Dreamcast 69: A Nice Stretch

In by Rice Cube146 Comments

As the Cubs continue to chip away at their deficits in both the division and wild card races, RC, SVB, and Berselius hang out to consider how to bridge the rotation until Stroman gets back (and hopefully doesn’t suck), Drew Smyly going to the bullpen, trying to get Seiya Suzuki right, and extending Cody Bellinger. Plus there’s some extended talk about some diaper commercial.

You can check out the podcast page or just click on the embedded players below. You can also use the sidebar to get to our Apple Podcast pages and leave a nice review and rating if it pleases you.

Share this Post

Comments

  20. andcounting

    Rice Cube:
    Yeah the Cubs should throw some money at Shohei

    https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1689490398438182913?t=lioBKhB5ZPaElPseGkTGAw&s=19

    I’m going to play devil’s advocate because I’ve been pretty outspoken about wanting Ohtani. He’s a unicorn. Zero comps. And he’ll turn 30 next season.

    Maybe investing half a billion dollars in a two-way player who might be currently having the best year in baseball history is also investing a half a billion dollars in a player who is having the best season he’ll ever have.

    Maybe the fact that he does twice as much for your team as any other one player also means he’s twice the injury risk undergoing twice the wear and tear and subject to an accelerated decline in performance.

    We have no real evidence to support any projections for him the rest of his career, do we?

    On the other hand, he’s a moneymaker. That’s how I think you have to evaluate it. How much money can he make your team in two seasons, because that is the longest you can reasonably expect him to remain a phenom. I think it’s very likely impossible for him to improve on this season or even to repeat it.

      Quote  Reply

    1

    0
  21. berselius

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 130 5/9:
    Rarity: 485
    🟩⬜️🟩
    🟩⬜️🟩
    ⬜️⬜️🟩

    Been prioing speed more (dying laughing), so I always get burned when there’s a bunch of AL teams. Ignore the fact that I missed the only all-NL crossing. Or don’t. I can’t tell you what to do.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  22. berselius

    Didn’t know that the 60s Washington Senators were the precursors to the Rangers. Frank Howard had quite an intimidating headshot (dying laughing)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  23. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 130 7/9:
    Rarity: 394
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜️⬜️🟩

    Worst day in awhile. I twice guessed Vlad Guerrero for a 40 HR season and was twice foiled.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  25. BVS

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 130 9/9:
    Rarity: 65
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩

    So this was the Jamie Moyer grid. As in he fits in all the team crosses and the Cubs weren’t even there! He also gave up 40 HR one year too as a bonus, but with the Mariners. I put him in Sea x Col where he only counted 5% as it turned out. Elsewhere he was a top pick. No screwing around with 1800s-1910s guys on the mlb list today.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  35. Author
    Rice Cube

    Rice Cube,

    How concerned was Swanson that the Cubs were going to sell?

    “Very,” Swanson said, chuckling. “You know me. I was like, ‘Golly, if they get rid of people, I’m going to be upset. I’m going to come in guns blazing.’”

    Swanson, in his conversations with Hoyer, did not only voice his faith in this year’s club. He also made a broader, more philosophical appeal, talking about what the Cubs should aspire to, what kind of organization they should want to be.

    “My thing was, you can’t just turn it on and off, when you want to win,” Swanson said. “If we want to be good, the expectation needs to be that we’re going to win. Just because it’s not going purely as planned this year, you get to a deadline, (you can’t just say) we’re done with the year.

    “The message still has to be to everyone that the expectation is this,” Swanson continued, raising his hand above his head. “I just kind of said now is a real important moment in culture setting. If we want to be winners here, we can’t just say, ‘All right, we’re going to turn our winner mindset on next year when we feel like we have everything right.’ No. The winning mindset stays at all times.”

    So say we all, a sell off would have been mildly off-putting to say the least.

      Quote  Reply

    1

    0
  36. Author
    Rice Cube

    They’re learning….

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  38. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 131 9/9:
    Rarity: 34
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩

    Today was a good day for former Cubs.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  39. berselius

    Dang, just missed

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 131 8/9:
    Rarity: 179
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    ⬜️🟩🟩

    Coulda sworn Trevor Cahill played for the Reds at one point, but I guess not.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  41. Perkins

    I was surprised to see Adam Greenberg all the way up at 0.5% for Cubs-Marlins, but I guess he’s obscure enough to be a trivia question.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  43. BVS

    berselius,

    Good point, given a couple hours each day, I’m confident I could get a rarity score under 10 pretty much always, except maybe where there are only 3 options, like ROY Tampa or something.

