Sports on Routine Revelations

Streaking Baseball Players

Sat, 09 May 2026 12:20:53 -0400

The Chicago Cubs have won ten games in a row, which is their second ten game winning streak of this season. Right now it is fun to be a fan of the Chicago Cubs given that their entire lineup is hitting and that puts a lot pressure on opposing pitchers. If the line up keeps this up, the Cubs could be a champion, but that is not likely. The key to winning divisions in baseball is stacking wins to put distance between you and other teams in the division so that you can get a large enough for when the team loses several games in a row you don’t lose your place.

I think it’s hard for me to get really excited about this year’s team because of the pitching staff. Teams that have success in the playoffs have Cy Young caliber pitchers and right now I can’t put any of Cubs starters in that category.

Going in to the season, Cade Horton had that potential, but he is injured and done for the year. Shota Imanga is pitching very well as is Edward Cabrera but the big question about both is whether they can sustain their current performance through the entire season, both have history of injuries.

Pitching wins championships and right now it’s hard to feel confident that the Cubs current pitching is good enough. The Cubs lineup and current pitching may be good enough to win their division, and perhaps even get to the National League championship series, but as teams advance in the playoffs chances of that opposing pitching will neutralize a lineup increases and that is when your pitching matters.

Pitching Is Hurting The Cubs

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:49:24 -0400

While acknowledging this as probably too much of a generalization, I think baseball games are won (or lost) by either pitching or hitting. Based on earned run average, I think that when a MLB pitching staff gives up more than four runs it did not do its job. During the Cub’s recent ten game winning streak their pitchers gave up more than four runs only once. Now the Cubs have lost three in a row, and in every one the pitchers gave up more than four runs. Worse, they have given up six or more runs in each game, therefore not giving their hitting much of a chance to win.

The Cubs do currently have a winning 17-12 record due to the fact that of the 24 games played in April, Cub pitchers held opponents to four are fewer runs in 16 games. It appears to be the case that the huge number of their pitchers on IL is catching up to the Cubs.

If the pitching trend continues and given how well the other teams in the NL Central are playing, the Cubs will end up with a losing record for the season and not make the playoffs.

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:51:33 -0400

I think North Side Baseball provides an explanation on the Chicago Cubs that as good as any other and I would summarize it thusly, they have no margin for error. Without any big bats in the lineup prone to hit home runs they need the entire lineup to be hitting, and the probability of that happening consistently is low. For me it all comes back to how this team has been constructed around good but budget friendly players.

Same Ole Cubs

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:24:22 -0400

Every year it seems the problems with the Chicago Cubs is the same, they struggle to hit with runners in scoring position because they have poor hitters. When the same issues keep appearing that indicates to me there is a systemic problem, which is not something fixable through signing one or two players. The evaluation of talent and construction of the roster is producing the same results we see year after year.

Getting the Cubs to the World Series after a century of losing is turning out to be easier than getting them back a decade after. It’s easy to get a talented team when you tank seasons and trade away what experienced players you have for prospects. The core of the 2016 team were those prospects lead by experienced veterans, but veterans who were in the later half of their careers.

Obviously, fans are not going to allow such a heavy rebuild. Seems to me that if you aren’t able to load up on prospects you have change your approach to obtaining MLB players. Every free agent signing the Cubs have made since 2016 are of players who are in the back end of their careers. Signing Alex Bregman this year is no different than signing Dansby Swanson, players who have won championships but who are not in their prime and therefore seem less capable of hitting consistently over a season.

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 13:13:37 -0400

The U.S. Men’s hockey team won the Olympic gold medal beating Canada in overtime, 2-1. The last time I saw the U.S. men’s hockey win gold I was 14 years old.

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 14:56:50 -0400

A benefit of retirement is that I am able to watch the 2026 Winter Olympic events live during the afternoon and because of that I am seeing much more of the Olympics than ever before. In addition to having the time to watch, technology, particularly Peacock, is helping by putting all of the U.S. coverage in one spot. To be honest, I am not constantly watching but I have it on in the background as I sit here at my desk.

Bumbling Cubs Front Office

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 12:53:06 -0400

Kyle Tucker signed a 4 year, $240m contract with the Dodgers. In my opinion the Cubs trading for Tucker last year and giving up a top prospect is one of the worst decisions made by Jed Hoyer. The mistake the Cubs keep making is that they seem unwilling to pay for the positions of need and then to appease the fans just sign whatever player regardless of the position, and that is a bad way to run a team.

Last season the Cubs need was at third base and Alex Bregman was available, but the Cubs were not aggressive in filling their need and for some reason settled on renting Tucker for a year. The only way the trade for Tucker made sense is if the Cubs had extended him before the season started, once the season started with no extension it was obvious the Cubs had made a mistake. Redemption for the front office would have been a deep playoff run, but instead Tucker was injured for most of the second half of the season and the Cubs lost to the Brewers in the divisional round.

Now the Cubs have signed Bregman to finally fill their need, but they could have done that last year and not given up any prospects in the process. It would have been much smarter for them to have taken the money they gave to Tucker and spent it on Bregman. All around, these were bad decisions and even bad business decisions by the owner. Of course, Ownership showed their bad business skills by extending Hoyer last year before the trade deadline, effectively rewarding Hoyer for mediocre work.

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 16:34:10 -0400

I am shocked that the Chicago Cubs signed Alex Bregman to what will be the third most lucrative contract in team history. Ownership has not shown a willingness to sign big contracts since the one they gave Dansby Swanson. What I see from BleedCubbieBlue.com is that the math pegs the Cubs right at the luxury tax threshold, which I suspect is ownership’s upper limit. Being that the Cubs are in a large market, they ought to be more willing to pay the luxury tax, if they are willing I would love to see them pursue Cody Bellinger for a one year deal, but that won’t happen. The article reports that the Cubs are spending 36% of their revenue on player salaries, putting them at 26th in the league. Comparable big market teams New York Yankees and Los Angelas Dodgers are spending 50% (11th) and 73% (2nd) respectively.

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 12:21:20 -0400

I received my Exist 2025 year in review today. This year I recorded 3,174,492 steps for a distance of 1,440.5 miles. The number of steps is down 1% while the distance walked is up 1%. My highest step day was 14,259 on March 9 when I was in Mesa Arizona attending a Chicago Cubs spring training game.

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:54:47 -0400

Every article I read about the Chicago Cubs' off season has the same pattern. It basically says, the Cubs have checked in with so and so player to find out their interest. I imagine after every one of those phone calls Jed Hoyer says, “Oh, so and so won’t play for nothing? Oh well” and moves on to the next player on his list. He only makes the calls and tells the press he made the call for the appearance he actually is doing something.

The pattern is the same every single off season to the point to which I think Ricketts and company are insane because they keep expecting a different result. First, there is complete turnover in the bullpen with hope it will pan out in the upcoming season. Never mind that hope is not a strategy.

Next, they find every single player available at the start of the off season to be too expensive. Then with about a month left, which we are now approaching, the Cubs seem to panic, trade away some prospects and sign someone they either don’t need (Dansby Swanson) or have no chance re-signing (Kyle Tucker).

In short, Hoyer manages the Chicago Cubs like he is managing a Fantasy Baseball team. And the real irony in all this is Ricketts thinks he is saving money when in reality he is wasting money.

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 12:36:17 -0400

Bleed Cubbie Blue: Twas the night before Cub Christmas, 2025

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:44:23 -0400

I don’t know what is worse as a Chicago Cubs fan. The frustration during the season when the players don’t perform as expected or the frustration during the off season when the front office don’t perfom as expected.

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 12:09:17 -0400

Today is the five year anniversary of one of the Chicago Cubs worst mistakes in the post World Series era when they did not tender a contract to Kyle Schwarber. The Cubs could make up for that mistake by signing him as a free agent, but I doubt they will do it.

Cubs Took A Loss On Kyle Tucker Trade

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 11:53:29 -0400

Bleed Cubbie Blue has a survey asking Cubs fans whether the trade for Kyle Tucker last year as a success for the Cubs as GM Carter Hawkins claims. The writer of the post suggests that it was, and to do so he uses the results for each player involved in the trade.

I think the post misses one key point in the analysis, which is the value of the players at the time of the trade and take that in to account along with their actual performance. While the Cubs traded three players to the Astros for Tucker, the deal really came down to two players, Tucker and Cam Smith.

At the time of the trade Smith was the Cub’s top prospect in the farm system, which made him one of their most valuable young players. If Smith had stayed with the Cubs he likely does not make the major league roster whereas the Astros immediately put him on their roster. So I think the real comparison is another year of Smith developing for the Cubs versus Tucker’s performance for the Cubs this past season.

When a team trades away a top prospect they are giving away the potential future value of a player, usually in return for something needed now. Did the Cubs need another bat? Yes! Did that bat have to be Tucker in right field, particularly when you had a good hitting right fielder on your roster? Probably not.

In my opinion, when Tucker signs with a team other than the Cubs, the Cubs will have lost on the trade. Had the Cubs kept Smith they still had value in the bank for future years and they lose that future value no matter how you slice it. From a Cubs fan perspective, if you had told me we would only have Tucker for one year, which was very likely at the trade time, and the team did not advance to the NLCS I would have said that one year of making the playoffs was not worth losing Smith. From a Cubs ownership and management perspective, making the playoffs and the extra revenue that generated made the Tucker signing worth it.

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 10:01:58 -0400

I’ve enjoyed watching all of the Chicago Cubs games I can watch using the MLB “At Bat App” since it’s beginning. For the number of games and the one year price, it has been a good deal. Sadly, it looks like that is not going to last because in a few years the “At Bat App” will go away in place for ESPN’s crappy app. And I bet they’ll double the price. Because greedy capitalism means we can’t have anything nice.

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:24:42 -0400

Kyle Hendricks is retiring from pitching in Major League Baseball, he played a critical role in the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016. He is now on the MLB coaching clock.

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 09:15:53 -0400

Great win by the Chicago Cubs last night to force a division series deciding game on Saturday night. They finally score in more than one inning of a game in this series! Both teams could employ bullpen pitchers to start the game and that will make it interesting. I do have a bone to pick with MLB for making the Cubs/Brewers game the late starter last night rather than the Dodgers/Phillies in LA, that made no sense.

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:11:22 -0400

The Yankees were the only team facing elimination from the MLB tournament to not win yesterday. Happy that the Cubs hung on to force a game four, but wish they would score in more than one inning per game. The real question is, who is going to pitch for the Cubs today?

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 10:19:05 -0400

I think that Craig Counsell has done a poor job of managing the Chicago Cubs in this NDLS against the Brewers. First, he should not have started Boyd for game 1 on only three days rest and second it is absolutely wrong to not start your hottest hitter, Michael Busch even when going against left handed pitcher. How do you justify starting PCA who clearly has difficulty with left handed pitching and no start Busch. Pat Murphy was Counsell’s bench coach and I am beginning to think he did more the managing than Counsell when he was in Milwaukee. His performance does not justify being the top paid manager in baseball. David Ross could have equally managed to the two losses that have occurred in this series.

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 17:57:59 -0400

Game 1 of the NLDS between the Cubs and Brewers was over for the Cubs before the first three Brewer outs of the game was recorded. Starting Boyd on only three days rest went very badly. Obviously the Cubs need to flush this game and win game 2 on Monday.

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 08:54:59 -0400

The Chicago Cubs managed to hold on to a 3-1 lead and beat the San Diego Padres yesterday to advance to the best of five game NLDS against Milwaukee. It should be a fun series starting Saturday.

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 09:42:15 -0400

The Cubs got shutout yesterday in the second Wild Card game, so today there is an elimination game with San Diego. Got to score runs to win a baseball game. Because the Dodgers won their series, which was the only sweep, the Cubs/Padres game starts at 5 PM today while the Tigers/Guardians game starts at 3 PM.

Wild Card Game 1

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 22:07:25 -0400

The Cubs won the first wild card game today against the San Diego Padres. I do believe it might be their first ever wild card game win. The 3-1 win was due to the pitching staff, in fact as I watch the other games played today, the old adage of good pitching beating good hitting seems to hold. The sharpest example was in Cleveland where the hottest team in baseball the Cleveland Guardians was beat by the coldest Detroit Tigers thanks to the game’s best pitcher, the Tiger’s Tarik Skull.

I see the Cub’s have announced they are starting tomorrow’s game with an opener as recent closer Andrew Kittredge will start the game. My guess is that Shota Imanga will follow Kittredge but I wouldn’t be surprised if Shota only pitches one time through the Padres line up. Counsell can’t blow out pitching because there might be a game three if they don’t win, but the Cub’s want to win this next one while they have the advantage of elimination game pressure on their opponent.

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:08:31 -0400

The Chicago Cubs play their first Wild Card game for the 2025 MLB playoffs this afternoon, which is their first playoff game in many years. Looking forward to seeing how the team performs. I am not expecting much success in the playoffs this year, and I am mostly happy for the young players to gain experience with playoff pressure. Winning championships is part experience, part talent, and part luck, you need them all to win a World Series.

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:57:24 -0400

The Chicago Cubs have clinched a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, what remains is to determine whether they have home field for the three game Wild Card series that will be in October. My buddy who is a fellow Cubs fan doubts the Cubs will have success in the playoffs. I see no reason why they can’t win a three game series at Wrigley, however I think what is most important is that the young Cubs players gain playoff experience. How well the Cubs will do depends on how well they play during the next two weeks. In recent years the best MLB teams haven’t won the World Series, it’s been the hottest teams.

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 10:44:17 -0400

Turns out that Kyle Tucker had a small fracture in his hand, which likely the cause of his broken mechanics at the plate. It seems to me the job of a baseball manager is to prevent players from being their own worse enemy. No matter what the player is saying, the manager has to make the right decision and I don’t think Counsel did in this instance. Further, the GM and President have to also know this is happening and step in when needed. A total failure by the Cubs organization in my opinion. Ricketts must have also known this and still rewarded Hoyer with an extension. I am sure the hope is that by sitting Kyle now he can be right for the push to the playoffs in September.

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 11:19:03 -0400

The best thing about baseball is that until playoff series deciding games there is always tomorrow and a chance for the team to redeem itself. Yesterday the Cubs won and continued to avoid a three game series sweep and thus keep avoiding long losing streaks, which are the real deal of a major league team. The team’s weaknesses are real and could be exposed in the playoffs, but avoiding being swept and winning a majority of the season series ought to be the path to the playoffs. On August 18 the Cubs will play their last four games against the Brewers for the season, and in some ways that will be their last best shot at controlling their own fate.

