The View from Right Field

On President Biden’s First Week

I have not posted since Joe Biden was inaugurated last Wednesday, so maybe I will now.  I thought President Biden’s inaugural address was pretty decent.  It did not get into details, but it hit a lot of things I believe in.¹  Whether he is going to be able to do those things, who knows.  It depends on him, his team, and the other team(s)².

I don’t agree with some (a lot-?) of the executive orders, etc., that President Biden has issued/signed, but I have not commented because, well, it is early.  Also, the way Donald Trump left the presidency, especially since the Electoral College met in December, has bothered me so much that it is hard to criticize what President Biden is doing.  I don’t know if President Trump “incited an insurrection” on January 6 in the legal meaning of those words, but what he said was not, in my opinion, acceptable.³

The Cubs Convention That Isn’t Happening

But for this stupid virus, I would be at the Cubs Convention this coming weekend – for the 30th time in 32 years.¹  I understand why the Cubs cancelled the Convention this year.  What I don’t understand is why they are doing nothing for the fans in its place.

People are working from home on their computers.  Schools that can’t open in person are teaching via Zoom.  Theaters and concerts are livestreaming performances.  But the Cubs?  Nothing.

After Taking Len Kasper, White Sox Announce They’re Taking Wrigley Field, Too*

The Cubs and White Sox jointly announced today that the White Sox will play the 2021 season at Wrigley Field.  A White Sox spokesman said, “We’ve got their prospects.  We’ve got their announcer.  We figured, what the heck.  We might as well take their park, too.  It’s in a lot better location than the place we play in, whatever its name is this year.  And with the renovation, the rats are gone, so Ozzie can come back.”

Crane Kenney, President of Cubs Business Operations, said, “I promised the Ricketts family wheelbarrows full of money.  With Schwarber and Lester gone, and who knows where Javy and Riz and KB will be playing after next year, the Cubs are going to stink – again.  How am I going get people to pay to watch the team we’re going to have?  In any event, some of our fans are so drunk that, when they see Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease on the field and Len in the broadcast booth, they’ll think they’re watching the Cubs anyway.  I figure this will be the best way to fill the stands – and the wheelbarrows.”

“If there are any scheduling conflicts, the Cubs can always play at their alternate site in South Bend,” Crane continued.  “That’s probably about the quality of the team we’ll have anyway.”
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* Satire Alert!  This is humor – or at least an attempt at it.  I assume it is obvious, but if it is not, I wanted to say it.

Lindy McDaniel, RIP

I missed the news last month that Lindy McDaniel, who pitched 21 seasons and 987 games, passed away on November 14, 2020.  Lindy pitched three seasons for the Cubs, 1963 to 1965, and on June 6, 1963, pitched in what I called “The Lindy McDaniel Game.”  It was a big deal, as can be seen in the Chicago Tribune the next day:

Farewell to Theo

I need to say thanks to Theo Epstein as he leaves, but first I owe him a couple of apologies.  First, this post is late because I have been spending too much time reading about Donald Trump’s stupid effort to claim the presidential election was stolen from him.¹ 

Second, my initial thought was that Theo was bailing just when a lot of hard choices needed to be made.  A lot of guys are coming up on free agency, who knows how next season will be played and how much money will be available, the farm system isn’t that great, etc.  We almost need a rebuild, a rebuild while still contending, which is really hard, and he says, “I’m out of here.”  But then I realized I was wrong.  The Cubs probably do need a mini-rebuild, or at least a lot of changes, but if Theo isn’t going to stay for the whole thing, it wouldn’t be right for him to start it and then leave.  It’s more appropriate for him to leave now so Jed Hoyer can do it the way he thinks is right.

Cubs Won the 2016 World Series – But Maybe They’re Just Not That Good Anymore

When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016 with a group of young players leading the way, a lot of us were expecting that to be the first in a string of World Series appearances, if not championships. 

But it hasn’t happened.  The Cubs did get back to the NLCS in 2017 (barely), but they lost in five games to the Dodgers.  In 2018 they lost the Central division to the Brewers in a playoff, 3 to 1, and then lost the Wild Card game to the Rockies, 2 to 1, in thirteen innings.  In 2019, they didn’t even make the postseason due to a September collapse.¹ 

The Cubs Go to the Postseason – In a Pandemic. And Wait Until Next Year.

And so, it wasn’t to be.  On Tuesday, I said, “This year will … set a record for the fewest regular season wins for a World Series champion.  It might as well be us.”  Well, the record will be set, but it won’t be us.

It was a short season; just 60 games, plus a couple.  It was more than I expected back in June and July, but not as many as I hoped a few days ago.

The Cubs Go to the Postseason – In a Pandemic

First, a general thought:  Because of the pandemic and because Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred figures it is all about the money, sixteen teams are going to the postseason instead of ten.  (It’s amazing.  A few years ago, ten teams going to the postseason seemed too many.  Now it seems like the good old days.)  Because so many teams are going to the postseason, there are two teams with a record below .500 to the playoffs.  That should not be happening.  Teams with more losses then wins should be going home, not to the postseason. The teams playing them should just get a bye.  There has to be some standards – other than TV revenue.

To the Cubs.  The Cubs have the worst record of any division winner.  We started 13-3 and finished 21-23.  It helped that we are in the worst division in baseball.  This is especially important for the first round since Kyle Hendricks gets to pitch at home, and he is so much better at Wrigley Field than on the road. 

.246, .220, .211, .205, .194

Those are the batting averages, through Wednesday night’s game, of Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, and Kyle Schwarber, respectively.

I realize the Cubs are 30-20 so far and are apparently going to make the postseason (see here).  But once the playoffs start, these numbers need to change or we won’t be there long.

ALEC MILLS: NO-HITTER!

Alec Mills threw the sixteenth no-hitter in Cubs’ history today – and the second at Miller Park, though only the first against the Milwaukee Brewers.  You can read all about the no-hitter elsewhere.  Let me just show you Alec’s autograph that I got at the Cubs Convention in January (Alec is on November 30, his birthday; the autograph on November 7 is Glendon Rusch, his birthday):