The BIG EIGHT-O
Once again my childhood hero's birthday has rolled around and he's turned the calendar on quite a milestone.
Mr. Cub is Eighty Years Old today.
When one's childhood hero hits such a milestone it means that when this Cub fan looks in the mirror, that reflection isn't the young Cubster that used to be, but... well, I still feel like a kid when I think about Ernie Banks unique batting style, fingers wiggling and bat upright. Crack, ball hits bat, fantastic wrist action. Remembering just one more Jack Brickhouse Hey-Hey! All baseball heros candles fade and real life takes over. But Eighty? That can't be correct.
So Ernie, here's my birthday toast to you: may your birthday cake with 80 candles be as GRAND the impact your Cub greatness had on me.
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Comments
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 7:48pm Permalink
saw a headline yesterday about how Ernie took a spill at his bday party. Presumably he's okay.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Mon, 01/31/2011 - 8:42pm Permalink
According to Luis Arroyave, Chicago Tribune, Mr. Cub was ok after his fall. In fact, Jeff Garlin who was celebrating with him had some fun with it, quipping to Banks, "Let's fall twice."
http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/about-...
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 5:59am Permalink
"Ata boy, Ernie!!"
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 7:52am Permalink
Az Phil: I saw this writeup on Rob Whitenack in the CCO blog. Do we have a Burt Hooton "lite" in our system?
http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2011/02...
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/play...
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 1:29pm Permalink
Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 7:52am.
Az Phil: I saw this writeup on Rob Whitenack in the CCO blog. Do we have a Burt Hooton "lite" in our system?
===================================================================
CUBSTER: I saw Whitenack throw in a game only once, and that was (briefly) in a game at Minor League Camp last year.
Whitenack went directly to Boise when he signed with the Cubs in 2009, and he did not attend AZ Instructs either post-2009 or post-2010, so I haven't seen enough of him to talk about his stuff.
He did have a very strong second-half in 2010 that earned him a promotion to Daytona, and then he pitched even better at Daytona than he did at Peoria.
Whitenack has a shot at making AA Tennessee coming out of Minor League Camp, but he will more-likely begin the 2011 season back in the Daytona starting rotation (probably with some combination of Lopez, Struck, Searle, Wallach, Antigua, and/or Jung), but he could get moved up to AA at some point during 2011 if he continues to throw as well as he did during the second-half of the 2010 season. .
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 8:43am Permalink
Mr. Cub was also my childhood hero. To those of you too young to remember, or not born, he was all we had in the late 1950's. Sure we had some journeymen that had a good year here or there, Dale Long, Bobby Thompson, Waly Moryn, Lee Walls, but Ernie was the only star. It wasn't until the early 60's that Santo, Williams and others came along. The late 50's teams were horrible, but Ernie kept hitting 40 HRs and 100+ RBI. He was usually our sole all star representative, when the all star games were exciting. Happy Birthday Mr. Cub, you gave me a lot of joy.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 9:30am Permalink
what kind of a shortstop was banks? he had moved to 1B by the time my memories kick in...back-to-back mvp's on an also-ran team will never happen again...banks & aaron were rookies together i believe; not a bad class!
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 10:17am Permalink
My recollection is gold glove, few errors, not much range, never a web gem.
Looking at the fielding stats in BR, I see one Gold Glove in 1960, but 32 errors in 1958, the first MVP year.
The distinctive thing about Banks in the field was the extreme (almost submarinish) sidearm throw.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:07pm Permalink
Aaron-last Negro league player to play in MLB.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 2:30pm Permalink
Submitted by jacos on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:07pm.
Aaron-last Negro league player to play in MLB.
==================================================
JACOS: Technically Orestes "Minnie" Minoso was the last former Negro Leaguer to play in an MLB game (October 1980).
BTW, I went to high school with Orestes Minoso Jr (known as "Orestes Arrieta" at the time), and he was on our 30-1 Evanston Township HS State Championship basketball team in 1968 with future Marquette University star and New York Nets forward Bob Lackey, point guard Walt Perrin, and wide-body center Farrell Jones. Orestes Jr later was a member of the first class of the Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy in 1971, along with future Royals 2B Frank White and current Rangers manager Ron Washington.
