17th
Douchebag of the Week: Crane Kenney
Originally published: January 24, 2009
Curses and superstitions are, in many ways, the best things that could have ever happened to the Chicago Cubs. For years, silly beliefs about goats and black cats have provided excuses for relative futility when most any layman could see there was either a better team in the opposing dugout or the “Lovable Losers” simply weren’t very good.
But when the Cubs finished with a 97-64 record (best in the National League) last season, expectations were understandably high. On paper, they were clearly superior to their opening round opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that won the NL West while only finishing six games above .500.
Still, the Cubs catered to the cornball constituency of their fan base by having Rev. James L. Greanias, a Greek Orthodox priest, splash holy water in the Chicago dugout before Game 1 of the NLDS:
And of course we all know how well that ended up for fans on the North Side.
Fast-forward to last Saturday at the team’s annual Cubs Convention, where team Chairman Crane Kenney called the stunt “one of the dumber things” the franchise has done. While he took the blame for approving that decision, Kenney also said it was Greanias who had approached him:
“An e-mail comes in, and this was a huge Cubs fan who wants to get tickets to the game and has a cell phone with a Cubs ring tone on it, and I said, ‘Let him go,’ ” Kenney said.
Not so fast, according to Greanias’ version of the story:
“Kenney told me he wanted a Greek Orthodox priest because [William] Sianis was Greek,” said Greanias, referring to the tavern owner who placed a hex on the Cubs during the 1945 World Series. “The last thing on my mind was calling the Cubs to ask them to bless the field. In fact, I thought it was a joke at first.”
So whom are we to believe here?
If Greanias was indeed the one who was approached, then that makes Crane Kenney a liar. But even if the priest was indeed the one who did the approaching, that still makes Kenney an idiot for continuing to pander to the segment of Wrigleyville that actually believes hexes are why the Cubs haven’t won a World Series in an entire century.
And whomever you believe, the one clear conclusion to this whole sorry episode is this: Crane Kenney is a douchebag.
