This was a weird game. Coors Field has a reputation for pumped-up offense, and while it can be exaggerated at times, it’s very much deserved. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t surprised when Dexter Fowler opened the game with a home run, but, y’know. Coors. And it doesn’t mean I wasn’t surprised when David Dahl led off […]
Category: Articles
Matt Murton: Journeying Through Baseball With A Purpose
“I was purposed to play…it was my calling, and I don’t think that’s by chance. Because of that, what I’ve been given with all of the experiences I’ve had in the game, I’ve been given the opportunity to really not only enjoy this game, but there is also an opportunity to give back. The biggest […]
Series Preview: Cubs at Rockies, August 19-21
The last few weeks of baseball have been reminiscent of the first month of the season. If not for a couple of bad innings from Carl Edwards, Jr. and Hector Rondon, the Cubs would probably have been flawless, but instead, they’ll settle for being 14-2 since the beginning of August. West coast road trips have […]
Game 120 Recap: Cubs 9 Brewers 6
These are the afternoons when Wrigley decides to smile on the hitters and does so indiscriminately. Uniform color and allegiances don’t matter. All the runs will be scored when the ball carries over the wall or finds the right spot deep in the recesses of the outfield. Wrigley smiled the brightest on Kris Bryant today, […]
Travis Wood: LOOGY?
Travis Wood has been a mainstay in Chicago since he was traded for in December of 2011, from the Reds in exchange for reliever Sean Marshall. Now the longest-tenured Cub, Wood filled in admirably as a starter in the rebuilding years, then transitioned to the bullpen midway through the 2015 season. Wood was excellent out […]
Game 119 Recap: Cubs 6 Brewers 1
Some games are so rich in drama and sheer athletic achievement that it inspires less a standard recap production, and more the type of siring prose that has the writer feeling as if he/she belongs among the poets. Other games are more standard fare, causing the writer to flail desperately in hopes of a catchy […]
Young Cubs: Oscar De La Cruz-ing
We’ve had some great prospect coverage at BP Wrigleyville recently, so I encourage you to check out Ryan Davis on Albert Almora Jr. and Pierce Johnson, and Carlos Portocarrero on Jack Leathersich. Now, let’s check in on some happenings from the farm. Iowa Cubs (Triple-A) (54-69) Almora Jr. is hitless in his last three games in Iowa, […]
Game 118 Recap: Cubs 4 Brewers 1
Somewhere Ernie Banks is smiling. Doubleheaders may not be Joe Maddon’s favorite, but he has to be happy with the fact that the Cubs won easily and without drama in both games of today’s doubleheader. These wins are an appropriate balm for frustrating losses to the Cardinals on Saturday and Sunday. In the night game, the […]
Game 117 Recap: Cubs 4 Milwaukee 0
Call it the Cahill and Montgomery game. Top Play (WPA): The Cubs were already leading the Brewers 1-0 when starter Matt Garza walked Dexter Fowler leading off the third inning. After a Kris Bryant pop out for the first out, a single by Anthony Rizzo put two on with just one out. Ben Zobrist hit […]
“Sugar,” Tommy La Stella, and Anticlimax
People are feeling all kinds of things about Tommy La Stella—anger, contempt, sympathy—but the writers so far who have best approximated my own feelings are the ones who get at how murky and elusive the story is. Here at Wrigleyville, Ken Schultz rejected the simple narrative—spoiled young player needs to toughen up and do what he’s told—and […]