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 09:13:02 -0400

I wonder if Tom Ricketts can be embarrassed? First he extends Jed Hoyer’s contract before the trade deadline, then the lone pitcher Hoyer trades for to help a severely depleted starting rotation pitches two innings before being injured, and there were concerns about that pitcher’s velocity decrease prior to the trade. Finally, the Cubs hitters have gone cold as ice and have dropped to four games behind the Brewers for the NL Central lead. In fact, the Cubs now only have a 2.5 game lead in the Wild Card. Most likely Kyle Tucker, for whom Hoyer traded away a top prospect to the Astros, will leave at the end of the season. Factor all these recent events with the over all failure to win the National League or the division under Hoyer’s leadership sums up the very questionable decision by Ricketts to extend Hoyer before seeing whether the Cubs win the NL Central this year. Instead Ricketts rewarded mediocrity and sent a message to the team that he is not committed to winning.

Same Old Cubs Ownership

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 10:59:22 -0400

Hoyer can rationalize his trade deadline decisions all he wants the bottom line is he did not get the job done, and no improvement to the starting pitching rotation has been done. Assad better perform when he makes it back to the team after being out all season. I don’t doubt that the additions that he made will help, but it was not enough.

Truth is, the real failure was made during the off-season by not signing more high quality players. I doubt that Tucker wants to stay in Chicago, in fact if I were him the lack of signings sealed the deal of going to another team; the Cubs can and will be outbid for his services . The consequences of Hoyer’s failures is he lost one of his top prospects while getting no closer to the World Series just to make the playoffs.

Yes, the Cubs likely will make the playoffs as a wildcard team, but they probably will not advance out of the divisional round and winning championships is the measurement. Why Ricketts extended Hoyer before seeing how the team ends up this season tells me that he is more concerned about making money than winning a World Series. An owner expecting nor less than championships would not reward mediocrity.

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 10:46:53 -0400

So far, not impressed by the Chicago Cubs trade deadline deals. Ricketts extending Hoyer before the deadline and not at the end of the season tells me all I need to know, the problem is ownership. Cubs ownership is reverted to being happy enough in collecting the money off the team than in demanding championships.

On The Death Of A Sports Legend

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 11:11:10 -0400

Hall of Fame Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg died yesterday after surviving cancer and the treatments of it for several years. As a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan Ryne is cemented in my memories of the turn around of the Cubs that started in 1984. He became known to the nation on June 23, 1984 when he hit home runs off Bruce Sutter in the 9th and 10th innings of the nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Sutter, himself a former Cubs hero, was the best relief pitcher in baseball at the time, featuring a nearly unhittable split-finger fastball. Having defected to the hated Cardinals, Sutter was the villain of the game that made Sandberg’s home runs all that much sweeter.

Prior to 1984 the Cubs had not been in the playoffs for 39 years. Back then only four teams made the playoffs, the winners of the NL East and West and AL East and West, so the champions in each league faced each other in the World Series. Further, the league championship series were five games whereas the World Series was seven games. The 1984 Cubs won the first two games against the Padres, meaning they only need to win 1 of 3 games in San Diego to advance to the World Series, but was unable to get the job done. The Cubs would advance to the NL Championship again in 1989 with Sandberg on the team and again fail to advance.

Due to Cubs decades history of losing the 1984 team was pivotal to their eventual World Series championship in 2016. Nearly all transformations of losing sports franchises to winning sports franchises lies on the cornerstone of one or two super start athletes and it is safe to say that Ryne Sandberg is the cornerstone of the Cubs current success. I watched Ryne’s entire career with the Cubs and grew to understand his cold hitting in the spring months that always warmed to peak performance in late May. As a fan you expected every ball hit toward second base to be an out and every big moment that found Ryne at the plate to be big hit.

It’s a privilege to grow old and a consequence of time is the seeing the death of your childhood sports heroes and so the news of his death during the Cubs/Brewers game last night hit hard. I am so happy that he, like I, got to see the Cubs win the World Series in 2016 and I hope he took some satisfaction in knowing his part in that moment. The path from lovable losers to World Champions rides on the shoulders of legends. Farewell Ryno, say hi to Harry!

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 11:50:37 -0400

Kyle Schwarber was the first player of the Chicago Cubs 2016 “core” to leave, not even given an offer to stay, and he was had the most success since that World Series of all the players who were on that team, winning two more World Series and now the 2025 MLB All-Star MVP. How he came back from knee surgery that kept him out of the 2016 season to contribute in a big way in that playoff run was plain evidence of his unique abilities. Not trying to find a way to keep him was negligence.

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:33:36 -0400

The wheels have fallen off the Chicago Cubs pitching. Since last Thursday, June 19 Cubs pitchers have given up seven or more runs per game, six of which (not surprisingly) were losses. At this rate the Cubs will be out of first place in the NL Central by the end of next week. The big problem is too many walks and too many home runs.

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 12:05:47 -0400

Last year on this date the Chicago Cubs had a 32-35 record and would go on to a 83-79 record and finished 10 games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. Right now they have a 41-27 record, are in first place in the NL Central and lead St. Louis by 5 games. The Cubs currently have the second best record in the National League and fourth best in the the MLB.

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 11:44:17 -0400

I don’t understand the definition of a sell out at a Major League Baseball game. My definition would that every seat is occupied, but that can’t be true because the Tigers say the weekend series against the Cubs sold out every game and yet on Friday night I saw entire blocks of empty seats in the upper deck, left field corner. Sure, there are going to be empty seats as people don’t show up, but entire rows? Not to mention the many empty seats right behind home plate. Something doesn’t compute. I know they are talking ticket sales, but with the paperless tickets and scanning it should be able for stadiums to have actual attendance

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 08:57:18 -0400

Yesterday the Cubs got wiped out by the Jack Flaherty and the Tigers 4-0, and my eyes got wiped out by the wind and smoke. Here is a picture of Cubs rookie Cade Horton.

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 20:12:02 -0400

The only thing hotter than the Cubs today was the weather. Chicago beat the Tigers 6-1 on a sunny Saturday in Comerica Park.

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 09:54:10 -0400

It’s Chicago Cubs weekend for me here in Detroit as they are in town for a three game stand and I have tickets for all the games. Last night the Cubs got beat by the best pitcher in baseball and two great plays at the fence by Tiger outfielders. Read the game recap by BleedCubbieBlue.com. My record of seeing the Cubs win in person is not good. Hoping to see a win today.

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:12:27 -0400

The Cubs beat the Nationals last night and in the game they hit the team’s 200,000 hit since the National League was formed in 1876. The Cubs are the first NL team to reach that mark.

Mon, 12 May 2025 10:40:27 -0400

The bullpen problems the Cubs had in their loss to the Mets yesterday is more of the same of the Hoyer era. Every season the Cubs rebuild their bullpen mostly from pitchers who were let go from other teams. When they do sign a free-agent reliever it is not when that person is at their prime but rather after their prime when they don’t command as high a salary. Hoyer’s plan for building a championship team is predicated largely on luck, but luck is not a strategy. No matter whether the Cubs win the division at the end of the season, Ricketts has only one question to answer and that is, based on his body of work, can Jed Hoyer build a consistently championship level competitive team? I think the evidence since 2017 is clear, he cannot and it is time for a change in direction.

Thu, 08 May 2025 14:45:20 -0400

An American Pope? Never expected to see the day. One of my best friends is excited that he is from Chicago and ~~apparently a Cubs fan and~~ they both got their Masters of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. I even spent a few nights at CTU the first time I ever traveled to Chicago on my own while my friend was still in school. The real important question though is the new Pope a fan of deep dish or thin crust pizza?

Thu, 01 May 2025 15:10:36 -0400

The Cubs have just completed the first series of the season against the Pirates winning two of three games, a disappointing result considering that is a match up between first and last place teams in the division. As I wrote before the series started I wanted to see the Cubs sweep the Pirates or win 2 of three at a minimum. Winning two of three is not playing down to the opponent but they should have won the game last night and completed the sweep today. Next up is a weekend series in Wrigley north against the second place Brewers starting Friday night on Apple TV (sigh). We will learn a little more this weekend by whether or not the Cubs win the series.

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 13:29:03 -0400

By most reports the Chicago Cubs wrapped up their toughest two weeks of the schedule last night and enter the first series against divisional opponent Pittsburgh with a 17-12 overall record and a 1.5 game lead in the N.L. Central. In short, they exceeded expectations. However, for me, the upcoming month against lesser opponents will be more telling. Will the Cubs play down to their competition, which has been a problem in the past, and end May with just a few games above .500 or will they extend their overall record to well above .500 by dominating the lesser opponents? Good teams beat the teams they are supposed to beat, and they are supposed to beat Pittsburgh so I am looking for a sweep or at least win the first two for a chance to sweep.

The 8th Inning Game

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 12:14:17 -0400

It was my birthday yesterday (I’ve entered my late 50s) and the Cubs were playing in Wrigley. Some day I will be in Wrigley on my birthday to watch the Cubs, but yesterday I was at home. The Cubs won with a final score of 13-11 and that alone is surprising in a Mike Schmidt/Dave Kingman sort of way but only tells half the story.

The Cubs had a one run lead (2-1) going in to the bottom of the 7th inning. The bases were loaded when Ian Happ came up and hit a grand slam to extend the lead to 6-1 with only one out. Kyle Tucker tripled and after Suzuki struck out Michael Busch hit a single to score Tucker and the Cubs led 7-1 going in to the 8th inning.

Cubs fans should be comfortable at this point, but the bullpen is not reliable so anything can happen, and happen it did! Recent call up Jordan Wicks went to the mound to start the inning and promptly gave up three hits in a row to load the bases. Porter Hodge was put in to face Cubs killer Eugenio Suárez who hit a grand slam to cut the lead to 7-5.

The Diamondbacks were not done scoring and after a walk and two singles they took the lead 8-7 when Hodge was lifted for Ethan Roberts who gave up a three run homer to give the Diamondbacks a 11-7 lead. Going in to bottom of the 8th inning the Cubs went from a six run lead to a four run deficit.

At this point in time my buddy Ray texted that he was done watching, having better things to do than watch the bullpen implode again. The first two Cub batters in the 8th got on and then Carson Kelly hit his second home run of the day to cut the deficit to 11-10. I texted Ray that the rally was on and to keep not watching!

After Justin Tucker struck out Ian Happ got a single and then Kyle Tucker came up and hit a home run to put the Cubs back in from 12-11. Seiya Suzuki followed Tucker with a home run of his own to extend the Cubs lead back to two runs going in the 9th inning.

From the bottom of the seventh to the top of the ninth inning the Cubs and Diamondbacks scored 21 runs on 21 hits, which I think is a major league record. A classic Wrigley Field game that instantly became famous, but the game is not over!

New Cubs closer Ryan Pressly was brought in and we are still nervous because again the bullpen is terrible. Pressly induced a popup for the first out and then first baseman Michael Busch made a great play on a hot grounder up the foul line and raced to the bag for the second out. Of course, there had to be some drama as the next hitter got a two out double before Pressly got a game ending pop out to short left caught be Dansby Swanson. Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win! Fly the W and sing the song!

Obvious Shirts has already memorialized the game with a shirt dubbing it The 8th Inning Game and of course put in an order for it as soon as I saw it as it was on my 59th birthday even if I wasn’t in Wrigley to see it.

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 09:03:10 -0400

Yesterday the Cubs sent rookie Matt Shaw, who had been playing first base, back to Triple-A Iowa. We don’t know if this is a short term thing due to the recent injuries, but did they make the right move? I saw no, particularly because he would have made that catch that Workman did not last night. Right now the Cub bats are not the problem and they need good fielding.

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:54:31 -0400

Despite the fact that the Chicago Cubs record at 11-8 is decent and their run production has been good the early returns are that they have the same old bullpen after it blew another lead in route to a 10-4 loss to the Padres last night. Frankly, the poor performance of the bullpen must be laid at Jed Hoyer’s feet as his approach of yearly rebuild using castoffs from other teams translates to every season being a crap shoot. The continual poor off season performance is why I think Hoyer should be replaced sooner rather than later.

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 09:03:33 -0400

Good news, the Chicago Cubs won 2 of 3 games against the LA Dodgers over the weekend. Bad news, they lost their best pitcher Justin Steele to injury for the rest of the season.

Early Results

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 11:18:28 -0400

A MLB team cannot win their division in April, but they can lose it. Going in to the middle of April we are seeing positive results from the Chicago Cubs, although they suffered the first set back of the season when Justin Steele was put on the 15 day IL. Right now they are at the top of the NL Central with a half game lead but that doesn’t matter as much as the +28 run differential that is the best in the league. The runs they scored during this last home stand in cold April weather is a very positive sign.

On Friday the Cubs start a 6 game road trip in Los Angeles and then San Diego, and I think these games are a good early test for the Cubs. I want to see them win at least two games in LA and win one in San Diego. The Dodgers have actually fallen back to earth going 6-4 over the last ten while the Padres has jumped up to the top of the NL West over the Dodgers and Giants. I will feel good about a split on this road trip.

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 00:07:40 -0400

The sun has come down on my last night here in Phoenix. We saw two Cubs spring training games, and they won one and lost the other.

Sat, 08 Mar 2025 19:04:03 -0400

Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 15:01:38 -0400

PSA. Chicago Cubs pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 8 days on February 9. The first spring training game is on February 20, 2025.

Good Teams Have Painful Loses

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 11:58:17 -0400

There is no consolation today for lifelong Detroit Lions fans. A loss in the first playoff game after having the best regular season record is particularly painful. Detroit fans can look back to the Detroit Red Wings, who had similar heartbreaking losses to the Devils in the 94-95 Stanley Cup finals and to the Oilers in 2005-06. The loss to the Devils was particularly hard because the Wings had not been in the finals for so long, had the best regular season record, and got swept. The next year the Wings again had the best regular season record and then lost to the Avalanche in the conference finals. Finally, the Wings won the Stanley Cup in 96-97.

Being a lifelong Cubs fan, I know the feeling of rooting for a team that were perennial losers to finally become a good team. I learned I would much rather feel the pain of a playoff loss than the feel the frustration of the Cubs being out of contention after the first month of the regular season. Painful loses are part of the consequences of being a good team, otherwise you are never in position to have such loses.

The Lions have built a firm foundation and there is no reason to not believe that Holmes and Campbell will learn from this and continue building upon that foundation. There are no guarantees next year will be just as good as this year, but there is every reason to look forward to next.

