Here we are, August 23: the Dog Days, the Stretch Run, the days of Magic Numbers and Playing out the String. If you squint, you can see the final strains of the regular season, shrouded in fall freshness and early darkness. The end is nigh; we’ll begin to look upon who did what, and how, […]
Tag: Kris Bryant
Game 120 Recap: Cubs 9 Brewers 6
These are the afternoons when Wrigley decides to smile on the hitters and does so indiscriminately. Uniform color and allegiances don’t matter. All the runs will be scored when the ball carries over the wall or finds the right spot deep in the recesses of the outfield. Wrigley smiled the brightest on Kris Bryant today, […]
Game 110 Recap: Cubs 3 Athletics 1
Like a wasted youth that is recaptured later in life and made up for, the Cubs let several chances go by them in the first half of today’s game, only to ultimately push across three runs and complete their tenth sweep of the season. They won almost with a yawn and a dismissive flip of […]
Ranking Russell Over Bryant: Midseason Update
We’ve now all seen enough of Kris Bryant and Addison Russell to understand just how special they are individually. To have them playing at the same time, on the same team, on the same side of one infield is a tremendous blessing; one we shouldn’t take for granted, as we may never see a left-side combination […]
Game 102 Recap: Cubs 12 Mariners 1
Over an hour of rain delay didn’t dampen the day at all for the Cubs, who scored so prodigiously that the Mariners turned to using second baseman Luis Sardinas in the eighth inning. And, to his credit, Sardinas got through the inning unscathed. The Cubs pushed through the Mariners bullpen by driving Hisashi Iwakuma from […]
Game 100 Recap: Cubs 8 White Sox 1
The Cubs are in a weird place right now. On one hand, they’re looking much improved after the break and taking series wins against the Rangers, Mets, and Brewers has calmed much of the angst that had so defined the month of July for Cubs fans. But on the other hand, there’s a swirl of […]
The Cubs are Getting Hit By Pitches at a Historic Pace
After first couple of months in the 2016 season, it looked like the Cubs were going to break the all-time single-season wins record of 116, set by their 100-years-ago selves and the 2001 Mariners. However, after a sub-optimal stretch that saw them go 6-15 to finish the first half, the odds seem to have plummeted. […]
Bryant’s Sophomore Statement: Warm is the New Hot
“We have Kris Bryant, and you don’t.” Typically, it’s a trademark majestic bomb that motivates the popular fan jibe, but on June 27, 2016, it was three of them, plus two doubles thrown in for good measure. On that night, at least, Kris Bryant’s awesome offensive firepower was the story du jour. But closer observation revealed a more striking trend. Through a purposeful effort […]
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 […]
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 […]