Baseball Nation: All Posts by Al Yellon

Overflow Thread 3: Cubs vs. Reds, Friday 5/24, 6:10 CT

2013-05-25T01:55:04Z

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Overflow Thread 2: Cubs vs. Reds, Friday 5/24, 6:10 CT

2013-05-25T01:10:06Z

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Overflow Thread 1: Cubs vs. Reds, Friday 5/24, 6:10 CT

2013-05-25T00:10:05Z

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First Pitch Thread: Cubs vs. Reds, Friday 5/24, 6:10 CT

2013-05-24T23:05:06Z

Go get 'em, Scott.

Cubs vs. Reds Preview, Friday 5/24, 6:10 CT: Kissing The .500 Mark Goodbye

2013-05-24T21:00:05Z

I've told this story a number of times before, but it bears repeating today.

In 1977, the Cubs got off to a hot start and were far ahead in the old N.L. East in late June. In those days, not all games were televised; so it was for this game on June 28, 1977, a game the Cubs won in Montreal 4-2 in 10 innings to get to 47-22, 25 games over .500. So I listened on the radio; on the postgame show Lou Boudreau said, "They can kiss the .500 mark goodbye!"

Of course, the kicker to the story is that the 1977 Cubs finished exactly at .500, and they had to lose their last five games to do it.

The Cubs enter today's action 10 games under .500 for the first time in 2013. Only one team in Cubs history has gotten to 10 games under .500 and come back to have a winning record. That's the 1968 team, who had a bad first half and were, just before the halfway mark, 35-45. They then went 49-33 to finish 84-78; that second half was a precursor to the great start of 1969. (The 2007 Cubs were nine games under, 22-31, and came back to win the N.L. Central title.)

This team isn't going to do any of that. I think I'm pretty safe in saying about the 2013 Cubs: "They can kiss the .500 mark goodbye."

Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong. But I don't think I will be.

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus CF, Castro SS, Rizzo 1B, Sweeney LF, Schierholtz RF, Valbuena 3B, Navarro C, Barney 2B, Feldman P

Reds lineup:

Choo CF, Cozart SS, Votto 1B, Phillips 2B, Bruce RF, Frazier 3B, Paul LF, Hanigan C, Arroyo P

Today's Starting Pitchers

Scott Feldman

Cubs

vs.

Bronson Arroyo

Reds

vs. Cin

vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Scott Feldman	4-3	8	8	1	0	0	0	49.1	39	19	12	5	18	39	2.19	1.16

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2013 - Bronson Arroyo	4-4	9	9	0	0	0	0	60.1	57	23	22	6	10	36	3.28	1.11

Scott Feldman has a 1.34 ERA and 0.942 WHIP in his last six starts. Raise your hand if you thought I'd be writing those words in late May 2013. This is his first career start and appearance against the Reds; the only three Reds who have faced him (Shin-Soo Choo, Jack Hannahan and Cesar Izturis) are a combined 6-for-39 (.154) with no home runs. Perhaps Feldman can keep his run going.

Unlike a lot of pitchers the Cubs have faced recently, who they have been seeing for the first time, Bronson Arroyo has a long history against the Cubs, as he has spent 11 of his 14 seasons in the N.L. Central. Overall, he's been better than his career norms against the Cubs; he's made 28 appearances (26 starts) covering 171⅔ innings with a 2.99 ERA and 1.148 WHIP. Current Cubs are 58-for-135 (.222) against him; Alfonso Soriano is 10-for-50, which is a lot of AB for any one hitter against any one pitcher. This is probably one reason Soriano is getting the day off. Arroyo hasn't allowed a run over his last two starts. Doom? Maybe.

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. Be careful over there, though.

Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Cubs, Reds Open 3-Game Series In Cincinnati

2013-05-24T21:00:05Z

All the game threads for Friday night's game are in this StoryStream.

Cubs lineup:

xxxx

Reds lineup:

xxxx

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter. Be careful over there, though.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Who Goes On The Cubs' Mount Rushmore?

2013-05-24T15:00:10Z

With the retirement of the Bears' Brian Urlacher the other day, CSN Chicago's John Mullin wrote this article, inspired by a similar piece at Pro Football Talk, on who he'd put on the Bears' "Mount Rushmore" -- in other words, who are the four most influential figures in the history of the franchise?

This got me thinking, naturally: who would go on a similar Mount Rushmore for the Cubs?

This isn't as easy as it looks, especially given the 137-year history of the Chicago National League ballclub, and its great success up until 1945. It's very easy, especially for all of us here, most of whom weren't alive then, to skew this toward modern figures that we all know and love.

Unfortunately, the poll apparatus here doesn't allow for multiple selections, so I can't post a poll. What I will do is ask you to select your four, post in the comments, along with some reasons why you picked those men.

Here are my four (not in any particular order), and my reasoning:

Ernie Banks

This one's a gimme -- "Mr. Cub" would have to go on any list of the most important people in Cubs history; in addition to his sunny image, his statistical achievements tower over just about anyone who's ever played for the Cubs. What many don't remember is that Ernie suffered a couple of serious injuries, one to his wrist, the other to his knee; before that he was likely headed to a career similar to that of his peers Willie Mays or Hank Aaron, two of the best players in the history of the game. It's a credit to Ernie that he put up the numbers he did, in the face of those injuries.

Ron Santo

Santo had two Cubs careers -- as a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove winner at third base, putting up excellent offensive numbers in a pitchers' era, and as a beloved radio broadcaster for more than two decades. There's no one who loved being a Cub more than Ron, although at the time he departed by trade, there were many Cubs fans happy to see him go, as there were parts of his playing career that were somewhat controversial. Even if you didn't like his broadcasting style, you had to love his love for the team, and admire his dignity and perseverance in the face of devastating health isssues.

Frank Chance

Though Chance didn't play very long -- nor manage the team for as long as he might have, given health issues that caused his death at the age of just 48 -- his influence on the Cubs of the first decade of the 20th Century can't be overstated. In addition to being a fine player -- he averaged .306/.404/.410 with a 146 OPS+ from 1903-1908, in the deadest of deadball years -- he was a fine manager and leader of men, who averaged 96 wins a year in his eight years as leader of the team. He's the only man to win a World Series as Cubs manager, and his 768 wins still ranks third in team history, behind Charlie Grimm and...

Cap Anson

This was the toughest call of all. Anson had his issues, which are well documented, but his dominance over baseball in the 19th Century has him towering over any other player or manager in baseball before 1900. He was the first player to register 3,000 hits; he managed the Cubs for 19 seasons, winning 1,282 games in seasons far shorter than today's 162-game schedule. Anson was one of the best-known men in Chicago, not just in sports, in his day; he was once elected Chicago City Clerk. He's been gone for 91 years, but his legacy still towers over the franchise.

Among others I considered (remember, you can only choose four, and it wasn't easy to eliminate some of these men): Ryne Sandberg, Charlie Grimm, Phil Cavarretta, Gabby Hartnett, William Wrigley, Charles W. Murphy, Mordecai Brown.

All right, it's your turn. Have at it.

The Worst TV Sports Graphic Ever Made

2013-05-24T13:09:15Z

The Worst TV Sports Graphic Ever Made

One graphic. Six mistakes. I'd have loved to hear the discussion between the person who created this and his/her supervisor.