As the trade deadline struck on July 31, 2017, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein probably felt terrific. He had checked off every box on his midseason shopping list. Cubs needed to add another starter? Epstein had pulled off a shocking deal to acquire left-hander Jose Quintana from the crosstown White Sox. Cubs were […]
Tag: 2017 Postseason
Feeling Blue: The Cubs go down, but have more bullets in the chamber
During my years as a young athlete, my old coach used to tell my team a phrase prior to making us run. That phrase has came to mind while watching the Chicago Cubs this postseason. “Life is hard, not right but true. Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you,” This season, the bear […]
Second City October: NLCS Game Four, The Snake Makes His Exit
Jake Arrieta has inspired awe and poetic rhapsodizing more than any other Cubs player in the past few years. With his bushy beard, stolid physique, and no-hit stuff, it was hard to resist Arrieta’s allure as a pitcher—on any given evening, Arrieta could crossfire his way to a complete game shutout with a dozen strikeouts. […]
Second City October – NLCS Game Three Preview: Dodgers (2-0) at Cubs (0-2)
There are no such things as must-win games until you’re actually facing the axe. There has only been one series comeback from a 3-0 as we know, and those Yankees did not have this rotation or bullpen (just the closer, and the Red Sox got to him, which is an important lesson). Good for the Cubs […]
On Squandering Slight Advantages in the Playoffs
Margins of error in the playoffs are thin. So thin. More often than not, games between two evenly matched teams in October turn on the smallest mistakes: a hung breaking ball, a bobbled grounder, a pitcher deployed in the wrong situation. Ah, a pitcher deployed in the wrong situation—there it is, one of the few […]
Cubs need the best of “Bryzzo” if they hope to advance to World Series
What have the Cubs failed to do this postseason? A. Score runs B. Score runs C. Except for Game Five of the NLDS…..score runs D. All of the Above If you guessed D, ding ding, you’re our big winner. Now that I’ve had my fun, I think you get the point. The Cubs really need more offensive […]
Second City October: NLCS Game Two, Cubs (0-1) at Dodgers (1-0)
Well, as they say they beautiful thing about baseball is that there isn’t a lot of time to linger because there’s another game tomorrow. Well, I mean, that’s probably not how they say it, but you get it. Sadly, the problems that were pretty evident last night aren’t going to go away tonight. You can’t […]
NLCS Game One Recap: Dodgers 5, Cubs 2
If I would have told you that Clayton Kershaw wouldn’t see the sixth inning of tonight’s game, you would have been pleased. As it is, playoff baseball is… more complicated. Weird, even. And so when Kershaw exited immediately after the Dodgers tied the game at two, it was the inflection point of the game in an […]
NLDS Game 5: Cubs 9, Nationals 8
I am speechless. I am without speech. This was the kind of win where I really have to work to find the right words to describe the joy of getting to witness it. And it’s ultimately fruitless because it’s the kind of euphoria where if I were able to capture it in words, it would […]
Stephen Strasburg’s Exquisite Game Plan
The Cubs have looked helpless facing the Nationals’ starting pitchers so far in this NLDS, and they have managed to take the series down to the wire only due to their own starters’ impeccable performances that have resulted in a 0.40 ERA. Wednesday night, Stephen Strasburg continued the dominance that he, Gio Gonzalez, and Max […]