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Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts remains determined to work with Mayor Rahm Emanuel on renovations to Wrigley Field despite a controversy involving Rickets' father that drew the ire of Emanuel last week.

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A panel of ESPNChicago.com experts ranked the Top 50 Cubs of all time.

Here is a gallery of our Top 50.

Who did we miss?

Did Kerry Wood belong? Randy Hundley?

Should Shawon Dunston have been left off?

For a team with so few championships, there is no shortage of Hall of Famers who have donned the Cubs jersey.

CHICAGO -- Not even an ideal hitting day could help the Chicago Cubs on Sunday as they were shut out for the first time this season.

Sure they had scored just one run in eight separate games, but they'd at least avoided getting blanked.

That all came to an end in a 6-0 loss to a dominating Jake Peavy and the cross-town White Sox. Actually it nearly came to an end Saturday, but the Cubs managed to score four runs in the ninth inning to at least make things a little interesting.

With the wind blowing out for the first time this season Sunday, manager Dale Sveum said before the game that some offensive fireworks could be ahead. The White Sox were the only ones to light the fuse, hitting three home runs for the second consecutive day.

The Cubs scored 15 total runs in their just-completed five-game homestand, losing all five of the games.

“You know Peavy’s going to be tough, he’s one of the best pitchers in the league, but with that wind the way it was blowing you thought there would be some contact that would get up in that kind of wind and at least get a solo home run or something,” Sveum said. “We had our chances. We had the bases loaded a couple of times and didn’t do too much."

In the 27 innings against the White Sox this weekend, the Cubs scored in just three of them.

“After going through a pretty good two-week stretch, now we’re on a week stretch of no wins and obviously being swept by the White Sox at home is about as low as you’re going to get,” Sveum said.

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CHICAGO -- If the weather is just right and there are enough seats available then it can be an ideal spot for a wedding.

That seemed to be the thinking of a couple getting married on a rooftop outside of Wrigley Field before the Cubs-White Sox game on a perfect 91-degree Sunday afternoon.

As the Wrigley Field stadium organ was playing 10 minutes before game time, the couple stood with its back to the field and against the railing of the Murphy’s Bleachers rooftop in right-center field while the ceremony took place.

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CHICAGO -- With his wife and kids at his side, and all his Chicago Cubs teammates, as well as the coaching staff, standing in full uniform behind him, Kerry Wood made his retirement official Saturday afternoon.

If Friday was about getting in his last major league pitch, Saturday was about thanking everybody that made his career last as long as it did.

Standing at Wrigley Field’s home plate, the area he focused on so many times during a 15-year career, Wood not only saluted the coaches and players he worked with but also reserved kind words for the doctors and physical therapists that brought him back time and time again from injury.

There were no tears, and from the sound of it there are no regrets. He called his final day as a major leaguer on Saturday the most memorable of his career, ahead of playoff appearances, his 20-strikeout game and everything else he has done in baseball.

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ESPNChicago's Bruce Levine joins SportsCenter to discuss Paul Konerko's injury and Kerry Wood's final game.

As Kerry Wood walked off the mound for the last time on Friday, he was already contemplating his post-playing days future.

“I want to stay with the team and help the guys if I can,” Wood said. “I know I enjoy teaching some of the things I have learned and I’m already close to the guys.”

Before signing again with the Cubs in 2011 Wood had a sit down with team chairman Tom Ricketts. In that meeting Ricketts told the iconic Cub pitcher that there always be a place for him and his family in the organization. The job description was left unspecified, however Wood was told that this would not be a handout or token offering.

Wood’s talents are many and a front office or broadcasting job seem possible. For now, this ultimate baseball lifer wants to be there for Cubs manager Dale Sveum and his staff.

“I want to be a part of this team and organization for a long time,” Wood said in his postgame press conference. “Baseball was the one thing I knew how to do and now (that part ) is over.”

Wood and his wife, Sarah, are hard-working parents and serious fundraisers for numerous charities, including the old and soon-to-be-opened Children’s Memorial Hospital, and it appears his future will always have a connection to the Chicago Cubs and the fan base that has loved him from Day One in 1995.

