This fall, Major League Baseball could approve the largest deal in its history. Last week, the billionaire Ricketts family, of Nebraska, reached an agreement to buy a controlling interest in the Chicago Cubs from the financially troubled Tribune Company.

For about $800 million, the Ricketts family would gain control of one of the most storied teams in baseball and its historic home, Wrigley Field. But it’s still not clear what Cubs fans might get out of the deal.

(AMBI in: Peanut-caller in, then fade under with nat)

Around the back of Wrigley Field, die-hard Cubs fans are lining up to get their spots in the outfield bleachers. These are familiar stomping grounds for 59-year-old Chris Gorski.

GORSKI: At 7 years old, I was coming here, taking the bus by myself.

Gorski says he’s excited by the prospect of having new owners for the Cubs. The Ricketts made their fortune by founding the online brokerage firm T.D. Ameritrade Holding Corp., and Gorski’s hoping their entrepreneurial drive can finally get the team what its been chasing for more than century: a World Series title. But he quickly lapses into nostalgia about Wrigley Field.

GORSKI: I guess what’s nice about it is, is that it really hasn’t changed much from the time I was seven years old to the time I’m – now. And that’s nice. You like that stability.

And there’s the rub: Many fans like Gorski are hoping for dramatic changes if the Ricketts family gains control of the Cubs. But they’re also protective of the team’s rich tradition.

WOJCIECHOWSKI: We really have no idea how this franchise is going to change, because they simply haven’t given us any information.

That’s Gene Wojciechowski, a senior columnist for ESPN.com who’s based outside of Chicago. He says it’s no wonder the Rickettses have maintained a media blackout since they started bidding for the team: They’ve slogged through more than a year of delicate negotiations, complicated by Tribune’s bankruptcy filing in December, and an eleventh-hour bidding war. Wojciechowski says, now, he’s waiting to see what happens next.

WOJCIECHOWSKI: We don’t know if Lou Piniella’s going to be the manager next year, if they’re going to blow up Wrigley Field, if they’re going to tear down the scoreboard and put up a jumbo-tron…

No one from the Ricketts family agreed to be interviewed for this story. Spokesman Dennis Culloton says that’s because the deal still needs approval from Major League Baseball and a bankruptcy judge. He??s hoping that will happen this fall.

CULLOTON: In the meantime, they’re going to be respectful of those two very important steps.

Culloton won’t speculate about changes in team leadership or to Wrigley Field. But he will say the Rickettses are lifelong, season ticket-holding Cubs fans who appreciate the experience of a game at Wrigley.

CULLOTON: What you’ll see in this new era is a family that is very smart, very successful… and they’re going to bring that to the Chicago Cubs.

Back outside the Friendly Confines, 28-year-old fan Adam Beck waits near the gate to get players’ autographs. He’s here making his annual pilgrimage from Michigan to see his beloved Chicago Cubs. And he has a message for the Ricketts family.

BECK: Bring home a World Series. Literally, bring home a World Series. This is what this town needs.

That may require some patience. But Cubs fans seem to have plenty.