Aroldis Chapman is not a popular figure among Cub fans at the moment. He buzzed Nate Schierholtz twice on Thursday, and nearly drove our hero to fisticuffs after staring down the Cubs dugout in the ninth. I’m pretty relieved that no punches were thrown, because the Reds strike me as the wrong team to mess with, to paraphrase Ryan Braun*. Chapman …
Cubes 2, Barves 5 (5/12/14)
Did The Cubs Win? OSS: Cubes strikeout 14 times, and put Russell into the game. Three Up 1. Starlin Castro went 2-4 with a double and a strikeout. 2. Nate Schierholtz walked and doubled in 2 runs. 3. Anthony Rizzo is good, even when he isn’t that good. He went 1-3 with a walk, but still saw 23 pitches, which …
Cardinals 5, Cubs 4 (5/5/14)
Did The Cubs Win? OSS: Yadier Molina owned the Cubs again off of a fluky single in the 9th, and Rizzo was the zero, not the hero. Three Up 1. The Valbuena/Olt battle is just about wrapped up at this point. Luis Luis walked, doubled and tripled. If the battle is between a guy who plays good defense and can …
Cubs 9, Reds 4 (5/1/14)
Did The Cubs Win? OSS: A to the Rizzo dominates Cingrani/Christiani, and Cubs tee off on fastball guys. Three Up 1. Couldn’t be anyone but Rizzo, who walked 4 times and hit a 2-run homer in the 1st inning. His WPA for yesterday’s game was a stout .298. 2. Starlin Castro had almost as good of a game. He went …
Cubs 4, Brewers 0 (4/28/14)
Did the Cubs Win? OSS: The Cubs play their most complete game of the season against the “best” team in baseball. Three Up 1. Jason Hammel was absolutely sublime all game. It seemed like he had the best control of his pitches out of any Cub in the past 3 years – especially the low outside corner against righties. Hammel …
Cubs 2, Reds 8 (4/20/14)
OSS: Carl Newhouse isn’t a very good pitcher, and the Cubs as a collective aren’t a very good hitter. Three Up 1. Anthony Rizzo went 2-3 with 2 walks. It’s hard to ask for a lot more than that. 2. Emilio Bonifacio went 2-4 with a walk and a double. He also stole a base and was caught stealing. Bonifacio …
Cubs 4, Cardinals 6 (4/14/14)
OSS: Edwin Jackson dodges the first bullet and gets hit by the second. Three Up 1. Junior Lake, sure. He went 2-4 with a triple. Pretty cool. 2. Mike Olt, why not. 2-3, with a double and an RBI. 3. Anthony Rizzo hit a home run! It was fun, because we had a lead before Grim Death took hold of …
Ten Reasons I’m Watching The 2014 Cubs
The last time I posted here, the dinosaurs roamed the earth the Cubs were still in the hunt for the NL pennant I swore I didn’t care about the 2014 Cubs. I said there would be no reason to watch the 2014 Cubs. I pretty much made it clear I wouldn’t so much as accidentally watch 10 seconds of the 2014 …
Cubs 4, Pirates 5 (4/11/14)
Did the Cubs Win? OSS: James Russell marches onwards towards his ignominious release. Three Up 1. Starlin Castro continues his hot start to the season with a 3 single day. He scored a run and hand an RBI. 2. Travis Wood deserved the win here, but we’ll get to that later. He allowed 1 run (that Schlitter inherited), walked 3, …
Cubs 7, Pirates 5 (4/9/14)
OSS: Twin Towers Topple Tons of Tiny Traducer Taters Three Five Up 1. Junior Lake wanted more playing time. After a conservatively-estimated 800-foot blast onto whatever street comes after Waveland, he just might get it. Sure, he didn’t have the most totally productive day, but if you hit a ball as far as Lake did, it’s easy to be wooed. 2. …