In our tradition of keeping all of us obsessive Cubs' fans apprised of "everything Cub", feel free to read about the latest Business article on the Rickets closing the deal [yaws, rolls eyes, stretches...]

http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comments/sale-of-chicago-cubs-to-ricketts-family-called-imminent-266024.html

I wonder what REALLY is going on? What is happening with the Utay Clan? 

As part of this, how do we expect (if Ricketts) the new regime to handle the team? Will ownership truly try to blow stuff up in the first year? Would they launch Jim Hendry? Keep in-mind that Hendry was just signed to a four-year extension!

Of course, 2010 represents the "contract year" of several of our now core members, Lilly, DLee, et. al. It seems as if Lilly is our biggest trading chip while DLee is going to be 34. What about ticket prices? 

Crane Kenny is a complete @&^k for raising prices again while giving us this shit - in spite of the dire economic conditions of the Country. This will certainly be the most interesting off-season in a very long time.

Joy. Whoppee. What a team! A great win.

It was fun to watch - and nice to see the lumber applied for once. Is it possible that the Cubs can play the Pirates every game for the remainder of the season? So after the Cubs have their asses completely handed to them by the Marlins, Rockies, and Philles, the Cubs come back to thrash the AAA Pirates 17-2. What does this mean?

Absolutely jack, imo. In fact, it is infuriating. Actually, it means that RIGHT NOW the team is not in the same class with the above-named teams, and you may include the Dodgers, Giants, and Braves. This was like Slippery Rock Teacher's College playing University of Texas in college football. It is false bravado. On a very bright, non-sarcastic note, I am extremely happy for Randy Wells. What a great surprise and without him I can only imagine where the team would be now. Many players overrate "momentum" in baseball. At the least, perhaps the players were suitably embarrassed enough to play "real baseball" again. So what about the rest of you? Does sweeping the Pirates (if it happens) bolster the Cubs optimism? Will they turn it around and play .650 baseball for the rest of the year? Will they climb out of the MLB RISP cellar? Or, will they go out to the West Coast and get their asses kicked once again?

In my mind - I am not getting "giddy".

I realize that there are still approximately 60 days left in the season. And, baseball really is a strange sport where anything can and does happen.

However, I am wondering how a series of negative indicators regarding the Cub's poor play and trends can be overcome, and allow them to reach the playoffs for the third straight year.

Disturbing is:

1. The team is last in the league with RISP, now with a .230 BA. And, 14th out of 16th in OPS. As we saw this weekend in Colorado, and Al so rightly points out - this is a pathetic - and certainly not Championship caliber - trend. Frankly making the Playoffs with this stat would be a miracle.

2. Jim Hendry's 2008-2009, off season. No matter how we slice it, Mike Fontenot, Jeff Baker, Andres Blanco, Aaron Miles combined, will not give us Mark DeRosa. As we have seen, the team also does not have an equal sub for A-Ram. This was a very short-sighted, and stupid decision.

3. Our record against the "Good Teams": the likely teams vying for the Playoffs are the Cardinals, Rox, Giants, Dodgers, Phillies, Marlins. We have finished series with only the Marlins and Rockies so far. Can we say the Cubs have not "dominated"? Again, if the team were by some miracle able to make the playoffs, how would they fare against the aforementioned? The Cubs cannot say they are as good as these teams - save the Marlins, perhaps.

4. Winning on the road? The teams play, again, against the teams mentioned above so far, is below .500. The team still has almost half road games left in 2009. A downward trend.

5. The bullpen, Aaron Heilman. Again, why Jim Hendry was so driven to sign this pitcher is beyond me, and thousands of Cub fans. When the time comes that Season Ticket Holders have a chance to veto trades and players - this would have been one at the top of my list! A 4.74 ERA and a WHIP of nearly 1.90. This is BRUTAL for a set-up pitcher.

6. Injuries - Due to the fact that Hendry chose to delete, probably the best utility player in baseball from a 97-win team, knowing that in years past the team could not sustain a major injury loss - it becomes very hard to replace MLB real talent with AAA or AAAA players. Such is the case with this team. Jimbo rolled the dice on trading DeRosa - for this year he is losing so far...