    Of course, during those 2 hours, Bref would be making ad revenue from me.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  44. BVS

    Rice Cube,

    Not sure, looks like the state is telling the Brewers that if they want major investments, they need to extend their lease. Otherwise the state will pay the minimum for some new paint and some 0-rings for the toilets. And the city of Milwaukee telling the GOP-led legislature that all the corporate handouts have to come from the state.

    Anyone ever been to Miller Park? I was there in April 2011 for game 2 or 3 of their opening series against the Braves. It was one of two times I’ve been to Milwaukee on business. Went by myself to the game. Since I didn’t have a horse in the game I spent a lot of time looking around at stuff. About 50% capacity. Fans were nice. Stadium looks very industrial inside but kind of cool in the Chicago Ell/Eiffel Tower sort of way. Looked awful outside to me, as if you combined the worst of Brutalist architecture with communist bloc architecture and added a tint of oil-crisis era American public school construction design flare. Since uber wasn’t really a thing then, I took a taxi from my hotel and thought it was a pain to get to.

    I might have even left some comments about it here, or at ACB or whichever former franchise Obstructed View was back then.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  45. BVS

    BVS: Looked awful outside to me, as if you combined the worst of Brutalist architecture with communist bloc architecture and added a tint of oil-crisis era American public school construction design flare.

    If you’re thinking, “Wow, what does that look like?” because you aren’t Roman Mars and can’t picture that and you haven’t visited in person…

    You know those domes that northern states use to store road salt in? That’s a good start. But like a geode, it’s prettier inside.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  46. Perkins

    BVS,

    I haven’t been since 2008, but the description jives with my memory. I always liked the place on the inside, and my usual MO was to have a cigar near my car after the game while the parking lot cleared out because it was much less stressful than sitting in that traffic.

    The last time I was there was the first of that four game Cubs-Brewers series in late July that year that the Cubs swept. I was at the game they handed CC his first loss after the trade, and it was absolutely bananas. Having been to a few postseason games in 2016, the atmosphere was very similar.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  47. Author
    Rice Cube

    BVS:
    Rice Cube,

    Not sure, looks like the state is telling the Brewers that if they want major investments, they need to extend their lease. Otherwise the state will pay the minimum for some new paint and some 0-rings for the toilets. And the city of Milwaukee telling the GOP-led legislature that all the corporate handouts have to come from the state.

    Anyone ever been to Miller Park? I was there in April 2011 for game 2 or 3 of their opening series against the Braves. It was one of two times I’ve been to Milwaukee on business. Went by myself to the game. Since I didn’t have a horse in the game I spent a lot of time looking around at stuff. About 50% capacity. Fans were nice. Stadium looks very industrial inside but kind of cool in the Chicago Ell/Eiffel Tower sort of way.Looked awful outside to me, as if you combined the worst of Brutalist architecture with communist bloc architecture and added a tint of oil-crisis era American public school construction design flare. Since uber wasn’t really a thing then, I took a taxi from my hotel and thought it was a pain to get to.

    I’ve been to Milwaukee a couple times but never to the sports area where the Bucks and Brewers are. I feel like the city is proud of having their sports there and would prefer the team doesn’t leave, and relocation probably doesn’t happen until they let Oakland move and then sort out expansion so this could be a protracted thing.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  50. berselius

    I always liked going to Miller Park (f whatever it’s called now), and the tailgating scene in particular was great. WI has a lot more local pride wrt its non-Packers sports teams than it did when I first moved there, but who knows how this would play out. The Packers, who it’s safe to say are no threat to move, sponsored a modest sales tax bump ballot initiative for a Lambeau renovation ~20 years ago and it was roundly rejected almost everywhere except for a slim margin in Green Bay itself, which is why they mostly fundraise through stock ‘sales’ these days. Not sure how it will fly with the Beers.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  54. Perkins

    I approve of the “Cubs hit home runs and don’t allow the Blue Jays to score” plan and hope the Cubs continue to execute on it.

