Here come the Hawks?

It appears that the Madhouse on Madison may be transplanted to the Friendly Confines, if only for a day, next January.

Late Wednesday night, Comcast SportsNet and WGN-TV reported that the Blackhawks brass and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman are set to announce that the Hawks will host the second annual Winter Classic next January at Wrigley Field. A number of other news organizations are also now reporting the story.

An official announcement could come as early as Friday when Blackhawks legends Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita, and Bobby Hull will sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” at Wrigley Field.

The NHL will look to capitalize on the immense success of the first Winter Classic. On Jan. 1, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabers 2-1 in a shootout before more than 71,000 fans at Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium.

It had been rumored that the Blackhawks were in contention to host the game for several months. Initially, the New York Rangers were the top choice to hold the game at Yankee Stadium, which will close following the baseball season. However, the Hawks’ chances increased dramatically earlier this month when Bettman told Newsday that there were a “variety of issues” associated with holding the game at the 85-year-old ballpark.

The Blackhawks will most likely face the rival Detroit Red Wings. If the Hawks take on the Red Wings, it will be the first Original Six matchup in outdoor game history. Aside from the first Winter Classic, there has been one other outdoor game in recent NHL history. The Edmonton Oilers took on the Montreal Canadians in front of 57,167 fans during a game called the “Heritage Classic” in 2003.

Once it appeared that the game may be held in Chicago, the Blackhawks and the NHL had a variety of venues to choose from. However, it appears that historic Wrigley Field beat out both Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, and U.S. Cellular Field, where the Chicago White Sox play.

The Blackhawks have a strong connection to the Cubs. Hawks president John McDonough joined the team last November after spending 24 years in the Cubs front office. Also, Jay Blunk, the Blackhawks’ s senior vice president of business operations joined the Blackhawks in January after working for the Cubs for 22 years.

Image credits

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Everybody Take a Deep Breath

I had the good luck to attend most of last night’s game.  I did not intend to go, however I was offered a $60 ticket for $5 while waiting for a bus about a block North of Wrigley just after the third inning.  By the time I got to my seat up in section 431 Big Z had walked in a run and the Cubs were leading off their half of the fourth inning.  The seat was great (except for the girl with the terrible laugh a couple seats over) and the Cubs won a thriller in the bottom of the tenth.  It really was the best $5 I’ve ever spent, and I went alone.

Everyone should attend a baseball game by themselves at least once in their lives, it is a vastly different experience than attending with friends or family.  I have done this a handful of times over the last few years and enjoyed it every time.  It is like watching the game at home on the ultimate Hi-Def set.  When you’re alone at the game you don’t have to entertain anyone; you can immerse yourself in the ballpark and the game.  I imagine that experience is a lot like hiking is for nature people.  Only the trees are people and the walking is sitting; which is much better for someone with my allergies.  If you are not sure that you would enjoy it do what I did and by your ticket a few innings into the game, you’ll pay a lot less and then not feel bad if you don’t enjoy it.  But I think you will.

The best part of attending alone is that I also had the chance to study the crowd.  There has been much discussion of Cubs fans since Marty Brennaman blasted us a few weeks ago; for the most part, he was wrong.  I did however notice something else about my Cubs fan brethren: we are way too high strung.  By this I don’t mean that we need to stop cheering, or booing (even the people in left); I mean that we need to not live and die by the result of every pitch.  I don’t miss the days when Wrigley was a picnic or a beer garden where baseball happened to be played.  I love that people actually care about what happens to this team.  But there has to be a happy medium right? aren’t we rooting for the Cubbies to help us relax?  Most importantly baseball is a game of failure.  Even if you win 100 games, which is a great season, you are going to lose 62 times; the batting champion every year fails almost two-thirds of the time.  In 1927 the year Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 60 home runs (he also hit .356) he was thrown out 354 times, 89 of those were strikeouts.  I’m not sure, but I don’t think people were yelling “Hey, Babe, YOU SUCK!” after a third inning strikeout in May.

We are watching a very good baseball team.  Yes, it has some flaws, and no, not every player is a Hall of Famer or even an All-Star.  But it is May 29th, no team in baseball has won more games than the 32 the Cubs have, the Cubs have scored more runs than anyone, and are tied for the 4th best E.R.A. in baseball (tops in the N.L.).  So go ahead and boo a bad play; but after you do, take a deep breath and remember that this team is good enough to overcome, and that player (unless it is Edmonds or Pie) you’re booing will probably be a big reason why.

