SB Nation User Blog: JohnM

OT: A Curious Form of Baseball

JohnM — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:22:06 -0000

OT: A Curious Form of Baseball

For those who enjoy baseball history, here is a new article on a mutant strain of baseball that is played in only three cities in England and Wales. It’s not baseball as we know it, but they have called it baseball since the late 19th century, possibly cashing in on the notoriety of visiting tours by American teams like the White Stockings in the 1870s and 1890s, but also harking back to much older terminology (references to "base ball" have been found in published sources in England as far back as the mid-1600s).

Also for those who enjoy curious modern anomalies. It’s kind of like the "Gulla" dialect surviving on those islands off the coast of South Carolina…

Playoff Ticket Draw: No VWR

JohnM — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:11:19 -0000

Cubs.com has the scoop on playoff tickets for the first two rounds. In order to be fair, they are having a drawing with everyone's name and address registered online. Presumably, proof of address will be needed to collect the tickets, eliminating spoofers and scalpers.

This is not good news for me. I was pretty good at working the Virtual Waiting Room last year and scored four (useless) tickets to the (non-existent) NLCS at Wrigley Field. Oh, that's the other thing. Fans will be limited to TWO tickets each in the drawing.

see cubs.com for more details

Pat Hughes Calls Daryle Ward's Home Run

JohnM — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:59:42 -0000

Pat Hughes Calls Daryle Ward's Home Run

By popular demand - an astonished Pat Hughes calls the game winning home run by Daryle Ward in the ninth inning of the Cubs game against the Marlins on August 15th, on WGN 720.

Cub Degrees of Separation

JohnM — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:21:13 -0000

Yesterday, Kevin Bacon was summoned when BCB poster fuku-domentation said he was friends with the brother of the newest Cub farmhand, Brian Schlitter (traded from the Phillies for Scott Eyre).

I had no idea until last night that I could sorta claim a one (or is it two?) degree separation from a member of the Cubs’ 25-man roster. Turns out that the star of my ramshackle recreational baseball team, a young guy from Vancouver, played against Rich Harden in high school.

Now, I expect absolutely no one to be impressed by the lame second-hand name dropping involved – but if you’re like me, maybe you find the “degrees of separation” thing kind of fun. Have you established how many degrees of separation YOU are from the guys on the major league team?

Trade Deadline is Tomorrow

JohnM — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:28:03 -0000

Do you expect the team to stand pat? Do you want them to make a certain move?

The Cubs have really been pretty quiet on the trade front all month, but I can’t believe that Hendry isn’t in full Trader Jim mode.

via farm2.static.flickr.com

This is the year, everyone keeps saying. Zell wants to sell when the team is at its most successful, so there isn’t going to be a payroll roadblock. And although Piniella won’t be drawn on specifics, other than to hint that they’re not looking for bullpen help, he said last night that "if you can improve the team, why not?"

The Tribune this morning talks more about who could be dealt away from the Cubs than who their target might be.

The Sun-Times thinks they could or should be targeting Raul Ibanez, speculating that Jedmonds is out of gas.

The Herald says all they need is a lefty bat off the bench. Funny –all the talk last week was about the Cubs needing a right handed bat off the bench….

In my opinion, I think they should focus on getting the best hitter available, and find a place for him in the line-up or off the bench. The pitching remains deep, with a variety of spare parts available for trade.

Soriano's Return

JohnM — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:03:45 -0000

Soriano's Return

I wrote a lengthy FanPost accompanying this, but the online editor ate it. So I'm just gonna post this quick link here about Soriano saying he may play rookie ball when the Cubs are in Arizona next week.

Reed, Blonde, Dome: Game's About to Start (click above for larger size)

JohnM — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:18:24 -0000

Reed, Blonde, Dome: Game's About to Start

(click above for larger size)

Rotation Optimization

JohnM — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:53:55 -0000

Lou says with the three Mondays off in a row, he "may" juggle the rotation to give the team’s best starters more starts, and he names Z, Dempster and Lilly as ones he’d like to get 7 starts each by the All-Star break. Z may go this Thursday instead of Gallagher, to get the thing started. I actually see Z and Lilly getting seven and Dempster getting six, with the #4 also getting six and the #5 getting five starts. Unless I’m missing a chance to juggle somewhere?

It also looks like Z might be pitching the last game before the break, which could impact any chance he might have to appear in the ASG. Again, please suggest any adds/drops/changes to this rota:

10-June Lilly

11-June Dempster

12-June Zambrano

13-June #4

14-June #5

15-June Lilly

16-June OFF DAY

17-June Zambrano

18-June Dempster

19-June #4

20-June Lilly

21-June #5

22-June Zambrano

23-June OFF DAY

24-June Dempster

25-June Lilly

26-June #4

27-June #5

28-June Zambrano

29-June Dempster

30-June Lilly

1-July #4

2-July #5

3-July Zambrano

4-July Dempster

5-July Lilly

6-July #4

7-July OFF DAY

8-July Zambrano

9-July Dempster

10-July Lilly

11-July #4

12-July #5

13-July Zambrano

Rocking the clubhouse in '03? Or shilling for Gibson guitars? Either way, I always liked...

JohnM — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:45:28 -0000

Rocking the clubhouse in '03? Or shilling for Gibson guitars? Either way, I always liked this picture.

Tribune to sell Cubs, Wrigley in first half 2008

JohnM — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:50:31 -0000

News today that Sam Zell, new owner of the Tribune, plans to sell the team and the park in the first half of 2008. They need to sell assets to help pay down debt as advertising revenue and circulation declines. This is a little earlier than some had expected, given that the company hasn't even given bidders the team's financial details yet.

Most interestingly, the Sun-Times reports that "Zell is looking at selling Wrigley Field and surrounding real estate separately from the team itself."

That won't go down well with prospective buyers, right?

ST article: http://www.suntimes.com/business/693025,trib121207.article

Others: http://news.google.ie/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&ncl=1124842460