CHICAGO -- A moment-to-moment sketch of how Kerry Wood's last day in the major leagues unfolded Friday at Wrigley Field:

News spreads early in the morning of it likely being the veteran Chicago Cubs reliever’s last day in the major leagues. While whispers of his pending retirement actually started to circulate Thursday night, the first confirmation came when Wood’s wife updated her Facebook status. “Every story has an end but in life every ending is just a new beginning,” the post read.

The Cubs media relations staff says Wood will not talk to the media before the game.

More information of Wood’s retirement plans are revealed, including the fact that he wants to make one more outing before calling it a career. The word is that Wood won’t be used in a situation he hasn’t been used in this season, meaning that his final outing could come later in the series.

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David Banks/Getty ImagesCubs reliever Kerry Wood hugs his son Justin after recording his final major league strikeout on Friday.

Wood’s young son is a constant presence at his father’s side all morning, first in the clubhouse then out on the field as the Cubs began to stretch and take batting practice.

Wood, his son and some players could be seen at the top of the center field bleachers during batting practice, taking in the view from beneath the scoreboard. Wood even takes his son inside the scoreboard for a peek.

Wood stays close to his son in the outfield during batting practice. It seems like a wholesome father-son moment, and while that is true, the pitcher had other reasons for staying so close. “I didn’t want him to be hit in the face on the last day,” he said, drawing a laugh.

Wood brings out the Cubs’ lineup card to the umpires before the game.

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A gorgeous, sunny day and breaking news of Kerry Wood's pending retirement couldn’t prevent the Cubs and White Sox from posting a record for low attendance.

The announced crowd of 34,937 was the lowest single-game attendance for a game between the Cubs and White Sox since the inception of interleague play in 1997. The previous low was 35,155 at US Cellular Field last year.

The news about Wood’s decision to retire came at about 9 a.m. CT. That the Cubs reliever planned to pitch in one more game before calling it a career seemingly didn’t do much to bolster ticket sales.

When Wood struck out 20 Astros at Wrigley Field on May 6, 1998, the announced attendance was only 15,758. The first Cubs vs. White Sox interleague game on June 16, 1997 drew 36,213 to Wrigley Field. The Cubs beat the White Sox 8-3 in that game, behind three hits from Ryne Sandberg.

ESPNChicago.com writer Scoop Jackson is spending this week trying to prove that when it comes to sports, there is no city like Chicago.

Day 5: Friday

You are not supposed to see your breath while watching a baseball game. Especially for a team that is 3-10 and down 4-0 in the first inning. I tried. I swear I did. But the sub-50 degree weather at Wrigley Field Friday (43 degrees according to my iPhone) was too much. I punked out.

I know this is “typical” mid-April Cubs weather in Chicago, but no one should have to sit in this type of cold weather and watch a pitcher (Chris Volstad) get batted around on before the first three outs of the game on a team that is returning home from a 1-5 road trip.

The Cubs aren’t worth it. Not in this type of cold. But I must be alone because it stayed packed at Wrigley. As it always does, damn near capacity. 37,000 people stayed, while I acted like I was from LA.

Why? Why does this city stand behind, care so much, care so deeply, unconditionally, obsessively for a team that year-after-year-after-year-after-decade lets them down religiously?

Thousands upon thousands of people freezing their REIs and Eddie Bauers off, drinking cold beer that’s not as cold as the temperature, watching the Cubs lose to a pitcher with the first name Homer.

I’ve tried to understand, but don’t. I tried talking to Cubs fans and have yet to hear an answer that doesn’t defy logic or reason. People standing on the corner of Sheffield and Addison, already writing this season off, already talking about “wait ‘til next year,” but still rushing to get inside and cheer the team on. To yet another loss.

The best news that came to Wrigley Friday was the news that Starlin Castro's criminal case was dropped. But by the time that news broke, I was long gone.