While it's fairly well-known that the Boston Red Sox were the last MLB team to integrate (with INF Elijah "Pumpsie" Green in July 1959), did you know that the Kansas City Ahtletics were the last MLB team to go a full season (actually more than a season-and-a-half) with no black players on their Active Roster (starting when they traded IF-OF Hector Lopez to the New York Yankees on 5-26-1959 all the way up until Opening Day 1961), and that the Baltimore Orioles were the last MLB club to play part of a season with no black players on their Active List (during a period of 80+ games in 1962, beginning when they sent INF Earl Robinson to AAA at the end of June up until they they brought C Nate Smith up from the minors in September)?
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 8:52pm Permalink
PHHHHHHIILLLLLLLLLL!!!
/screamed like Kirk in "Wrath of Kahn"
//correct again sir
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:32pm Permalink
Where do you place him all-time? I used to default to Banks as the greatest of all Cubs, but some fancy stats tell another story. For example, BR's WAR has him third all time. Cap Anson leads far and away, and Banks closely trails (surprise!) Ron Santo.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/l...
It's nice to see Ronnie so high on that list. I can't be very proud of Anson, however, given his role in establishing the color line.
Also on that link, you can see where Banks has 3 of the top 10 Cubs seasons all time (again by WAR). Even with that peak, I'd be hard to place him above Anson for Cubs career accomplishments. A shame. I'd prefer the good guy on top.
Neyer leaves ESPN for SB Nation
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:36pm Permalink
http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2011/2/1/1967537/...
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 3:07pm Permalink
rob neyer...has he attended 100 major league games yet in his life or is he still catching them through the box scores?
sincerely,
ike ferrell.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 3:26pm Permalink
btw...and proof neyer has some sense of humor even when he's using it for spiteful evil...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026055/
"alibi" ike...har.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 4:04pm Permalink
that joke
------------------
my head
anyone else get it?
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 4:34pm Permalink
he went on amazon.com a few years ago leaving a negative review for someone's book under an alias of "ike ferrell"...he was busted and had to publicly apologize.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 10:04pm Permalink
Apologize - for using a pseudonym, or for giving someone a bad review? Either way, that's stupid.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 4:32pm Permalink
from wikipedia:
One Day at Fenway
In September 2004, Neyer used a pseudonym ("Ike Farrell") on Amazon.com to write a negative customer review of One Day at Fenway, a then-new baseball book by Steve Kettmann.[15] Neyer subsequently took offense to positive reviews that he believed Kettmann’s friends and relatives had posted.[16]
"How did this project go so terribly wrong?" Farrell/Neyer wrote. "Presumably the author wound up with plenty of source material, and so I can only assume that he [Kettmann] lacked either the talent or the time (or both) to shape the material into a decent piece of non-fiction."
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 7:56pm Permalink
Matt Garza is really a #3 starter masquerading as a #2 behind a big park and an excellent defense. Chris Archer is likely to win several Cy Young awards pitching with the same advantages.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 12:08am Permalink
Do you have Cubs Tourettes? This is not relevant to anything discussed in this thread.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 1:59am Permalink
Joke
________________________
Newport's head.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 4:34pm Permalink
Don't quit your day job.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 9:36pm Permalink
The irony of your comment, especially after the use of the term "Tourettes" is lost on you.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 1:10am Permalink
You don't make sense.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 6:45am Permalink
The joke was about making irrelevant posts, like crunch did here, because he did the exact same thing the other day about Garza vs Archer.
Tourette's is a disorder that gives people nervous, usually facial, ticks. It's most commonly associated with people shouting out swearwords. You probably meant to say "autism". It wouldn't have been funny either, but it would have made a little more sense. I am just surprised that the PC crowd didn't jump on you.
You didn't get the joke, made a joke which was impossible to "get" because you used the wrong word, and then after that you used another "joke" to imply that I wasn't funny. That's the irony, you made two bad jokes, while telling me that my joke, which you didn't get was bad.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 11:56am Permalink
No.
