy" and he said "Oh, the Cubs who haven't done anything for you in 101 years..that team?' I just laughed it off and said "Don't help break my heart Mr. Stone"

1. We (the fans) are very lucky to have gotten Ricketts to be the owner. This was by far the best choice for the Cubs. My first question to Mr. Stone was 'does he want to win?' and Stoney reponded resoundley with "yes, he very much does' and then he began to go on about how he genuinely cares about the team and is thinking long term.

2. He does not believe the Peavy deal will get done. He also said if it does get done, that it's a terrible deal because we "already have the worst contract in all of baseball with Soriano". He said also said the big indicator to him that the deal wouldn't get done was some trade we made with Seattle (I haven't followed this offseason quite as much as in the past so I'm not familiar with the deal he is refering to). Furthermore, he said that no matter what we do financially in this deal, giving up Vitters is a terrible idea and that this kid is the real deal and once we see him play we'll be exceedingly happy with him. He mentioned Cedeno in the mix of this but I can't remember how he folded into this particular piece of the conversation. What I remember is that he pointed to Cedeno as another reason why he didn't think Peavy was going to happen. He went on and on about why it probably won't happen, and if it does, why it's an absolutely terrible idea.

He solidified his position on this topic by saying the following. "Look, in this game injuries are a part of it. You're going to go to Ricketts and ask him to pony up 88 million dollars for Jake to which he very well may say yes, but the real issue is that you have to have some flexibility to protect your CF, RF and C positions, of which one of those are most likely going to go down. You're going to need to be able to go out around the deadline and protect those positions and this puts you in a very bad financial position long term if it gets done".

3. Stoney shared a story about Harry and he chatting about seedless grapes during a game, and Harry saying there was no such thing, Stoney showed him a grape and Harry asked how in the hell they did that. Stone went on to tell him about how this was made possible and Harry reponds with "well before you know it they'll have seedless watermelons!" to which Stone's punchline was "well I hate to break it to you Harry, but they already have those too!". We had a really good laugh with that one and I'm somewhat butchering the story.

4. Stone is VERY bitter with the Cubs organization and how he was treated. He is exceedingly fond of Cub fans but I left the conversation without a shred of doubt that the relationship was completely shattered after he left. In fact, my buddy Harlan made a comment of "when the Cubs removed you", Stone stopped the conversation to correct him and said "I wasn't removed, I left!". It was a slightly tense moment, but Stone handled it well.

5. Jaque Jones was mentioned by Stone and said that he got a really rough ride while he was here.

6. Said he couldn't be happier working with the White Sox.

7. OH, nearly forgot this. He said that the Cubs are so far and away beyond the most talented team in our division that winning it isn't the concern anymore, winning in the playoffs is.

8. Dusty had 0 control over the team. Moises Alou basically ran the team and was/is one of the biggest cry babies in all of baseball. I could see a lot of emotion on Mr. Stone's face about this topic so I didn't press it.

He then spoke in length about the White Sox as Harlan began to prod him about his team. Stoney said that he likes the direction the team is going, and that this Cuban kid that they just picked up is going to be ridiculously good after a couple of years of development. Some kid that they just drafted very high is going to be on the level of Frank Thomas as a hitter.

One thing that he mentioned was that Carlos Quentin (sp) is just getting started and is going to be one of the best players that Chicago has seen in a long long time.

He understands the financial side of the game quite a bit and I asked him "why didn't you ever run your own team?" to which he replied "No one ever gave me the opportunity".

Other than that we chit chatted about why he was in town (White Sox Convention) and said he really enjoyed the food (Fogo De Chao is quite nice, much better than Ozzie's recommended piece of trash Brazilian steak house place). After a lot of well wishing and thanks, we all shook hands, took a photo and he said "if you would like, send that photo over to me at US Cellular and I'll sign it for you" and that was that.

Overall, by far the nicest "celebrity" meeting that I've ever been a part of. This was a very big deal to me where as Stone taught me more about baseball than anyone in the world. In great part, Harry was the reason I love the Cubs, but Stoney helped put it all together and made me appreciate what I was watching. I wish the guy the best, but I don't think he needs much help. He is a vastly bright human being, very prideful, and anyone willing to be that polite to a couple of fans out for dinner is all class in my eyes.

I'll never have a single bad thing to say about the guy (not that I ever did before) in my life.