Major League Hypocrisy

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:26:21 -0400

I have a reflexive reaction to hypocrisy and that reflex is often triggered by Major League Baseball. Ever since Sammy Sosa left the Cubs in 2004 he has been not welcomed by the Chicago Cubs, mostly because of ownership’s “holier than thou” attitude toward Sammy’s use of performance enhancing drugs. Sammy’s place in Cubs history and his alumni status were not to be recognized until he apologized. The hypocrisy is that every part of MLB, from ownership, the commissioner, the media, and the players knew who was taking PEDs and looked the other way for sake of all the money rolling in from the coverage of Sammy and Mark McGwire’s season home run race in 1998. The fact that race re-engaged a pissed off fan base due to the players strike during 1994-95, which lead to millions of more dollars for all involved, seems lost on everyone.

So, Ricketts got his apology yesterday, and so all is forgiven and they look forward to seeing Sammy at the upcoming Cubs convention. Sure they would, like the “incident” itself, Sammy’s participation in that convention will result in more money for all involved. Question, when is Mr. Ricketts going to apologize to Cubs fans for the poor product he has been putting on the field the last seven years?

As a fellow human being, Sammy Sosa deserves forgiveness and grace given to him for mistakes he made in the past, but is forgiveness only “given” upon condition truly forgiveness? Sosa, McGwire, Bonds and all the others could have been “better” humans, but like so many of us they gave in to the temptations and expectations put upon them. But, all of these players were and are being scapegoated by a corrupted system that wants our attention on them while the powers of the system put more money in their pocket.

Let’s see an apology from the MLB baseball commissioner on behalf of the league and ownership for the culture they nurtured during the “PED era.” As reconciliation, they can figure out how the hall of fame can recognize the good and the bad of these players as well as what was done to them. Further, a league that has gone all in on gambling really has no high ground to keep Pete Rose out of the hall of fame.

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 12:28:54 -0400

I don’t understand how any professional sports owner can tolerate the same performance year over year, but that is the case for the Chicago Cubs as long as Jed Hoyer is in charge. I wonder whether Craig Counsell has started to think he made the wrong decision last year?

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 09:53:11 -0400

Today I was reading an article about the Cubs signing Matthew Boyd and found it to be the first to include a link to a post on Bluesky. It’s the first time I’ve seen a link to a post on Bluesky from something that looks like mainstream media.

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 10:10:19 -0400

Looking at the Cubs end of season summary by BleedCubbieBlue.com, I think the last list that compares the top ten players from the 2023 season to the 2024 season shows the best explanation for why the Cubs did not the playoffs. All of the Cubs best 2023 players regressed in 2024, and in the case of Cody Bellinger, the regression was dramatic. Last off season we did want Bellinger to leave, but I think this off season if Bellinger does leave the impact will not be as big.

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 11:06:51 -0400

The 2024 Detroit Tigers are exhibit A of evidence for how pitching in Major League Baseball is changing from a emphasis on starters to a team pitching staff. The Tigers basically got in to the playoffs with only one legit starter in Tarik Skubal, who dominated the Astros in his first playoff outing yesterday. Today and tomorrow, if necessary, the Tigers will deploy their entire pitching staff with a combination of openers, middle relievers, and closers and they can do so because they have one of the lowest team ERAs. I am sure the Tigers would love to have more than one starter on their staff, and they had that up to the trade deadline, but the quality of the bullpen was good enough to get them a wild card spot, and that would have been the case for the Cubs if the pen were better in 2024.

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 13:30:02 -0400

I am surprised the BleedCubbieBlue.com’s playoff summary of the Mets/Brewers series doesn’t ask the obvious question. Will the Brewers find their problem of not advancing in the playoffs was Craig Counsell? The first year of Counsell’s management of the Cubs produced the literal same result as the prior year, suggesting he is not the difference maker and that David Ross was not the problem. What might it mean about Counsell if the Brewers make it the World Series in the first year after his departure?

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:22:35 -0400

On this day in 1984 I watched the Chicago Cubs make the playoffs for the first time in my lifetime thanks to the pitching of Rick Sutcliffe. At the time it felt as though the best NL team, the Cubs, would meet the best AL team, the Detroit Tigers, but then the debacle in San Diego and Steve “bleeping” Garvey.

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 13:57:42 -0400

Just yesterday I wrote about how major league baseball has changed making the bullpen more important, at least as important, as starting pitchers and today BleedCubbieBlue.com reinforces that with stats about how trend of fewer stating pitching pitching 162 innings per year.

Looking To Next Season

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:22:31 -0400

The Cubs did not meet their expectation to win the NL Central division this year and they will not be in the playoffs this year. Last year I wrote that during the off-season the Cubs needed to sign two reliable starting pitchers and retain Merryweather in the bullpen; they only signed one reliable pitcher and Merryweather was injured all season.

Assad has earned the right to be in the starting rotation next year along with Imanaga, Steele and Taillon, but Hendricks should be gone so they will need one more starter and it is uncertain whether that starter is currently in the Cubs system.

Before deciding whether the Cubs need to sign a starter, there needs to be consideration that the bullpen in today’s game may be more important than starting pitching. Working with a slate of new bullpen pitchers is not a good strategy for how pitchers are now used, so I would focus more on keeping the bullpen pitchers you can count on and replacing those you cannot with people who you expect to be on the team for several years. I don’t think enough consideration has been made on the consequence of the three hitter minimum on relief pitchers.

Finally, it should be clear by now that the Cubs batting line up is too easy to shut down. It looks to me like every hitter has the same profile such that if a pitcher has success against one person they likely will succeed against all. Because nobody gets one or more hits in every game, there needs to be diversity such that when one player gets 0 hits another gets 2 or more hits.

The Cubs line up is a result of a system of evaluating hitters and that system, for which the Cubs front office is responsible, is clearly flawed. Exhibit A of this is the mid-season signing of Paredes this year and Candelario last year, both were no different than the other Cubs hitters and did not much help once inserted in to the lineup. The 2024 Cubs had the same results of the prior team and every team since 2017. If we want a different result then the system needs to change.

It’s time for a turnover in the front office, a new approach is needed in evaluating hitters. I am convinced that despite the new, cool metrics, team batting average still matters. A high team average exists with a good ratio of good, consistent hitters who have a high individual average, to unreliable low average hitters. Home runs might win games, but it doesn’t look like an entire line up of 20 home run hitters will win championships. The 2024 Cubs hitters excelled against poor pitching, but was not competitive against good pitching.

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:32:23 -0400

BTW, the Cubs did it again, putting up another football score (12-0) on the Pirates. The pitching staff and catcher posted a combined no-hitter. The Cubs are 4.5 games behind the Braves for the final wild card and continue to play with our emotions. An aside, how much worse would the Cubs be without Shota Imanaga?

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 10:07:43 -0400

The last two weeks sum up the Chicago Cubs 2024 season. Last week the Cubs put up football scores against the Pittsburgh Pirates (18-8, 9-5, 14-10) and gave me hope that they could make a real run for the last MLB playoff wildcard. A week later the Cubs are playing that same Pirates team and have lost 3-5 and 0-5, and that pretty much has me throwing in the towel on their chances. Yes, they are only 4.5 games back and thus mathematically in it, but after the Pirates leave the Yankees come in to Chicago for three games and then the Cubs travel to LA to play the Dodgers, and they are very likely going to be out of the running by the end of that series against the Dodgers. If the Cubs were to make the playoffs, it will be because they are lucky; their inconsistency makes it more probable they will be watching the playoffs

In Hindsight

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 09:54:24 -0400

I am a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs and feel blessed to have lived long enough to see them win the 2016 World Series. The players on that 2016 Cubs team will always be special and so when it came time for those players to part ways from the team I, like many, were disappointed, but I now have to admit they were the right decisions.

Last night Javier Baez, one of those on that 2016 who now plays for the Detroit Tigers, returned to Wrigley Field for the first time since he was traded to the New York Mets. Even when Baez played for the Cubs he was not considered a good hitter, he chased most pitches out of the strike zone, but some time had the good fortune of making a big hit. I always felt Baez’s value was most defined by his fielding at shortstop, and in his prime I thought him the best shortstop in baseball. I am old enough to remember that the shortstop position was not usually fielded by the best hitters (remember Shawn Dunston?), but considered the most important in field position and Baez fit that mold.

Even though I did not like the fact that the Cubs seemingly unceremoniously dumped those players from the 2016 roster, I have to admit that looking back now nearly all were the right decisions, except for one, the first one letting Kyle Schwarber go as he went on to win another Word Series with the Nationals and play in another with the Phillies.

Kris Bryant has not played a full season since he was traded to San Francisco. Anthony Rizzo has been alright but often injured with the Yankeess. Baez has never figured out the plate. It’s clear to me now that even if they had kept these players the Cubs would not be any better of a team than they are today.

So, the front office was right in letting these players go for as many prospects they could get. Some, like Pete Crow-Armstrong, who they got in the trade to the Mets for Baez, has potential to be stars in their own right. My fear though is that the current Cubs front office has a profile for players that seem to be one hit wonders over long term producers. In short, the new guys they get are like the old guys they had and that seems to produce the same results of not being good, nor clutch, hitters. You combine this hitting profile with a tendency turn over the bullpen every single off season and you get the mediocrity that is the current adjective for the Chicago Cubs.

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 14:39:56 -0400

The Cubs have been playing better since the All Star break and have got themselves to 1 game below .500, making the series against Cleveland that starts tonight important. The Cubs have a favorable schedule for August so they have a chance to put their record well above that .500 mark and make the Wild Card race interesting for their fans. Right now the Cubs are 3 games out of a final Wild Card spot but their are four other teams ahead of them. All the Cubs have to do is keep winning.

After The 2024 Trade Deadline

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 09:23:00 -0400

Officially the All-Star game is considered to be the half-way mark of a MLB season, but the real mid-season milestone that matters is the trade deadline. The actions taken by a team by the trade deadline indicate whether the team management thinks it can make the playoffs, if they do then they will try to make trades that help the team win in the current season, otherwise they start work on the next season. Jed Hoyer’s comments that he was focusing on 2025 was indication that Cub’s management doesn’t expect to make the playoffs this year.

Last season the Chicago Cubs were surprising buyers at the deadline, having gone on a winning streak that convinced Jed Hoyer the team had the shot at a wildcard spot, but that didn’t happen and David Ross the scapegoat. Now this season, after signing Craig Counsell to the highest salary of any MLB manager the Cubs are last in the NL Central with a 51-58 record and they are seven games out of the last wild card spot. In short, the Cubs are likely not making the playoffs this year. Are they going to fire Counsell?

Even though the playoff positioning is different between last year and this year, a fair assessment is that the team is really no better than the year before, nor the year before that or any other year up to 2016. What we have is the same problems of unreliable hitting and pitching from the bullpen. The fact that the 2024 team’s starting pitching has been so good is as much an indicator of how much MLB has changed since 2016 than anything. It used to be that teams with strong starting pitching were winners, but the game now does not rely so much on starting pitching to win games.

The sole purpose of starting pitching in the game today is to not lose the game in the first five innings by not giving up more than three runs, the bullpen is expected to now win every game by not giving up any runs. If that weren’t bad enough, hitting is a completely lost art in baseball, with hitters needing only a .244 batting average to be considered good. The game has come down to this, pitching keeping the opponents from hitting home runs until your own batters hit two or more home runs.

The Chicago Cubs line up has been made up of the similar type of unreliable hitters for nearly a decade now, which is a clear indicator to me that the front office’s idea of what is a major league hitter is out of sync with reality. As long as Hoyer is running the Cubs they will not be any different, and so it’s on ownership to recognize the insanity of continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result.

If I were the owner of the Chicago Cubs, now that the trade deadline has past, I would fire Hoyer immediately to signal that it’s time for a change. Take the time to review and interview people over the remainder of the season to find the right replacement to have your new front office in place before the off season begins in earnest.

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:40:32 -0400

Forty years go today the Chicago Cubs signed Rick Sutcliffe and the team would go on to the NLCS for first time in my life. Unfortunately, in 1984 the Cubs blew a 2-0 lead of a five game series against the San Diego Padres, losing three straight in San Diego, so they did not go on to the World Series when they would likely have lost to the Detroit Tigers.

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 09:11:01 -0400

On this date the Chicago Cubs' record is 32-35 and they are 7 games behind Milwaukee for the NL Central division and a half game behind the last wildcard spot. In short, about the same record and standings as they had last year. The Cubs didn’t need to make Craig Counsell the highest paid manager in Major League Baseball to achieve this level of mediocrity, they did that fine under David Ross. It should be obvious by now the real problem is the front office.

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 08:46:56 -0400

Good morning Cubs fans! Welcome to Eclipse day. Our Cubbies have played three series and won two of them. We could have won all three of them if you consider how well Justin Steele was pitching before his injury in Texas. So far the lineup as produced runs and the starting pitching has been pretty good. My only disappointment yesterday is that the rain disrupted Imanga’s start against the Dodgers, which I was looking forward to seeing. Hopefully they continue to play well during the road trip this week along the west coast.

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 11:29:48 -0400

Today is the Chicago Cub’s home opener after they completed the first series of the season with one again and two loses against the Texas Rangers. Texas is the defending World Series champion and therefore is one of best teams, so not getting swept is a bonus. In fact, the Cubs came within inches of maybe winning the first game in the tenth inning when a foul ball hit by Christopher Morel just missed being a grand slam. Steele was keeping the Rangers lineup in check before he pulled a hamstring fielding a swinging bunt. Despite this, my reaction after one series is that the current Cubs lineup seems no better than last year’s, with the same unreliable hitting, amplified by bad fielding.

Pugnosticating The 2024 Chicago Cubs

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:48:47 -0400

The Chicago Cubs have completed the 2024 Cactus League spring training “season” and will start the 2024 MLB season tomorrow at the Texas Rangers. As many questions exist about the 2024 team as did for the 2023 team, so it is hard for me to expect them to be too much better than last year. Will Greg Counsell as the new manager make a difference? Perhaps that is the main question going in to this season.

One cannot read much into what happens at spring training, although I attended spring training games in 2016, which is when the Cubs won the World Series, and have not attended a spring training game since nor have the Cubs returned to the World Series. Read in to that what you will.

For me what stood out most during spring training is that Seiya Suzuki continued hitting as well as he did in the second half of the 2023 season, and hopefully that will translate to a hot start for him in this season. Most Cub fans will say that Suzuki has not yet lived up to his potential, but we saw signs of that at the end of last year. I think it interesting that Suzuki may be hitting second to start the season so that he and Bellinger get as many at bats as possible during games. (Bellinger must bat no lower than third all season so he gets as many at bats as possible, something that David Ross refused to do last year.)

The two biggest (or three biggest depending on how you count) questions for the Cubs going in to this season are, will Morel and Busch succeed at third and first base and how will the starting pitching perform? Morel will get his best chance to prove he can be a reliable third baseman and Busch will get a chance to prove that he can produce at the plate. The Cubs have been searching for the next players at third and first ever since they traded away Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, and from fans' perspective that search has taken too long.