If I could pay to make you invisible on here, I would. But then the comments wouldn't make sense as I would only be able to see one side if the idiotic arguments you like to engage in almost daily. Maybe instead of quit your day job, I should have said focus on your day job, you seem to spend way too much time here.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 6:32pm Permalink
a joke about rob neyer in a rob neyer post is irrelevant.
okay. sure...
wait, no.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:48pm Permalink
Ernie's career was long and eventful. As a shortstop, and through 1960, he might have been one of the very top players in baseball history. Bill James rated him as a top 100 player (#77, to be exact) ten years ago, not a top 50 player. If he'd been able to continue at short or to have another really good offensive year after 1960, that might have changed things.
James regarded Banks as an "adequate" shortstop. He disregarded the Gold Glove, saying that some years, somebody has to win it. He also disregards the fact that Banks led NL shortstops in assists in 1959 and 1960, due to the fact that Cubs had a ground ball staff and Banks played more inninbgs at short than anyone else. I never saw him play short, and my memories of him playing first come from when I was six.
In addition to aging, I recall that Banks had a severe illness in 1963, which led to a very bad year.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 2:09pm Permalink
Banks set the MLB record for fielding percentage in 1959 - did James also disregard that?
Errors were a lot easier to come by during that era, I guess it was the condition of the fields, but probably a big part of it was a change in scorer habits. Today if you get a bad hop, no error.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 2:48pm Permalink
He doesn't mention that. In the prior version of the Historical Baseball Abstract, he rated Banks as the 40th best player of all time. He says he revised his rating based on overrating Banks' defense and underweighting park effects.
He found Banks' range, in terms of the percentage of plays made by him as shortstop (in terms of total defensive plays by the team), to be only average.
I think James likes Banks. 77th is not up there with Stan Musial, but it's not bad.
Ernie really had two careers in one: (i) the first phase as an outstanding offensive shortstop and (ii) the second as a somewhat above average, but declining, first baseman. Had he been able to continue the first phase longer than he did, he could have made it higher on the list. As it is, he's still (deservedly) a hall of famer, and is one of the most famous Cubs of all time.
Dempster still a good bunter
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 12:59pm Permalink
http://www.actasports.com/stats_detail/?StatI...
Re: Dempster still a good bunter
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 2:14pm Permalink
Really nice job for those pitchers. I bet at least a handful for each of those position players successful "sacrifices" were actual failed hit attempts.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 3:59pm Permalink
Az Phil-
I know that occasionally you post the "expected" rosters for each of the minor league teams. With the new influx of talent from the Gorz trade, the Garza trade, and the signing of the new Cuban players, what would you say the rosters will look like? I was trying to do it in my head and such, but I couldn't find your last update. Thanks in advance
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 4:58pm Permalink
This is very much subject to change (surprise perfomances in Spring Training and injuries being the main causes of alteration), but here is what I would project the Cubs full-sesonteams minor league rosters to look like on Opening Day 2011 -- AS THINGS STAND RIGHT NOW:
* bats or throws left
# bats both
IOWA (24-man roster)
PITCHERS:
Justin Berg
Esmailin Caridad
Chris Carpenter
Casey Coleman
Thomas Diamond
* John Gaub
Jay Jackson
* Scott Maine
Marcos Mateo
* James Russell
Jeff Stevens
* Luke Sommer
CATCHERS:
Welington Castillo
* Steve Clevenger
INFIELDERS:
* Matt Camp
* Bryan Lahair
* Scott Moore
# Augie Ojeda
# Bobby Scales (inactive player-coach)
Marquez Smith
Tony Thomas
OUTFIELDERS:
* James Adduci
* Tony Campana
* Brad Snyder