Road Blues

The Cubs road woes continued tonight as they lost in Houston to the Astros. The Cubs have been a drastically different team away from the Friendly Confines where they own a 19-8 record and have out scored opponents by 74 runs. After tonight’s game the Cub’s have a 9-11 record on the road including a three game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in their first three road games of the year. Since that sweep the Cubs are 6-11 on the road.

For the most part the problem seems to be with the offense. The pitching numbers are slightly worse overall on the road however, they are artificially inflated by Rich Hills three bad road starts prior to being sent down. On the other hand the Cubs batters (except for Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Geovany Soto, who are all slightly better on the road so far) are doing significantly worse on the road. The Cubs are hitting .311/.393/.501 (ave/obp/slug) at home compared to .252/.341/.378 on the road. The Cubs have been successful at home thanks to their complete lineup pounding opposing pitching staffs into submission to the tune of 6.7 runs per game; while they manage to push across 2.7 runs fewer on the road.

Unfortunately the main problems have come from some of the players who the Cubs will count on most if they hope to meet skyrocketing expectations. Fan favorite for his play at Wrigley, Kosuke Fukudome, has been an offensive liability on the road. While Kosuke puts up monster numbers at home .393/.505/.562 he is has puny numbers on the road .213/.294/.293. His road on-base percentage is 99 points lower than his home batting average. Fukudome, is not alone in his road struggles, Mark DeRosa, is hitting at least 200 points lower in each of the “slash” categories including a .402 home B.A. compared to .180 road B.A.

If the Cubs are going to end their century long championship drought Sweet Lou will have to figure out why the Cubs can’t hit outside of Chicago; or start rooting for the White Sox to make it to the World Series as well. The good news is that the Cubs left Houston tonight and are headed to Pittsburgh for a three game set with the Pirates.

Cubs cramping Trib’s style?

Are the Cubs interfearing with unbiased journalism?

Yes, says Chicago Tribune Public Editor Timothy J. McNulty in yesterday’s column.

McNulty makes an interesting argument for why he, and many of his colleagues at the Tribune, can’t wait for Sam Zell and the Tribune Co. to sell the Cubs. The topic, while interesting, gets lost amongst the discussion of sexier topics such as naming rights, possible changes to Wrigley Field, and seat licenses.

Part of the reason for McNulty’s consternation is White Sox fans. He says that no matter how much the Tribune covers the Sox, fans always see the paper as unfairly biased towards the Cubs, since the same company owns both the team and the paper. MuNulty notes:

No matter how fair and even the coverage, readers—especially readers who are White Sox fans—believe that Tribune stories are skewed either in favor of the Cubs or against the Sox. “It’s impossible to change that perception among Sox fans,” said Dan McGrath, the associate managing editor for sports, “even when they won the World Series and we put out a special section almost every day and did two books on the Sox.”

Because the team and Wrigley Field are such a huge part of Chicago, McNulty says that the apparent conflict of interest between the Cubs runs past the sports page.

Tribune Co.’s ownership of the Cubs has been a bane not only to those who write and edit sports pages, but to business and metro reporters as well. I hear about it constantly. The Cubs are more than a sports franchise in terms of news coverage. Decisions about zoning regulations and parking in the neighborhood, about renovations to the treasured stadium and the sale itself are issues that have the potential to raise ethical questions.

Maybe it would be best for the Cubs to move. Las Vegas sounds nice.

Former Cardinal Edmonds enters outfield mix

Jim Edmonds became the newest member of the Chicago Cubs Wednesday, inking a $290,000 contract for the remainder of the season. Edmonds’ Cubs salary is a prorated portion of the league-mininum $390,000. The outfielder was due to make $8 million this season, which will be paid by his former team, the San Diego Padres, according to an Associated Press report.

The four-time All-Star was cut by the Padres last Friday after getting off to a slow start while recovering from a calf injury he suffered during Spring Training. Edmonds began the year on the disabled list, but was activated on April 5. The Padres cut Edmonds after he was only able to hit .178 with a .265 on base percentage in 26 games this season.

