What You Need To Know: After a first inning where Jake Arrieta’s handle on the strike zone was a nod to Doc Ellis on the anniversary of the greatest sporting accomplishment in history, he settled in for the next five, allowing the Marlins only one more hit and one more walk. That gave the Cubs bats just […]
Author: Sam Fels
The Complexity Of Flexibility
I like to get cute with my titles. What of it? The past two years, we’ve marveled at the flexibility of the Cubs roster. This guy can play here! This guy can play there! This guy over here can play both and more! We should have been referring to everyone as Optimus or Mystique. Actually, […]
Game 53 Recap: Cubs 3, Cardinals 2
What You Need To Know: The Isotopes win a game! The Isotopes win a game! Our long national nightmare is over. Of course, the Cardinals were never going to make it easy, and the Cubs bats didn’t suddenly come alive. They only got five hits, only had multiple runners on at the same time in one […]
Game 46 Recap: Cubs 5, Giants 1
What You Need To Know: Eddie Butler was just a little better than Jeff Samardzija, only giving up one run while Shark gave up three solo homers on a day when both teams definitely had a plane to California to catch. From there Mike Montgomery got the old school save, pitching the last four innings on […]
Glove Slap, Baby Glove Slap
We all made assumptions about the Cubs this year. And it’s far too early to say any of them are going to turn out to be wrong. A quarter of a baseball season is hardly enough to judge. But we’re all sitting here, with nothing much to do, and I’d rather be writing something than […]
Game 41 Recap: Brewers 6, Cubs 3
What You Need To Know: Whoever the Cubs put on the bump, their sense of direction was wayward. Butler walked five, including three in the first inning. Montgomery walked three in one inning. And when they could find the plate, their fielders couldn’t quite catch it. Pierce Johnson was let down by his defense, though to […]
Game 39 Recap: Cubs 7, Reds 5
What You Need To Know: For the second night in a row, the Cubs treated a Reds starter like a…. well, Reds starter. This time it was Scott Feldman (or if you prefer the Professor Frink pronunciation: Scott FELDMANHOOOYEGLEYBANWITHTHEBADBREAKINGSTUFFTHATGOESHOYVEN!) whom the Cubs treated like a whoopee cushion and put a touchdown on in just eight outs. […]
Searching For The Rock In “Ad-Rock”
There’s this narrative that follows Addison Russell around. It’s one of the few things I hear Len Kasper continually echo throughout a season, and it’s that Russell will one day win an MVP. All things are possible I suppose, but I’ve found it curious to say the least. Curious because I would think it would be […]
Game 32 Recap: Rockies 10, Cubs 4
What You Need To Know: George Burns was right. Coors Field is a hideous beast goddess. At least he would have been if he were talking about it and not Hollywood. The Rockies clubbed the Cubs in the opener of a split doubleheader, getting the Coors Special of a ton of bloops and flares that land […]
Starlin Waiting In the Sky
There was really no way Starlin could win. He was called up to a simply awful Cubs team, and fans needed something, anything to feel good about. Even if it was this incredibly young, incredibly raw, incredibly rushed through the system talent. Obviously, his debut game only made things worse in the end, kind of […]