The View from Right Field

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):

Sad News at Wrigley Field

As Phil Rosenthal notes in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune, there has always been gambling at Wrigley Field.  Gambling in the bleachers was one of the underlying themes in the classic play “Bleacher Bums.”  But the Cubs have decided to bring sports betting to Wrigley Field in a big and different way when the Friendly Confines opens again.

On Thursday, the team announced it has reached an agreement with DraftKings to set up gambling at Wrigley Field.  While the Cubs need approval by the City of Chicago and the Illinois Gaming Board,¹ it doesn’t appear anybody thinks that will be hard to get.  

Baseball Is Different This Year – In a Way That Surprised Me

I realize it is a bit silly – and obvious – at this point to say that baseball is different this year.  But I have found it different in a way I did not expect.  We have been lucky enough to Cubs season tickets since 2012 (though “lucky” is perhaps not the word I would have used the first three of those seasons, especially our first year as season ticket holders when the Cubs lost 101 games). 

I have been able to get to 35 to 40 games a year since we got the season tickets.  Much of my schedule from April through September (and into October a couple of times) has been based on going to baseball games and, therefore, whether the Cubs were at home or on the road.  But this year is different.  The Cubs are on TV and the radio and I can watch them there, which is nice.  But it doesn’t matter whether Cubs are at home or on the road because I can’t go to the games.  If all you are doing is watching on TV or the radio, it doesn’t matter whether the game is at home or the road.  Especially when the Cubs are playing so many of their home games, even on Fridays and Saturdays, at night.

The Cubs are starting a long homestand tomorrow night, which would have been really great in past seasons.  I would have looked forward to it because I would have been going to games.  But homestands this year?  It doesn't really matter.

Cubs Turn Triple Play – Or Not

The Cubs turned a triple play last night, Bryant to Rizzo, their first triple play since 1997.  Or they got credit for one they didn’t turn.  Here’s the video.  Decide for yourself:

As to why the Reds didn’t challenge the play: they couldn’t.  That kind of catch – or no catch – in the infield isn’t reviewable.  And so we got a triple play.  Which was pretty neat, especially for an otherwise terrible game.  (We have to do something about the bullpen.)

“Baseball Time Is Here Again”

In the words of Steve Goodman’s “Go Cubs Go,” “[b]aseball time is here again,” and even though you can sadly no longer “catch it all on WGN,” it still feels good.  It has been a long time coming, but last night Kyle Hendricks did what he could to make up for lost time: A nine-inning, three-hit, nine-strike out, complete game shutout victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.  3 to 0.  A two-hour thirty-minute game.  Baseball the way it is supposed to be played – except for the fact there was nobody in the stands.

It was great to be able to watch the game on the Marquee Network, but it was tough to not be there in person, though, per Jennie, it would not have seemed like Opening Day “without the foot warmers, blankets, and gloves.”  It was the first home opener I have missed since 1995, and one of just a few since I came back from law school in the summer of 1974 and went in 1975.  (In true home opener fashion, the 1975 game was delayed two days by snow, and there was still snow under the seats in the upper deck for the opener.)