Alfonso, adieu

All of the links to my ThroughTheFence pieces have the same uninspired title in this space. I’ve decided to get away from that, and take the cross-posting as another chance to be creative. So here goes. I wrote something yesterday about Alfonso Soriano and his spectacular failings with the Cubs. He’s gone now, traded away

Moonlight on Tangolunda bay

The trade of Alfonso Soriano today reminded me of the first time I ever noticed him as a player. I was watching Game seven of the 2001 World Series at a cantina in Mexico, when Soriano hit what appeared to be the Series-winning home run in the eighth inning off of Curt Schilling. My wife

The name was a clue

The story of Roberto Hernandez, who for more than a decade was known as “Fausto Carmona,” is more interesting to me this evening than the Ryan Braun story. Today’s ruling has declawed the testing procedure, and means that the juice will probably be coming back to baseball. Is somebody now going to hit 60 home

I think I have the Cubs’ answer

Call me insane, but I think Johnny Damon would be a perfect fit for the Cubs, provided they can move Alfonso Soriano or Marlon Byrd in the coming days or weeks. With Soriano’s hefty contract, Byrd would be the easier one to move, and then David DeJesus or Reed Johnson could play center field, and

No more Zambrano

I was listening to a press conference on the radio this afternoon, where Theo Epstein was taking questions from local media types and fans. He was asked about “changing the culture” of the Cubs organization, and how Carlos Zambrano could fit into such a new culture. The audience laughed at the Zambrano reference, and Theo

Trying something new

Budweiser was my gateway into alcohol in general. Over time, I developed a preference for Corona with a lime wedge, but Bud was like an old friend to me. I could dabble in other beers, or harder drinks on occasion, but Bud was always there to welcome me back. And I never strayed too far

Hanu-Cubs, Night 2

As with last night, and every night during this festival of Jewish Cubs players, the shamash is the vocal stylings of the late Steve Goodman (with some help from others this time): Last night’s honoree, the late Dave Roberts, is profiled here. Tonight I’ll be discussing Sam Fuld, who was drafted by the Cubs and

Trading for PIDLs

If you’ve read any of these posts before, you know that I’m a long-time (though not life-long) Cubs fan. And one of the ways I manifest this is by collecting baseball cards from years gone by. It started when I was six or seven, and went away until I was in my thirties, and then

1 shining moment

On 11/1/11, I wanted to take a look at a player who wore the number 1 for the Cubs for the past few seasons, Kosuke Fukudome. He’s possibly the best example I can think of for how the way something starts can be different from how it ends up. And I mean completely, totally, 180

Thoughts about Game Sevens past

Game time is almost here, and I wanted to get these out there before the first pitch. There hasn’t been a Game seven in the World Series since the Rally Monkey Angels beat Dusty Baker’s Giants back in 2002. The nine-year stretch without a Game seven is the longest in the history of the World

Here’s why I want Theo Epstein on the North Side

I remember the 2004 trade involving Nomar Garciaparra very well. “No-mah” was revered in Boston, and I was stunned that the Red Sox gave him up. And yet, just a couple months after trading him away, the Red Sox finally broke through and won the World Series. And there’s not a Red Sox fan alive

Changing the rules, because I can

When I was a kid first getting into baseball and the Cubs, my favorite player was Bruce Sutter. Yes, he did leave for the Cardinals and then the Atlanta Braves, but he’ll always be a Cub in my mind. That hat he’s wearing on his Cooperstown plaque is just some sort of engraver’s error, I

I love the irony here

Over the past decade or so, I have slowly waded back into a hobby that I thought had died out when I was 12: collecting baseball cards. I can even pinpoint the way that it started, but that’s a post for another day. I would hope that the 12-year old me would be more impressed