Archive for April, 2009

John Dewan’s Stat of the Week™

Soriano bats leadoff—once and for all
I hope it’s finally put to bed.
This past weekend Lou Piniella experimented with his lineup and put Alfonso Soriano in the number–three slot in the batting order. He did it Friday and Saturday. The Cubs lost both games while Soriano went 1–for–8 with three whiffs. He was back [...]

April 28, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: John Dewan, Stat of the Week, stats  No Comments

On the Cubs beat with Bruce Miles

Possibly one of the great jobs to have is that of beat writer for a major league baseball team. Free tickets, great seats, access to all aspects of the game… my view from the cheap seats (i.e. as a blogger) is being a beat writer is a great gig to have. That may well be, but of [...]

April 26, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: book, feature, game of baseball, interview, the media  No Comments

Free ticket to a Wrigley night game

I have an extra single ticket to see the Cubs play the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field on Thursday April 30th, 7:05pm first pitch. I want to give this seat away free to a reader of this blog!  Simply sign up for free daily (just one email sent per day) email delivery of the Clark-Addison Cubs Fan Blog, [...]

April 25, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: CubHub.net Site Update, Wrigley Field, game day  One Comment

Foul ball right at you

Went to the game yesterday. I sat in row 2 of the Dugout Boxes, between home plate and the Cubs on-deck circle.  The batters net was directly in my view, hampering my photographic efforts.  I got some good shots, but many of them are obscured by the net or focused inappropriately on the netting instead [...]

April 24, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: game day, photo of the day  One Comment

Cubs By The Numbers book review

There is a new book available titled Cubs By The Numbers by Al Yellon (of the blog Bleed Cubbie Blue), Kasey Ignarski and Matthew Silverman (who also wrote Mets By The Numbers) and published by Skyhorse Publishing. The book is more than 300 pages, devoting a chapter for each uniform number worn by Cubs players [...]

April 20, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: book, observations, review  One Comment

Bradley was ejected for his reputation

Is Milton Bradley a lightning rod for controversy? In seeing replays of his pitch-batting strikeout, getting rung up on a ball clearly and indisputedly low and inside, it’s hard to accept why the league suspended him. Perhaps there was in fact some incidental contact during his seven second argument with home plate ump Larry Vanover. [...]

April 19, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: controversy, game day, players  No Comments

Guest Post: Philosophy 101

Here is another Guest Post sent in by AJ.
Back in the day, as a first year student at Illinois State University, I recall registering late in the process and as a result got stuck with a couple of courses I otherwise would never consider taking to complete my general studies. One of them, Philosophy 101 [...]

April 19, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Team Ownership, fan comments, guest post, lineup, observations, players, roster  One Comment

Cubs and Blackhawks have much in common

With the Chicago Blackhawks playing playoff hockey, and with John McDonough as their president and Jay Blunk as their marketing guru, it occurs to me these two Chicago institutions have an awful lot in common.
Each team is among the oldest in their respective sport. Each team has legions of devoted fans. Each team has seen more [...]

April 17, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Chicago, observations, tradition  No Comments

Guest Post: May the Best Team Win

Here is a Guest Post sent in by AJ:
The Atlanta Braves have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the MLB playoff format is exactly what Hank Steinbrenner, Chairman of the New York Yankees, claims it to be - a new found life for the weaker teams. The Braves reeled off 14 straight division titles [...]

April 17, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: fan comments, guest post, observations, playoffs  No Comments

Ted Lilly takes No-No into the 7th

The game time temperature was 36 degrees, rainy, wind off the lake at 10mph. Cubs starter Ted Lilly didn’t seem to mind. He tooka no-hitter into the 7th inning on what was obviously a pitchers day if it favored anyone at all.
Ted Lilly pitched a gem in pursuit of his 34th win as a Cub –  in [...]

April 13, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: game recap, players, stats  No Comments