Chicago Cubs owner Thomas Ricketts is used to getting an earful from fans about his baseball team … but now he’s even drawing the ire of LITTLE KIDS — ’cause a six-year-old child called him cheap straight to his face!
TMZ Sports obtained the hilarious clip shot last weekend at the team’s annual fan summit called “Cubs Convention.” In the clip, Ricketts, owner and team chairman, was making the rounds signing autographs and chatting it up with supporters … when he encountered the disgruntled young boy.
We’re told the plan was for the kid to ask Ricketts to sign a bat inscribed with “The cheapest owner in Baseball” … though TR obviously didn’t play along.
After making sure he heard correctly, the 61-year-old owner asked who his dad was, knowing the child was probably told to do this by his pops. Unfortunately, the video cuts off before we see how the interaction ended.
The young supporter is not alone in his criticism of the Cubs honcho. Fans grew annoyed recently when he said they couldn’t spend money like their New York or L.A. counterparts.
“They think somehow we have all these dollars that the Dodgers have or the Mets have or the Yankees have and we just keep it,” he said. “Which isn’t true at all. What happens is we try to break even every year, and that’s about it.”
Despite the owner’s claim, many aren’t buying the explanation … especially considering the team is valued at around $4.225 BILLION. According to reports, Ricketts also has a personal net worth of around $2.3 billion.
We’ll see if the call-out inspires the Cubs to open up their wallets even more — but even so, with most of the big-name free agents already off the board, fans may have to wait until next season!