Many more questions exist about the pitching staff, but I think they start with will Jameson Taillon live up to expectations? Taillon was the Cubs big pitching pick up before the 2023 season and he did not pitch well and had several injuries. The fact that Taillon is starting the 2024 season on the injury list does not bode well. I think the Cubs need Taillon to meet expectations for them to have a chance to win the N.L. Central.

Will Justin Steele and Kyle Hendricks repeat their performances in 2023? We will find out soon given that Steele will pitch against the defending World Series champions on Thursday night and then Hendricks will follow him on Saturday. Finally, will Shota Imanaga meet expectations in his first season or falter as many players do when moving from Japan to the United States?

Finally will the youngsters, Jordan Wicks and Javier Assad, improve upon their performances in 2023? The long term view for the Cubs relies heavily on their ability to promote pitching from within, and while Steele is a success story the MLB teams most successful over long periods of time have nearly their entire pitching staff come up from their farm system.

The 2016 World Series team had an established pitching staff so going in to that season there were more questions about their hitting and fielding than pitching. The 2024 team has significant questions in all three areas, which means the probability for them to have playoff success, if they make the playoffs, is lower than in 2016. Given that the Cubs have a new manager it might be more fair to compare this team to the 2015 team that made it to the NL championship, which is the first year Joe Maddon managed the team.

Despite the first year manager comparisons, I think it might be better to compare this team, or rather the entire Cubs organization, to the 2014 team. Back in 2014 many of their future stars were still in the minor leagues but on the brink of making it to the majors. During the 2024 spring training we saw many of the Cubs' future stars like Matt Shaw and Pete Crow-Armstrong perform well but sent back to the minors for further development. We probably will see some of those young players this season, but expect them to really push to start the 2025 season with the big team.

The 2014 team finished with a 73-89 record but the 2024 team has better players and a better manager, so I do expect them to compete for the NL Central division championship in September. On paper the Cubs should take control of the division, but I am not confident the Cubs have enough consistent batters to prevent the team from having long losing streaks. I therefore expect the 2024 team to be about the same as last year’s team. The main problem with how David Ross managed the team last year is that he kept players who were not hitting in the line up too long. I am not sure whether Counsell will have less patience than Ross had, but his impatience may be what leads the team to win the division. What I do know is that I am going to have fun watching to see how they do. Let’s play ball!

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:11:26 -0400

I saw a text message from my buddy first thing yesterday morning, telling me that the Cubs had signed Cody Bellinger. It’s a three year for $80m deal that gives Bellinger opt outs after each year, so it is basically another one year contract. In other words, we will likely see this drama play out next off season. Regardless, the Cubs now have the appearance of a complete line up, it is a matter of whether they meet expectations.

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 10:58:18 -0400

Go Cubs Go! First day of MLB spring and the sun is shining.

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 10:18:24 -0400

On paper the Cubs don’t look much better than last season, in fact you could make the case that they are worse. The saving grace is that no other team stands out in the NL Central, so one can claim the Cubs have as good a chance as any to win their division. More and more it looks like the Cubs owners are settled with the one World Series win and now are all about milking a cash cow like owners before.

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 10:13:07 -0400

Today is the the first day of spring. The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox start spring at 3 PM EST today, and the Cubs have not signed Cody Bellinger. Hoyer has stuck to the plan as I saw it back in November. He did sign a pitcher to fill out the starting rotation, another pitcher for the back end of the bullpen, and a possible starting first baseman. Only way I see Bellinger back in the Cubs uni this season is if he gets anxious and decides to sign a short term, one or two year deal with an opt out to secure work for this season. In other words, Hoyer and Boras are playing a game of chicken.

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 12:38:22 -0400

Public Service Announcement! It’s seven days until the Chicago Cubs spring training 2024 opener. Spring is only seven days away people!

Football Fun

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 16:06:17 -0400

Yesterday was fun for me as a football fan. I am a life long Green Bay Packer fan and really enjoyed watching the Packers pummel the Dallas Cowboys. The enjoyment not so much because I dislike Dallas but more so because Packer’s performance was so unexpected. Jordan Love had a perfect passer rating in large part because the receivers caught every ball thrown their way. The offensive line did a fantastic job of opening up holes for Aaron Jones to run through, and the defensive secondary had two interceptions and made it hard on Dak and CeeDee. I don’t expect the Packers to have the same success in San Francisco, but they could make the game interesting. My respect for coach Matt LaFleur has gone up tremendously for how the term has performed.

Next came the night cap. I’ve lived in metro Detroit for more than half my life, and when Packers play the Lions, I am all cheesehead, otherwise I am rooting for the Lions to win. Those who have grown up a Lions fan have experienced more downs than ups, which I relate to as a Chicago Cubs fan. (Although my Packers were awful during my childhood and teen years during the 70s and 80s.) So, I really wanted to see the Lions win last night, and they hung on to do it, never trailing in their game. The Lions will have another game this season in Ford Field, and have a good chance to getting in the NFC Championship game.

I’ll just put it out there. If the Lions win and the Packers beat the 49ers then these two NFC North Division foes would play each other in Ford Field for the right to play in the Super Bowl. Possible, but not probable, but on any given day anything can happen.

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 10:39:00 -0400

It’s another MLB offseason, deep in to December, during which the Chicago Cubs have yet to sign any free agent. By this time last year the Cubs had signed Dansby Swanson after seeing the other top tier free agents go to other teams. Back in November when people were reacting to the Cubs hiring Gregg Counsell as manager I was skeptical that that hire was a sign that the Cubs were going to be aggressive in the free agent market. I believe that Hoyer most likes Counsell’s success without having top tier players, so I expect more of the same. Really. of such free agents only Cody Bellinger remains and I suspect the length of contract he wants is not what Hoyer is willing to give. I don’t see the Cubs returning to the World Series as long as Hoyer is in charge.

Sat, 18 Nov 2023 13:30:51 -0400

Finished reading: The Franchise: Chicago Cubs by Bruce Miles 📚I enjoyed reading this one about my favorite baseball team.

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 15:23:41 -0400

I keep reading articles that are interpreting the hiring of Gregg Counsell is a sign that the Cubs will be aggressive in the free agent market this year. I believe people might be overlooking something important. Jed Hoyer has stated that he has admired Counsell’s success in Milwaukee given the budget constraints. I believe that Hoyer is convinced that his way of NOT paying a lot of money for free agents is the correct path, and signing Counsell enables him to continue that strategy and be successful. Counsell might have signed with the Cubs thinking he is stepping up to a big market team, but in practice the Cubs have more in common with the Brewers. It is more than likely that the Cubs do not sign the likes of Bellinger and Ohtani and instead stick to their history of signing bottom top to top mid tier players. None of the players the Cubs signed after hiring Joe Maddon were top tier at that time, including Jon Lester. Until proven otherwise, I am not convinced the signing of Counsell is a signal of a change in how Hoyer will make decisions. I still think the Cubs fired the wrong man.

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:23:07 -0400

I realize that what I wrote below and how I relate what the Chicago Cubs have done (sports) to the state of the world may appear to be overly dramatic. What I think is incredible dangerous is a world in which there are no lines, and that is appearing more and more frequently. Some time soon there will be another mass shooting in the United States, this is guaranteed because there is no line, no limit on the amount of death that a gun advocate has in the U.S. to convince them that there is no good reason to have an AK-47. The very principle of liberty for all in the United States, nor the democratic republic instituted for the sake of that liberty no longer appears to be a line. My question to Republicans is, what is the line that Donald Trump cannot cross to either get re-elected or while in office, that will lead you to no longer support him?

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:01:17 -0400

I have read The Athletics’s articles on the firing of David Ross and the hiring of Gregg Counsell that confirmed that the decision went down as expected, and no matter how the Cubs front office wants to sugar coat it, they stabbed Ross in the back. Cub fans who have problems seeing this decision as I do likely are in the camp that the ends justify the means. Ends justifying the means is “the” scourge on our society today in things little like what happened to David Ross and large like the support for and voting for Donald Trump as POTUS. No principles, values, or guard rails (ethics) are considered to be in place that lead one to the conclusion that even though one could do something they won’t do it. When the ends justify the means there is no democracy.

Another Chicago Cubs Scapegoat

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 17:04:20 -0400

Whenever a general manager/front office of a professional sports team fires a good coach, or in baseball manager, I am suspicious of the true motivations behind the decision. I tend to think such decisions are often deflections of attention away from the front office. Today the Chicago Cubs dismissed David Ross and hired Gregg Counsell and many will note similarities in this decision with how they dismissed Ricky Renteria in 2014 to hire Joe Maddon who unexpectedly become available. I personally do not think the two situations are the same.

Renteria had been on the job for only one year, had not really proven himself as a manager, and did not have any history with the Cubs. Ross is one of the heros of the 2016 world championship team and had taken the Cubs to the playoffs as a manager. Counsell is a good manager and had taken the Brewers to the playoffs five of his six seasons with them, but did not have success in the playoffs. I do not think Counsell is as good a manager today as Joe Maddon was in 2014.

More important, David Ross was not the reason why the Cubs did not make the playoffs this season. The Cubs did not make the playoffs because of a depleted bullpen and in my opinion bad offseason acquisitions that were eventually released during the season, and those decisions were made by the general manager and president of baseball operations.

Ricketts might have bought Hoyer’s argument that jumping on the opportunity to get Counsell is similar to when Epstein jumped on the opportunity to get Maddon, but if Ricketts really wants to address the root cause for why Cubs did not meet expectations this season he ought to be questioning the decisions made by Hoyer and hold him accountable. If the Cubs have decided to completely move on from 2016 that means moving on from Jed Hoyer. In my opinion, the Cubs released the wrong person from their team.

Oh, and by the way, if the Cubs make this move of stabbing one of their own in the back, they darn well better be aggressive at signing free agents during the off season.

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 15:23:22 -0400

Seven years ago the greatest game ever played was played, on a Wednesday, in Cleveland.

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 11:54:59 -0400

I thought that the Arizona Diamondbacks were going to win the World Series, but I guess I forgot to take into account the fact that the middle three games were in Arizona and how the Rangers won every road game during the playoffs. It’s the first World Series that the Texas Rangers have ever won. Here is something overlooked, Aroldis Chapman helped the Chicago Cubs win their first World Series in 108 years, and now has helped the Rangers win their first World Series in 63 years. I think that Chapman does not get enough credit for the Cubs winning game seven in Cleveland. He gave up the tying home run to Raji Davis in the 8th inning but then came back out in the 9th and held the Indians to no runs with the potential for let down from the 8th inning being huge! The Indians could have walked off in the 9th inning, instead the game played on, the Cubs went ahead in the 10th inning and then won, and Ben Zobrist was named MVP.

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 17:27:17 -0400

If you think you are not religious then you don’t know what is religion. I think Americans are more religious today than ever before, but don’t recognize it because we equate religion with a specific association to specific organizations or specific beliefs in deities.

Religion is much more fundamental to who we are as humans. For example, if you identify yourself with an NFL team, like I say I am a Packers fan, you are religious. The religion, which is that to which you connect or bind yourself (re-ligio) is professional U.S. football. Republicans? Democrat? Conservative? Liberal? Progressive? All religions. Yes, even atheism is a religion. Religion is an aspect of our ego.

The problem in all of this is we have no understanding of our true selves, and the decisions we make are to maintain all these false selves that don’t really add value to who we are and what we truly need. It is the stranglehold of our religions that is driving decisions that we make against our own best interests.

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:06:26 -0400

All of the MLB wild card series games of both leagues are done with sweeps of each. The NL wildcards that I preferred to advance won. The Diamondbacks play the Dodgers and the Phillies play the Braves, and I look forward to watching both series. The Brewers, who finished the regular season nine games ahead of the Cubs to win the NL Central division, were swept in two both games by wide margins. Had the Cubs hung on to the third wild card they would have played the Brewers, who I am sure wish that had happened.

My 2023 MLB Playoff Preferences

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 17:21:43 -0400

I am not as crazy as to pretend that I can predict what will happen in this year’s Major League Baseball playoffs, but I did want to go down on record about what are my preferences given that the Chicago Cubs are not in the tournament.

Given I closely follow the Cubs, I am more emotionally invested in the National League games, so I will start with the easy part, which is that my preference for the American League champion is any team other than Houston. Houston has won it recently, most of the others have not, and that is the bottom line. For some reason I find myself drawn to the Baltimore Orioles, so I will prefer they play in the Word Series for the American League.

Wild card teams seem to excel in the tournament and do so at the expense of the higher seeds who are division winners. I think the wild card teams have the advantage of actually having played under playoff pressure for weeks up to the tournament just to make it in to the postseason. Of the the wild card teams, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Arizona Diamondbacks made it to the NLCS, and I think a championship between them and Atlanta would be very fun to watch.

My emotional preference is for Philadelphia to represent the NL in the World Series because of Kyle Schwarber, but I expect Atlanta to make it to the World Series and win it all because they are the best team in all of baseball. A big part of me likes the idea of Schwarber having the most success of the former Cub players after the 2016 World Series given how the Cubs front office gave up on him waaaay too soon.

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 08:56:40 -0400

Looking back at it, the last week of the MLB baseball season is often been filled with angst. I do agree with what I wrote back in 2019, I’d rather be in the position of being disappointed that a good team did not succeed than always rooting for bad teams who occasionally surprise. The Cubs lost last night after having a 6-0 lead. In many ways the game encapsulates their current state, some good pitching to gain a lead or stay close, but not enough pitching to sustain the lead through 9 innings. In that state all other facets of the game have to be played near flawlessly, so a fielding error can (and last night was) be fatal. Good news is that the one loss does not put them out of the playoff standings, but they cannot lose two games in a row now and when they do lose they are at the mercy of how other teams perform.

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 14:02:24 -0400

I’ve turned an emotional corner regarding this year’s Chicago Cubs. I now don’t expect them to make the playoffs, they are clearly in a downward spiral that they don’t have the manpower left to pull up from. I am not going to care whether they make the playoffs and focus on enjoying these remaining games.

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 09:15:05 -0400

Cubs starter Justin Steele got pounded by Pirates last night, and the Cubs lost 7-13. Fortunately, the Marlins also lost so the Cubs maintain the half game lead for the third wild card. My buddy said he thinks the Cubs pitching staff has nothing left in the tank, and that certainly looked to be the case last night. Steele is the best of the Cubs pitchers and he was cruising until he hit an apparent wall in the fourth inning.

Why The Cubs Are Fading

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:49:08 -0400

The World Series, like most major sports championships, is won by defense. In baseball that mainly translates to pitching, but also fielding. When you play the same team in a playoff series your hitters usually face the opponent’s best pitching, consequently you should plan for 3 or fewer runs scored and that means you want your pitching to hold the opponent to 3 or fewer runs.

