ballhawk

For those of you wondering how a batter's brain could possibly track and react to a 100mph fastball, the answer is... it can't. But it does do a great job of projecting - at least for that first 60 feet... :-)

Normally, probably not worth mentioning it here except for this little nugget: "...a proposal that will call on $100 million in taxpayer dollars". Not sure if this helps or hurts Ricketts and Cubs efforts at moving forward with Wrigley rehab plans as quickly as possible. Just think it's interesting that Rahm's able to find $100M in taxpayer money...

"The Cubs will renovate Wrigley Field and develop the land around it, under a "framework" unveiled Sunday that includes a 5,000-square-foot video scoreboard in left field; an 800-square-foot see-through sign in right field; 40 night games; street fairs on weekend game days, and signage all over a new hotel and open-air plaza."

Tweet from ESPN's Bruce Levine Cub Vice president or Sales and Marketing Wally Hayward resigns to form new firm with the Ricketts family.

Saw a bunch of camera crews at Wrigley this morning, then heard on news that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is officially proposing a 'Fenway Plan' to help grease the skids towards the long-discussed changes to Wrigley Field. Link is to Sun-Times article.

I try not to be that "pile on" guy. Really. But this was too good to pass up. This could be off the charts on the unintentional comedy scale. From John Fay, Reds beat writer: –The Reds have had conversations with Ryan Theriot’s representatives. But nothing is close. "We’re trying to get a hitter first," Jocketty said.

Yep. Apparently there will be snowmobiling at Wrigley Field. Extreme snowmobiling. Flips, grabs and big-air tricks. Oh my... Red Bull Fuel + Fury. This Saturday, Nov 5. 6pm. Parking lot at Clark & Waveland (where the ice skating rink usually is).

According to their team website (link in title above), the Tampa Rays currently have 42 players on their "40" man roster. 42! The Cubs only had 41 for all those weeks. How in the world are the Rays getting away with 42? Oh the horror! The pain! The tragedy! Given the locale, I can only imagine that somehow Sweet Lou is behind this. From the comfort of his fishing boat, again he reaches out and taunts our very own Doggie...

For those still silently gnashing their teeth about not being able to pull off the AGonz trade... here's more food for fodder. ;-) Could we have given the Padres a package that would end up being their #1, #2 and #4 prospects? Because that's how it ended up with what they got from the Red Sox, at least according to Baseball America. Thanks to MLBTradeRumors for the initial heads up: "Three of the top four Padres prospects on Baseball America's top ten list arrived in the San Diego organization in the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Casey Kelly (1), Anthony Rizzo (2) and Reymond Fuentes (4) figure prominently into the list of promising young Padres."

After signing a $15M/yr closer, sign a $11.5M/yr set-up guy.

This is cooler... ;-)

Hmmm... the triumphant return of Matt Murton???

Here's the money (no pun intended) paragraph (my bold): "It is the highest TV package for a team that doesn't own its own channel. And yes, that's $150 million a year before even playing a game, plenty enough to re-sign ace Cliff Lee, bring in free-agent outfielder Carl Crawford, or whoever else they wish." Given the current state of the economy, the magnitude of this deal surprises me, but maybe the length (20 yrs) makes it an attractive gamble for Fox Sports Southwest. Regardless, this just reinforces in my mind the need for Ricketts to have the Cubs network in place as soon as current local tv contracts expire - or even sooner if there's a way to get out of those deals.

Title link above takes you to official trailer for documentary. Saw this for the first time over the weekend (missed the Chicago premiere earlier this summer) and have to say two things: 1) Camera does not add 10 pounds - it's more like 20, and... 2) Hate the sound of my own voice... chalkboard city! ugh... Aside from that, I thought it was pretty good. So did enough other folks that it's getting an encore showing on "Awards Night" of the United Film Festival this Thursday, 9/16, at the Music Box theatre, just a few blocks west of Wrigley Field. Showtime is at 9:30pm. I know that's kinda late for a school night, but it's only 74m long. Plus there will be a little Q&A session afterwards if you want to find out if ballhawks really would knock over their grandmothers to get a ball... If nothing else, at least you get a chance to see what Wrigley Field looked like before the bleacher expansion - lots of action footage from both inside and outside the park. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online here or at the Music Box theatre box office. And finally, here's something that will probably be in the "outtakes" section of the DVD when it comes out.