Recent comments

Arizona Phil 5 hours 59 minutes ago (view)

Wesneski has not spent 15 days on optional assignment since he was optioned so he cannot be recalled unless he is replacing a player being placed on the IL or other MLB inactive list (Paternity, Bereavement / Family Medical, et al), a player who is traded, or a player who is claimed off waivers.

crunch 6 hours 21 minutes ago (view)

excited to see more power in the lineup.

HOU going with 3 righty starters vs the cubs and their only lefty pen arm is hader.

unless busch has a mystery injury, we should see busch+mervis working all 3 games.

fullykräusened 6 hours 22 minutes ago (view)

More than 50 years ago (I'm old), I was in the audience when my HS choir performed the whole thing. (It was a really elite choir and director.) That was my first exposure to the piece. You're right, Sonicwind75, there is a lot more to it than "O Fortuna," just like there's a lot more to Beethoven's Ninth than the Ode to Joy, etc. Much if it, as you say, is bawdy: "O! O! Totus florio! Iam amori virginali, totus ardeo!" Basically, "I'm really horny for these virgins!" And the guys in the choir adopted the "Skoal"- type greeting from the tavern scene: "Wafna!" 

crunch 6 hours 33 minutes ago (view)

i would have pause if the cubs had a pitching squeeze.   as it is, they have more guys than they have roster.

Childersb3 7 hours 19 minutes ago (view)

Maybe Brewer

He'd be able to leave the Cubs. He's out of options. That would open up a 40man spot.

I don't think Jed would do that.

crunch 7 hours 31 minutes ago (view)

brewer has done nothing to keep him on the big league roster...imagine that's 1 guy gone.

yeah, it's only 2 appearances, but they were both unimpressive.

Childersb3 7 hours 52 minutes ago (view)

Yeah it is.....sorry......closers don't throw 89mph

It would be unique for sure.

But CP can't be HR susceptible

That's what Alzolay has right now and that's what Kyle has no matter the situation.

Childersb3 7 hours 55 minutes ago (view)

Supposedly Happ said on a radio show he's good to go

I hadn't read that anywhere from the usual accounts, so this could be off.

If true, Canario goes down.

TarzanJoeWallis 8 hours 13 minutes ago (view)

Hmmm. Maybe my idea of transitioning Hendricks into a closer role isn’t so crazy.

Childersb3 8 hours 23 minutes ago (view)

Mervis and Wesneski getting promoted aaccording to Tommy Birch from Des Moines Register.

So Happ to the IL

Maybe Hendricks to IL ????

Mervis/Cooper are DH platoon

Wisdom, Canario, Tauchman share LF/RF

I wonder if Busch has ever played LF?

I don't believe he has

crunch 9 hours 46 minutes ago (view)

“I respect his track record of what he’s accomplished,” Counsell said on Sunday morning. “And you go through these. He’s gone through -- maybe not this particular stretch -- but stretches where you’re not pitching the way you want to and struggling. And you figure it out.” -- Counsell on Hendricks

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...

i respect his track record of no longer being in the rotation.  in 2016 he threw 2 innings out of the pen, his only work out of the pen.  the cubs won the world series that year.  let's repeat that magic.  the formula is obvious.  stats don't lie.  etc etc whatever...

small sample size and all, but how about this craziness...

"Entering Sunday, Hendricks had allowed an .843 OPS against hitters in their initial plate appearance, followed by a 1.056 OPS in a second meeting and a 2.449 OPS when seeing batters for a third time."

Finwe Noldaran 19 hours 14 minutes ago (view)

Phil: Great to see what Rosario is doing!

Do you think having Rosario may have influenced/impacted the front office's decision on including Hope in the trade for Busch at all?

crunch 23 hours 8 minutes ago (view)

it's so crazy we got a new "barnstorming" harlem globetrotters-type baseball product that was introduced less than 5 years ago and is wildly popular all over the nation.

a notion left long in the past, unearthed, polished for modern audiences and popular as ever.

Arizona Phil 23 hours 37 minutes ago (view)

No question right now Alfonsin Rosario is one of the Cubs Top 20 prospects (probably Top 15). Rosario is to the Cubs what Zyhir Hope is to the Dodgers.

Arizona Phil 23 hours 40 minutes ago (view)

The Savannah Bananas will be playing the Party Animals at Sloan Park in Mesa this coming Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The games are sold out (15,000+ each night), and berm tickets are going for well over $100. 

Arizona Phil 1 day ago (view)

RAISIN: In the game versus the A's at Fitch Park last Friday, Mule threw half FB and half SL (16/16), and one CH (which coincidentally was the only hard-hit ball off him -- a near HR line-drive double off the LF fence). FB was 91-94 and the SL (really more of a "slurve") was 80-82, and he got three swing & miss on each pitch (six swing & miss total out of his 20 strikes). So I think it is safe to say that right now, Mule is strictly a two-pitch pitcher (FB/SL), 

Sonicwind75 1 day 2 hours ago (view)

Recalled it was sampled in a Nas song.  Did a little sleuthing.  It was a Nas song called "Hate Me Now" that featured Puff Daddy.  Imploring the crowd to hate somebody seems a bit overly dramatic for a keyboardist but perhaps there is some other connection to the song. 

In general there has been a weird overuse of Carmina Burana's O Fortuna in sports and commercials in past decade or so.  Maybe it is a fallback choice if there isn't anything else.   

Sidenote, while the O Fortuna part has become a bit pop-culture cliched; the overall piece is very interesting and rather expansive in scope. I played percussion in a production of it while in college.  There is a rather jovial movement set in a tavern.  In the score it calls for the clinking of beer steins.  Let's just say we did a lot of research to determine the best sounding beer steins. 

crunch 1 day 7 hours ago (view)

ooof...this is just as likely as anything.  professional organists are weird humans.

SheffieldCornelia 1 day 7 hours ago (view)

Maybe it is only played when the hitter thus far in the game is "oh for two"-na at the plate?

crunch 1 day 7 hours ago (view)

who was AB when it was being played?  it could be something as corny as playing it for nick fortes because fortes/fortuna...fortes...marlins...fish...tuna...sigh.

while the cubs organ player isn't a frequent groaner weaponizing the organ song selection, they all dabble in it.