MESA, Ariz. — Sitting in the box seats at Sloan Park on Thursday while watching Chicago Cubs pitchers throwing live batting practice, I scrolled through the latest news on the Bears stadium search.

It looked as if the Bears were heading to Indiana after the state’s politicians voted to establish a stadium authority that would do whatever it takes to build and lease a world-class stadium for the McCaskeys near Wolf Lake in Hammond.

After long and sometimes rancorous negotiations to get the state of Illinois to help build their new football palace, either in Arlington Heights or on the lakefront, the Bears seemingly gave up Thursday and went full-metal Hoosier.

The team released a statement calling the bill “the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date” and thanked Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and the assorted Hoosier politicians who made it all possible.

“We value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together,” the Bears said.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was surprised and apparently blindsided by the latest development and now must respond to the threat of losing one of our state’s most precious commodities or risk going down in history as “the jamoke who lost Da Bears.”

That’s probably worse than offering to sell a U.S. Senate seat or taking bribes for steering state contracts to “insiders,” like some of our other famous governors. And unlike Rod Blagojevich, Pritzker won’t get a pardon from President Trump for making an extreme miscalculation.

Of course, it’s not over until the full-figured lady sings. There’s still a chance Pritzker and Illinois legislators can save the day by caving in to the Bears like their Indiana buddies, ending this saga once and for all and keeping the “pride and joy” in a state that rhymes with the song’s lyrics.

Threatening to leave town if the city or state doesn’t provide any financial incentive to stay is a time-honored tradition followed by Chicago’s sports owners.

The stadium I’m now writing this from, Sloan Park, was built only after the Ricketts family threatened to move the Cubs spring training site to Naples, Fla. Worried over losing its cash cow, the city of Mesa approved a ballot measure in 2010 to build the Cubs their new spring facility, which eventually cost the city $116.5 million, according to a 2015 audit obtained by the Mesa Tribune. Just this year they built an add-on — a women’s locker room and a hitting and pitching lab — for another $16.8 million.

Would they have done that without a threat to leave?

We’ll never know, but the Cubs continue to reign as kings of the Cactus League, which begins here Friday when the Cubs host the White Sox in the spring opener.

The Sox know a little bit about making threats too. In 1988, controlling partners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn got the state of Florida to approve $30 million in funding to get their domed stadium, which was already under construction, ready for the Sox to play in by 1989.

“Florida’s political leaders have made a progressive statement to bring major-league baseball to their state by passing this legislation,” the Sox said in a statement. ”Their commitment is most impressive.”

That threat forced former then-Gov. “Big Jim” Thompson and House Speaker Mike Madigan to get the Illinois legislature to act, creating a stadium authority in the summer of 1988 to finance and build a tax-subsidized $167 million ballpark named New Comiskey Park.

”Now we stay,” Reinsdorf said. “This thing was dead and one man (Thompson) did it.”

The late Thompson has his own plaque on the wall of what’s now Rate Field. Madigan is currently in prison, serving a 7 1/2-year term on corruption charges. Their legacies are secured.

The ballpark, which opened in 1991, was widely panned until a renovation lopped off much of the upper deck. But the Sox continue to have attendance problems unless they’re winning, which has been infrequent in the ballpark’s 35-year history. Not surprisingly, Reinsdorf now wants the state to help build him a new one before he hands the team off to Justin Ishbia. Maybe he can get Indiana on the old “2-fer-1” deal with a Bears-Sox combo platter.

It’s hard to remember now, but the Cubs in 2013 also threatened for a second to move out of Wrigley Field if Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn’t allow them to relax rooftop ordinances and landmark restrictions to add advertising and video boards in the ballpark.

“The fact is if we don’t have the ability to generate revenue in our own outfield, then we’ll have to take a look at moving,” Ricketts said. “No question.”

Rosemont, of all places, was leaked as a possible alternative. Rosemont!

The rooftop owners, led by the late Beth Murphy of Murphy’s Bleachers, came up with their own plan to allow the Cubs to install LED and static advertising signage — 20 feet by 7 feet — on the facades of the rooftop buildings. The Cubs would sell the ads and keep most of the money, and the rooftop owners would keep their unobstructed views of the ballpark for their businesses.

“I think it gives a creative solution, a win-win solution, a big palate to sell,” Murphy said.

Emanuel eventually caved and gave the Cubs almost everything they wanted, and the Rickettses eventually bought most of the rooftops. In the latest twist, according to insideonline.com, a North Side community paper, the Cubs currently have proposed to install 23-by-4.4 backlit signs on two of their buildings on Waveland and Sheffield avenues, with white LED faux-neon lighting.

Unfortunately, Murphy died in 2023 before the Cubs took her idea and ran with it.

The moral of the story is that sometimes to get what you want, you’ve got to twist a few arms. Politics ain’t beanbag, as the saying goes.

Bear down, Pritzker.

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