Since the beginning of September the Cubs have been in playoff games. Nearly all of the teams they faced need to beat them to move ahead of the Cubs in the Wild Card playoff standings. By my count the Cubs have played 17 games so far in September and in 7 of them their opponent scored 3 or fewer runs. My conclusion is that the Cubs pitching is simply not good enough to win in the playoffs.

I think my conclusion holds if you look at the larger body of work over the season. I expect that in a high percentage of the games the Cubs won they scored 4 or more runs, too many of those they needed to score 4 or more runs. During the regular season it is not surprising that your hitters will have more success because they will be in many situations where they face poor pitching.

A team built to win in the MLB playoffs has the pitching that more often than not can hold their opponent to 3 or fewer runs. Truth is the Cubs got through the 2023 season with only one reliable starting pitcher, maybe two (Steele for sure, and possibly Hendricks). Stroman and Taillon have not been consistent and Taillon has been aweful. Javier Assad joined the starting rotation too late in to the season so it is really hard to assess his reliability. The bullpen is no better, only Merrywather and Alzolay has been reliable, though Leiter is borderline.

The fact that the Cubs are in a playoff race is much more important this year than they actually make the playoffs, and the goal long term is be winning division championships and not gain a playoff berth via the wild card. While at the beginning of the season there was some hope the Cubs could compete with the Brewers for the NL Central division championship, I think it was evident early on through head to head games with the Brewers that this Cubs team is not as good or better than the Brewers. Sure, the Cubs can win any game, but can they win a series?

Bottom line, the Chicago Cubs are on schedule for their long term goals of winning division titles and the World Series in upcoming years. Clearly, the Cubs need to improve their pitching. Jordan Wicks has shown he is a piece of the puzzle for next year, and we can hope Taillon will return to the how he pitched in the past. Stroman might be back, but with Hendricks being another year older I think the Cubs need to sign at least two reliable starting pitchers during the off season as well as keep Merryweather.

From the lineup perspective, I think the Cubs should be aggressive in their attempt to sign Bellinger, but I doubt he stays and his departure will create a big gap in their lineup. Maybe youngsters Morel, Mervis, or Crow-Armstrong can help fill that gap but all are too inexperienced with MLB pitching. Consequently, the Cubs need to sign at least one big-name hitter to maintain their current starting lineup performance.

Finally, the biggest question of the off season might be whether David Ross has what it takes to manage a championship caliber baseball team. Every manager makes questionable lineup and in-game decisions, and this is Ross' first manager job so we need to keep in mind that he is learning on the job. I personally can’t pin the current Cubs situation on Ross, the bottom line is that the players have to perform and they are not performing. Ross has made lineup changes and pitching changes, as far as I can tell he is doing everything he can to try and have the Cubs win games. I would not be in a hurry to replace Ross unless there is a championship experienced person to replace him. So, David Ross' fate, like Rick Renteria’s was in 2015, may be decided more by who is available rather than by his own performance.

I am frustrated by and mad about the Cub’s performance this month, but I am mostly mad at the Cubs veterans who have under performed with the pressure on. Frankly, if it weren’t for Suzuki the Cubs would probably would have a longer losing streak. Swanson, Bellinger, and Happ have not met expectations as the veteran leaders. In the big picture I am happy about where the Cubs are, they met my expectations for this season and look to be on track of near year and beyond. All of the younger Cub players who have never been in this position of a playoff race in September are gaining valuable experience of how to deal with the pressure, and in my opinion experience matters most.

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 08:51:51 -0400

We are at the start of the second to the last week of the 2023 Major League Baseball season with the Chicago Cubs in the midst of a five game losing streak. Last week has been frustrating and hopefully behind us. The Cubs have played themselves out of any chance of winning the NL Central and have moved to a third place tie with the Florida Marlins in the Wild Card standings, trailing the Diamondbacks, who just swept the Cubs, by a half game. Disappointed as I am, I also know in the big picture this experience is good for the future of the team, and should be a pleasant surprise considering how bad the team as at the beginning of June.

Welcome To September Baseball

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 09:15:02 -0400

As of this morning the Chicago Cubs are 3 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the N.L. Central lead and have a 2 game lead in the N.L. Wildcard. Nearly all MLB teams are not playing today. On Friday (September 1) the Cubs will have a chance to gain more ground on the Brewers by virtue of a double header, whereas the Brewers play the Phillies. The double header is in Cincinnati and the Reds are chasing the Cubs for the Wildcard, so both teams have playoff positions to play for and therefore the games will be tense.

Time For The Chicago Cubs To Embrace The Pressure

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 16:57:40 -0400

The 162 game schedule is a big part of what makes Major League Baseball unique among professional sports in the United States because it tends to force differences in how games are approached throughout the season. No team is ever going to be undefeated, the current best team, the Atlanta Braves, has won a little over 65% of their games. The MLB season is a marathon meaning that in most cases a game is not treated as “must win.”

Oddly, while a long schedule means most games are not “must win,” for some teams, earlier than they would like, the season transitions to “it doesn’t matter whether they win or lose” because they are out of playoff contention. As a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan it has been my experience more often than not that the Cubs are out of playoff contention by the end of May or early June. Further, as a lifelong Cubs fan, I have learned it is much more fun watching games year after year when the team is playing meaningful games in September. I would much rather have the team lose in the playoffs every year than have the team out the playoffs by June in the majority of seasons.

So, in baseball, a transition occurs over the course of a season where teams move from playing to win games to playing to must win games. The benefit of expanding the number of playoff teams is that more teams start playing more “must win” games in September than in years past. In my experience, teams with players who have the most experience winning “must win” games are best positioned for long term success.

As an aside, it should be obvious why wild card teams, which have worse records than division winners, have had so much success in the playoffs, it’s because they usually play more “must win” games during the last month of the season and through that gain valuable experience and confidence. Turns out there is a big difference between “wanting to win” and “needing to win.”

At this point of a long 2023 season, the Chicago Cubs are starting the transition in to “must win” territory. Nobody associated with the Cubs is going to admit publicly that the games they are playing this week and next are must win, but it’s a mistake if they don’t start viewing the games as such, in fact they ought to embrace the transition. As Billy Jean King is often quoted as saying, “Pressure is a privilege.” The pressure of being in “must win” mode as the calendar flips from August to September is a badge of success.

The unpredictable nature of sports mean should the Cubs make the playoffs they could win the World Series. The probability of the 2023 Cubs winning the World Series is not high, not like it was for the 2016 team. However, the experience of playing as many “must win” games as possible over the course of the final month of the season is huge! The Cubs are exactly where they hoped to be at this time of the season and now players who have not had the experience with this type of pressure gain the experience that will provide dividends for years beyond.

I was mad the Cubs were crushed by the Brewers last night because I desire the immediate gratification of winning the N.L. Central this year, but I am happy that the young Cubs players such as their current best starting pitcher, Justin Steele, are getting this experience playing these games. However, the full value of that experience will not be realized if the team, from top to bottom, doesn’t consider these games “must win.”

The 2023 MLB Season is transitioning from “would like to win” to “must win” for the Cubs, and I am looking for the team to embrace the pressure.

Cubs vs. Tigers at Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 09:08:59 -0400

The Chicago Cubs are playing the Detroit Tigers in Detroit this week, and I went to the Monday and Tuesday night games. The Cubs won 7-6 Monday night in a game when the Cubs gained and gave up a four run lead but hung on to win. The Tigers won Tuesday night 8-6, but the Cubs had a 4-3 run lead after the top of the fourth inning and then gave up 4 runs to the Tigers in the bottom of the inning. The Cubs scored 2 runs in the top of the fifth inning to pull within one run, but scored no more while the Tigers added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning. As of today the Cubs record is 65-60 and they are 3.5 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central division and have the second wild card for the NL playoffs.

Highlights of the games include seeing Cody Bellinger, former NL MVP, playing for the Cubs, he will likely not re-sign with the Cubs at the end of the season. Future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera was the DH for the Tigers in Tuesday’s game, possibly his last game ever against the Chicago Cubs. Click to see the pictures I took during the games on Monday and Tuesday.

Finally, I captured a foul ball during the game on Tuesday. It was fumbled by the guy in front of me and I grabbed after it landed on the steps next to me.

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 21:37:54 -0400

Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 18:41:19 -0400

Go Cubs Go!

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 11:44:12 -0400

Yesterday the Cubs beat the Braves, who by record is the best team in the National League. Today will be a test to see whether the Cubs can beat a better team in a series. Given how this is playing out, I think the experience of playing meaningful games through September is going to be huge for the near future Cub teams. Even if they lose Stroman and Bellinger during the offseason this experience for the maturity of the team is with every penny spent.

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 11:22:30 -0400

I am seeing lots of articles about the demise of the PAC-12 college conference. To an older guy such as myself I find the current conference names no longer make sense. Granted, the Big Ten doesn’t explicitly name a region but it has been for Midwest colleges all my life, west coast colleges mess that up. So, I say you might as well just change the conference names.

One thing I do wonder, with the PAC-12 disbanded what of the Rose Bowl? While the CFB championship long ago broke the Big Ten/PAC-12 match ups, they did try to hold to that when not hosting the championship. Now what?

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 08:49:19 -0400

Reading what I wrote about the results at the end of the MLB trade deadline last year where the Chicago Cubs did not sell Wilson Contreras or Ian Happ, amazed by how much changes in one season. The Cubs extended Happ this year and honestly have not missed Contreras. Further, it seems the new cornerstone of the Cubs is Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson. Better yet, the Cubs bought at this trade deadline and their playoff chances are very much alive.

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:49:25 -0400

The game last night encapsulates why it has been frustrating to follow the Chicago Cubs this season. They have the hitting to put up a huge number of runs and the pitching to enable them to win, but as prone they are to score 20 runs in one night, today they might score only 2. Too many losing streaks up to this season has prevented them from being in first place right now. Good new is that they have more games against the Brewers and Reds that enable them to close the gap.

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 18:18:25 -0400

The Chicago Cubs winning streak ended at eight games today with a loss to the Cardinals in the last game of the season against their division rival. (Let that sink in a moment, thanks due to the new “balanced” MLB schedule.) Obviously, the streak had to end eventually, but the Cards have proven to be very beatable and we had every reason to expect the Cubs to win today too. Tomorrow night the Cubs start a four game series against the Reds at home, and they need to win the first game as they can no longer afford losing streaks. Even more importantly, the Cubs are 3.5 games behind the Reds in the NL Central standings and we do not want to fall further behind. The Cubs have an opportunity to pull closer to the Reds and Brewers this week and therefore solidify being in the hunt for the remainder of the season. Losing 3 out of 4 of these games against the Reds might actually be too difficult to overcome. Ross needs to be putting the best lineup in every game for this series, I do not want to see Mancini at first and Morel in place other than DH. Play Gomes in all of these games. Cubs need to treat this series like the playoffs!

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:39:19 -0400

The Chicago Cubs beat St. Louis last night and evened their record to 51-51, and sit at 5.5 games behind first place in the NL Central and 4 games back in the Wild Card. In short, a better record and potential than last year. The sell off really didn’t happen last year, but this year there is much debate about what they should do with Cody Bellinger and Marcus Stroman, both who are really good but with whom the Cubs lose contract control at the end of the season. I think the Cubs' chances to make the playoffs this year are real, and at a minimum ownership owes the fans a competitive team for the remainder of the season. I say they should keep both Bellinger and Stroman and make serious intent to sign them at the end of the season. The farm system is not in dire need of prospects.

Sat, 22 Jul 2023 11:00:17 -0400

Right now Cody Bellinger is carrying the Chicago Cubs, so when he is traded some time in the next couple of weeks the Cubs will stop being competitive for a playoff position. Once again the season will be about watching guys called up from the minors. Ricketts has to make a clean sweep of the front office and manager, he can’t keep accepting mediocrity.

Hope Is Not A Strategy

Mon, 17 Jul 2023 10:53:51 -0400

I am resigned to the fact that Chicago Cubs are not going to be a playoff team this year, which makes them sellers for the upcoming trade deadline, and it is this idea of “selling” that makes me mad. We knew that Cody Bellinger was only going to be with the Cubs for a year and if he played to any amount of his capability would be a mid season trade, so his leaving is not a problem. What I don’t want to see is the Cubs trading Marcus Stroman.

Starting pitching is the foundation of a MLB team and the Cubs have no real pitching prospects in their farm system. Every free agent pitcher not on their team that the Cubs sign is an unknown. Jameson Taillon is the most recent case in point, the Cubs didn’t really know what they were getting when they signed Taillon but they hoped he would be as good as he was in previous seasons. When you sign a player not on your team you hope they will perform as you expect, but hope is not a strategy!

Stroman has been the best Cubs pitcher the last two years. You can make the claim he is one of the best pitchers in baseball and the Cubs should know best about his health, his mental make up, and his skills. In other words, Stroman is a known asset, and when you are building a team I think general managers should bias what they know about the players on their team.

If the Cubs trade Stroman, to me that not only means this season (2023) is down the drain, it is also that they are not closer to making the playoffs in 2024. What such a trade tells me is that the Cubs continue to tread mediocrity and have no real plan for returning to the playoffs. Further, if the Cubs trade Stroman and thus are sellers at the deadline ownership must make a change in the front office and the manager. I don’t think Hoyer has any real idea how to build the team, he is just hoping to improve, and hope is not a plan.

The “buyers and sellers” phenomenon is not good for Major League Baseball. The way teams treat free agency is destroying how they build their teams and farm systems for continued success. Now, because most teams in baseball are not very good, most teams are unloading their best players mid season for prospects that might never make it to the majors or at best won’t be on their team until 3 years down the road. Every off season teams buy a bunch of free agents (basically creating new rosters every year), all who are unknowns, and hope they perform well enough to form a competitive team. Most teams find their hopes were ill conceived and they rinse and repeat.

Put it another way, nearly all MLB general managers are doing their job no differently than fantasy baseball managers. Problem is, fantasy baseball is not the real world. MLB does not build rosters based on a draft of the entire pool of available players. Right now the Cubs, and most MLB teams, are building new rosters each year from a small pool of unknowns. I am looking for leadership from the Cubs with a real plan and the funding from ownership to stick to the plan. It is looking more to me that Hoyer does not have a real plan and Ricketts has to find another person to run team who has a plan, otherwise he is no better than all prior owners of the Chicago Cubs.

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 09:16:15 -0400

The MLB All-Star break is over and the Cubs play a rare Friday night game at Wrigley that I am looking forward to watching tonight to end the week. The next two weeks are critical to any hopes for the Cubs making the playoffs.