      Quote  Reply

    1

    0
  61. andcounting

    Rice Cube:
    Assad eating 7 innings is king shit

    This is the most important part of the game just like Seiya bouncing back against the Mets seemed more important than the loss. More Cubs trending up is pretty fun to see.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  62. andcounting

    Rogers Hornsby is a sneaky immaculate grid rarity play. Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Braves, Orioles. And how am I only now learning the St. Louis Browns preceded the Orioles and played one season as the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  63. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 132 9/9:
    Rarity: 197
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩

    Today’s rarity score was not nearly as impressive.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  64. BVS

    Perkins: Today’s rarity score was not nearly as impressive.

    Per Berselius above, depends on time. Did you complete this while warming up a cup of yesterday’s leftover coffee in the microwave?

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  68. andcounting

    It was pretty fun seeing Seiya celebrate his double pretty much as soon as he made contact. I guess I have to give credit to Ross on the approach with him over the last week. Definitely needed that break.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  69. Author
    Rice Cube

    If it ain’t broke…I get the LOB is frustrating at times but more baserunners mean more opportunities which also unfortunately means more failure even as they keep scoring, saw that Milwaukee finally got back to positive run differential to join the Cubs

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  88. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 133 9/9:
    Rarity: 80
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩

    Only one of mine is the most common at the moment. Happy I took a swing with a former punter for Angels .300 avg season.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  89. berselius

    MLB is going to need to relocate the Jays to the US so every team they play isn’t reminded that O Canada is an orders of magnitude better anthem (dying laughing)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  90. berselius

    Marseillaise comes close as well, how many anthems have regularly sung lines about watering your fields with your enemies blood (dying laughing).

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  99. Author
    Rice Cube

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 134 9/9:
    Rarity: 242
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    Play at:
    https://immaculategrid.com
    @immaculategrid x @baseball_ref

    Lots of Washington Senators for the 200+ hits thing but not a lot of Nats/Expos so I guess everyone guessed the obvious guy

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  100. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 134 6/9:
    Rarity: 348
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩⬜️
    ⬜️⬜️🟩

    Apparently nobody in the franchise had 200 hits since the Expos became the Nationals. Also neither of Manny Ramirez or Francisco Lindor had a 200 hit season with Cleveland.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  106. Author
    Rice Cube

    Joey Votto was on Starkville today and I was also surprised (but then again not really because he walked so much) that he didn’t have a 200-hit season

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  108. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 135 8/9:
    Rarity: 218
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩⬜️🟩

    Rickey’s at 90% for A’s 3K hits, and wishing I’d remembered Ty Cobb had played for that franchise. Guessed Frank Robinson for Orioles and was thwarted.

    But at least I made good use of former Cubs Rich Harden and Andrew Cashner.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  109. berselius

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 135 8/9:
    Rarity: 295
    ⬜️🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩

    I guess Henry Aaron played before the Silver Slugger existed (dying laughing)

    (EDIT: SS wasn’t a thing until 1980)

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  112. andcounting

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 135 9/9:
    Rarity: 191
    IMMACULATE!
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩

    This was the first time in awhile that I didn’t cheat. I did try the speed mode as well and was surprised by Rickey being almost as popular on the Grid as he is in the mirror. Gary Matthews Jr., Big Frank, and Pete Rose were my only single-digit rarity scores. I thought for sure I’d get burned by Eddie Murray, but no such (bad) luck.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  125. Author
    Rice Cube

    I did some searches to educate myself on the grid today because apparently the Pirates didn’t have many 20-game winners past the turn of the 20th Century so that was definitely not a fun square

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  126. Perkins

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 136 8/9:
    Rarity: 225
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩⬜️

    Surprised Lance Berkman is all the way up at 33% for STL-HOU.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  127. Perkins

    Rice Cube,

    I guessed Mike Morgan for Pirates 20 game winner and realized my brain conflated him with Doug Drabek for some reason. Tough square given it’s a small market team with only two correct answers after the 1970s.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  130. berselius

    ⚾️ Immaculate Grid 136 5/9:
    Rarity: 501
    🟩🟩⬜️
    ⬜️🟩🟩
    🟩⬜️⬜️
    Rough one today for sure.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0
  133. Perkins

    Marcus Stroman ——->rib cartilage fracture

    I’m now wondering whether he’ll actually opt out at the end of the season.

      Quote  Reply

    0

    0

Leave a Comment