Cubs Considered Playing All 2015 Home Games in Milwaukee

With Wrigley Field undergoing a significant renovation project that's not going to be completed by the time their season starts in April, the Chicago Cubs announced they considered playing all of their 2015 home games at Milwaukee's Miller Park.    

In an interview with CBS Radio in Chicago, via Sports Illustrated, Cubs president of baseball operations Crane Kenney said the team did a lot of research before ultimately deciding against the move:

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We did, really with the help of the Brewers, we did an extensive amount of work looking at going up there, They hosted us. We talked about the logistics of playing a full season there to try to truncate our work to two-and-half to three years instead of four years.

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The four-phase restoration project started in 2014 and is scheduled to be completed in 2018, with the current phase focusing on upgrading the bleacher sections. 

However, per CBS Chicago, the frigid temperatures in Chicago over the winter have caused numerous delays to the point where the bleacher section isn't expected to be 100 percent ready until June. 

On March 3, CBS Chicago reported the team's request to have construction workers at Wrigley Field around the clock in an effort to get the project completed quicker was rejected by the city, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel offering this explanation.

"You know the city ordinance is clear that you cannot have 24-hour building," Emanuel said. "That’s number one. Number two, they haven’t even proposed anything. The only people they proposed it is through the newspaper. There’s nothing in it, the city, so I have nothing to respond to."

Milwaukee has been the hub for Midwest-based teams forced to relocate in the past. In 2007, after having a four-game series in April snowed out, Cleveland played three "home games" at Miller Park against the Los Angeles Angels. 

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Chicago's circumstances are vastly different than having games snowed out, as Wrigley Field is going to be missing a large section of fans in the bleachers for nearly two months this season. It's a mess for the Cubs, but the stadium needed a new foundation to repair the cracks that were clearly showing. 

It's an inconvenience for the Cubs and their fans, but it's one that will hopefully have a quick resolution once the games begin.