It is not a pretty picture right now. Yes - the Cubs are only ____ games out of first - but overcoming the above six points in this 2009 season would truly shock me. I just don't see it - the win streak was nice - in fact all of July - but as Al mentions - they have regressed.

Let's hope they can pull it together somehow. If not - its "Wait 'til next year!" once more.

Among other things, I do freelance production a/v work. It is a tough living as a freelance guy, and tougher in economic downturns. As Al knows, getting into union broadcast gigs these days are nearly impossible.

However, through networking, I was able to latch on as a trainee on a couple gigs, for a company that is involved in sports broadcasts. So, yesterday I was scheduled to "work" the Cubs Friday game against the Indians.

I am posting this so I can document my own personal reflection, while maybe giving some of you a little glimpse inside working in Wrigley when no fans are in the building, and the day of the "behind the scenes people" is starting.

The entire time I was on assignment, I was really torn due to the fact that in all instances I wanted to remain professional, while inside I was really fighting off the urges of a 12 year-old boy that wanted to tackle people for autographs, and start screaming at player sightings. An odd feeling, indeed.

After finding a legal parking spot for the early a.m. call right on Sheffield, a half a block north of the main bleacher gate, I walked around to Clark and Addison and picked up my pass to the entrance. I walked inside the areas where the concessions were to get to meet my "hosts" for the day on the rest of the crew. On the way there, I walked passed Big Z, dressed in street clothes. He is a BIG GUY. I said,  "'Morning Carlos", I smiled, and he gave a head nod of acknowledgement. Straight-faced. Not a bad beginning though, I thought.

After meeting everyone, I was taken around to the support positions I would be dealing with should I sub for the folks that were under union contract that day. This meant going on the field - both infield, dugouts, and the center-field camera area. Walking on red crushed-gravel, over the on-deck circle, around home - geesh - hard to keep my composure professionally - but I managed to do so. While on the Cleveland side, Woody was talking to a friend - or player perhaps - in street clothes. He is also a big dude! (I am only about 5'8, so, I guess Fontenot is big in my view). I had a pleasant quick hello to a Cleveland player, who was taking pics with his own little Minolta, as my host and I (mostly my host) worked on some tech things. The sky was incredibly ominous, and while on the field a large, angry cloud descended on the outfield. We knew there was going to be a delay this day! The-Riot, however, was out by the "wall-knot" on the Sheffield side, cap on backwards, working on some hitting.

After things were in place, and all was well, the crew adjourned all the way upstairs to where the booth/press box construction is. My pass allowed All Access so I whisked by all of the security guards. The main guard, Keith, is a man in his early 60's I'd say, and he was telling us about his one line in the new John Dillinger film, that he did with Johnny Depp. As the storm was settling into place, and it was NASTY, we went into the booth - there was Len. He was very busy going over the day's stats, what Cleveland players are doing what, etc. Again, not knowing when I'd have the chance again, I go - "Hey Len - who is the Tribe's best hitter now?" - to which he goes, "Victor Martinez!" in a nice way, and gives his BA. The winds start swirling, and the fear of rain coming into the booth makes him concerned, so he "bails", and grabs his laptop (Mac Book Pro), stat sheet and Cleveland Press Guide and moves. Everything basically shuts down as Wrigley is pummeled.

Most of the crew goes into a little "lobby" area where there are a couple decent bathrooms, and while sitting there, or walking the main hall that leads to the broadcast booths, as well as the press box, I either see or talk to the following: Les Grobstien (I invariably see him at games as a ST Holder anyway - and I get him to give me fun Cubs depressing trivia for my own amusement), Bruce Levine (very cordial), Carrie Muskat, The Cleveland broadcast guys (I have just looked them up - Tom Hamilton, "The Voice of the Tribe", and former Indians CF, Rick Manning), Zach Zaidman, Pat Hughes (also, very nice). Pat wears nice Hawaiian shirts - (tucked in). The booths are not air-conditioned, ceiling fans only - but there is in the back and in the lunch room. Rick Manning complained to me about the Tribe's bullpen, asking me if I saw their recent collapse against the Brewers, using a couple of choice explitives to show his displeasure. I should add that just about everyone was very cordial to the "new guy", and my host was very cool.

