More often than not, the ballads we know and love tell a sad tale. In the early goings, and even in the late goings of this particular Jon Lester start, the ballad seemed to be strong, joyous, and prideful before the closing verse quickly unraveled this great story. This proves furthermore the sentiment that is well believed […]
Tag: Jon Lester
The Ballad of Jon Lester: Start 27
This start as a song: My Pal Foot Foot – The Shaggs’ art resembles music just enough to be classified as such. At first blush this loosely composed collection of sounds is grating on the ears almost to the point of being offensive, but then you hear the undercurrent of what’s going on and realize […]
That’s So Cub: A Look at the Top August Contributors and Moments
It’s the beginning of September, which not only means that kids head back to school and beer gardens become a lot less fun, but also that I, as I have since the beginning of time the beginning of the season, will sit down and write about the top Cubs’ contributors and moments from the previous month. If you want […]
The 2015 Ballad of Jon Lester: Start No. 26
Date: August 29, 2015 Opponent: Los Angeles Dodgers Location: Dodgers Stadium Introduction Unlike Henry Rowengartner’s late season trip to Chavez Ravine, Jon Lester’s time in Dodgers Stadium did not result in a victory or the chanting of “We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher” to a large, mustachioed Dodger on the mound. It was not […]
The 2015 Ballad of Jon Lester: Start No. 25
Introduction Baseball has been described many ways by many people, but bizarre and g**damn frustrating has to be at the top of everybody’s list. On a sunny, late-summer Monday afternoon on the North Side, Jon Lester outdueled reigning American Cy Young winner Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians in his most efficient start as a […]
The Road They’ve Traveled: George Plimpton, DRA Run Values, and the Cubs Rotation
One of my favorite baseball books is George Plimpton’s 1961 classic, Out of My League. Plimpton, the founding executive editor of the Paris Review—and an enormous baseball fan—took it upon himself to pitch batting practice to the 1958 National League All-Stars a few hours before they took on the Junior Circuit at Yankee Stadium that year. Plimpton […]
The 2015 Ballad of Jon Lester: Start No. 24
Introduction Well, damnit. As a man wiser and more fictitious than myself once said, “Sometimes you eat the bear…and sometimes the bear eats you.”* On Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, the bear, or Tiger, ate Lester. *Have any of you seen The Big Lebowski? It’s obscure, but I’m a bit of an indy film nerd, […]
The 2015 Ballad of Jon Lester: Start No. 23
Date: August 13, 2015 Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers Location: Wrigley Field Introduction What a difference three months can make. When Jon Lester faced the Milwaukee Brewers on May 1st, he was coming off a frustrating first month in a Cubs uniform, and sported a 6.23 ERA and 2.031 WHIP. Lester was in the midst of a […]
That’s So Cub: A Look at the Top July Contributors and Moments
It’s the beginning of August, which means not only that the dog days of summer are officially here, but also that I, as I have since the beginning of time the beginning of the season, will sit down and write about the top Cubs’ contributors and moments from the previous month. If you want a brief technical summary of […]
The 2015 Ballad of Jon Lester: Start No. 21
Date: July 29, 2015 Opponent: Colorado Rockies Location: Wrigley Field Introduction Perhaps the Cubs should lobby the Gregorian calendar folks to change the date of Jon Lester’s next start to July 34. Why would he ever want this month to end? I mean, just at look Lester’s July numbers after Wednesday’s start against the Colorado […]