Call Me!

The Chicago Cubs are getting harder to watch and listen to and not just for their play on the field. Trying to locate them on T.V. is almost impossible. Are they on Channel 9? No? What about WCIU? No? What about Chicago SportsNet? Now listening to them on the radio is getting challenging but in a different way. You can always find the Cubs on WGN-720AM (at least for now) but who are you going to hear?

We need to set up a phone tree. For those of you unfamiliar with phone trees, a group of people agree to call each other when a significant event happens - school closings, massive wave off the North Shore, big sale at Filene’s. We, as Cub fans, need to set up a phone tree for WGN Radio broadcasts of Cub games. We could even have secret codes!

If Ron Santo is on the air, we could call each other and say Code “Believe” as in “Be-lieve me” which is Ron’s favorite phrase that actually is a complete thought, although it usually starts the beginning of a run-on, incomplete sentence as in “Be-lieve (phonetically BUH-leeev) me Patrick and when I say hard throwing, you know, it’s so easy to see them throw hard but to hit and the ball, it comes in . . .”
Pat: Line drive! Down the leftfield line!

So Code “Believe” is “Ron’s on the air today.” I do have to admit, at least the Cubs have Ron doing “color”. He’s not really good at it, but they aren’t making the same mistake they made when Harry was waaaaay past his prime. Everyone kept saying that Harry was a great ambassador for the game. Yes he was, at any age. But he wasn’t a great play-by-play guy towards the end. They should have had him at the gate shaking hands and walking through the bleachers buying beer. With The Pat and Ron Show, at least you still know what’s happening on the field, even if you also know how much of the tuna sandwich Pat spilled on his sweater at lunch.

Dave Otto – Code “Steak”. Steak is Otto’s favorite saying, as in “Derrek Lee needs to get a couple of steaks here.” (Otto’s voice in his head “Okay, pause here so Pat will ask me what a steak is and I can show how clever and ‘inside’ the game I am”)
Pat: Gee, Dave, what do you mean by steak?
Dave: Some steaks are rib-eyes (RBIs) so when a guy has men on base we would say “Get a couple of steaks here!”
Pat: Well, that’s very insightful Dave.

Or stake as in Whenever I Hear Dave Otto On The Radio I Want To Drive A Couple Of Stakes Into My Ears!

Keith Moreland – Code “Pardner”. As in Keith’s a good ol’ boy from Texas where they call each other Pardner. Also as in Pat finally has a decent Radio Pardner.

Bob Dernier – Code “Silk”. As in the way Dernier played centerfield, smooth as Silk. Also the way he delivers in the broadcast booth.

If we call and say Code “Pocketbook” that means the Cubs finally decided that if they can spend $18,750,000 on a set up guy and $19,000,000 on an outfielder to play six innings, they could pay and get the best in the business. Code “Pocketbook” means Steve Stone is back.

Code “Baron” means they couldn’t afford Stone and got the next best guy. Code “Baron” says Rick Sutcliffe is back at Wrigley.

About 140 times this year Ron will be manning the microphone, so maybe we don’t have to call each other and report “Believe”. But for the other 20 games or so, we need to help each other out. We could be missing a really good broadcast, or we could be walking into a train wreck.

It's All in the Cards

I finally got around to organizing all the baseball cards I’ve amassed over the years. It’s not like I’ve been actively collecting cards. For the most part my “collection” method is to attend the CFCL banquet each year for the past 10 years or so and receive the cards from the excessively generous David Mahlan. Each year as an added perk to coming to the banquet, David would pass out a couple of packets of cards to each attendee. The cards typically were from ten to twenty years ago, things that David would snag as he was out buying other things. We would then tear into the packs to walk down memory lane. We all enjoyed the thrill of seeing who we would get and if our name was Paul Zeledon we would enjoy eating 10-20 year old gum.

So I finally got the card sleeve protectors, pulled all the cards together from the various drawers where I had them stashed and put the beauties in first, team order, then alphabetical order. I didn’t remember having all that impressive of a collection considering the random way the cards came to be. But as I was putting the cards in their protective homes I started to see some interesting themes.