Edmonds, who turns 38 on June 27, broke into the big leagues with the California Angles on Sept. 9, 1993. The 6-1, 190-pound outfielder stayed with the franchise, now known as the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim, for another six seasons, before he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 2000 season.

Edmonds stayed with the Cardinals for eight seasons, and was a member of the 2006 team that won the World Series. Three of Edmonds’ four All-Start appearances while he was a member of the Cardinals.

Last season, Edmonds hit .252 in 117 games for the Cardinals, with an OBP of .325.

The addition of Edmonds, who is a career .286 hitter with a .377 OBP, effectively ends the Felix Pie experiment for the time being. Pie was optioned to Triple-A Iowa Wednesday to make room for the outfielder.

Cubs fans had huge expectations for Pie going into the season, but the left-handed center fielder disappointed in the early-going, hitting a meager .222 with a .286 OBP through 30 games.

The left-handed Edmonds will split time in center field with righty Reed Johnson, who is hitting .256 with a .343 OBP in 36 games while Pie tries to find his swing in Triple-A.

Edmonds saw a lot of Wrigley Field as a member of the Cardinals, and the outfielder found some success at the Friendly Confines, hitting .254 with a .378 OBP in 65 games at the corner of Clark and Addison. Edmonds has more home runs (17) at Wrigley than at any other park where he has been an opponent.

Although some questioned the acquisition of the aging Edmonds, it’s a calculated risk with little downside since Edmonds isn’t even making the league-minimum.

Best case, Edmonds finds his stride this season, Johnson continues to surprise, and the Cubs have one decent right-handed center fielder for the rest of the season (Johnson) and one decent left-handed center fielder (Edmonds) for the rest of the season, who can each be counted on for averages of .250-.275 and OBPs of .325-.350.

Worst case, Edmonds never recovers fully from his injury, it’s clear that there isn’t much left in his 38-year-old tank, and the Cubs are out only about $300,000. If that happens, the Cubs could recall Pie and try the Johnson-Pie combination again. After all, the Cubs were 24-16 with that combination in the lineup before Edmonds was signed.

Image credit: http://ap.google.com/media/ALeqM5jjvLp5DgTbaXYVSAmbOB-Am-KoUg?size=s

Dispatches from the South Side: At least something’s offensive

Yesterday, we told you about White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s tirade at reporters before Sunday’s Sox-Blue Jays game in Toronto. Guillen was upset because his club was mired in a 4-game losing skid and the offense was anemic at best.

Today, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Southsiders have been using an unusual slump-buster: making an impromptu shrine of bats and inflatable sex dolls with the words “Push It” written on them.

Frank the Tank would be proud.

Image courtesy of: http://www.chasingthefrog.com/t-shirts/oldschool/blwupdll.jpg

At least “E:60″ has a sense of humor

As we told you about a few weeks ago, it seems that Miguel Tejada lied about his age throughout his career. The Astros’ shortstop’s secret was uncovered by ESPN reporter Tom Farrey, who captured Tejada in this “To Catch a Predator“-esque moment that would make Chris Hanson warm on the inside:

After the piece aired, Ferrey and ESPN were widely criticized for making the segment overly dramatic and misleading Tejada about the interview’s subject when they initially asked the shortstop to talk to Farrey for a piece that would air on “E:60,” the sports network’s fledgling news magazine show.

ESPN responded to its critics by airing this video, starring ESPN.com’s Bill “The Sports Guy” Simmons and late-night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel:

Although the network never addressed its handling of the Tejada interview, and this clip may never restore what -if any- creditability “E:60″ had, it’s refreshing to see one network that can poke fun at itself when it knows it made a mistake.

Ozzie Guillen: The picture of [bleepin'] class

Some hits from the story in today’s Chicago Tribune:

Mt. Ozzie on the Cubs:

” The Cubs haven’t won in [100] years, and they’re the [bleeping] best. [Bleep] it, we’re good. [Bleep] everybody. We’re horse[bleep], and we’re going to be horse[bleep] the rest of our lives, no matter how many World Series we win.”