His final game fan chant of "STONEY STONEY STONEY!" was absolutely well deserved.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Fella - 02-01-2009

That's pretty cool, I always loved Stone.

His hate for Alou is no surprise, he wasn't shy about it on air during 2004.

Too bad things turned out the way they did, I think he and Kasper would be a great team.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Lance - 02-01-2009

Now, <i>that's</i> a Big Gabby moment.

Seriously, even if you disagree with a couple of things he said, it speaks volumes that he spent so much time with an ordinary fan.

For some reason, Stone these days reminds me of Eddie Murphy doing the angry Gumby.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Ace - 02-01-2009

That's awesome, man. Thanks for sharing that.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Rappster - 02-01-2009

That's a really good moment, Fear...good stuff.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Captain - 02-01-2009

Awesome. I loved Stone for too long to hold anything against him.Thanks for sharing.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - veryzer - 02-01-2009

yep, that story is pretty cool. still, as much as it pains me to say it, i find myself liking stone less and less every day.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - HemisFear - 02-01-2009

QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 1 2009, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>yep, that story is pretty cool. still, as much as it pains me to say it, i find myself liking stone less and less every day.

Because of his relationship with the team ended on such a sour note, and how Stoney is so obviously angry about it and is vocally opposed to the team, I can see how people might take that stance. People's memories tend to be short.

That being said however, I try my hardest to look at a person's overall body of work in whatever it is that they do and I honestly believe that Stoney contributions to the Cub fan experience was something that I can't ever begin to replace. Everyone is flawed, but I've got nothing but respect for the guy. The simple fact that he took the time out of his day to just shoot the proverbial shit with us and talked about both the Cubs and the White Sox told me a lot about his character.

Now more than anything, I really wonder what it would have been like if he had been a GM or owner of a team. He's made a living off of teaching the game and he did it by first-guessing, which is very unique in such a second-guessing culture.

I wish the guy the best.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Coldneck - 02-01-2009

love me some steve stone. i miss him.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - veryzer - 02-01-2009

QUOTE (HemisFear @ Feb 1 2009, 10:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 1 2009, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>yep, that story is pretty cool. still, as much as it pains me to say it, i find myself liking stone less and less every day.

Because of his relationship with the team ended on such a sour note, and how Stoney is so obviously angry about it and is vocally opposed to the team, I can see how people might take that stance. People's memories tend to be short.

That being said however, I try my hardest to look at a person's overall body of work in whatever it is that they do and I honestly believe that Stoney contributions to the Cub fan experience was something that I can't ever begin to replace. Everyone is flawed, but I've got nothing but respect for the guy. The simple fact that he took the time out of his day to just shoot the proverbial shit with us and talked about both the Cubs and the White Sox told me a lot about his character.

Now more than anything, I really wonder what it would have been like if he had been a GM or owner of a team. He's made a living off of teaching the game and he did it by first-guessing, which is very unique in such a second-guessing culture.

I wish the guy the best.
</div>

i agree with every word of that. the problem is that ever since he joined the white sox full time, his comments about the cubs have gotten more and more smarmy. he was the best cubs broadcaster in my lifetime and probably always will be, but when he's on the score, he's no longer must hear radio.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - rok - 02-01-2009

QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 1 2009, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>yep, that story is pretty cool. still, as much as it pains me to say it, i find myself liking stone less and less every day.
Yessir. I enjoyed the story, but I just came away from it thinking that everything that Stoney has said since 2004 is tainted with South Side bias and intentionally negative when it comes to the Cubs. Not saying that he has nothing good to say about us, but just that he always counters something good with something bad.

Thanks for sharing HF.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - leonardsipes - 02-01-2009

I think Alou was the leader of the team, but I think he was a positive influence. After listening to Stoney Bash him all year, most of us could not wait to get rid of him The '05 was less well led, and looking back, I think Dusty depended on Alou for team leadership.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - leonardsipes - 02-01-2009

Alou actually said as much toward the end of his time in SF. He said his dad ran the team by laying down the law and then going into his office and never really encouraged personal relationships in the clubhouse. The Cubs were a closer clubhouse and the players would discipline themselves.

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Mikey - 02-01-2009

Good story. Why did you change your name from mmontalto to Hemisfear?

Spoke with Steve Stone at dinner on Friday - Brock - 02-01-2009

I'll always respect Stone for calling the '04 team out for the choking crybabies that they were.