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 11:52:23 -0400

I am a life long Chicago Cubs fan, and so that gives me the perspective of comparing the current Cubs teams to those of the past. The 2023 edition of the Chicago Cubs is frustrating because there is so much talent on the team that is not living up to its potential, and the result is very inconsistent play. Simply put, the Cubs lose too many games in a row. Really good teams don’t lose more than two games in a row, whereas the Cubs often fall in to a streak of losing 3 or more games in a row, the result is an attempt to move up in standings is like being in quick sand.

Smokey Eye Not Good

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 09:55:05 -0400

I watched the Air Quality Index for my home showing on the Nest Hub creeping up all yesterday afternoon to as high as 193, due to the wildfires in Canada. Right now it is 187 and I am planning on not going on my normal walks. It’s troubling to me for it not to be raining or incredibly hot yet avoid being outdoors. Last night I watched the Cubs play in Chicago, somewhat surprised they were even playing the game with the AQI over 200. I would have expected the teams and Major League Baseball to be concerned about the health of players and the fans. As far as I know, there is no change coming soon.

We have an Airthings Wave Mini in the basement to track humidity and temperature, but it also tracks what they call Volatile Organic Compounds, which are airborne chemicals emitted by every day items. The biggest influence I see on VOC in our house is the furnace and air conditioning and the good thing is that the AC was not running as much as it could so the VOC number has stayed in the good range. VOC is not the same as Particulate Matter pollution caused by the wildfires and currently affecting the outdoor air quality, I would need a different sensor for that reading.

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 10:47:57 -0400

As the Chicago Cubs prepare to play the St. Louis Cardinals today, I reflect on my comments during the winter on how much the Cardinals improved during the off-season in comparison to the Cubs. I did not expect the Cardinals to go 13 below .500 and sit in the cellar looking up at the Cubs. Shows the importance of playing the game. The Cubs need to at least split in London, but really should sweep.

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 11:41:56 -0400

Yesterday the Chicago Cubs swept the NL Central leading Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs are currently 3.5 games behind the Pirates with a 31-37 record, the Pirates record is 34-33. The strategy for the NL Central should be to maintain at least a .500 record and you will have a chance to win the division come September, and based on that the Cubs being 6 games below .500 is a concern, but plenty of time to make it up as long as they keep winning series. Unfortunately, today the Cubs start a series against the Baltimore Orioles who are a better team with a 43-25 record. If the Cubs can win this series, they then travel to Pittsburgh for another three game series and an opportunity to make up ground. It’s not too early to emphasize the importance of winning a series, and I think this one with the Orioles is an important one.

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 17:40:20 -0400

The Chicago Cubs are nearly five behind the A.L. Central leading Milwaukee Brewers, which is where I said they were back in December, before the season started.

Wed, 10 May 2023 14:09:57 -0400

I think the Cubs are being hurt most by Seiya Suzuki not hitting, continuing to play Eric Hosmer, and Yan Gome’s injury. The Cub really need Suzuki to start hitting and stop putting Hosmer in the line up. If you are going to lose, better for the future to lose with young players getting MLB experience.

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 14:14:07 -0400

The day has come. Today is opening day of the Chicago Cubs 2023 season. In a few minutes Marcus Stroman will start the season with his first pitch to Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers. The sun is shinning at Wrigley Field with clear skies and 39 degree temperature. Hoping for a Cubbie win!

Will The 2023 Chicago Cubs Be Trade Deadline Buyers?

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 10:59:18 -0400

BleedCubbieBlue.com puts the Dansby Swanson contract in context:

“This is the largest deal that Jed Hoyer’s front office has inked during his time in charge, and it’s just really not that big of a contract relative to the rest of the league or the Cubs monetary might. It doesn’t crack the top ten in MLB in years or AAV. It is the second largest deal in the history of the Cubs franchise, and it is nowhere near the top 20 contracts as of 2021, let alone ever.”

What I see in Hoyer is a baseball executive afraid to make a mistake. Under the rubric of sustaining success one may never have the chance to win championships. What we appear to have here is a plan of waiting to see how the season goes, and if half way through they have a real chance, then make trades to sign players you need, which is what happened in 2016.

The question then is whether the Cubs have enough talent going in to the season to have a good first half and be buyers at the trade deadline. With the players they have signed and the young talent they have, the 2023 Chicago Cubs on paper are better than the 2022 Chicago Cubs, the problem though is that the Cardinals have also gotten better, and they added Wilson Contreras to a team with the reigning MVP.

Chicago Cubs Already Five Games Behind in NL Central

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 12:39:16 -0400

No matter how frustrated and angry I am with the Chicago Cubs front office for not signing any free agents of consequence, it doesn’t matter. The only real thing that matters is how Ricketts (the owner) feels about the result. If I am the owner of a team and I give the people running the team the greenlight to spend money to improve the team and they don’t do it, I am not happy with their results and I will come to the conclusion that changes are needed.

Hoyer has been a big part of the decision making since after the Cubs won the World Series. Since 2017 the Cubs have regressed in their effort to return to the World Series. Looking for changes from the same people making decisions is insane, you need to change the decision makers to get a different result.

The bottom line is that the Chicago Cub’s division competitors have become much better this off season than the Cubs, and so they are losing the offseason. It might be that the Cubs surprise with their own talent, but I think that Ricketts has to start losing patience with Hoyer. If the Cubs are at the bottom of the division and out of the running by June, I think Hoyer must go. If Hoyer continues to stay then I can only conclude that he is performing to the level Ricketts expects and therefore all the talent decisions are on him.

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 12:09:44 -0400

Over one hundred years and only one radio play by play person has called a World Series win for the Chicago Cubs.

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 16:01:15 -0400

Wilson Contreras signing with the Cardinals is the absolute worst case scenario for the Chicago Cubs front office. They better hope that Contreras does not become a Cubs killer or the fan base will never let them hear the end of it. The Cub’s unwillingness to do what it takes to keep players who fans grew to love is extremely frustrating.

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 08:52:37 -0400

Six years ago today the greatest game ever played was on a Wednesday in Cleveland.

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 16:47:18 -0400

I think 538 has made a pretty good analysis of the Green Bay Packers' offense, although I disagree with their inferrence that Rodgers can improve the offense on his own. Truth is, any quarterback, even former MVPs need an offensive line that blocks and wide receives who can get open and catch the ball. Rodgers has neither. Why was Rodgers MVP last year? Davante Adams. Right now the Green Bay Packers have no reliable pass receiver, period.

In my opinion, if the Packers were to make a trade mid season, and I doubt they would because they are still old school, they should trade Rodgers. There is no season hanging on to a quarterback of his calliber if you aren’t going to surround him with play makers. Frankly, they have been doing to Aaron what they did to Brett, it’s just that this time they didn’t draft an Aaron Rodgers to replace him.

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:31:32 -0400

I find the complaining about the current results of this year’s MLB playoffs ridiculous. While it’s true that three teams that won more than 100 games this year have not made it to the league championships, those teams had the same chance to win their five game series than the teams they lost to.

No professional nor college sport simply have the regular season league champions play each other at the end of a season to decide which team is the best for that season. Yes, even baseball once had a four team championship series before the World Series. All sport playoffs simply decide who is the tournament champion, and the reason why tournaments are appealing is because they have upsets.

Regular sports seasons are played for a team’s opportunity to participate in the tournament, and for the fan’s enjoyment in watching their team compete for that right. Tournaments are for leagues and teams to make lots of money off the drama they create.

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 15:54:50 -0400

The MLB playoffs have started with the wildcard series games be played today. With the Cubs not in the playoffs, I am rooting for the Phillies and the Guardians, who won earlier today.

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 08:51:05 -0400

Six years ago I felt positive things were happening for the Chicago Cubs. I wrote then about all the young talent that was getting a chance to play and looked forward to the future. Honestly, I feel a bit that way this year. The Cubs young guys who have been given a chance to play have demonstrated they are capable. I think next year they should be competitive in the NL Central.

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 12:14:18 -0400

Shock in Wrigleyville as the Cubs did NOT trade Wilson Contreras or Ian Happ as nearly everyone expected. During the lead up to the trade deadline pundits were bemoaning the fact the Cubs just trade away all the players who were so important to winning the 2016 World Series. Now pundits are bemoaning the fact the trades were not made!

The reason why trades were made is simple, teams didn’t want to pay the price the Cubs were asking for. Contreras is the best catcher in baseball and you don’t just give that caliber of player away for some prospects, except maybe a team of prospects. Before Soto became available Contreras was one of the best, if not the best, hitters available. When the Nationals announced they were open to trades, Contreras was no longer the best hitter, he was just the best catcher available. Teams buying simply decided they had needs greater than catcher.

My hope is that the Cubs make a serious attempt to signing Contreras to a new contract during the offseason. Wilson is a player worthy of being the cornerstone to the next great Cubs team, particularly given the additon of the designated hitter. You need leadership to win in any sport, and Wilson provides it to a team of young players and particularly a team with young pitchers. I think Wilson is worth the money he asks for.

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 16:27:15 -0400

The NFL is simply hostile to people who are fans of teams not in their local market. I started giving the MLB my money the moment I was able to watch every Chicago Cub game, but the NFL doesn’t seem to want my money to let me watch very Green Bay Packer game. I live in the Detroit, Michigan market, but I moved here many years ago and never budged from my childhood favorite Packers. It’s not like my ability to pay for and stream Packer games is diminishing local broadcasts or ticket sales. It’s just crazy!

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 10:30:10 -0400

Much talk regarding the Chicago Cubs probable trades of some of their remaining “core” players, Wilson Contreras and Ian Happ, mostly due to the big sell off last year.

One big difference this year, I think, is that the Cubs may be trading away the best catcher in baseball. As good as Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez were you can’t say they were the best at their positions. The last time the Cubs cast aside the best in his position was Gregg Maddux, and that trade might have contributed a decade or more of “same old Cubs” baseball.

It seems to be that Cubs ownership and front office don’t understand that there is a difference between turning a franchise around, as they did before 2016 and maintaining the culture that as built during the turnaround. Continual selling and tanking was warranted to turn around a 108 year problem, but that is NOT how you maintain the culture, in fact it destroys what culture that has been built.

The St. Louis Cardinals provides the template of excellence, and the Cubs should know this well since the Cardinals have been their main rival since the beginning of baseball time. The Cardinals prioritize re-signing players, even at the price of overpaying, to maintain their culture.

So far, the current Cubs ownership and front office has not had one major re-signing of player on their roster, and that sends a clear message. The message is sends is that while they might now how to turn a team around, they don’t know how to keep it at the top.

Sat, 18 Jun 2022 11:21:50 -0400

If Cubs fans are truly apathetic as described here, I have to wonder whether they are really fans or people who just came on board when the team was winning. I am a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and the World Series did not change my loyalty nor expectations. I am grateful for 2016 but don’t expect them to win every year and not surprised they aren’t competitive this year. Last year they subtracted much more than they added, and the one big add is really an unknown.

Javy Being Javy

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 08:50:00 -0400

I am enjoying watching Detroit sports learn how great a player Javier Baez is, as a Cubs fan I appreciate his unique talent and was disappointed the Cubs didn’t sign him.

I remember a time when shortstops were considered the worst batter in the lineup and that didn’t matter because shortstops were considered the best athlete and most important defensive player on the team. Ozzie Smith didn’t make is his mark at the plate, he was known as the Wizard because of his defense. I always felt too much attention is paid to Baez’s inconsistency at the plate and not enough value placed on his defense, which I think is worth enough to absorb his bat.

Baez was not the problem in the Cubs lineup, the problem was that everyone else in the lineup was not much better. Put Baez in a lineup with other players who make contact and get on base and you can live with his strikeouts, and revel in his ability in the big moments. I think in some ways Baez is like Brett Farve, high risk and high reward. The defense, and in particular Reggie White, made Farve who he was for the Packers because it could overcome his interceptions. Put Farve on the Detroit Lions and he is not a hall of fame player.

I am happy that even though Javier is no longer playing for the Cubs, he is playing for a team in my area that is on TV every day. Baez is the type of player you tune in just to watch, regardless of your interest in the team, much like Cabrera was in his prime. Tiger fans need to remember the incredible plays that he has already made in four games when he strikes out in that crticial moment in July because it will happen and he will still be worth every bit of money he is paid.

Sat, 09 Apr 2022 14:53:00 -0400

It is only the second game, but I am already liking this Cubs lineup. Three runs on one hit that is not a home run is not something we saw much since 2016.

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 10:29:10 -0400

Happy opening day Chicago Cubs fans!

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 09:33:28 -0400

Today the Chicago Cubs, well actually mostly the Cub’s farm system, will play the last 2022 spring training game and will go in to the new season with a winning spring training record. Of course, nobody wins a World Series in spring training, even if my attendance at the 2016 spring training might have propelled the Cubs to win it all that year.

It looks like the Cubs have improved, and I expect they will be competitive enough to make them interesting to watch. One concerning sign from the spring is they allowed more runs than scored, and run scoring (offense) is the big question mark.

Opening day is like starting to read a new book, you don’t know how it will end and you hope that it will be fulfilling.

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 09:25:29 -0400

Every year young men have their dreams of becoming Major League Baseball players come true, but fans rarely see the moment when the dream is realized. Yesterday was an exception as we saw Ethan Roberts being told we was heading to Chicago during the Cub’s spring training game against the White Sox. We need to remember that despite all the money and fame there are dreams lived out.

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 09:46:08 -0400

Nice to see the NFL has somewhat changed their mind on overtime so that both teams will get one possession in playoffs games, but why not during the regular season? I disagree with all sports that have different rules between the regular season and playoffs. Hockey does the same thing, which I also disagree with.

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 09:03:00 -0400

I am a Chicago Cubs fan who lives in southeast Michigan. When I first moved here in 1989 I couldn’t watch the Cubs unless they were on national TV, so I did take an interest in watching the local Detroit Tigers broadcast. When the MLB.tv and MLB At Bat app became available I could again watch every Cubs game and therefore I don’t watch as much of the Detroit Tigers. I also tend to not watch the national broadcast games.

All of the above is background to me wondering just how successful the streaming of “national broadcast” games will be on Apple TV. Fourty years ago there were more national broadcast of baseball games at a time when there were no regional nor local broadcasts and no Internet streaming. Baseball does not have the same national draw as the NFL and the Cubs play every Friday. I doubt this will happen, but I’ll be really mad if they don’t stream the games in MLB.tv on Fridays.

So, for myself, the only time I will watch the Friday night games on Apple TV is when the Cubs play, and I suspect most other people will do the same. I just don’t see this working out well for Apple, particularly when Apple decides to block access to only Apple TV subscribers. Right now people do not subscribe to Apple TV to watch baseball. MLB will probably be ok because I am sure they are getting paid by Apple regardless of the number of viewers.