HALL OF FAMERS: Tony Gwynn, Ricky Henderson, Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith (and his trade counterpart – Garry Templeton), Eddie Murray, Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Gary Carter, Whitey Herzog

FORMER BELOVED REBELS: Tim Wallach, Lance Parrish, Roger McDowell

FORMER HATED COPPERFIELDS: Kevin Bass, Glenn Davis, Kevin McReynolds, Andy Van Slyke

CFCL LEGENDS: Pedro Guerrero, Dale Murphy (all I need now is a Lenny Dykstra card), Vince Coleman

FATHERS: Cecil Fielder

WORLD SERIES HEROS: Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser, Jermaine Dye, Billy Hatcher, Graig Nettles

FALLEN IDOLS: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Pete Rose, Roger Clemens

OLD-TIME GREATS: Maury Wills, Tony Oliva, Reggie Jackson, Orlando Cepeda

BALLPLAYERS TURNED BROADCASTERS: Mitch Williams, Joe Magrane, Mike Krukow, Billy Sample, John Kruk

TRAGIC PAIRS: Steve Olin, Bob Ojeda, Tim Crews

FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS: Tony LaRussa, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Jim Thome, Bert Blyleven, Randy Johnson, Omar Vizquel

GUYS BEFORE THEY WERE WHO THEY ARE: Terry Francona, John Hart, Billy Beane

PLAYERS THAT ALMOST PLAYED FOR EVERY TEAM AND/OR FOREVER: Mike Morgan, Julio Franco

FUTURE STARS THAT NEVER STARRED: Ben McDonald, Drew Hall, Rick Ankiel

I even have a Washington National (Jason Bergman ).

And so I found yet another fantastic aspect about baseball. The average person walking down the street could look at these cards, roll their eyes and think “what a waste of cardboard.” But I look at the names and see years of memories as a child watching baseball games in my living room and years of memories with friends in our fantasy league. Baseball has the unbelievable ability to grab you in numerous ways, comfort you, take you down memory lane and build even more for the future.

Bring Me Your Torch

This season on “Survivor” they have former contestants matched up against each other in what they call “Heroes” vs. “Villians”. Right after watching an episode I turned on the MLB Channel and saw a highlight involving Reed Johnson. It got me to thinking about Former Cubs, Heroes and Villians.

Heroes – these are the guys when you see them doing well for another team you say “Man that’s great! I hope he doesn’t come back and kill the Cubs, but I’m happy for him.”

We’ll start the list with the aforementioned Johnson. All this guy did was bust his tail. He’ll always be remembered for his catch in Washington.

Mark DeRosa – Fan favorite and it turns out his biggest shortcoming while with the Cubs was that he didn’t hit lefthanded.

Jacque Jones – Struggled early in his first year then crashed and burned in his second year. But he handled the boos and criticism with class. Plus he provided a memorable CFCL Draft Day Moment. When Dem Rebels acquired Jones, Nick Hansen of Nick’s Picts suggested Bentel pronounce Jones' first name as “Jac-Que” (phonetically Ja-KAY) with arms extended above the head and hands swishing back and forth on each syllable.

David Aardsma – Never reached his potential with the Cubs but his 39 saves with Seattle last year sure would look good on the northside.

Jaime Moyer – OK he last played for the Cubs 21 years ago after only spending three seasons with the Cubs and now people may cheer for him more for his age (47) than for his former Cub status. A true gentleman and ambassador for the game.

Kerry Wood – Fought like hell to come back from injuries. Stood up to take the blame (undeservedly) for losing game 7 of the NLCS.

Juan Pierre - I've always been frustrated that he was here for only one year. But that wasn't his fault. He played 162 games, stole 58 bases, collected 204 hits and didn't commit an error. If anyone wants to put him on the villian list it would be for his .330 OBP and that it took three top pitching prospects (Ricky Nolasco anyone?) to get him. But again, that wasn't his fault. And not having Dontrelle Willis and Reynel Pinto on the Cubs right now isn't the worst thing in the world.