Maybe Sunday. The series against the Reds is three games and the St. Louis Cardinals arrive for three after that. That gives me six days to get a Cubs game in, six days for March’s mild weather to come back.

I’m not a diehard of a Cubs fan like that. If I was -- as my god brother used to tell me when we’d come out here on days like this back in the day -- then I’d be man enough to take it and the weather wouldn’t bother me.

“It’s all about the Cubs! It’s all about Wrigley!” he used to always say.

Friday wasn’t one of those days. Which is why I left and went to Ann Sather’s to get a hot cinnamon roll to warm myself up. Like I said, I punked out.

Scoop's Day 4

Scoop's Day 3

Scoop's Day 2

Scoop's Day 1

CHICAGO -- Just like for Aramis Ramirez, the Wrigley Field reception for National League MVP Ryan Braun on Monday was expected to be a little spicy.

It was probably enough that Braun was named the league’s top player last season while playing for a National League Central rival. But then there was the matter of that other offseason news he happened to make.

Accused of elevated testosterone levels through the league’s mandatory drug testing program, Braun managed to beat the rap in front of an arbitrator and avoid a mandatory suspension.

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CHICAGO -- Despite being told by the Chicago Cubs' new management that they weren't interested in re-signing him, Aramis Ramirez said Monday he held no ill feelings as he visited Wrigley Field for the first time since joining the Milwaukee Brewers.

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With his Chicago Cubs set to open their 98th season at Wrigley Field, team chairman Tom Ricketts said the iconic park was under-invested in by previous owners and needs renovations to get it “up to speed.”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel confirmed this week that city officials are in the “final stages” of talks on a renovation plan for Wrigley that could include public funding. Ricketts declined Thursday to put a timetable on the renovation, but said he is confident it will get done.

“I don’t know (when it will get done). What I do know is that all the elected officials, we’re talking,” Ricketts said on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “Everybody is kind of going in the same direction. It’s a lot of work to come up with something that’s a great win-win for the city and the team so we’re working with not only the city but the state and the county. Everybody has got to come up with something … it’s got to work for everybody or it doesn’t work. We’ve got a great conversation going and hopefully we’ll have something pretty soon that everybody agrees is the right answer.”

Ricketts said years of under-investing in the park have caught up to it.

“The big picture is the park has got to stand for 50 more years. It’s been really under-invested in over time,” Ricketts said. “The Tribune was a good owner, but it was an ROI (return on investment) kind of decision as to whether they put money in the park. I think before the Tribune baseball teams didn’t make a lot of money. It was hard to put a lot of money into an old park even in the ‘70s. It’s been under-invested. We need to get it up to speed. We need a lot of money to re-do electrical, sewage, all the stuff that is 100 years old. We’ve got a lot on our plate, but we’re going to get it done.”

The Cubs will introduce several new features at Wrigley Field this season, including the Budweiser Patio in right field and an LED board underneath. Ricketts said he wants to continue to try to improve the fan experience.

“When fans get to their chair at Wrigley they’re all right,” Ricketts said. “They go up the ramp, they see the field, they get to their chair, they’re OK. It’s when they get up to go back down and have to stand in line for a washroom or stand in line for food or there’s limited food options because we don’t have any space. That’s a big priority. We’ve got to improve the gameday experience not just the service on food and beverage but things for families and more stuff in the park for people to do.

“The second thing is we have to make it better for the players. There’s no batting tunnel. They literally put a batting tee in the clubhouse and drop a net so you don’t break the television when you’re getting loose to pinch hit. I mean, this is the 21st century. We should be beyond that.”

If the renovation project moves forward, Ricketts said the work likely will be done incrementally during several offseasons, mirroring the model the Boston Red Sox followed during Fenway Park’s makeover. Ricketts acknowledged the plan takes longer and is more costly, but at this point he is not interested in re-locating the Cubs to another park for a season during construction.

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Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts joined "Carmen, Jurko & Harry" to preview the season, Starlin Castro, the status of Wrigley Field renovations and more.



Click here for more audio from ESPN Chicago.