99 Cubsballoons go by

There’s something about the number 99. Maybe it was because I grew up watching reruns of Get Smart, and Barbara Feldon’s Agent 99 was always so much easier on the eyes—and the ears—than Don Adams’ abrasive 86. The Cubs, for their part, are closing in on 99 losses for a season, which is something they

All apologies

So Carlos Zambrano says he’s sorry for how things turned out in Chicago. We’re all sorry that he couldn’t come through for the Cubs in the 2003 and 2008 postseasons (I’m giving him a pass for 2007, and hanging that one on Lou Piniella, instead). But unless his contrition changes any of that–or he gives

Not meant to be

One of my favorite jokes goes like this: Jesus and Satan are working in a computer lab when the power goes out. Satan lets loose with a stream of expletives, while Jesus remains calm and serene. Do you know why? Because Jesus saves! I’m not sure when I learned that one, but I’ve told it

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

2011 in review

The year is coming to a close, and everyplace you can think of seems to take this opportunity to do a retrospective on the year gone by. I’ll join the crowd for this one time, and look at what happened in 2011 for the subject that I write about the most: Cubs baseball. The biggest

What not to do with Big Z

There have been some overtures that Carlos Zambrano may be given an opportunity to come back to the Cubs for the final year of his contract next season. He is signed for $18 million, and that’s a lot of money in anybody’s world. But I’m going to echo Rick Telander and suggest that bringing him

Don’t overlook that first game

Reliving ballgames from the past is a bit like watching Titantic and hoping the boat won’t sink. The boat’s always going to hit the iceberg, and panic is always going to ensue, and that band will always keep playing with the chaos around them. Watch it again and again if you like, but those things

A player I remember, for the wrong reason

Section 101A used to be a unique little piece of Wrigley Field. It was called the “Family Section” because, as the ticket stub above indicates, no alcohol was allowed in its seats. It was three rows deep, as I remember it, and had about 30 seats in reach row, so it was no more than

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

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

#Cubs are now 31 losses from the #DoubleTriple

Thanks to pitching meltdowns by two Carloses–Zambrano and Marmol–this post will be the first double shot of historic baseball mediocrity. First off, a reminder about what the #DoubleTriple is. The Cubs have decided to start winning lately, now that the games are sufficiently meaningless, and the reports are that Tom Ricketts will put his thumb

Adios, Carlos

I went away for the weekend, and didn’t follow the Cubs game on Friday night because I was in transit. The next morning, I picked up a couple of things at Target and the cashier noticed the Cubs hat I had on. He asked me “What happened with the Cubs last night?” and I admitted