Ty Wright
TENNESSEE (24-man roster)
PITCHERS:
* Jeffrey Beliveau
* Ryan Buchter
Alberto Cabrera
David Cales
Rafael Dolis
Ty'Relle Harris
Trey McNutt
A. J. Morris
* Brooks Raley
* Chris Rusin
Aaron Shafer
Kyle Smit
CATCHERS:
Michael Brenly
* Blake Lalli (inactive player-coach)
Chris Robinson
INFIELDERS:
* Ryan Flaherty
# Marwin Gonzalez
D. J. Lemahieu
Rebel Ridling
Nate Samson
Josh Vitters
OUTFIELDERS:
* Michael Burgess
Evan Crawford
* Brett Jackson
* Matt Spencer
DAYTONA (25-man roster)
PITCHERS:
* Jeffry Antigua
Yohan Gonzalez
Su-Min Jung
Robinson Lopez
Aaron Kurcz
* James Leverton
* Jeff Lorick
Oswaldo Martinez
Dae-Eun Rhee
Ryan Searle
Nick Struck
Brett Wallach
Rob Whitenack
CATCHERS:
Luis Flores
Jose Guevara
INFIELDERS:
* Justin Bour
* Matt Cerda
Junior Lake
Jonathan Mota
Greg Rohan
* Logan Watkins
OUTFIELDERS:
* Kyler Burke
D. J. Fitzgerald
Jae-Hoon Ha
* Nelson Perez
PEORIA (25-man roster)
PITCHERS:
Frank Batista
* Cam Greathouse
* Graham Hicks
Jin-Yeong Kim
* Austin Kirk
Matt Loosen
* Marcos Perez
Austin Reed
Kevin Rhoderick
* Zac Rosscup
Juan Yasser Serrano
Hayden Simpson
Ben Wells
CATCHERS:
# Micah Gibbs
Chad Noble
INFIELDERS:
# Arismendy Alcantara
* Ryan Cuneo
* Richard Jones
Pierre LePage
Brandon May
Elliot Soto
OUTFIELDERS:
Reggie Golden
Jesus Morelli
* Rubi Silva
Matt Szczur
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 6:36pm Permalink
AZ PHIL: IS Scott Maine the heir-apparent lefty to Gorzo? Or, if he makes the MLB squad will his time be spent primarily in the pen?
How is his pitch repertoire, anyway?
What say ye PHIL?
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 11:52pm Permalink
Submitted by The E-Man on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 6:36pm.
AZ PHIL: IS Scott Maine the heir-apparent lefty to Gorzo? Or, if he makes the MLB squad will his time be spent primarily in the pen?
How is his pitch repertoire, anyway?
What say ye PHIL?
======================================
E-MAN: Scott Maine throws a 93-95 MPH fastball and a hard slider, and he really improved a lot the second half of 2010.
I don't think there is much chance of Maine ever being a starting pitcher (he's a two-pitch pitcher who has never started a game in pro ball), but he is the heir-apparent to John Grabow as the #2 lefty in the Cubs bullpen, and in fact he could be the #1 lefty in the pen at some piont if the Cubs were to decide to move Sean Marshall to the starting rotation.
Otherwise, James Russell will apparently be stretched-out as a starter at Spring Training and will likely be in the starting rotation at Iowa (where he will be the I-Cubs only lefty starter), in case the Cubs need or want a lefty starter at some point in 2011 (again, that's if they want to keep Marshall in the pen).
And then LHPs Chris Rusin and Brooks Raley will very likely be in the starting rotation at AA Tennessee, and either could get called up if they are pitching well and the Cubs want or need a lefty starter and they don't want to call up Russell from AAA or move Marshall to the starting rotation from the bullpen.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 10:49pm Permalink
Cam Greathouse? Really?
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 12:10pm Permalink
Nice job of distributing the talent, Phil. I particularly like that outfield at Peoria, with Szczur, Golden and Silva.
Could use a little more shortstop talent at the upper levels. Matt Camp, a doubtful prospect, should not be the only Iowa SS. Maybe Marwin Gonzalez, after his strong showing in the Venezuelan Winter League, can go to Iowa. Then Junior Lake can play shortstop for Tennessee. Lake has already done Daytona, and should not be held back. Watkins and Mota at Daytona, as you say, etc.
David Cales finished the season at Iowa and did okay, then performed well in the AFL. I don't see him dropping back, either.
I understand that you (and the Cubs) have a lot of bodies to accommodate at Iowa, but we still have to keep the conveyor belt moving for real prospects like Lake and Cales.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 2:42pm Permalink
I had thought for most of the off-season that Junior Lake would be the #1 SS at Tenmnessee, but that was because I figured Hak-Ju Lee was a lock to be the #1 SS at Daytona and that the Cubs wouldn't have wanted both Lake and Lee on the same team.