Speaking of lunch, crew, talent, and support staff all have access to lunch in the aforementioned lunch room which on this day served fried chicken tenders, tater tots, salad bar, hot-dogs, any cold-cut sandwich, soft-drinks, etc. Plus, they included any snack/sweet stuff for the rest of the day such as Cracker Jacks,  cookies,  Haagen-Daaz ice cream bars, popcorn, etc. Most folks took an hour lunch between 11 and 12. The rain steadily poured, and we read the newspaper, "shot-the-shit", and every so often I would go back to the booth and look out at the monsoon at Wrigley. Freaking Amazing! At one point, Big Z, during the storm comes out in Cubs non-uniform attire and plows onto the rain-soaked tarp! When he is not going berzerk, he has  great sense of humor...

So, storm one passes and the ground crew races out to repair, and assesses the the damages. We do the same thing. Things get drained out, and dried. One of the camera's head stocks gets replaced. Down on the field again, and within 10 feet of me in uniform Sori and Von Joshua stroll by as does Reed Johnson, Randy Wells, Marmol signing autographs, Geo, Larry Rothschild, and a couple others. Had I seen Aaron Miles, I would have thought about telling him how much he sucks - but, I probably wouldn't have. The fans are mostly now in their seats and are screaming for the players - WAIT! I'm on the wrong side here! "How did I get here?" I sat and watched - with professional demeanor as best I could...

I asked a grounds crew guy, "What's the new start time?" he goes, "I'd say maybe 2:00 now." Ten minutes later the PA Announcer comes on and says, "New Start Time: 2:45PM. That's two-four-five" He looks at me and smiles. "Guess I was off a little!"

An hour or so to go, so more of the same. Walked back upstairs again. Chilled out. Grabbed snacks. This time the talent were making their way in to grab a bite. Len. Ronnie stopped in (I go "Hi Ron.") Jud Sirott (great face -  for radio), Luke Stuckmeyer (nice guy), Mitch Robinson, the reporters, etc. Eventually, Len and Bob were ready to go on camera, and the booth is really pretty small - so I exited and watched them work from outside the booth in the hallway. It was interesting to see the difference in their broadcast personas, from their normal conversational voices.

As the game started, there really was not much to do as everything was working well! As we all know, the game did not start out very well with Harden's start! Fortunately, a friend of mine whom I sit with in the Infield Terrace Boxes with regularity,  was coming to the game so I sat with him for an inning or two and then "checked in" with the crew. When it came to the 6th inning, and 7th inning stretch, I happened to be in the cafeteria once more and met Matt Forte. He just finished his degree in finance at Tulane, and I told him my daughter wasn't able to get in there - so he said, "That's a tough school". The P.R. lady working with him had him sign a baseball after he sang, during a commercial break - which I thought was a little odd. 

It was now after 5 p.m., and I was in a 6PM tow-zone. So, unfortunately, I had to head out before the comeback completed. But I watched the 9th and 10th innings at home knowing exactly what it was like to be on that field. 

Everything came to life for me yesterday, and it was pretty difficult straddling the fence between a die-hard fan, as well as a trainee member of the crew. If I can figure it out, I'll post a photo which looks at the storm, with POV from the main booth. And - All I can say is:  GO CUBS!

In learning from Reuters that the current Cubs "owner" Sam Zell has gone back to a Holding Group led by Mark Utay, from Manhattan, to elicit another competing bid, I dug up an article from Ed Sherman of Crains Chicago Business.

Sherman writes that he was an acquaintance of Utay's from New Trier "West" (there is only one New Trier now) as classmates in a class of over 700, along with Rahm Emanuel, Class of 1977. 

"The stories make it seem like Mr. Utay is some sort of outsider. Why we would want a New Yorker to own the Cubs?

I know better. Mr. Utay and I went to high school together, graduating in New Trier West's Class of 1977."

Continue reading this post »

Was wondering, (not that I would actually be in the market for them), if any of you happened to glance at the wrap of the CBOE Seat auctions? IF so, were the prices any more than the "Bullpen Box" seats, or other premium seating? To a high roller, $150 a seat is not much to be concerned over. But at $200, $275, etc., even a millionaire would think twice about spending that kind of cash for a baseball game. Also, I am curious how the depression has effected the auction prices compared to last year. I had received an email asking me to bid in the early afternoon - so my educated guess is that the bids were not going to be sky high this year. This morning I went to check the winning bids to see what happened, and a static page just stated, "The CBOE Auction Has Ended for 2009".

