Happy 100th Wrigley!!

So Wednesday (4/23) was the 100^th birthday for Wrigley Field.  The Cubs organization decided to celebrate, in part, by bringing back a few former Cubs.  I didn’t pay close attention to all the festivities since it was a day game and I had other commitments to attend to during the day.

I did notice they lost (natch) and I did see a picture posted on FaceBook showing Ferguson Jenkins, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Randy Hundley and Andre Dawson on the field.  Kind of cool.  Except Jenkins, Banks and Williams are ALWAYS at Wrigley.

400^th anniversary of the organ Frank Pelico played?  Jenkins, Banks, Williams.

Lights for the first time at Wrigley?  Jenkins, Banks, Williams.

Special Celebration Day for Ron Santo NOT making the Hall of Fame (again)?  Jenkins, Banks, Williams.

There were missing players and personnel.  One that was not missing was the jackass that wore #21 for 13 years.  All day long on sports talk radio the following day was the great debate as to whether Sammy Sosa deserved to be invited back.

NO!!!  That arrogant, roided-up, corked bat sorry excuse for an outfielder does not need to be invited back to Wrigley.  I may be in the minority on this one as other may say “Let by-gones be by-gones.”  I can’t do that.  In fact, I have a relatively comprehensive list of players who should have been invited back well before Senor Sosa.

Bill Buckner – He was (and still is) my all-time favorite Cub.  Growing up watching him waggle his bat in the lefthand batter’s box right before he laced another double to the gap was a joy.

Dave Kingman – For two years I loved watching him hit homer for the Cubs rather than against them. Yes, he spent “Dave Kingman Day” on his boat on Lake Michigan rather than at Wrigley Field.  And he gave a reporter a shoe box with a dead rat in it, but he still deserves to come back before Sosa.

Steve Bartman – This is a no-brainer.  The only problem is had he come back, then the story was Bartman and not the 100^th birthday of Wrigley.  But Bartman needs to be invited (and he needs to accept) looooong before Sosa is addressed.

Ed Lynch – Understand I HATE (REALLY HATE) Ed Lynch.  He massively sucked as the Cubs GM and he may have been a better GM for the Cubs than he was a pitcher.

Larry Himes – Was integral in having our future Hall of Fame secondbaseman retire (for the first time) too early.  And yet I would invite him back before SS.

Steve Ontiveros – Spokesman for the hair replacement company while he was “patrolling” thirdbase.  Still don’t forgive him for ending the magical game against the Phillies the Cubs lost 23-22.  His weakass, game-ending groundout ruined any chance for another comeback.

Lee Elia – Give him an open mike and a seven second delay.

Dallas Green – Architect of 1984.  Where was he on Wednesday?

Dusty Baker – Absolutely ruined our chance for glory in 2003 and yet I would rather see him walk on to the field to celebrate than Sosa.

Andy Pafko – Is he still alive?  If so, he should have been there.

Mick Kelleher – He hit 545 fewer homeruns than Sosa as a Cub.  He should have been there to make the girls swoon once again.

Andy McPhail – Couldn’t do much right for the Cubs after taking the Twinkies to the Promised Land twice.

Anyone, anyone would be better than Sosa.  Milton Bradley, Michael Barrett, Carlos Zambrano, Roy Smalley who never met an error he didn’t like.

Draft Day 2014 - Recap

 

 

The CFCL kicked off its 31st consecutive season Saturday, March 29th at 1:30pm. Before the Ruffins invoked their privilege (more on that in a moment), we had a little pomp and circumstance. The new official logo of the CFCL was unveiled (image above). This came about thanks to the computer and creative talents of Nick Hansen, owner of the Eukennott Beatniks. Despite facing Herculean work requirements, serious family health issues and middling draft prep, Nick was able to put together the CFCL logo in time for us to unveil it on Draft Day.

We also welcomed back some former owners who came by to help us celebrate the 30th anniversary. Kelly Barone (Six Packs), Paul Zeledon (Da Paul Meisters) and David Mahlan (David's Copperfields) all stopped by to shake hands and talk about memories. The fact that they would be willing to take time from their busy weekends to visit a fantasy baseball draft speaks volumes of their character. David came despite being heavily medicated to mask the pain of a kidney stone.

Once all the current owners were finally in place, we commenced with league business. We elected the Executive Committee. Usually there is a clear cut direction the league wants to go with their leadership. This year the voting was more diverse. The EC was established for 2014 with the election of: Tim Morkert (10 votes), Rich Bentel (9 votes), Nick Hansen (6 votes) and [alternate] Matt Bentel (4 votes). Also receiving votes were: Mike Bentel (2 votes), Matt Grage (1 vote), and Pat Chesnut (1 vote).

The CFCL also welcomed a new franchise. Stranger Danger resigned at the close of the 2013 season. Hey Patta Matta Swing (The Swing) was offered the franchise and took to it like a fish to water. Pat Chesnut and Matthew Barriball (childhood friends of the owners of the Twin Killers) joined the CFCL in December and threw themselves into ownership with a ferocious passion.

At 1:30pm the Ruffins began the draft with the Ruffin Privilege, nominating 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen. Annnd we were off to the races. Walking into the draft Kenndoza Line had the most money to spend per player (over .20!!!) and figured to be the odds on favorite to snag any player they wanted. Little did they know that when it came to McCutchen, there were a couple of other owners who had a strong opinion. Morkertzuma's Revenge and Dem Rebels also coveted the Pittsburgh centerfielder and had money burning a hole in their pockets. The bidding was fast and furious. Once it reached .48 the Revenge thought better of things and dropped out. So the Line and Rebels were in a showdown that reached near record proportions. When the Rebels unbelievably said "Fifty-five", the Line came to their senses and flipped their card over.

The table let out a collective breath as they saw the Rebels spend 42% of their budget on the first player in the draft. As if that wasn't enough, the next player ** nominated was Matt Harvey. Matt Harvey who is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn't expected to pitch until the second half of the season at the earliest.

** Usually (usually) in the CFCL draft, the first two rounds of players nominated are players that will command high salaries. Some owners nominate these players to try and suck out a lot of money from their fellow owners. Others will do it because the high priced players are well known and they (the owners) know that if they nominate a player, they won't get stuck with that player unless they really want him and if they don't get the player, it fills up a roster spot on an opponent.

Mike Bentel of the Twin Killers saw an opportunity and took the first step to owning the first round of the draft by outlasting all other owners on Harvey (11 cents). That was the first of five players the Killers acquired in the first round (Harvey, Adam Wainwright, Pablo Sandoval, Curtis Granderson and Brandon Phillips).

One of the interesting players entering the 2014 draft was Ryan Braun. Caught cheating twice (!!) using steroids by Major League Baseball, no one knew how he would be viewed by the owners of the CFCL. Would they want a proven cheater on their team? If so, what type of production could they expect? What would they be willing to pay? Were they concerned that Braun might try to cheat (and get caught) a third time? We found out the answer quickly as Braun was the third player nominated Saturday. The Kenndoza Line, having been outspent on McCutchen, made a huge statement by spending .49 on Braun.

The rest of the day progressed as drafts usually do.  A surprise nomination creates an earlier than expected penny player (this year it was Dem Rebels nominating Randall Delgado).  Around the sixth or eighth round we were fortunate enough to have CFCL Founder David Mahlan stop by and reprise his role of League Photographer (photos to follow in a subsequent post).

The draft ended with the newest team, The Swing, selecting seven penny players in a row.  Despite all the pomp and circumstance involved with the 30th anniversary celebration, we were able to complete the auction portion of our draft in a snappy 5 hours.