Bob Dernier finds his way back to the Cubs

When Dallas Green came to the Cubs from the Phillies organization, he systematically plucked ‘his guys’ from the Phillie system to stock the Cubs for a playoff run. Within a year or two, the Cubs acquired Larry Bowa, Gary Matthews, Keith Moreland, Dickie Noles, Warren Brusstar, a young third baseman named Ryne Sandberg, and outfielder Bobby [...]

August 24, 2010  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: awards, biz of baseball, coaching, Jim Hendry, manager, observations, photo of the day  No Comments

Lou Piniella rides off into the sunset

Lou Piniella has called it a career. He came to Chicago saying this would be his final managerial job and yesterday morning it was announced he would retire following what would be a 16-5 drubbing by the Atlanta Braves, the exact same outcome from Cubs vs Braves on opening day this year. Ironic how that [...]

August 23, 2010  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: announcement, biz of baseball, coaching, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, manager, news, photo of the day  No Comments

Derrek Lee will be missed, but it was time

The Cubs having traded fan favorite  Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves, it was strange to see him playing first base and batting cleanup for the visiting team on Friday at Wrigley Field. In his first at bat, Lee stepped to the plate to a rousing standing ovation, tipped his helmet to the crowd and [...]

August 21, 2010  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: biz of baseball, fielding, Jim Hendry, photo of the day, players, roster, stats  2 Comments

Peoria Chiefs team report

Here are some general observations on the Peoria Chiefs… Justin Bour is a large man. He’s listed at 6’4”, 250 lbs but that might be a little shy. He’s thick and strong but seemed pretty nimble fielding a looper behind first base early in the game. In BP, the ball was jumping off his bat. [...]

May 8, 2010  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: live report, Minor League Baseball, observations, players  No Comments

New Cubs Video for Opening Day

In celebration of today’s Chicago Cubs home opener at Wrigley Field, here is a video I put together using photos I’ve taken and posted throughout the blog here on CubHub.net. There are lots of player shots, various views of beautiful Wrigley Field – what Mike & Mike from ESPN Radio call one of five “Sports [...]

April 12, 2010  Tags: , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Chicago, CubHub.net Site Update, game day, photo of the day, players, tradition, Wrigley Field  2 Comments

The All Star Game at Wrigley Field

The official program of the 1990 ASG I am remembering today the 1990 MLB All Star Game in Wrigley Field. I’m not a bleacher guy (too far away from the action for me) but my tickets were in the Right Field bleachers. I won a lottery that gave me the opportunity to buy a ticket [...]

July 14, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: All Star Game, Chicago, observations, oldschool, on this date, players, Wrigley Field  No Comments

Josh Vitters and the Peoria Chiefs

The Cubs number one pick in the 2007 amateur draft was a hitter/3rd baseman, Josh Vitters. He is presently hitting .321 with 13 HRs for the Peoria Chiefs (A-ball minor league affiliate). Last weekend the Chiefs were in Geneva IL playing the Kane County Cougars. I went to the game to take a look at the future [...]

June 14, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , ,   Posted in: game day, game of baseball, Minor League Baseball, observations, players  One Comment

Carlos Zambrano announces his retirement

Chicago Cubs pitching ace Carlos Zambrano got his 100th career victory at Cincinnati on Friday. Everything about the game was quintessential Big Z. He was nearly unhittable, but walked 5 in 6 2/3 innings. He batted lefty against right handed Reds pitcher Micah Owings and couldn’t catch up to his fastball. So when he came to [...]

June 6, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: controversy, game recap, oddities, players  No Comments

The resurgence of Kosuke Fukudome

Cubs center fielder Kosuke Fukudome is quietly putting together a very solid year. As May is closing out tomorrow, his .311 batting average and .441 on-base percentage illustrate the rebound he is making from a horrible second half of 2008. Kosuke is hanging in better on pitches, getting plenty of walks, but most importantly he [...]

May 30, 2009  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: biz of baseball, lineup, observations, players, roster, stats  No Comments

Cubs need fewer MRIs, more RBIs

Cub players this year seem to get as many MRIs as RBIs …or at least it seems that way. The latest to visit the MRI booth was Derrek Lee today. Seems like he will join the ranks of the walking wounded that are not on the DL. That’s a good thing, but still, I for [...]

May 11, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: observations, photo of the day, players, Wrigley Field  No Comments