Chicago Cubs
34 posts
2017 MLB Season Preview
The reader's enjoyment of a blog post is negatively correlated with the length of the introduction. This is our season preview. AL West Predicted Standings Houston Astros Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Texas…
Cubs Knocking on the Door
The Cubs are one win away from their first World Series since 1945. The palpable tension of 1984, '89, '98, '03, '07 & '08 has yet to take effect on the current iteration of the Chicago Cubs National League Ballclub.…
Bienvenidos, Javier
We're not sure how long MLB lords allow this video online, ominously dreading that moment, whereas we may auspiciously enjoy this here and now, or, um, after a :03-second Pepsi ad: Welcome to the big leagues, Javier…
Surprising Season Stats (Small Sample Size)
Red Sox pitchers have the highest K% and BB% in the American League. Neither statistic is particularly surprising, but the duality of the records is rare. Since 1990, it has happened twice, both by the Cubs: In their…
Spanning the Blogosphere
Featuring quotes and whispers from sites around the globe. Freddy Garcia could use an attitude adjustment, as he does not at all appear to be pleased that his team is trying to get better by bringing back one of the…
Curse of Theo Epstein?
Maybe the Red Sox are asking for "something real" because they are afraid of selling another team asset and falling into an 86-year title-less abyss. Larry Lucchino, who is in charge of the negotiations, and was spoken…
The Cubs Opportunity
In the aftermath of Jim Hendry's dismissal, it's clear the Cubs are looking for a big name that is respected, from a winning background, and able to instill what he has learned into Cubs culture. Quite a few candidates…
Prepping the Stove
Cubs fans have basically been stuck in Hot Stove forever, having not gone to the World Series in the past sixty-five years. As current fans have likely noticed, the team hasn't contended since being swept out of the…
Rare and Coincidental
Speaking of rare triple plays*, makes me think of my old playing days. Let's go back 19 years, to 1992, in Highland Park, IL. I'm playing the unfamiliar position of catcher, mostly by default, but also because of the…
Mentality of Zambrano
This story feels so familiar. We've been through this before with Carlos Zambrano. Heck, the cubs organization has went through something similar with Sammy Sosa and Milton Bradley. Of course, Carlos Zambrano will not…
Our Return to Dontrelle's Bandwagon
Dontrelle Willis is four games into his comeback. Carrying a 3.52 ERA and 0-1 record into his start in Houston on Wednesday night, D-Train fans have reason for optimism. According to Fangraphs , Dontrelle Willis has…
Corey Patterson and the Damage Done
In essence, this is a Corey Patterson post, but I'm really just throwing together a bunch of memories, emotions, and feelings, to see if it gets us anywhere. Going back to the 2nd of June 1998, Corey Patterson came to…
Mixed Emotions
This could get personal and may ramble on, but in the meantime, I'll try to be concise while struggling through the mixed emotions of joy, pain, sadness, sorrow, hope, and something extra. Joy Livan is getting larger...…
Masato Watanabe Hit an Inside-the-Park Homerun off Yu Darvish Today
Once again, thank you to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker for keeping us informed about Japanese baseball. Regular readers of this space know we are enamored with Yu Darvish. We hope the Cubs eschew the desire to take…
Cubs WAR by Acquisition Type
Last Monday, Adam Darowski, of Beyond the Box Score , tweeted the Baseball-Reference WAR data of Red Sox players acquired via Free Agency. Most valuable Red Sox (B-R WAR) who were acquired as FAs: Ortiz (2.3 WAR),…
Cubs Outfield Defense, Misnomer
Photo by Bob Busser In the shadowy right-field corner of Wrigley Field, Jeff Baker tepidly reached out with his glove for a high flyball off the bat of Mark Teixeira . Since there is next-to-no foul territory in the…
2017 Future Star: Daniel Vogelbach
Yesterday, we took a brief look at the Cubs' 2nd Round selection from the June Draft: Dan Vogelbach. He's still just an unsigned amateur, and may end up accepting a scholarship from the University of Florida if the Cubs…
Have You Seen Dan Vogelbach?
