Before I delve into my main purpose here, isn’t optimism an interesting thing? Before November 2nd, 2016, optimism was a seemingly foolhardy concept for anything having to do with the North Side. But since then, we’re living in a new world where I can toss the word in the headline, even with the “cautious” qualifier, […]
Category: Articles
Face of the Philosophy: Schwarber’s (Not So) Hidden Strength
Kyle Schwarber led off the final inning of 2016 with an outlandish degree of confidence. He reportedly strode to the batter’s box, nonchalantly reassuring Mike Borzello, “Borzy, I’ve got this. Don’t worry. I’m locked in.” Naturally, he was right. It’s a special twenty-three-year-old who can bring that kind of self-assurance – and deliver – in […]
Tinker To Evers To Chance To The US District Court of Georgia
These are the saddest of possible words: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, Tinker and Evers and Chance. Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, Making a Giant hit into a double – Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” How one is remembered […]
CACTUS CATCHUP: ALMORA, CUTS, AND HAPP TO IOWA
Putting in Work: The Cubs played a two-game set against the Reds this past weekend in Las Vegas with the Cubs playing the part of Danny Ocean and his crew, and the Reds being some combination of a fading Al Pacino/lazy Julia Roberts plot arc in Oceans Twelve (trust me this makes sense if you watched […]
South Bend Cubs Rotation Could Be Something Very Special
With just one week left in spring training, the rotation for the South Bend Cubs is pretty well set. It is mostly a collection of arms who pitched for the 2016 Northwest League champion Eugene Emeralds. Most Cubs fans might focus only on top prospect Dylan Cease, but there are other arms who are equally exciting […]
I Think… I Think I’m Getting The Jon Lester Fear
Hi, it’s me. The man on the mountain who’s here to instill panic in you about the top of the Cubs rotation. And you were so excited for the new season, weren’t you? Hadn’t even noticed the wind was biting, did you? I kill what you love. Actually, it’s not that bad. But it’s worth […]
The 25th Man: La Stella Or Szczur
With less than a week to go until the Cubs open up the 2017 season in St. Louis, the vast majority of the Opening Day 25-man roster has been pretty clearly solidified with just a few final exceptions. The most notable of those is the battle for the final bench spot. With Joe Maddon’s known […]
Before Epstein and Maddon, There Was Dallas Green
It’s a cliché to note that there are no hardasses like Dallas Green in baseball anymore. I would be remiss to ignore it, however: there truly are no baseball executives or managers like Dallas Green anymore. For decades, Green was the irascible firebrand who played for, helmed, and constructed two of the National League’s longest-suffering […]
Javier Baez on the Bases
In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Javier Baez looked unstoppable on the basepaths, and a hyper-aggressive Baez is one of the most exciting things to watch. After stealing second and third in the sixth inning of Puerto Rico’s 6-5 win over the USA, the Cubs infielder danced down the line as if he were going […]
The Fantasy Roundtable
The following is a fantasy roundtable featuring several of BP Wrigleyville’s authors. Each was asked to focus on a Cubs player they expect to over/under perform, or one who is not on the radar, but should be. For further reading, check out the fantasy previews from our friends at BP Bronx, BP Toronto and BP Milwaukee. […]