It’s true. Since Jim Riggleman called it quits, Mike Quade has replaced Riggleman as a coach for the NL All-Stars. The only question at this point is, what Cubs player is going to be forced into the All-Star game because of a silly rule? My money is on Sean Marshall.
Nick Jonas Takes BP At Wrigley – Why Not Sign Him?
According to Phil Rogers (and, I assume, everyone else who was there), Nick Jonas took batting practice with the Cubs prior to today’s makeup game against the Rockies. Phil says there are no plans to give the teeny-bopper heartthrob a shot at the everyday lineup, but I don’t understand why. Here’s the quote from Phil: Being that Jonas is a …
Joe Posnanski’s SI story on Jose Bautista
Joe Posnanski is, of course, a very good sportswriter, and his story for Sports Illustrated this coming issue is on Jose Bautista and whether you can believe that his feats can simply happen rather than be the result of some bionic enhancement. I’d recommend reading if it you have about 20 minutes to kill.
A Look Back: Michael Barrett
This season sucks. I wanted to bring up something (kind of) relevent from year’s past. Different people will have different opinions, but I never fully grasped the impact Michael Barrett had on the Cubs during his tenure. Why Barrett? 1) White Sox-Cubs is tonight, and punching A.J. Pierzynski is something I think we all wish we could do and 2) …
TOOTBLAN and rundown silliness
Had a bit of fun with this rundown of Brett Gardner in the Yankees-Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Saturday. Officially I think it’s a 1-3-4-3-4-2-6 putout. Based on a conversation I had elsewhere, I wonder if it’s possible to have a “pi” putout. Pi from memory is 3.14159265358979 and the digits allow for every position on the diamond to …
Derek Jeter has 3179 hits in his career
A lot of talk is being made about Derek Jeter approaching 3000 hits, but he passed that milestone a year ago. Including the postseason, Jeter has 3179 hits. I’ve never understood why postseason numbers aren’t included in career statistics. I get why they don’t include them in year to year stats, but why ignore stats that are put up against …
Soriano 15th in all-star voting, cubs.com keeps talking about it like it’s a big deal
Can someone explain to me why cubs.com keeps talking about Alfonso Soriano’s chances of getting into the all-star game? He’s now 15th in the balloting and I’m pretty sure they don’t take 15 outfielders. This is at least the second time they’ve written about this. Last time he was 12th. Are the Cubs all-star chances really so bad that you …
Whoever Had June 13 on the Kerry Wood DL Pool is a Winner
It turns out Quade’s bullpen was even thinner than people (translation: I) realized when Zambrano was left hung out to dry in Philadelphia the other night. It seems that Kerry Wood’s blister problems have resurfaced and he has been put on the 15 Day DL. Per Bruce Levine: Wood, who is 1-3 with a 3.25 ERA in 24 games this …
What the realignment proposal would mean
Dave Allen has a good piece up on Fangraphs looking at the races in the AL and NL since 1995 and how different they’d have been if it was instead two 15-team leagues as suggested recently. I wanted to look at this in a slightly different, but also less thorough way than Allen did. I wanted to see how many …
Robert Whitenack to have surgery on elbow, Trey McNutt pulled after 2 innings
Things couldn’t get much worse for the Cubs as far as injuries go, but it is the Cubs. Robert Whitenack was pulled from his most recent start because of elbow soreness. It didn’t appear to be a big deal at first, but he’s now going to undergo Tommy John surgery. Trey McNutt has battled blisters all season long and in …