By Marty Gangler

As a dad, every once in awhile I am reminded of something I should remember by my young son. My little guy is just over three-years-old and at that age they tend to lack “political correctness.” They really just call it as they see it and they let the chips fall where they may. Which means they can say the sweetest and most hurtful things in back-to-back sentences.
What I will remember about Father’s Day 2011 is my son telling me, “No baseball, daddy.” I tried to get him into the game but the answer was always “No baseball, daddy.”
And it turned out he was right. I was better off not watching that debacle unfold on Sunday night, with the Cubs throwing away the game with so many “un-error errors.” You know, those plays that don’t show up as an error in the box score but are as detrimental to winning baseball as a lazy grounder going right under your glove.
I’m not sure that an “un-error error” is the correct term for outfielders giving up on catchable flyballs, but I do know that that was “No baseball, daddy.” The smartest person in the room was the three-year-old.

Read More

Posted on June 20, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

Rick Telander’s column about Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the Sun-Times last week stirred up memories of former White Sox owner Bill Veeck. The teaser on the back page of the print edition claimed that “Cuban might have been better suited to change Cubs’ fortunes than Ricketts family is, but baseball didn’t want him.”
According to Telander, the commissioner and owners (he named Jerry Reinsdorf as being a mover and shaker) didn’t approve of Cuban. Too unpredictable; a loose cannon; not to be trusted. And ya think Reinsdorf wanted the likes of Mark Cuban only 70 blocks away via the Red Line?!?
The owners didn’t want Bill Veeck either. When he put together a syndicate to purchase the Sox in the mid-’70s, the lords were similarly unimpressed. Even though (or should I say because?) Bill had owned and operated the Cleveland Indians (1946-49), St. Louis Browns (1951-53), and the White Sox (1959-61), he was an outsider for some of the same reasons as Cuban.

Read More

Posted on June 20, 2011

By Beachwood Labs

So it seems Major League Baseball is considering realigning the divisions – or doing away with the divisions altogether and just admitting the top teams to the playoffs.
Realignment is something Beachwood Labs has studied for years. Here are our proposals.
* Eliminate divisions but keep two leagues: Felonies and Misdemeanors. Owners would remain in a white-collar criminal class of their own.
* Eliminate divisions but keep two leagues: Steroids and Not. A whole new market for extra large helmets.

Read More

Posted on June 17, 2011

By Carl Mohrbacher

Looks like the Cubs are going to be sellers at the trading deadline. Who’s on the block?
-Brock, Rockford IL
Who isn’t?
But the main move in the works is a classic “too little, too late” trade between the Cubs and Giants aimed at pacifying an angry fan base: Whoever the Giants want in return for Mark DeRosa.
Seriously, Cubs . . .
-@tomnation2323, via Twitter
As an insurance measure due in part to a recent string of robberies of time and money, Cubs customers are now requiring the Ricketts family to issue a $1.50 rebate check for every ticket transaction in 2011.

Read More

Posted on June 16, 2011

By Dan O’Shea

Are there usually so many promising rookie call-ups joining big league clubs from the minors this early in the season?
Starlin Castro was called up to the Cubs in May of last year, and there were one or two other notable debuts by guys around the same time who had not made big league rosters out of spring training, but this year, with more than a month to go to the All-Star break, it’s suddenly raining rookies.
Here’s a guide to some recent call-ups and one anticipated arrival you should have your eye on (all available in more than 90% of Yahoo! leagues):

Read More

Posted on June 15, 2011

By Dmitry Samarov

It’s hard to like or even trust a closer. A couple hiccups and the seven or eight innings a starter put in are washed away as if they never happened. The pressure rises as the innings dwindle until it’s the ninth and you’re up by a run or two and the guy on the mound can keep things as they are (as you think they should be), or, let it all go up in flames.
Very few pitchers in baseball history have had the temperament to last any significant time in the role and even the immortals have faltered from time to time. Dennis Eckersley had Kurt Gibson and Mariano Rivera has the Red Sox (he’s blown ten saves against them).
There’s no one on the White Sox pitching staff who should be mentioned in the same breath with those greats of course, but until recently, Sergio Santos had been doing a more-than-serviceable job. After the Thronton debacle that started the year, anyone would shine by comparison. Still, the man’s saved 12 games while only blowing two; not bad at all.

Read More

Posted on June 14, 2011

By Jim Coffman

It would be such an awesome statement to give King Casual the boot before he can infect Starlin Castro with any more of his “why bother to go 100 percent when you can hit 30 home runs” attitude – except he can’t hit 30 home runs anymore.
Yes, Ramirez hit a two-run homer on Sunday and he saved a game recently with a diving play in the field, but those rare highlights only make more stark the fact that he hasn’t been able to rouse himself to play hard game in and game out even in his contract year – the last of a five-year, $75 million deal.
Haven’t we seen enough?

Read More

Posted on June 13, 2011

By Marty Gangler

I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of this season before it started. The Cubs were in a weird place.
Instead of the standard, misplaced wait-til-next-year optimism of most years, you kinda thought that a ton of things would have to go right for them to have a chance. I was hoping for a little luck and at least a shot at the wild card.
But more than anything, I wanted to like this team.

Read More

Posted on June 13, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

I had to walk up and down aisle after aisle last Thursday at The Cell looking for them. You can still find a few, but they are scattered throughout the ballpark, whereas years ago finding people penciling in scorecards was as easy as locating empty beer cups.
“It’s a lost art,” lamented Ed Wiklak who grew up just a few blocks from Comiskey Park. “I score every game. One time I missed in the last 50 years was because it was raining.”
We’ll forgive Ed for this omission, especially since he figures that he has 600-700 games stashed away at his Wheeling home. Decades ago he graduated from the scorecards sold at the park to a scorebook that he purchased at Sports Authority.
Wiklak likes detail. Even before the first pitch – the exact time of which he accurately records – Ed pencils in the temperature (it was a frosty 50 degrees for Thursday’s 9-4 victory over the A’s) and the names of the umpires. After the game, he tapes his ticket stub on the corresponding scorebook page, and he clips the box score from the next day’s paper and attaches that as well.

Read More

Posted on June 13, 2011

By Carl Mohrbacher

The Cubs are done. Now what? Why should I watch?
-Debbie, Downers Grove IL
Exotic side bets and drinking games.
For example . . .
* Will Carlos Zambrano have more hits than wins this season?
* Over/Under: Number of Cubs to miss games due to facial injuries: 3.5.
* Take a shot every time Len Kasper sighs heavily before saying “Well, partner” to Bob Brenly.

Read More

Posted on June 12, 2011