Sneed exclusive: Cubs seek to get former standouts to playoffs

Follow @sneedlingsHey, Theo!

That’s the ticket!

Sneed hears Cubs President Theo Epstein, who rebuilt the creaky, leaky, unwieldy Cubbie franchise, wants the boys of summer to come home.

And he’s got playoff tickets for them.

Although it’s unclear just who all got the invites, Sneed is told Epstein has invited some of the great Cubs of years past to showcase the team’s alumni back at Wrigley Field.

Epstein, who has magically and magnificently turned the Cubs into the city’s main event, would like to add even more excitement to the field by mixing the past with the present.

Andre “The Hawk” Dawson, who works for the Miami Marlins, tells Sneed he received the email ticket offer and plans to head to Wrigley Field this season. “But only if they wind up in the World Series,” Dawson told Sneed.

Follow @sneedlings“I don’t remember the Cubs doing this before,” he said. “The tickets are non-transferable and being offered at a special rate. I just don’t remember all the particulars. But I think the seating is in a special section.

“I’m anxious to get up there,” added Dawson, a Floridian awaiting the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew on Thursday night. “I hope the Cubs go all the way this year. It’s a very exciting ballclub to follow. The way they finished the season last year, they knew they had a good team.

“I don’t remember them doing this before, setting themselves up to go a long way, but San Francisco [Giants] is a scary team, playing better now. They need to win the two home games,” added Dawson, who played for the Cubs from 1987 to 1992.

Go Cubs!

Murray’s flaw?

Actor Bill Murray may be a character and a huge sports fan, but ditto his brother Joel, who told sports impresario Grant DePorter why he agrees with his prediction the number 108 is the reason the Cubs are destined to win the World Series this year.

Why, you ask?

Here’s why: Joel’s birthday (April 17) fell on the 108th day of the year because 2016 is a leap year.

Huh?

Be still my tongue.

Kim’s whim . . .

It was a no bling bolt: The recently robbed and assaulted reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian West, now minus her 20-carat diamond dazzler ring, was spotted exiting her New York digs Thursday sporting tennis shoes and no obvious jewelry bling, ostensibly en route to her home in Los Angeles.

Thumping Trump . . .

Holy suspicion!

Stripping Donald Trump’s name off the honorary “Trump Plaza” Chicago street sign in front of Trump Tower might prove to be easy peasy.

Why?

Sneed is told a cursory check of the City Council Journal, which records all City Council action, is missing any mention of the Trump Plaza baptism. [An irate Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) wants Trump’s name erased because he has defamed Chicago.]

“If there’s no record, then the plaza was named illegally,” chirped a City Council source, who claims the plaza was named during the tenure of Mayor Richard M. Daley and Ald. Burt Natarus.”

Hello, Richie.

Hello, Burt.

I spy . . .

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spotted at Bloomingdale’s on Wednesday. . . . Rapper Drake at Sub 51 with his friends and dad late Wednesday night after his Summer Sixteen show at the United Center. . . . Supermodel Cindy Crawford dining at RPM Italian on Wednesday night. . . . Cubs star pitcher Jon Lester with his wife and kids for lunch at Hub 51 Wednesday. . . . Blackhawks players Brandon Mashinter, Ryan Hartman and Nick Schmaltz, plus Vinnie Hinostroza spotted at Chicago Cut on Tuesday night.

Sneedlings . . .

Get well wishes to insurance exec Dickey Parrillo, who is recovering from major heart surgery at University of Chicago Medical Center and doing quite well. . . . Today’s birthdays: Toni Braxton, 49; Simon Cowell, 57, and Vladimir Putin, 64.

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