Breaking Ranks

This will come as a surprise to some White Sox Fans:

Tribune Co. purchased the Cubs for $20.5 million in 1981, months after Reinsdorf's group acquired the White Sox from the late Bill Veeck. That the Cubs were owned by a media company in control of the city's largest newspaper and major TV and radio stations created the perception of a conflict of interest, but Reinsdorf said he never had a problem with how Tribune Co. operated.

"I think the Tribune Company handled owning the Cubs very well," Reinsdorf said. "We were never mistreated at all. And the Cubs certainly weren't given a pass [by the newspaper]. I think the Tribune Company did a fine job with the Cubs."