Also, there was an empty hole for a #1 SS at Iowa (figuring that Matt Camp would be used as a utiluity IF-OF) that I thought would have to be filled by either Nate Samson or Marwin Gonzalez, but with the Cubs signing Augie Ojeda, I now believe either Ojeda or Darwin Barney (most-likely Ojeda) will be the #1 SS at Iowa.
These two developments (trading Lee and signing Ojeda) should push Samson and M. Gonzalez back to Tennessee and open up the #1 SS job at Daytona for Lake. There really isn't any pressure from below (Elliot Soto and Arismendy Alcanatara will both likely be assigned to Peoria, and Wes Darvill will probably be at EXST in April-May and then at Boise), and while Lake could probably play at AA in 2011 (and he still might), he doesn't turn 21 until March, and so repeating Daytona (at least to start the season) wouldn't be out of line.
I know what you are saying about David Cales, but it's just a matter of not having enough slots available at Iowa. It's possible that the Cubs could put Cales at Iowa and drop either Gaub or Sommers to AA, but the fact that the Cubs did not give Cales an NRI to ST might be an indication that he is still fairly low on the bullpen depth chart.
A lot of the tentative assignments I projected will change if any Cubs MLB or AAA pitcher or player starts the season on the DL, and/or if the Cubs trade or release a player and/or pitcher or two presently ticketed for Chicago or Iowa during or at the end of ST.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 5:17pm Permalink
Phil, not as a prognosticator but as a fan, I really don't like the idea of non-prospects like Ojeda, Camp and Samson getting significant starts at the shortstop position. There are three teams at high-A and above, and there must be more than three viable shortstop prospects in this organization who can fill those positions.
Here are four names: Watkins, Lake, LeMahieu and Gonzalez. Watkins played second last year, but there was no choice, he was Lee's teammate. Maybe this year he plays shortstop at Daytona. That would push Lake up to Tennessee, where he belongs anyway.
Last year, Lake played 107 games at short, but LeMahieu played 25, and both played some third. That's good: anybody who still projects as a major-league shortstop (whether with the Cubs or not) should get opportunities there, because it enhances his value. Shortstop at Tennessee could go to Lake and LeMahieu.
That still leaves Marwin Gonzalez, who is a month shy of 22 but just had a very solid season as shortstop and number-two hitter for a good Caracas team. He had 86 games at Tennessee last year (81 at short) and could be promotable. Makes more sense to me than squandering starts at a key position on marginal players.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 9:50pm Permalink
You've also got to factor in that Barney may well be the I-Cubs SS this year. His bat is worse than the Cubs three middle infield starters, but there may be some hope that it will improve with more seasoning. You're not going to PH him unless he's the last option and Ojeda will probably be a similar defensive player. Organizationally it would be better to try and make like Barney is a real prospect who is blocked by Castro, than to just slot him into the last slot on the bench.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 7:13am Permalink
I just don't see this Baker-DeWitt thing at all. Neither one of them is really a middle infielder. Both were third basemen in the minors. Whereas Barney is a natural shortstop who hits about as well as DeWitt. If Baker has more pop than Barney, that's true of most third basemen in relation to most shortstops. But we're talking about second base, and also backing up Castro at shortstop.
I don't like this second-base situation right now, especially if it's DeWitt-Baker-Ojeda.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 2:41pm Permalink
Won't Max Ramirez be at Iowa to catch with Castillo?
The last I heard, Ryan Flaherty was going to be moved to the OF, that would seem to be the case with Rebel Ridling moved up to AA now.
And speaking of AA, don't you think one of Watkins or Lake will be put at starting SS for Tennessee? You have both listed at Daytona right now.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 2:53pm Permalink
Submitted by Jim Hickmans Bat on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 2:41pm.
Won't Max Ramirez be at Iowa to catch with Castillo?
The last I heard, Ryan Flaherty was going to be moved to the OF, that would seem to be the case with Rebel Ridling moved up to AA now.
And speaking of AA, don't you think one of Watkins or Lake will be put at starting SS for Tennessee? You have both listed at Daytona right now.
========================================
JIM H: Max Ramirez is out of minor league options, and I don't think he will get through waivers if he does not make the Cubs 25-man Opening Day roster. If Ramirez does not make the Cubs 25-man Opening Day roster and then gets through waivers, I would project him to be the #2 catcher at Iowa (behind W. Castillo), with Clevenger nmoving down to Tennessee, and Brenly moving back to Daytona.