Now moving to the Dark Side. These are the guys when you see them doing poorly you say “Man that’s great!”

Milton Bradley – Number One Villian. Could have learned a lesson from Jacque Jones on how to handle a slow start. Makes Russell Hantz look like a pussycat.

Mark Prior – How truly injured he was we’ll never know but what an arrogant ass.

Alfonso Soriano – Perhaps the worst signing ever. Unfortunately he has the damn Immunity Idol for another four years.

Dusty Baker – Managed the pitching staff like Tiger Woods handles a marriage commitment. Never took responsibility for running the team the way it needed to be run. Wouldn't bench or drop Sosa in the order until Sosa said it was ok. Huh?

Kyle Farnsworth – Was more interested in partying with the fans at 3am than he was in throwing strikes at 1:20pm.

There are a few guys that could fall into either camp. LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson, Felix Pie. None of them were “bad” guys, they just didn’t perform up to expectations. And of course there a dozens more, but I kept this to current players only.

Come October we’ll see if Tribal Council sends another Cubbie packing with his torch extinguished.

Fancy a Miracle?

It’s Springtime when a young man’s fancy turns to . . . Baseball! Opening Day, baby, when every baseball fan believes that this year their team has a chance to win it all. I remember growing up thinking “If Bill Bonham and Ray Burris have awesome years like Reuschel did last year and Tarzan Joe Wallis hits 20 dingers and Davey Rosello steals 30 we could easily get past the Phillies and Dodgers, and the Yankees would be putty in our hands!”

There is something magical about Opening Day. Even though we’ve been watching Spring Training games, the minute the calendar turns and the games count it takes on a different feel. Your favorite player going 0-4 or 2-3 with a double signals the tone for the upcoming season.

Back when baseball honored tradition and Cincinnati still hosted the first game of the season (much like the CFCL honors tradition with the Ruffin Privilege) it was extra special when the Cubs opened against the Reds.

I take you back to 1982, exactly 28 years ago today, when Bump Wills led off the season against Mario Soto and took him deep. Who of us didn’t think this was the first of at least 18 wins for Doug Bird? (He finished with 9.) With a starting lineup of Wills, Durham, Buckner, Davis, Bowa, Steve Henderson, Gary Woods and that new kid Sandberg, how could we not win the division going away?

The beauty of Opening Day is you can be 1-0 and believe the pennant is within reach instead of facing reality that even though you beat a premier pitcher in Soto you’re still going to finish 73-89 in fifth place.

Each year it’s a chance to create new experiences and relive past ones with your children. My son, Cooper Wrigley (named for the Hall of Fame and Chicago’s Baseball Cathedral), turns three this year. Even though Spongebob, The Wonder Pets and Bob the Builder are of greater interest, my hope is that he will snuggle up next to me a few times this season to watch the Boys in Blue.

The past 20 years the Cubs are a level 10 and 10 on Opening Day. Among those memories: opening in Japan against the Mets; Greg Maddux coming back after joining the Braves the previous winter (he shut us out 1-0 that day); and Tuffy Rhodes hitting three homers off Doc Gooden in an 12-8 loss.

The first pitch in Atlanta, at 3:10pm can’t get here fast enough today. I’m predicting 81 or 82 wins for the Cubbies this year, but on April 5th our minds can soar and anything is possible.

Kicking Off 2010

The 27th Season of the CFCL began (League Motto: “We’re Not Even Halfway There!”) on Saturday, March 27, 2010.

For the first time in over ten years the draft was not held at the corporate office of Dem Rebels. This year the Red Hots hosted at Plainfield North High School. Immediately that caused issues since the Copperfields showed up early, but at Plainfield Central. Since the schools are all laid out the same and have the same room numbers, it took a while before the Copperfields realized that they had the wrong location.

Before the business of 2010 could take place, the books on the 2009 season had to close. The inaugural Copperfield Trophy was presented to Champion Kenndoza Line. Kenn then signed the 2010 trophy ball in the Champion’s Space right below the Cubs logo.

