LF_121318

28 | December 13, 2018 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeader.com
This Week In ...
Scout Athletics
Girls Basketball
■Dec. ■ 13 - at Saint Viator,
6:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 20 - at Zion-Benton,
7 p.m.
Girls Gymnastics
■Dec. ■ 13 - at Mundelein,
5:30 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 15 - at Waukegan,
7 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 20 - hosts Lakes,
Vernon Hills, Lake Zurich,
6 p.m.
Wrestling
■Dec. ■ 14 - at Lake Zurich,
5:30 p.m.
Boys Swimming and
Diving
■Dec. ■ 15 - Lake County
Invite (Stevenson), 1 p.m.
Boys Basketball
■Dec. ■ 15 - at Deerfield, 6
p.m.
Girls Ice Hockey
■Dec. ■ 13 - at Evanston,
9:20 p.m.
Boys Ice Hockey
■Dec. ■ 13 - hosts Highland
Park, 9:15 p.m.
■Dec. ■ 16 - hosts Prep, 4
p.m.
Wildcat Athletics
Girls Basketball
■Dec. ■ 18 - at U-High, 4:30
p.m.
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Lake Forest Academy alum takes ownership in Cubs organization
Michael Wojtychiw,
Contributing Sports Editor
Andrew Berlin wanted
to be a college professor.Inspired
by numerous
teachers throughout high
school and college led
the Glencoe native, and
1979 Lake Forest Academy
graduate, to pursue
becoming a professor,
teaching political science,
history or philosophy.
That course changed
when he decided to attend
Loyola University-Chicago
for law school and
after working as a lawyer
for two years, he joined
his father and bought Alco
Packaging in 1988.
“One of the clients at
the firm was selling off
a company called Alco
Packaging, that was a
troubled packaging company,”
he said. “My father
was in the steel business,
he and I together went in
and bought the company
and the idea was just to fix
it up and flip it in a couple
years. Here we are, it will
be 31 years in January,
and we never really ended
up flipping it.”
Berlin turned the company,
now called Berlin
Packaging, into a multibillion
dollar, multi-national
company that spans
four continents and has allowed
him to pursue other
interests he’s developed
over time as well.
One of those interests?
Owning a baseball franchise.
Berlin grew up a
baseball fan, but owning
a franchise was not something
Berlin aspired to do.
That all changed when he
became an investor with
the Chicago White Sox in
2007.
“I never wanted to buy
a baseball asset for vanity
purposes,” he said. “I
always felt that it was a
good business and a solid
Andrew Berlin (middle) poses for a photo with Chicago
Cub’s player Kris Bryant (left) and his family.
business, and something
that you could get a decent
return on investment
if the business was operated
correctly.
“In my effort in becoming
a partner [with the]
White Sox, I knew that
Jerry Reinsdorf was going
to keep the team for a long
period of time. And so my
desire was to purchase a
Major League team, but
it had to be in the Central
Division of the National
League and the American
League because I didn’t
want to go far from Chicago.”
However, no Major
League teams in those
divisions for sale, Berlin
went to the next best
thing: the minor leagues.
In November 2011,
Berlin announced he had
reached an agreement to
purchase the South Bend
Silver Hawks, then a minor-league
affiliate of the
Arizona Diamondbacks.
In 2014, the team’s name
was changed to the South
Bend Cubs, joining the
Cubs minor league system.
Since becoming a part
of the system, the South
Bend franchise was voted
Best Class A ballpark
in the country by Ballpark
Digest in 2017, was
named Ballpark Digest’s
Team of the Year and received
the John H. Johnson
President’s Award
– the highest award in
minor league baseball in
2015.
Berlin created a solid
foundation for the South
Bend Cubs, installing a
talented executive management
team and making
sure the organization had
solid leadership in place.
This has led to the success
of the minor league team.
“We have a terrific president
and leadership team
in South Bend that together
we’ve done a lot of
training there, and together
we work on the strategy
and the tactical initiatives
necessary to turn the team
around,” Berlin said.
Lake Forest Academy graduate Andrew Berlin now
owns the South Bend Cubs, a minor league team. Photo
Submitted
After selling off his portion
of the White Sox in
2014, Berlin invested in
the Chicago Cubs in February
of 2015, becoming a
large minority investor of
the franchise.
As successful as Berlin
was in the business world,
giving back to his community,
and those that have
helped him get to where
he is today, has always
been near to his heart. Berlin
served as a Board of
Trustee at his alma mater
Syracuse University, he is
a member of the Illinois
State Police Merit Board,
one of three commissioners
on Glencoe’s Public
Safety Commission, and
this fall helped Glencoe
improve Bronco Field at
Watts Park by coordinating
a joint effort with the
groundskeepers from the
South Bend Cubs, as well
as local volunteers from
Glencoe.
“The greatest joy in
my life has always been
my experience with my
children,” Berlin said. “I
love that my children are
active, they’ve played on
teams, they’ve had great
experiences in sports.
Seeing kids playing outside,
being fit and being
active, especially my own
children, it’s been a real
joy.
“One way I’d like to
give back to my community,
and having grown
up in the community and
having participated in
sports in Glencoe, whether
it be on a team or just
with my friends, pick up
games in the park. I like
the idea that generations
of other kids, whether
they’re my kids or not,
can enjoy some of what
Glencoe has to offer.
“I think Glencoe is just
a little jewel of a town that
deserves the best facilities
for the kids. And whether
that be the schools or the
parks, that’s something I
take a lot of interest in.”