Chicago -
It might have been my 1959 replica Sox jacket and cap, but as soon as Ron Finke spotted me loitering among the Opening Day tailgaters, he invited me to join his group. Then I committed my only mistake of the day. I declined.
Finke, a resident of Lemont and a Sox fan for 27 years, may have set an Opening Day record: Most items grilled and consumed by 11 a.m.
Posted on April 16, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
I’m not thrilled with the idea of someone being suspended from their job because of some stupid-ass thing they said. People should be able to freely express their opinions.
That’s why the five-game suspension of Ozzie Guillen rubs me the wrong way. Better his bosses should have suggested to him that now might be a good time to make a donation to the cause of freedom and find other ways to patch things up with the expat crowd in South Florida. Getting docked a week’s pay and forced to sit home accomplishes nothing.
Some members of the media, on the other hand, could stand to take some time off and reflect upon how they do their jobs. Particularly a contingent of Chicago sports journos who imbued Guillen with a sense of privilege during his years here by laughing right along with his (to put it politely) off-color patter instead of reporting it. Who wants to be the skunk at the garden party?
Unfortunately, that’s often our job.
Posted on April 12, 2012
By Dan O’Shea
Can you imagine if the Miami Marlins had signed superstar Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes in the offseason instead of the Oakland A’s? For a long stretch, the Marlins were presumed to be the frontrunners in the race for Cespedes, and it seemed like a perfect match: A new ballpark, a new Latino manager with a World Series win on his resume, and a community full of passionate Cuban fans.
I’m not sure how it all went down for Cespedes over the winter, but right now, I bet he’s pretty happy he shocked the baseball world by signing with the bottom-feeder by the bay instead of taking his talents to South Beach. Mission to avoid a circus accomplished.
Cespedes was also “very close” to being a Cub. Our loss.
Posted on April 11, 2012
Dateline: Idaho, Peoria, South Florida
Past, present, far, wide.
1. Beachwood Cubs correspondent Marty Gangler attended the game Monday night at Wrigley and sent us this photo of the footlong bison dog blue cheese slaw. Of course, we had to ask him if that was the bison footlong on his lap or if he was just happy to see us. He said it was the bison.
Posted on April 10, 2012
By Roger Wallenstein
They weren’t exactly household names, those 13 original Texas Rangers, but one caught my attention immediately as I perused the team’s press release prior to Friday’s opener against the White Sox.
Jim Panther was a high school teammate of mine. We both made it to The Show – he as a right-handed pitcher (1971-73) and me as a beer vendor (1980-86). This season is the 40th in Texas Ranger history, so Jim and a dozen of his teammates from the 1972 team, which went 54-100, were honored before the sellout crowd of more than 49,000.
“They gave all [of us] a jersey with your name on it, and we threw out the first pitch,” Jim said after he returned to his home in Florida. “We threw to people who were ’72 season ticket-holders. This was by far the best one [opening day] I’ve ever seen.”
Perhaps the most familiar former Ranger in attendance was Toby Harrah, who played 17 seasons and managed the team the second half of 1992 after Bobby Valentine – yes, that Bobby Valentine – was axed. Harry Caray loved Harrah because every time he came up to bat, Harry would marvel that it didn’t matter if you spelled his name forward or backward, it still was Harrah!
Posted on April 9, 2012
By Marty Gangler
Ahhh. Isn’t it great to be back? And now nice to pick up close to where we left off!
And I was worried that The Cub Factor would be totally different this season. Nope.
Sure, it’s only been one series, but damn, I still have the Cubby taste in my mouth.
And sure, even though the Cubs blew a couple games already this season I will admit it does feel different. Unfortunately the outcomes have kinda been the same.
With all this being said, we here at The Cub Factor would like to kick off this season with a list of Cubs slogans for 2012:
Posted on April 9, 2012
By Jim Coffman
The baseball season is upon us. In fact, in honor of first weekend foes Robin Ventura and Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan, let’s say that the baseball season has us in a headlock and is giving us noogies. Shockingly enough, I have some thoughts.
Namely, that Gordon Beckham’s inconsistent hitting and inability to make good baseball plays must be infuriating to White Sox fans.
Posted on April 9, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
The immensely wealthy family patriarch will spend the day licking his chops.
He bought a baseball team for his son and wants his return from the fans and taxpayers. How joyous!
Let’s take a look.
1. They sell every ticket, every game, win or lose! Now you’ve got a business!
Posted on April 5, 2012
By Dan O’Shea
What did we learn from spring training this year that you can apply to management of your fantasy teams? That you should draft every Detroit Tiger available, since they won 20 spring games, and had two players – Brennan Boesch and Ryan Raburn – with six home runs? That you should definitely pick Chris Sale, SP, WHITE SOX, who had a 1.08 WHIP and 22 strikeouts in 24 innings?
At every turn, the fantasy experts well tell you not to see spring training as indicative of future returns, but those same fantasy experts will keep mentioning that rookie Zack Cozart, SS, CIN, is having a remarkable spring.
If you want to take the part of the schedule that doesn’t count as gospel, here’s the team you should aim to draft:
Posted on April 4, 2012
By Roger Wallenstein
I can’t get the image out of my mind. Almost like a stupid song or jingle that finds a place somewhere in one’s gray matter and refuses to be expunged.
That’s where the March 1979 Sports Illustrated cover featuring Harry Chappas has resided for the past few days. Harry, you see, was the center of attention as the White Sox broke camp for the ’79 campaign. The year before the team had lost 90 games, and the prospects didn’t look much better for the upcoming season.
But Harry was unique, and the team needed a hook to create some buzz as Opening Day approached. He was listed anywhere from 5-foot-5 to a maximum of 5-foot-7, and the 21-year-old was going to be the Sox’ new shortstop. Harry Caray, who was in the booth for the South Siders that season, publicly measured Chappas and found him to be a mere 63 inches!
Posted on April 3, 2012
