Only a handful of people knew what awaited full-time employees of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, who were summoned just after Christmas to the restaurant in the left-field corner of Principal Park.
Michael Gartner, the Iowa Cubs’ majority owner since 1999, planned a staff meeting for Dec. 28, which coincided with the closing date of the team’s sale to Endeavor. With some employees out of town for the holidays, a simulcast was set up via Zoom. As Gartner addressed the staff, he gave a short speech and explained he had envelopes for them: “I just wanted to give you guys your new business cards.”
“And he actually had this grin on his face where everyone’s like, that’s really cool, but there’s something else that’s going to happen,” Alex Cohen, the team’s director of broadcasting, told the Tribune. “Something like that you can never expect. But if anybody’s going to pull it off and do it the way that he did, it’d be Michael.”
Gartner revealed all full-time employees would be receiving a portion from the proceeds of the team’s sale. Gartner and the ownership group wanted to recognize the people behind the scenes who helped with the team’s day-to-day operations. Team President and general manager Sam Bernabe estimated 23 full-time employees received $2,000 for each year they worked for the organization. The total amounted to $600,000.
Michael Gartner, the Iowa Cubs’ majority owner since 1999, on May 17, 1999. (BOB NANDELL / Associated Press)
The surprise gesture elicited plenty of shock, hugs and tears.
“He took care of his own,” Cohen said. “Just being involved on the call and seeing normally stoic figures in the organization cry tears of joy that they’re about to get a check for their 20 years of loyalty that will pay for, like, college tuition — that is a life-changing event to us.”
Bernabe, who had a small stake in the team, said the ownership group quickly got on board with the plan after Gartner presented his idea, requiring just a “five-second conversation and then we spent another 10 seconds figuring out how to award it.”
“The initial idea wasn’t to do it to help them, the idea was to do it to thank them, and if it helps them in the long run, then that’s the upside to thanking them,” Bernabe told the Tribune.
The grind of a baseball season means plenty of long days and more time spent with co-workers than families. It can create a close-knit staff, which Gartner was part of on a daily basis, a regular figure in the Iowa Cubs offices.
“Minor-league baseball isn’t known as a place where you go to get rich, you work here because you love it,” vice president and assistant GM Randy Wehofer said. “Everybody looked at each other and was like, ‘Did we hear him right?’ ”
Gartner, a former newspaper editor and president of NBC News (1988–93), has deep roots in Iowa. Born in Des Moines, the 83-year-old at one point served as the editor and president of the Des Moines Register (1974–85) and won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing while working as editor of The Daily Tribune in Ames, Iowa, from 1993-99.
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“Running a minor-league organization probably typifies what and who Michael is,” Bernabe said. “I mean, he loves the state of Iowa. He loves this town, he loves this state and owning the local baseball team within that time frame is just icing on the cake for him.
“It was his charge to not only maintain (the team’s) integrity but to try to improve it. And every day we were operating, we were always trying to improve the operation for the fans in central Iowa. He was the cornerstone to all that.”
Amid a trying stretch for the industry after the pandemic canceled the 2020 minor-league season, Gartner and the Iowa Cubs did not furlough or lay off any of their full-time employees.
“He had the foresight to know that when we were back to full strength, we didn’t have to retrain the staff to do what we needed to do, we were all in place and ready to go,” Wehofer said. “All of that works together to paint the whole picture. This is just another footnote to the long story of all the ways he’s treated us well.”
A variety of factors contributed to the decision to sell the Iowa Cubs, according to Bernabe, who said Gartner was ready to pass it along. Gartner was not available for comment.
The Iowa ownership group felt comfortable with Endeavor’s vision as well as its promotional and financial resources. Endeavor’s subsidiary, Diamond Baseball Holdings, will own and operate the team, part of a number of minor-league teams they have acquired. The Iowa Cubs join other Triple-A affiliates — the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees), Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals) and Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta Braves) — as part of Diamond Baseball Holdings’ minor-league baseball portfolio.
Fans watch the Iowa Cubs' Manny Ramirez during game against Omaha Storm Chasers at Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 30, 2014. (Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)
All of Iowa’s full-time employees are being retained under new ownership, including Bernabe, who is staying in his role to maintain longtime continuity. The Chicago Cubs were supportive and understood why they chose to sell, which Bernabe said helped make this an easy transition.
“It was important for Michael to know and understand that whoever was coming in to buy the team was not going to strip it down and tear it apart and try to reinvent the wheel,” Bernabe said. “So they answered all the questions appropriately. ... Those were important things for Michael in the decision making to sell the team.”
The minor-league landscape drastically changed in February 2021 when Major League Baseball announced the restructuring to a 120-team regional alignment. By ending the Professional Baseball Agreement, 40 affiliates lost their association with a big-league organization. Previously, the PBA did not allow for any company or entity to own more than one team in one league. That was eliminated with MLB’s new Professional Development League licenses.
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“With that going away, if there was anything that influenced the sale or the purchase of this team, it was related to the fact that Endeavor and Diamond Baseball Holdings has an interest in owning multiple teams, regardless of how many are at that level,” said Bernabe, who has been with the Iowa Cubs for 39 years.
“Frankly, the change from the Professional Baseball Agreement and the PDL really didn’t have a lot of bearing on it from our standpoint where we really rely on our partnerships with the Cubs and with the city of Des Moines. And none of that would change regardless of whether we were under a Professional Baseball Agreement or a Player Development League agreement.”
The ownership change doesn’t alter the Triple-A affiliate’s partnership with the Cubs, a relationship that has existed since 1981. Those remaining with the Iowa Cubs are confident the switch from locally owned to a national holding company will go smoothly.
“I‘m hopeful for what we can continue to do because (Gartner’s) leadership is part of our DNA,” Wehofer said. “We’ve all worked for him for so long. We won’t forget all the things that he’s taught us about being generous of spirit, of being fiscally responsible in our business and then how to combine those in a wonderful way.”
The view at Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs, on July 20, 2010. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
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