This is a story about one of the most important days of the Theo Epstein Era in Chicago, and perhaps in Cubs history. It was July 2, 2013, and while that day will always be famous as the day the Cubs stole Jake Arrieta from the Baltimore Orioles, there was more to it than that, […]
Category: Articles
Kris Bryant: National League All-Star, Baseball Stoic
On Monday, June 27, Kris Bryant had a day for the ages against the Cincinnati Reds, going 5-for-5 with three home runs and two doubles. As this had never happened before in baseball history, tributes to his achievement poured in from all over the baseball landscape. (Except for one Boston hack who sniffed that Bryant […]
Cubs, Despite Struggles, Studded With Stars
There has not been much joy for the Chicago National League ball club the past three weeks. The Cubs are limping both metaphorically and literally, with seemingly-all of their players recovering from leg injuries as we head into the All-Star Break. It is easy to forget, these days, just how good and talented the 2016 […]
Game 83 Recap: Reds 9 Cubs 5
A Tuesday afternoon game might stir feelings of nostalgia and encourage Cubs fans’ notions of exceptionalism, but it set everyone on the field a bit on edge, and the Cubs’ wrong-footed start ended up being too much to overcome. Top Play (WPA): The bottom of the third inning was an insurgency, boy, a sight to see. […]
SKILL, NOT LUCK: KYLE HENDRICKS EDITION
When the idea was posed by the BP-Wrigleyville staff to break down the luck/skill quotient of each of the Cubs’ five members of the starting staff, I immediately volunteered for Kyle Hendricks. It seemed like a great idea at the time: after all, I’ve already written extensively about Hendricks this season, so it should have been a breeze… or so I […]
Game 82 Recap: Cubs 10 Reds 4
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the […]
Game 81 Recap: Mets 14 Cubs 3
An age-old sports question is what is the most preferable way to lose. Is it more damaging to be blown out or to suffer a nail-biting defeat? Cubs fans have gotten a side-by-side comparison throughout the four-game rematch of the 2015 NLCS. The answer is that they both suck, especially when they happen four straight […]
Game 80 Recap: Mets 4 Cubs 3
Look, before starting this recap, go search “cute dogs” or something. The All-Star break is near, the Cubs are scuffling, and Jake Arrieta is out of whack. The Cubs have dropped the first three games of the series to the dreaded, hated, despicable, unfathomably evil Mets. Top Play (WPA): The lone bright spot in this […]
Game 79 Recap: Mets 10 Cubs 2
This one was a five hour barrel of laughs, let me tell you. Top Play (WPA): Here’s the cool news: Kris Bryant homered again (+.054). It was a solo shot off Mets starter Jacob deGrom in the fourth inning, and it broke up the no-hitter that the talented right-hander was spinning at the time. The […]
Overrated or Not, Kris Bryant Remains Misunderstood
Monday night belonged to Kris Bryant, whose three-homer, two-double onslaught made everything else fade into the background. Bryant is a focal point of the media attention around the Cubs almost all the time, but when a performance like Monday’s happens, he becomes the ubiquitous talk of Baseball Twitter for a while. There was a lot […]