I had posted a rhetorical question after the Game 2 Loss, where I felt that the writing was on the wall. In spite of the fact that the 2008 Cubs had the best NL record, a deep pitching staff, huge run diferential, and "all that veteran experience", plus Playoff experience, many of you saw as "can't miss" indicators of a World Series appearance. I have World Series tickets (worthless now), as some of my fellow Season Ticket holders have.

However, with the prospect of now looking at essentially the same team who have been swept two years in a row - in 2009 - and that these players for whatever reasons cannot finish the deal - how many of you would be in favor of blowing it up and going younger?

Keep the pitching intact. Keep a couple of veterans who are gamers: Reed, Fontenot, A-Ram, DeRosa as a backup only, Soto - and just trying to deal everyone else.

Personally, I am tired of being crushed so brutally two years in a row. These are NOT the players who can win here. Perhaps the D-Backs method is the way. Speed, better D, clutch hitting in the Post Season...Perfect example: the "veteran" Evan Longoria...

The Rays sucked. Got many 1st round draft choices. Great trades. I would have to think they would be competitive for several years to come. And, in their first ever Playoff game, did THEY choke???

I am for blowing it up and looking at some other ways. Anyone else?

As the Cubs are now poised once again to flop in the Post-Season, I am wondering what sentiment there might be on BCB to just go the way of the D-Backs or Rays, and go for highly-touted, younger and cheaper players, - and dump the overpaid players that just can't get the job done? Maybe hang on to key starters and bullpen, and just clean house?

It would seem that for whatever reason, the team under Lou's regular season guidance has won the Central Division, only to just completely and utterly buckle under the pressure with absolutely no resemblance to the team that had such success in the NLDS.

It is no mistake that the Dodgers completely outplayed, outhit, outpitched, our team, and Lou was also out-managed. Why? Is it a crap-shoot? A "small sample size" - two straight Division series? How close - or far - is this team from "winning" anything.

Many of you will just be satisfied at another Division Championship for your Cubs. That is fine, for you. For me, it is just reinforcing the other flops that I have lived through. I had a great summer of baseball - but ONCE, I'd like to experience a winner.

IF you believe that the team can repeat in what will be a truly competitive Division next year, what do you wish to add or subtract? CC? A shortstop with an arm? Middle relief?  What say ye?

BTW - if they win three straight - which has as much chance as Sarah Palin French kissing McCain on camera - I will retract, of course. But, as I've said, these are not the Pirates the Cubs are playing, unfortunately for us.

It is an obvious conclusion that it will be difficult for the Cubs to go deep into the playoffs with the current starting rotation. Recently, they slipped back to 4th in the NL in team ERA, no doubt influenced by Demp's poor start against the Sox, and the recent bullpen implosions. Also, when the team falls into a hitting slump - as we have seen recently - a lock-down pitcher that can be a tough stopper is key.

This is not a terrific year to be shopping for a difference-making pitcher. However, as I see it, these are the Free Agents and disgruntled players that could be employees which our Jim Hendry is considering. Have at it! My subjective comments are next to each:

C.C. Sabathia - if the Brew acquires him, I will be sick to my stomach. So will Cubs hitters.

E. Bedard - has plenty of talent, and would be another strong lefty to throw at the Cards and Brew. However, reports are he is not a "team guy". Same was said about Kenny Lofton. Until we got him.

A.J. Burnett - Don't we already have pitchers with high ERA's, that allow plenty of HR's?

Gil Meche - He likes the smaller market. Hendry courted him once, and got Lilly instead. Very talented, but he'd probably be more happy where he is, or Pittsburgh.

Randy Wolf - Pitches well. One game out of six. Next...

Derek Lowe - at 36, he still has a mighty sinker that would be a terrific in Wrigley. We gave Coletti Maddux - maybe he'd return the favor? FA in 2009

Livan Hernandez - I was at Game 3 against the D-Backs. 'Nuf said.

Unfortunately for the Cubs - ain't much more out there this year.