Chicago -
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Soap opera switches teams: Bulls Window Re-Opened! Blackhawks Window Slams Shut! Plus: Post-Combine Bears; What Kris Bryant’s Status Will Tell Us; White Sox Infield By Committee; Dismembering Ricky Renteria; and The Legend Of Theo.
Posted on February 27, 2015
By Roger Wallenstein
“Good hitters don’t strike out,” said Ron Fairly, the featured guest last Wednesday at the monthly Hot Stove Luncheon in Palm Desert, California.
Fairly should know. In 21 big league seasons, including 12 with the Dodgers, the most times he went down on strikes in a season was 72. He averaged 58 strikeouts per year. After his playing days, Fairly spent 27 years as a broadcaster for the Angels, Giants and Mariners. In parts of seven decades, he’s either played in or broadcast more than 7,000 games.
Much of the lunch discussion dwelled on the stars of the ’50s and ’60s. Guys like Ted Williams, who averaged just 50 strikeouts a year. He fanned 64 times as a rookie in 1939, the most of his 19 big league seasons. Yet Teddy Ballgame hit 521 home runs to accompany a .344 lifetime average. No one today comes close in comparison.
Posted on February 26, 2015
When you’re drafting the corner infield positions, you’re drafting for power and not much else. There are a few .300 hitters, and a handful of guys who might steal a handful of bases if the mood strikes, but in general you will only find a few five-category producers here.
What you also will find, heading up position rankings at both first and third, is a guy they call Miggy, who is still money in the bank. Probably.
Posted on February 26, 2015
By Thomas Chambers
There’s not a weight allowance in existence for this kid, but it was back in the saddle again as the Fountain of Youth, a prep for a prep (Florida Derby) for the Kentucky Derby was run Saturday at sunny Gulfstream Park, Hallandale, Florida.
But let’s be clear. It was this saddle, not this one.
I don’t really pay much attention to two-year-olds and betting them in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is more like pub darts. But once they turn the corner into the new year, you start looking in. Always keep in mind the three-year-old coming out party happens when the calendar turns, not because they’re three years old. Derby buzz boy Upstart won’t really be three until April.
Posted on February 25, 2015
By Roger Wallenstein
At long last. Relief.
Why be concerned whether D-Rose can lead the defense-less Bulls deep into the playoffs or whether the Blackhawks can turn it on when it counts? Finally we have an alternative to hearing about the status of Brandon Marshall and quarterback whatshisname. No longer do we have to wonder, “What in the world?” about the coverage of a future NFL millionaire who runs a measly 40 yards faster than other potential millionaires or bench presses more weight more times than other sculpted Adonises.
The mundane now fades into the background because pitchers and catchers have reported. The biting chill of minus-zero temps and carving out a curbside parking space have been assuaged since Chris Sale is throwing off a mound, and David Robertson – a genuine, true-blue closer – is in the building. Melky Cabrera can spray hits from both sides of the plate, and no one is overly concerned whether new utility man Gordon Beckham regains his rookie form. Single game tickets go on sale Friday.
Posted on February 24, 2015
By Jim Coffman
Many fans and commentators in this town believe the Cubs brass has what it takes to draft and develop the team into contention for a title. And all those folks have to be loving the first few days of spring training, where we can all fawn over the prospects without having to worry about those pesky things known as results.
Because of course there still aren’t any positive major league results of note for Cubs hitters who have come up from the minors in the past few years other than Jorge Soler hitting reasonably well in his 24 games at the end of the 2014 season. Unfortunately, Soler, like so many of the team’s prospects, isn’t exactly an on-base machine. Happiness about his .292 batting average (with five homers and eight doubles) during his almost-month in the majors is tempered by his .330 on-base percentage.
But if people really want to admire drafting and developing in this town, they should forget the North Side. Go west, young sports fans, all the way to the United Center. Because, particularly in light of Tony Snell’s recent surge, it is clear that the guys doing the best drafting and developing around here are Bulls general manger Gar Forman and coach Tom Thibodeau.
Posted on February 23, 2015
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Pols pander; Ponce punts. The Jackie Robinson West charade continues. Plus: Let The Combine Begin! And: Bulls Sit Tight While Rest Of The NBA Goes Trade Crazy; A Pall Over The Blackhawks; Baseball Players Report To Work; and Illini Golf Beats The Cold To Lead The Nation.
Posted on February 20, 2015
By Jim Coffman
Have you enjoyed your break from football? Because it is about to end.
The NFL Network will air the first of nearly four dozen hours of live coverage of The Combine on Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time with an introductory press conference. I won’t be watching any of it but hey, it’s out there.
Large athletes will don the traditional skin-tight workout clothes that provide us with too much information about their physiques, and they will engage in activities such as the shuttle run. They will have their vertical leap measured and their 40-yard dash timed. And of course, plenty of weight will be lifted and drug tests will be conducted.
Posted on February 17, 2015
By Dan O’Shea
Many weeks before Marshawn Lynch should have been handed the ball to bring the Seattle Seahawks their second straight Super Bowl win, I handed him the ball to help me win a fantasy football championship – and he promptly threw up all over it.
A tummy ache. Marshawn Lynch has a fucking tummy ache. This is how my fantasy football season ends?
That is what I was thinking at a little after 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 21. I had managed to navigate my ESPN fantasy league team Irish Car Bombs to a 10-4 regular-season record in a very competitive 12-team league. My ticket to the playoffs was not even punched until the final minutes of my last regular-season game, when it became clear I was going to win a close match-up against a team I’d lost to earlier in the season.
Posted on February 16, 2015
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes
Almost everything. Plus: Bulls Take Midterm: Blackhawks Slackhawks; The Cubs Are Still A Last-Place Team Until Further Notice; Blue Demons Down; Illinois Up; and Loyola Rambles On.
Posted on February 13, 2015