Chicago Cubs 2nd Round pick, Dan Vogelbach, is an 18-year old first baseman from Bishop Verot High School in Florida. Looking at the MLB site of the Cubs' Draft , we see Vogelbach is listed at 250 lbs, and he won't turn…
First Cubs Game
It's hard to believe that this is when it started getting serious. This is the first Cubs game I ever attended: May 9, 1986 San Diego Padres Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS WPA Bip Roberts 2B 4 0 3 0 0 1 .206 .515…
The Doormats of the National League
It is early in the season, but this Cubs fan feels no optimism. At the moment of this writing, the Cubs are sitting comfortably in 4th place of their division. They are one and a half games ahead of Milwaukee and two…
Cubs' Lineup is For the Byrds
Mike Quade's lineup card for today's game has Marlon Byrd batting third for the 22nd time this season. Your third spot is traditionally used for your best hitter. How am I supposed to get excited for the Cubs, when…
2011 Team Attendance Trends
The invaluable baseball-reference.com has a little-known page that compares team attendance from 2011 and 2012 on a game-to-game basis . As the B-R writers explain on the page: "We take the number of home games through…
Bored? Have Fun with WPA/LI
Since an anonymous poster recently said our Managerial Coaching Tree study seemed "kind of boring", we thought we'd liven things up with a fairly advanced stat, Situational Wins. How could anyone find Stump Merrill…
The Hit King, Matt Murton
Many of us always wanted the Cubs to give Murton a chance to blossom as a lefty mashing 4th Outfielder. They gave him a chance to play, but I think the team should have shown just a bit more patience with Matt Murton .…
What's Up With Tom Gorzelanny?
Why is Tom Gorzelanny seemingly getting pushed out of the Cubs clubhouse? He's still relatively inexpensive, left-handed, and actually sort of good. Does Mike Quade not like him? How about new pitching coach Mark…
Where Have You Gone, Leon Durham?
The Cubs need a first baseman, and there are rumors of interest in trading for James Loney , signing Carlos Peña , trading for the Rangers' Chris Davis , or the fall back option of platooning Tyler Colvin / Jeff Baker .…
The Distraction of Worlds Colliding
This is obviously an old photo, but I don't remember seeing it before. It's been a sad day in Cubdom, with the passing of legendary good friend, Ron Santo . I think Ron would want us to try to find something, somewhere,…
Chris Archer & The Shackles of Hope
Being a Cubs fan is an exercise in futility. From somewhere deep within, there is hope. Outside circumstances surrounding the Chicago Cubs may make it so that our hopes are more, or less, noticeable. During the Jim…
1900's Cubs Photos
Special thanks to Bill Burgess, who shared these photos on Baseball Fever back in 2003. 1902 Chicago Orphans 1903 Chicago Cubs 1904 Chicago Cubs 1906 Chicago Cubs 1907 Chicago
Happiness
Getting my mind around this involved Sizing Up the AL Playoffs project that I've gotten myself into has been a bit frustrating, if only because I'm just not happy with it. I think it was fun for a while, and could be…
Why Don't You Arbitrate Deeeze?
Most people around the Cubs know that they prefer to settle arbitration cases than have a hearing. As fans, I think we mostly like that. Arbitration cases have a likelihood of creating bad feelings between the player…
2010 MLB Power Poll vol. 2
I spoke with my Dad yesterday, and he said he read one of my posts and liked it. It was the one with the John Candy reference and picture. He liked that one and has been meaning to check the blog again. That was our one…
Are You Not Entertained?
It's never easy to make your Major League debut. Think about how nervous, excited, or anxious you may get for your first day of school, or first day at a new job. Now, imagine that there are 40,000 people around you and…
50 Worst MLB'ers
Good friend and brilliant reader, Jason, comment on our Top 50 Baseball Player series: “Bad contracts can [be] almost as harmful as good contracts can be helpful.” Since this will always be a place for the readers,…
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