In the meantime I read that the NFL might start their own streaming service, so I wonder whether I will be able to see more Green Bay Packer games?

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 20:28:41 -0400

I wonder whether the “Friday Night Baseball” on Apple TV will be blacked out for local markets like MLB.tv is?

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 08:55:10 -0400

It should be a big week for baseball given that there are so many big name free agents yet to sign. I am hoping the Cubs will sign one of them because we still need more bats.

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 10:06:33 -0400

And now the fun really begins, watching the free agent tracker to see who is going to be playing for the Cubs this year.

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 09:28:29 -0400

Last year on this date the Chicago Cubs won their first spring training game of the 2021 season. Today I have no idea when the Cubs will play their first game in 2022, with the lockout end not in sight.

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 13:51:32 -0400

On September 1, 2014 I wrote about the buzz on the northside of Chicago as the Cubs were calling up some of their young players like Javier Baez. I speculated about whether Theo would sign Jon Lester. Little did I know then that just two years later the Cubs would win it all.

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 20:32:22 -0400

MLB Free Agent signings are picking up and so far the Cubs are sitting on the sidelines. I am starting to be pessimistic about the ownership’s commitment to being competitive, there is the appearance of just collecting money from Wrigley Field tickets, betting, and all the non-baseball operations. In other words, a repeat of prior ownership that lead to 100 years of playoff futility. I really wish Mark Cuban had bought the team when he had the chance, I would not doubt his commitment to winning.

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 00:18:54 -0400

Still think that replay should stop play and make calls on hits to the head in the NFL. In the last 10 minutes of the game tonight there have been two calls the refs have missed. Hits to the head is a player safety issue that the NFL should make maximum effort to get out of the game. Fines after the fact doesn’t do the job. The NFL needs to follow the NCAA’s lead in this, and frankly should be open to law suits from former players.

Sun, 21 Nov 2021 16:16:46 -0400

The pitfall of playing in two fantasy football leagues: having your point leader (Jonathan Taylor) in one league leading your opposition in the other. Time to rest Taylor. :)

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 09:54:55 -0400

Congratulations to Atlanta Braves fans who are celebrating their teams World Series championship victory. Watching the game last night gave me all the feels as it was the five year anniversary of the greatest game every played. I will forever have a bit of disbelief that I lived to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series. I know that as a fan I am supposed to want my team to win it all every year, but even though since 2016 the Cubs have ultimately lost in the playoffs those loses were not as crushing in context of 2016. The Cubs NLCS loses in 1984, 1989, and 2003 were crushing as I had never seen them in the World Series. I’ll always be bitter about 1984 because frankly, they were the best National League team that year and should have played the Tigers.

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 21:12:45 -0400

Five years ago today was the greatest game ever played. I still tear up thinking about it.

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 14:34:54 -0400

New York Yankees seem to have the same problems the Chicago Cubs had since 2016. Most likely they won’t admit to following the wrong formula of have too much of the same in their lineup. Maybe a trade of Judge to the Cubs next year?

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 10:04:20 -0400

Just a year ago I wrote….

Of all my favorite teams, the Cubs have the most talent and I expect will have chances to win championships again in the foreseeable future.

Not true now and not likely in the foreseeable future. The Packers got to the NFC championship game and this appears to be the last year of the Aaron Rodgers era, so the window for them appears to be closing.

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 08:56:16 -0400

“The window on the talent the Cubs do have is getting smaller and it will be a shame if they only make it to one World Series.” –Me, two years ago. Now that talent is all gone.

Something Was Going On In Japan

Sat, 07 Aug 2021 10:57:41 -0400

The summer Olympic are nearly done and I really didn’t watch it much. I think a big part of the problem was the time difference and the Internet providing the results. What I will remember from these Olympics, however, is how dangerous is gymnastics. Too much was written about Simone Biles’ “mental health” in a way suggesting what she was experiencing was “just” emotions. The problem was much more dire, the alignment of brain and body so that she lands on her feet and not her head.

Humans are not cats. Search for why cats land on their feet. If you ever had vertigo or just got dizzy, imagine that disorientation while spinning upside down ten feet in the air.

Sat, 31 Jul 2021 10:57:29 -0400

I’ve been wondering what to call this new era of Chicago Cubs baseball. I shall dub thee the post World Series era, but I hope it’s shorter than 108 years.

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 17:20:01 -0400

I am feeling really conflicted, so fortunate to live to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series in 2016 and now seeing the players who made that possible being traded away. I wonder whether those players fully understand the I impact they have had. Literally generations of Cub fans never lived to see them win it all, but Bryant and Rizzo made it happen for me.

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 20:48:15 -0400

I am a life long fan of the Chicago Cubs and I’ve seen my favorite players leave them before, but seeing Rizzo going to the Yankees and expecting Bryant to be gone too hurts. Of course the image of them making the final out in the greatest game ever played will always be seared in my memories.

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 20:23:00 -0400

It doesn’t take much to figure out why the Chicago Cubs have faded and are out of the running for the playoffs. Team batting average is nearly dead last, ranked 28 of 30 teams. On base percentage is ranked 23, and slug is ranked 19. I am surprised that Cubs pitching is as good as it is, their team ERA of 4.10 puts them in the top 10, although their WHIP of 1.32 ranks them 18th in the league. (WHIP might be a better indicator than ERA.)

Bottom line is that the Chicago Cubs lineup is not very good. If you are another team looking to pick up a bat to help you make the playoffs, given the stats, beyond Kris Bryant, which other batters would you trade for to help your lineup?

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 18:03:57 -0400

After a long short week highlighted by 36 hours of no electricity, it’s nice to watch the Cubs beat up on the Cardinals.

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 10:36:56 -0400

I’ve recently discovered Moleskine Journey, which is a personal information manager designed for creative minds, independent workers, audacious backpackers, and free spirits, Moleskine Journey uniquely combines the best features from productivity applications, like calendars, reminders, and notes, with tools for personal development, such as diaries and habit tracking.

I’ve used Moleskine Timepage, which I like because has a different take on how calendar apps look and work. Journey’s focus on more personal aspects of daily tracking rather than calendar and tasks is appealing. Better yet, the app is also available on Android and the Web.

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 12:20:32 -0400

NFL’s first official sports betting partnerships include FanDuel, DraftKings, SlashGear

For as long as I can remember organized sports viewed betting as the biggest threat to the integrity of the game. More and more are now embracing the money, integrity be damned.

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:19:48 -0400

The Chicago Cubs is the worst hitting team in baseball, but this shouldn’t be a surprise. It seems obvious to me that the Cubs' front office does not properly evaluate hitting talent, every player on their team is a home run hitter. When Schwarber left they went and got a literal hitting duplicate, Joc Pederson, as a replacement. Nico Horner was the best hitter in spring training and they sent him back to the minors in favor of another home run hitter.

I can’t blame the manager, and I can’t really blame the players, they are who they area. The problem rests entirely with the front office. Really, one hit wonders. How lucky we were in 2016!

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 16:12:56 -0400

Spring training is complete for the Chicago Cubs. Opening day is on Thursday, 1 PM versus the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. The weather forecast has temps in the mid 30s.

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:22:00 -0400

I don’t get this claim that baseball players can’t do contract negotiations and play ball at the same time. Lots of people do lots of things at the same time, all the time. Wait until Rizzo becomes a dad.

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 10:45:56 -0400

The NFL appears to be expanding the number of streaming options for games, but I don’t see info about an ability to stream out of market games. The NFL needs a reasonably priced equivalent to MLB’s At Bat app.

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 18:06:38 -0400

It doesn’t mean much, but the Cubs won their first spring training game today, 1-0 against the Padres.

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 09:54:02 -0400

We do not have the sunshine nor are the Cubs playing today as they did last year and we have much more snow on the ground. However, full training camp starts today and the first game is within weeks!

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 15:26:08 -0400

Tommy Lasorda, legendary Los Angeles Dodgers manager, has died - CNN

Among my oldest memories are from the seventies watching the World Series, which seemed to always be the New York Yankees versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, with my grandfather and grandmother. Even though my grandfather had strokes that left him speechless he was my father figure and so these are fond memories. My grandfather grew up in Milwaukee and so a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers but the Yankees were the villain and the Dodgers the hero for us during these games. Of course Lasorda was the manager of the Dodgers during those games, so news of his passing brought back these memories today.

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 16:44:38 -0400

The Jed Hoyer regime is not starting well in Chicago when it communicates b.s. like this. I see zero ways in which the trade of Yu Darvish to San Diego for little in return helps the Cubs in 2021. Maybe the Cubs will be competitive in the N.L. Central by default, but they won’t be competitive outside their division.

Sun, 06 Dec 2020 12:06:29 -0400

I am still bumming since learning on Friday that Len Kasper is leaving the Chicago Cubs to be the lead radio announcer for the White Sox. What I like about Len is that he is a genuine baseball guy, he isn’t a broadcaster who also does baseball, so moving from TV to radio makes sense. Of all sports baseball is best for radio.

My life experience with the Chicago Cubs has always been narrated by TV play-by-play guys: Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray, Chip Caray, and Len Kasper. There have been a few others who have been briefly behind the mike, but these are the voices that replay in my head.

The first words are Jack’s calling another Dave Kingman home run. Most of the words are spoken by Harry, who was with me from teenager to adult. Chip is sentimental following his grandfathers death, where Len will always be part of the Cubs finally making it to and winning the World Series in 2016.

White Sox fans are getting a great baseball guy to tell them the White Sox story when baseball starts in 2021. I might try to listen to a few games, particularly when the White Sox come to Detroit and Len sits closer to Ernie Harwell’s seat. In the meantime I’ll watch for who will be next at broadcasting for the Cubs.

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 10:53:28 -0400

The dismantling of the 2016 Chicago Cubs has begun through the Cubs not making an offer to Kyle Schwarber. Unfortunately right now it seems though Kyle was a one hit wonder, but that hit will always be memorable to Cubs fans.

Wed, 30 Sep 2020 09:06:23 -0400

Last year I speculated that David Ross would be hired to manage the Cubs and wondered how well he would do. I think he has done a good job, but the issues about the Cub’s lineup persists. A team of Home Run hitters can be easily stopped by good pitching. Fortunately, this season was short enough so that their early lead held, but I don’t think they win their division if they played a full schedule.

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 22:27:43 -0400

The Chicago Cubs appear to be rounding in to their 2019 form.

Sat, 05 Sep 2020 11:05:22 -0400

Let’s play two! The Cubs have a COVID-19 double header today with the Cardinals in Wrigley. Rookie pitcher going in the first game.

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 09:09:10 -0400

Last year at this time the Chicago Cubs had no batter hitting .300 or higher, this year they have one, with another hitting .299. Slight improvement, but no real change and not surprising given the line up is the same. The problem stands, the Cubs have a lineup of sluggers not hitters and that will not get it done in the playoffs.

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 20:29:10 -0400

Forgot the strangest part about tonight’s seven inning, pandemic doubleheader, which is that the Cubs are the road team at Wrigley in game two.

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 15:55:16 -0400

Last year, about Chicago Cubs, I wrote:

The problem is not the hitting, although they could be more consistent. To me the problem is the bullpen, they are giving up too many runs in the 6 thru 9th innings. Nobody in the pen is reliable.

I could not imagine that at the same time a year later the Cubs would be playing under such strange circumstances like they will today, playing two seven inning games in a “pandemic” double-header. Yet, while the Cubs have the best record, the bullpen performance has not been much different.

Mon, 17 Aug 2020 15:41:31 -0400

The Chicago Cubs have now lost three games in a row. Normally that would not be a problem, but in a short season, it feels like they really need to win at least one game today against the Cardinals. Preferably win both.

Sun, 23 Feb 2020 17:44:33 -0400

The sunshine we have had this weekend pairs well with the first spring training games. #Cubs

Sat, 22 Feb 2020 21:29:19 -0400

Spring is here, go Cubs go!

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 20:18:47 -0400

Packers imploding. Exhibiting characteristics of a team that is out matched. Game over if the 49ers go up by two touchdowns.

Sun, 12 Jan 2020 23:07:52 -0400

Tell me if you have heard this one before. The Green Bay Packers are going to San Francisco to play the 49ers in the NFC championship game and the right to go to the Super Bowl.

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 00:14:48 -0400

And with that another baseball season is over. Go Cubs go!

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 09:20:03 -0400

Last year the Cubs and Brewers played game 163 and this year the Cubs are home watching the Brewers play the Nationals in the NL Wildcard game.

Another Goat On The Northside

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 09:45:20 -0400

Joe Maddon will not be the manager of the Chicago Cubs next year and that is not a surprise given they did not meet expectations this year. In a world where people both have too high and too low expectations for professional sport coaches and managers, the common playbook front offices take when teams under-perform is to fire the manager.

Yes, change is needed, and yes, it is easier to fire one person, the manager, and not the team. But, Maddon is not the reason why the Cubs did not make the playoffs. First, and foremost the reason is that Cub players did not do their job. The same players who once ground out at bats in 2016 where doing nothing more than swing for the fences all this year. Second, the Cubs lineup is nothing but the same style hitter, with no diversity on the bench or apparently in the farm system, and the talent, that’s on the Theo Epstein and the front office.

Frankly, up until this point, what Epstein and the front office have done is succeed with the easy decisions and fail at the hard decisions. How hard is it to tank year after year and stock pile on draft picks that every talent scout in America says is a good bet? When Maddon became available, was it really hard to quickly decide to drop Ricky Renteria and sign Maddon?

Be careful for what you ask for, you just might get it. Now Epstein has to make one of the most important decisions of his tenure, who to hire to replace the manager that guided your team to the first World Series in 108 years. David Ross might be a good guy in the clubhouse, but will he have the players attention any more than Maddon? Will Joe Girardi be too hard? Who Epstein hires is crucial towards getting the most out of all the the talented players that are now starting to enter the end of their contracts.

Worse of all, the attention on hiring the next manager redirects attention away from the real heavy lifting of the offseason, which is to make changes to the lineup so that you get more professional at bats. Changing the lineup means moving one of the core players who won the World Series, which is something Epstein has refused to do to date. If you only replace the manager and keep everything else the same, why should we expect a different result?

On Saturday Epstein announced that Maddon will not be returning. If next year is no better, who will be the scapegoat then? You can’t fire the entire team.

The Lovable Losers Of My Youth

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 09:14:40 -0400

The common denominator for all my favorite professional sports teams is that they were losers during my childhood. The Green Bay Packers were the siberia of the NFL during the 70s and 80s until Reggie White started playing for them in 1993 and three years later won the Super Bowl. Ever since 1993 the Packers have been at or near the top of the NFL.