“How about the Cubs celebrating that Lee Elia bull[bleep]? How many times do I curse people out? I will make a lot of money with my [stuff]. I have to keep going because in the future Ozzie will need money, and I can say, ‘Here, give me money, here’s the 10-year anniversary of my time I called [Jay] Mariotti stuff and the time I went on the radio and cursed out Mike North.’”

Mt. Ozzie on the White Sox:

“We won it a couple years ago, and we’re horse[bleep],” Guillen said sarcastically before the Sox (14-15) lost to the Blue Jays 4-3 and fell below .500 for the first time since April 3.”

“We have the worst owner (Jerry Reinsdorf). The guy’s got seven [bleeping] rings, and he’s the [bleeping] horse[bleep] owner.”

Mt. Ozzie on Chicago fans and Chicago media:

“If we had 50 people allowed on the roster, we could do that. That’s what ticks me off about Chicago fans and Chicago media: They forget pretty quickly. A couple of days ago we were the [bleeping] best [stuff] in town. Now we’re [bleep].”

“People are panicking,” said Guillen, whose Sox were in first place in the American League Central from April 15 until Saturday night. “Did we play a real bad week? Yes, we did, we stunk. But it wasn’t too long ago that we were — ‘the biggest surprise in baseball, wow, look at the White Sox.’”

“All of a sudden, there we go, back to normal. We have to deal with it. [Bleep] it. As long as the 25 guys out there believe we can do it, everyone else, hey … “

Now that Ozzie has cleared the air, only one [bleepin'] question remains: Who had the worse weekend? Cedric Benson, or Ozzie?

Full story

Image credit: http://www.theheckler.com/news/articlefiles/1268-07-09-12-ozzie.jpg

Game 31 Recap Cubs 3 Cardinals 5

The Cubs fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 in the last of a three game set. In a match-up of two players facing off against former teams, it was Cardinals pitcher Todd Wellemeyer that came out on top over Jason Marquis. This makes the third straight series the Cubs have lost. They are just 3-7 over their last 10 games.

The action started when the Cubs jumped on the Cards early in the second inning with a 2-0 lead. Reed Johnson doubled in Geovany Soto followed by a sac fly from Alfonso Soriano to drive in Mike Fontenot. The Cardinals came back however and tied it in the bottom half of the inning. Later, Albert Pujols would double in two more runs in the fourth inning to give the Cardinals the lead 4-2. They never looked back.

The Cardinals tacked on another run in the sixth inning to make it 5-2. The seventh inning brought along a very familiar situation, as the Cubs loaded the bases for the fifteenth consecutive game. This time it was with no outs and the heart of the order coming up. Derrek Lee and Kosuke Fukudome each recorded outs, with Fukudome driving in a run on a sacrifice fly to center. After which Mark DeRosa flied out to end the inning.

Tonight’s game marked the second game in a row that Aramis Ramirez was out of the lineup with a swollen wrist. Hopefully, he will be back for the Cincinnati series coming up as the Cubs continue their road trip this week.

Notable Stat

Mark DeRosa continues to struggle, going 0-4 and leaving 5 men on base.

Most Valuable Cub: Geovany Soto. The Cubs young catcher went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored. He also threw out Aaron Miles at second base on an attempted steal.

Red Line to Wrigley

Bill Murray: Actor, comedian, broadcaster, legend

In April 1987 when Harry Caray was forced to miss a few games due to a minor illness, actor/comedian/legendary Cubs fan Bill Murray was asked to step into the broadcast booth to accompany Steve Stone in calling a game against the Montreal Expos.

Look for: “Dr. Peter Venkman” himself taking some cuts in the cage during batting practice (0:13); Murray reading the lineups with his trademark comedic twist (“Would you be afraid of a guy named Herman Winningham?”) (4:54); the awkward/candid shot of Cubs legend Andre “Hawk” Dawson stretching in the Cubs dugout while the lineup for the Northsiders is being read (5:33).

On an interesting side note, it seems as if Murray and Stone are in front of a green screen. This would make sense, as games were rarely broadcast from the bleachers -as the background would indicate- although Harry would often join the fans in the bleachers underneath the scoreboard during Friday afternoon games.

The video’s title would indicate that there are additional parts. Unfortunately, it seems that they have been removed, but enjoy this 9:37 slice of heaven.

CS co-founders Dan (third from left) and

Ken (fourth from left) with Bill Murray at the Cubby Bear