Growing into my baseball fandom, I learned early about the joy of rivalries. The most notable, of course, is the epitome of sports rivalries: that of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Maybe that’s a bit of a bold statement that stems from naiveté; baseball is, after all, the only sport which I hang onto […]
Tag: Cubs
Checking in on the Cubs, the Cardinals, and Their Records
Photo courtesy of David Banks-USA TODAY Sports Looking at winning records in a vacuum can be perilous. Win the first game of a series, lose the first and last games of the previous three game set, and lose just the last game of the series before that, and suddenly, all of the following are true: (1) The team has lost […]
Was Castro’s Mild Dash Worth It?
Photo courtesy of David Banks-USA TODAY Sports My wife and I were driving to Chicago last Friday to help our younger daughter move from one Lakeview apartment to another. It really wasn’t the ideal time to move, with the Cubs at home, but a confluence of events made these days the only ones that would […]
The Ramifications of a 13-Man Pitching Staff
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs called up Junior Lake and sent Brian Schlitter down on Monday, and until then they had been carrying a 13-man pitching staff, and there’s many reasons for that. They had a stretch of consecutive games from April 17-29 without an off day, even though they received […]
Picking Apart Lester’s Pickoffs
Much was made about Jon Lester’s lack of throws to first after his Opening Night start against the Cardinals, which is easy to understand. It was the first game of the season, featuring a national broadcast with a three-man booth using every bit of information generated by their producers. After the game, I didn’t hear all […]
Game Eight Recap: Cubs 5 Reds 0
Top Play (WPA): Anthony Rizzo blasted a 1-1 fastball (.141) that defied strong inward blowing winds before eventually landing in the construction site right-field “bleachers.” The 89 mph fastball was about belt-high, middle-in and also scored Dexter Fowler, who led off the game with a double to left. It was nice to see Rizzo get […]