Election for the Executive Committee took place next wherein Rich, David M. and Mike C. were resoundingly re-elected to drive the CFCL semi for the next year to look out for potholes and avoid construction.

After a few more housekeeping measures, (one of which was presenting the Revenge with a poster of Carlos Zambrano [Tim selected Z in the Winter Waivers]. Why give the poster to the Revenge? Because the Rebels wanted the poster the hell off their basement wall!!!), the Ruffin Privilege was invoked by Dave Holian. At 1:14pm Dave bid .10 on Roy Halladay and we were off to the races. The DoorMatts finished the bidding on Halladay; acquiring him for an extremely affordable .37.

By the end of the draft the highest paid pitcher was Tim Lincecum (.40 to Kenndoza) and the highest paid offensive player was Matt Kemp (.46 to the Red Hots). A lot of money walked into the draft, and for the first time in recent memory, a lot of money walked out of the draft. Eight of the ten owners had money left over from their salary cap – four of them in double digits.

Idle useless stat - $5.67 (28.35 per player) was spent in the first two rounds in 2010 compared with $5.86 (29.30 per player) in 2009.

Home Team Discounts proved to be very popular once again. Eleven players were eligible and seven were reacquired by their former team by using the discount. For the first time ever, the Ruffins used their discount and liked it so much, they exercised their HTD on successive players (David Wright .33 and Jimmy Rollins .30) with the 4th and 5th picks of the first round.

Some interesting things materialized throughout the draft. The Red Hots committed to stay up late each night this season to watch his team as the first five players they drafted were Dodgers. The Candy Colored Clowns did their level best to acquire as many Cincinnati Reds as possible both in the Auction and Reserve Rounds. Showing undying love, they bid .17 on the soon to be demoted Aroldis Chapman, .13 on Johnny Cueto and reserved the injured Edison Volquez at .07 not to mention using their HTD on Brandon Phillips.

In what seems to be an annual occurrence the Clowns and Rebels squared off though this time Derrek Lee was not involved. Matt Holliday landed on the Clowns roster when the Rebels blinked at the .44 bid.

The first penny player arrived rather early this year. Halfway through the sixth round Dem Rebels completed their pitching staff with, appropriately, Brad Penny. Last year the first penny player was taken in the 8th round (Pedro Feliz).

At some point during the draft (claiming to try and throw the Kenndoza Line off their game) the Clowns offered to kick the Line in the scrotum. Had the Line asked one more time what the final bid was, the Clowns may have had company.

Round seven began with the Ruffins getting Jeff Francouer for .06. Ruffins proudly proclaimed that they now have incentive to spell Francouer correctly. Just remember Dave, it’s “u” before “e”, but the “e” is silent.

The draft lasted 12 rounds, but when the Red Hots spent .18 on Felipe Lopez to end Round 5, they only had .03 to spend on 3 players over the course of the remaining seven rounds.

The first team to complete their roster was Dem Rebels at 5:24pm with the acquisition of Eugenio Velez for .01 and an embarrassing .12 left in their pocket. Getting Penny for a penny threw everything out of whack.

An hour and half later the draft concluded at 6:49pm when the Copperfields selected Kevin Correia for .01.

This year was interesting in that there didn’t seem to be that one player that owners were sitting back waiting to grab late in the draft. Last year Yunel Escobar went for .22 in Round Nine (to the Copperfields). This year Akinori Iwamura (.12) and Chris Dickerson (.11) were taken consecutively to finish Round 7, but I think that was more a statement on the talent available after that than owners lying in wait.

The entire Draft and Rotation Draft lasted seven hours and seven minutes. During the draft comments were made that it felt like a slow draft. Had the draft started at last year’s 7:30 start time, owners would have been heading home around 2:37pm, which certainly would have been a world record for CFCL drafts. Starting the draft at 1:00pm and ending it in the evening may have made it feel like a long draft (starting during the day and ending at night), but certainly the pace was strong overall.