The Chicago Cubs were the epitome of “lovable losers” for a century. Even though the Cubs flirted with chances to make it to the World Series in 1984, 1989, and 2003 but it hasn’t been until the last five years that they have consistently been at or near the top of the league, and you know they won it all in 2016.

Like the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Red Wings were also once the dominant team in the NHL but during the 70s and 80s they were known as the “dead Wings.” The owners had to give away cars to get people to come to their games. In 1997 the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, and of my favorite teams they have won more championships in my life time, winning again in 1998, 2002, and 2008. Since the calendar turned to the 2010s the Wings have been in a rebuilding phase.

Finally, the Detroit Pistons where also perenial losers during my childhood but where the first of my faves that I witnessed winning a championship in 1989, and again in 1990 and 2004. Frankly, the championship they won in 2004 is one of the most gratifying because nobody really expected it and they upset the perenial champion Los Angeles Lakers. Like the Red Wings, the Pistons are rebuilding but apppear to be nearing returning to the tops of their league sooner than the Wings.

Over my life time I’ve seen the long road it takes to get from basement to top floor of a professional sports league. I’ve seen how it takes for a team to learn how to be a champion, particularly from the Red Wings who had huge playoff failures after being the best team in their league the entire season.

Of all my favorite teams, the Cubs have the most talent and I expect will have chances to win championships again in the foreseeable future. The MLB’s farm system enables a franchise to have more control over its future if they have the right leadership. The NHL is similar, which is why theirs and the MLB front offices have such a huge influence on their long term success, much more than in the NFL and NBA that seems to depend much more on health and luck.

I am dissappointed that the Chicago Cubs will not make the playoffs this year. I will always love the Cubbies, win or lose, but I much better like where they are now, a very good team that can disappoint than a bad team that surprises.

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 08:45:59 -0400

Will the Chicago Cubs win another game this season? The last weekend is coming up, but they haven’t won since the collapse. Have a chance to spoil the Cardinals hopes of winning the division, but I don’t think that matters. Sad ending to the season.

Definition of Insanity

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 11:17:00 -0400

Home Run hitting is vulnerable to breaking down. Combine that fact with an aging starting rotation and an inconsistent bullpen and you have a summary of the Chicago Cub’s last two seasons.

The Cubs currently have 5 batters with 20 or more home runs, and one more, Jason Heyward at 19. No Cubs hitter has a batting average of .300 or better, Anthony Rizzo is hitting .286. Even if you add Ben Zobrist to the mix, the Cubs lineup is too much the same making it easy to defend.

I understand the resistance in parting ways with the talent that got you the World Series three years ago, but I think it should be clear now that unless there are some diferent players in the lineup next year, you are going to end up with the same result.

Many will put blame on the manager, but he is not the person responsible for the roster, that lies with the front office. You clearly see a bias towards a single style of player that is good but not diverse enough, and that really doesn’t give Madden many options to change things up.

Ownership has some hard decisions to make during the off season. It’s easy to decide whether or not to spend money, it is much harder to decide whether the people running your team know how to change and if you do replace them, with whom?

I expect the Cubs to replace Madden because that is the easy choice that just about every team makes at this point. A different leadership style might spark a different emotional result, but it won’t change how teams pitch to the Cubs.

Mon, 02 Sep 2019 16:09:00 -0400

As I write this, the 2019 Chicago Cubs have not scored a run in two and half games. In September. When you need to win games to win a division and/or make the playoffs.

The Cubs currently do not have a single player hitting .300 or better. What you have is a lineup of power hitters, and as appealing while the home run is a fan favorite, relying on it is not winning baseball. This lineup is too easy to pitch against.

Sat, 17 Aug 2019 15:44:49 -0400

Chatwood should be the current closer for the @Cubs until Kimbrel gets back. He clearly has the best arm in the pen.

Go Cubs Go

Sat, 17 Aug 2019 14:33:34 -0400

The Chicago Cubs have one of the best home records and one of the worst road records, and they have the best run differential in their division. People seem to be scratching their head over how the same team can be so good at home and so bad on the road. The problem is not the hitting, although they could be more consistent. To me the problem is the bullpen, they are giving up too many runs in the 6 thru 9th innings. Nobody in the pen is reliable.

Twenty years ago the bullpen wasn’t so important because starting pitchers pitched more innings and more often completed games. Now, starting pitchers are only expected to pitch six innings and that means you got have more pitching than ever before.

The Cubs overall pitching staff is not good enough. You might see an uptick in performance if they make the playoffs because the starters tend to go longer and you tend to narrow the pen down to a handful of pitchers, but I don’t expect the Cubs to get beyond be first round if they do make the playoffs.

I don’t know what specific things the Cubs need to do for next year. I don’t think the problem is with the managing or coaching, it seems to point to the talent in pitching. Lester and Hamel will be a year older and there doesn’t appear to be any replacements coming from the minors. The window on the talent the Cubs do have is getting smaller and it will be a shame if they only make it to one World Series.

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 18:24:20 -0400

Many fans were wondering if the Cubs were going to make a big splash at the trade deadline–and did they ever. The Cubs have done the unthinkable and acquired the best player in baseball but at a steep cost: Wrigley Field.

Source: Cubs acquire Mike Trout for entirety of Wrigley Field and a player to be named later – The Heckler

Mon, 27 May 2019 15:48:00 -0400

Bill Buckner dies: Former MLB player passes away at 69

Before Anthony Rizzo, before Mark Grace, before Leon Durham, there was Bill Buckner. He along with Dave Kingman are among my earliest memories as a Cub fan. Sorry to learn of his passing. It’s been a rough weekend for my sports heros.

Sun, 12 May 2019 21:14:28 -0400

The Cubs and Brewers are both really good teams, which makes their games so entertaining to watch.

Sat, 27 Apr 2019 21:59:16 -0400

Cubs are threatening to score double digit runs again having 7 runs through 5 innings in Arizona.

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 21:52:22 -0400

Only at the top of the fourth inning and two hours in to Cubs/Brewers game. Why so slow? Bad pitching and fielding, which is why any rule change MLB may make to require relief pitchers to face at least 3 batters is idiotic. You don’t want rules that keeps bad pitching in games, they will go on and on.

Nothing, not mound visits, and not replacing pitchers makes games go longer than continual walks and hits.

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:03:12 -0400

I find this article about how the Ricketts acquired the Chicago Cubs fascinating.

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 15:56:34 -0400

Warmest day so far and it happens to be in opening day. ‘nuf said. Go Cubs go!

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:45:10 -0400

Happy opening day! Looking forward to the Cubs starting the 2019 season this afternoon.

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:06:42 -0400

Only 14 days until the baseball season starts again. Go Cubs go!

Sat, 23 Feb 2019 16:15:15 -0400

It is nearly 40 degrees outside and the first Cubs spring training game is on the air. Spring is coming.

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 23:45:03 -0400

Smith, Baines elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Smith, 61, retired after the 1997 season with more saves than any player before him. His saves still rank third all-time behind Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. A seven-time All-Star and three-time Rolaids Relief Man Award winner, Smith led his league in saves four times, including a career-best 47 in 1991, and had 30-plus saves in 10 of his 18 seasons with the Cubs, Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Orioles, Angels, Reds and Expos.

Lee Smith more or less ascended to the closer role after Bruce Sutter went to the Cardinals, and was the Cubs closer through my high school years. He was a classic power pitcher who occasionally would grove a fastball for a home run. Sutter is in the Hall of Fame and I think it’s right that Smith joins him.

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 20:17:27 -0400

The Packers have fired Mike McCarthy, which given they will not make the playoffs, is in my opinion the remaining best outcome for this season.

I am a long critic of McCarthy. I don’t like how he contributed to running Brett Farve out of town. The team has clearly regressed in the last few years and while there has been a depletion of talent, McCarthy did not adjust well the personnel that was available.

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 10:00:53 -0400

Aaron Rodgers has been playing hurt and there isn’t enough talent on the offense to help pick him up a bit. I expect that if the Packers lose a couple more games to be completely eliminated from the playoffs, Rodgers will go on IR.

The real downside is that all the injuries provide an excuse to keep Mike McCarthy.

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 15:23:16 -0400

Ten years ago I was bemoaning another Cubs playoff loss. Ten yeas later, another Cubs playoff series loss. Of course the big difference is that within those years the Cubs won it all. :)

Fri, 19 Oct 2018 10:09:39 -0400

So, it turns out the 2018 Astros were not any better than the 2017 Cubs.

Nothing is static, particularly baseball. It is not likely your team will be exactly the same, someone is going to get injured. More importantly, the competition is not going to stay the same, they are going to get better.

Tue, 16 Oct 2018 10:57:18 -0400

The gist of the articles currently being written about Aaron Rodgers and the Packers is that the Packers are wasting what time they have left with Aaron. Frankly, I had the same complaints about how the Packer’s treated the second half of Brett Farve’s career.

You have one of the best, if not the best, quarterbacks in the league, but you do not keep him surrounded by good talent. Good receivers, running backs, offensive line, or defense. You put in place a coach who frankly doesn’t appear to have a sense of urgency.

The Packers were very fortunate to have drafted Aaron and that he was better than they most likely thought when he was drafted. Most teams do not replace one hall of fame quarterback with another hall of fame quarterback. It is not likely they will do the same when it comes time for Aaron to step down, and that means that every season that Aaron plays in which you don’t win a Super Bowl could be another year added to many, many years of not winning one.

Fri, 05 Oct 2018 16:53:20 -0400

I disagree a bit with Epstein’s view on the leadoff spot in the Cubs lineup. It clearly has been a problem, but it is also about the 2nd spot. When the Cubs have had success it has been due to the catalyst in the 1 and 2 spots in the lineup.

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 10:14:39 -0400

Theo Epstein on the Cub’s hitters:

It’s probably time to stop evaluating this in terms of talent and start evaluating it in terms of production

Yes, exactly! Looking forward on the conclusions and actions taken as a result of such an evaluation.

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 11:57:36 -0400

Looking back, it occurs to me that my analysis of the Cub’s performance in last year’s playoffs might be applicable to this year too.

The Cubs did make moves to address their bullpen, but the closer the signed, who pitched for the Dodgers last year, is not playing due to injury. The closer’s backup is also not playing due to injury and the result is that all the remaining arms in the pen are doing things unexpected of them.

Overtime Baseball

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 11:12:28 -0400

The Cubs and Brewers are playing game 163 starting at 1 PM EST to determine who wins the NL Central division and who will have the best record in the National League and with it home field advantage through the NL portion of the playoffs.

On paper the game appears to come down to momentum versus experience. The Brewers have won seven straight to finish the season and force this game, while the Cubs have been in the playoffs the last three years and won the world series in 2016.

For me the Cub’s chances to win the game weigh heavily on Quintana’s ability to keep Lorenzo Cain off the bases so that he can pitch around Yelich. Cub’s need to hit and score runs early as the Brewer’s bullpen is superior and this most likely will turn in to a bullpen game early. The Brewer’s bullpen enables them to follow the same formula as the Royals did when they had their playoff runs.

Anxious to see how this turns out. While the Cubs at worse will end up with the second-best record in the NL, they go in to playoffs as the weakest team due to injury and the grind of playing on 40 of 41 days to end the season. In some ways this is a must win just to get a few days off, but I don’t think Maddon will manage in such a manner.

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 13:22:04 -0400

The Packers made an incredible comeback last night because of Aaron Rodgers. The fact that team is so dependent on one player is nearly negligent. Wouldn’t it be prudent to have an experienced backup?

Thu, 23 Aug 2018 13:09:36 -0400

Last night the Cubs played much better and broke out of a hitting slump to beat the Tigers 8 to 2.

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 10:18:07 -0400

I took pictures while at the Cubs/Tigers game last night.

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 10:00:25 -0400

No joy in Wrigleyville; the mighty Cubs could not score more than one run last night. I hope to see more runs by the Cubs tonight. I say put the no guy in the line up.

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 19:05:15 -0400

Is there a Cubs victory at the end of this rainbow?

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 16:47:46 -0400

The Cubs picked up Daniel Murphy in a trade with the Nats. It is an interesting signing of a player who seems to hurt the Cubs whenever he plays them. A bit surprising as a depth sign at Second considering they have Zobrist.

I am heading down to Comerica Park to watch the Cubs and Tigers play.

Tue, 29 May 2018 20:19:54 -0400

IPad+Lightening Digital AV adapter+HDMI cable+MLB At Bat app = watching the Cubs on the hotel room TV.

Wed, 16 May 2018 22:31:22 -0400

The Cubs lost another game to the Braves. The Braves look for real.

Mon, 07 May 2018 20:20:52 -0400

The Cubs put Yu Darvish on the 10-day DL for the flu?!

Sat, 05 May 2018 15:18:06 -0400

Watching the Cubs play the Cardinals. So far two calls have been overturned by replay. Replay is showing how bad baseball umpires are, you can almost say something like 25% of all calls made in MLB history before replay were wrong.

Fri, 12 Jan 2018 12:33:08 -0400

Life of a scouting report: How the Cubs have streamlined an age-old process theathletic.com

Might be only significant to a life long Cub fan such as myself, but the statement in the article above about how the Cubs value players who hate to lose more than those who love to win really resonates.

The NFL Continues To Reward Violent Hits

Sun, 17 Dec 2017 17:10:43 -0400

Despite scientific research and Congressional hearings, the NFL is still not serious about the safety of its players due to concussions. In fact, the current NFL rules rewards teams of players who inflict a concussion.

The latest example occurred during the Packers and Panthers game on December 17. During the game Panther Thomas Davis launched into Davante Adams resulting in Adams being removed for the game due to the obvious helmet-on-helmet hit. A personal foul was called on Davis, but he remained in the game while the Packers lost one of their most important players.

Players who may be concussed must be removed from play until doctors confirm it is ok for him to return. In this case, the right thing happened while that has not always been the case. However, how is it that the player causing the injury, unnecessarily, is still allowed to play?

Treating concussions is important but equally important is preventing concussions from happening in the first place, and that will not happen without immediate and significant enforcement on the field. All direct hits to the head should result in an immediate ejection, and this rule should be enforced not only by on field officials but also by replay. At a minimum the NFL ought to have a booth review, as is the case with the NCAA, but I favor the booth being able to eject such players at any time.

The bottom line is that the current approach of only reviewing and penalizing such plays after the game is over is not sufficient in deterring such hits and violates the spirit of the game. The life time health of the players demands extreme action. If the NFL is unable to police itself then Congress must step in with regulation. Right now it appears profits are outweighing safety.