Ryan Flaherty will be an "everyday" player at Tennessee, but he will be moved around, playing 1B-2B-3B-LF-RF.
Unless Junior Lake forces his way onto the Tennesssee roster, I think Marwin Gonzalez and Nate Samson will be the two shortstops at Tennessee (with Samson also playing some 2B and M. Gonzalez also playing 1B-2B-3B-LF-CF-RF), and Lake would be the #1 SS at Daytona with Logan Watkins the #1 2B, although Watkins and Mota can also play some SS, and Cerda and Mota can play 2B. (Mota would also be used as a catcher from time-to-time).
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 6:01pm Permalink
Well this is boring...
what are everyone's thoughts on Michael Barrett's defense?
Tony LaRussa bashing
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 6:13pm Permalink
http://deadspin.com/5748972/the-worst-men-in-...
God, it was inevitable that George Will and Tony La Russa would find each other, wasn't it?
That's stupid. Shit, Tim McCarver thinks that's stupid. That's like saying, "The secret of scoring touchdowns in getting close to the end zone." It isn't the slightest bit profound, and yet George Will starts humping that quote as if Disraeli had said it.
There are few things in baseball worse than the cult of the manager, and there no manager cults more head-slappingly pretentious than the one that has sprung up around Tony La Russa. I have a theory that La Russa is so exalted by the George Wills of the world because he is more or less one of them — an observer who has little to no impact on what's transpiring in front of him, who spends his nine innings investing tiny fluke moments with galactic significance and stamping them with the mark of his own genius. Will and La Russa are perfect for one another — where Will has a bow tie to evoke a sort of out-of-step erudition, La Russa has a ballet t-shirt — and it was only natural that they'd spend a few happy days wiggling their toy intellect at each other:
La Russa is a guy playing Chutes and Ladders who thinks it's actually chess. He is a manager, nothing more, and he has been blessed with a lot of great players over the years, and he has been smart enough and sober enough not to fuck them up too horribly. That's it. That's his genius. This constant need on La Russa's part to prove it's somehow more than that is entirely a function of baseball's epic self-mythologizing. And it is with a fine sense of semantic tidiness that I say, "Fuck that." (Tommy Craggs)
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 8:05pm Permalink
I WANT 500 WORDS WITH ABSOLUTELY NO INSIGHT OR EVEN LOGIC, BUT MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, GO!!
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Thu, 02/03/2011 - 11:44am Permalink
Nice.
The Lord starting what should have been down awhile ago
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 8:51pm Permalink
Panel flies off Wrigley Field
http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2011/02/...
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Tue, 02/01/2011 - 9:54pm Permalink
http://www.cubworld.com/category/a_cubworld_cam/
you can see a piece of the roped off section behind that miserable snowstorm.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 7:17am Permalink
and poetically, standing alone in the middle of the snowarmagaddon is the Ernie Banks statue.
Or is it Ernie himself?
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 8:46am Permalink
CSN video of roof debris in front of Wrigley...
http://www.csnchicago.com/02/01/11/Wrigley-Fi...
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 8:52am Permalink
Piniella to join Giants front office as Tampa-based buddah. Apparently Giants GM Sabean and Lou have been buddies since their Yankee days. I thought Lou would be brought in by the Yankees in similar capacity but it seems they spent their last dollar on Bartolo Colon.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/giants/de...
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 8:55am Permalink
http://twitter.com/PWSullivan
Sully says Cubs passed on giving Lou the Golden Buddah consultant position.
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 9:04am Permalink
Warm thoughts from Snowmageddon....
Pitchers and Catchers report: 19 days
Cactus League Opener: 25 days (Oakland vs Cubs at Mesa on 2-27)
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 9:15am Permalink
I thought we were down to 11 days on pitchers and catchers.
"2011 Spring Training, beginning on Feb. 13, when pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Ariz. Their first workout comes on Feb. 14, with position players reporting to camp on Feb. 18 and the first full workout of the Mike Quade era taking place on Feb. 19."
Re: The BIG EIGHT-O
on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 9:19am Permalink
yep, my bad....11 days: Feb 13th (per Cubs.com)