I was at Saturday night’s Cubs game, and I had one thought when Andrew Toles singled sharply to right field on the first pitch: “Here we go again.” You can’t blame me — I’m a lifelong Cubs fan. Suffice to say I was at Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. So I know Cubs anguish. […]
Author: Joel Reese
Game 156 Recap: Cubs 12 Pirates 2
At the beginning of the season, it seemed the Pittsburgh Pirates would be one of the three thoroughbreds competing with the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL Central horse race. It only made sense: this team posted 98 wins in 2015, and they still had studs like MVP Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gerrit Cole. […]
Game 73 Recap: Marlins 9 Cubs 6
This infuriating game started ominously, with walking periodontal testimonial John Lackey throwing 26 pitches in the first inning and allowing a run to the ageless Ichiro Suzuki on the classic walk/stolen base/single/sac fly combination. The Cubs made us think everyone would be OK as they pulled ahead 4-1 on homers by Miguel Montero and Addison Russell, but they couldn’t […]
Game 61 Recap: Cubs 13 Braves 2
There were two schools of thought when the Cubs lost the first game of this series to one of the worst teams in baseball (literally): The more prevalent was “Hey, that’s baseball. Shrug.” But there was also a surprisingly vocal minority of “Hey, what the hell? The Braves are one of the worst teams in baseball—we shouldn’t […]
Game 52 Recap: Cubs 7 Dodgers 2
If you’d known that the Cubs would score 2, 0, and 2, runs in the first three games against the Dodgers, you’d figure they’d be lucky to be battling for a split on a perfect day at Wrigley. (And if you’d known Clayton Kershaw wasn’t going to pitch, well, you should be playing the lottery and not theorizing about baseball minutia.) And […]
Know Your (2016) Enemy: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers, after years of rough draft classes and tough breaks, are finally in rebuilding mode, and it’s pretty obvious they’ve got a long way to go. But thanks to new management, a good draft last year and a few decent trades, there’s at least a little light at the end of this dairy-infused tunnel. […]
Simply The Best: How the 2016 Cubs Stack Up Against 1984 and Company
Imagine, just for a moment, that you’re a New York Yankees fan. You feel pride every time you put on that iconic hat, the same one worn by Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, Rivera, and countless other current (or future) Cooperstown residents. The same type of hat that has been drenched by post–World Series champagne some 27 times. […]
Fight Club: Don’t Mess with These Cubs
As we saw in the Wild Card game on Wednesday, things can get heated in the playoffs. An inside pitch here, an angry glare there, and soon you’ve got punches. Fisticuffs. Headlocks. Shiners. And so on. We don’t endorse baseball fights, and of course we don’t want anyone to get hurt, so this is all in good fun. […]
The Fine Art of Choosing the Perfect Cubs Jersey
As you may have read here on this very website, the Cubs are actually… wait, let me check my advanced statistical modeling… “good” this year. So yes, you should go to Wrigley Field and support the team. And to really show your fandom, you should wear a Cubs jersey. But there’s an issue here, and it’s […]
The Debut: One Writer’s Vision of What ‘Kris Bryant Day’ Will Be
As you may have heard, a fringy Cubs prospect is being called up today. We don’t like to be reactionary and post when every miniscule move happens, but we do feel a need to give our opinions here. [Shrug. Whatever.] So here’s our guess on what might happen on Kris Bryant’s first day with the […]