Chicago -
By Marty Gangler
The big news this week, of course, was Lou Piniella announcing that he is going to retire at the end of the season. It kinda sucks because now you can’t fire him.
The next issue is trying to figure out what kind of manager you want next. A veteran who has been there before? Okay, but how could you get better than Uncle Lou or (un)Trusty Dusty?
Your star Triple-A manager? Hello, Bruce Kimm!
A college of coaches? Been there.
The Cubs have tried it all.
Posted on July 26, 2010
By Andrew Reilly
Down an ace and up a few pleasant surprises, let us take a moment then to give thanks for the opportunity this week will present us. Not specifically in anything the team will or will not do, whether getting sweet revenge on Felix Hernandez or acquiring much-needed roster additions, but in what they generally do; in short, we get to see how closely the Sox’ walk follows the Sox’ talk.
Do they really have the finances to add payroll when it will help the team win?
Do they really value winning enough to boost payroll?
Which is better: an absolute present or a promising future?
Posted on July 26, 2010
By Thomas Chambers
Chicago sports fans have – or think they have – stood on the precipice of extinction with their teams through the years.
After George Halas banished the Chicago Cardinals, generations of Daleys said and meant “fine” when the Bears used to threaten to leave in order to get a better stadium deal or a stadium itself. Jerry Reinsdorf made the same threat, at least publicly, and maybe he was Tonto doing the dirty work so Jim Thompson could mount Silver with his Lone Ranger bit, all a part of the power-brokers’ mating ritual. The Cubs, in a moment of pure “Cubbie,” threatened to move to the suburbs.
But what if you walk into a sporting venue under the real cloud that it very well may cease to operate in the foreseeable future?
Posted on July 23, 2010
By Dan O’Shea
Scott Rolen has been having a great year (.287, 17 HRs, 57 RBIs), a comeback sort of year for a guy who was great with Philadelphia and St. Louis earlier in his career before an injury claimed his power stroke.
But now Rolen is injured again, this time with a hamstring problem. A few days ago, it looked like he was headed to the 15-day DL, but as of Tuesday, there were reports that Rolen was going to try to stay off the DL and recover from the injury on the Reds bench. Good for the Reds, who may still have Rolen’s bat available in an emergency, and good for Rolen, but bad for your fantasy team if you own Rolen.
That’s because you definitely can’t start him, but you can’t take advantage of putting him in a DL spot and picking up a replacement either. And, while Rolen has been very good, he is still barely in the top 10 at a very deep position. Do you dump him and replace him, or do you force yourself to dump another player and keep him, in hopes that his season isn’t over?
Posted on July 21, 2010
Last ones on the bandwagon are the first ones off.
Week in Review: Defining? Instead of holding serve with a split in Twinkie Town, the Sox blundered their way to losing three of a four-game set. Despite his statistical luck, Bobby Jenks was given the exit row seat on the flight to Seattle.
Posted on July 19, 2010
By Jim Coffman
A few years ago, I wrote a series of columns for the Beachwood called T-Ball Journal. They chronicled a youth baseball season in which I coached my eight-year-old son’s junior-division baseball team. We played games that were part t-ball and part coach-pitch (a team’s own coach pitches to it and tries to groove it in there). I also wrote that summer about my six-year-old daughter’s debut season in the rookie division, which is all t-ball.
Since then I have resisted writing about the youth baseball scene. It is tricky to write about teams of kids with parents who may or may not want their and their kids’ exploits chronicled, and it isn’t as though there is a shortage of slightly higher level sports stuff to write about around here.
But my son’s team played in a memorable All-Star tournament this weekend and I thought I would go ahead and write up some of the details in this space. Then, a brief note on the Cubs.
Posted on July 19, 2010
By Marty Gangler
Sources tell The Cub Factor:
Jim Hendry: Jim took some time to try and get his TIVO in working order. But he was trying to record too many shows in the same time slot and it just didn’t work out the way he wanted.
Carlos Zambrano: Carlos got to the part in his recovery where he has to apologize to everyone his “affliction” has effected. As of the posting of this column, he was on the Ds in the Chicago phone book.
Lou Piniella: Lou finally got the kegerator fired up down in his man cave. He’s thinking he might have some time on his hands in the next couple weeks.
Posted on July 19, 2010
By Thomas Chambers
Synthetic surfaces and short fields and the Rachel vs. Zenyatta contretemps aside, we now enter into my favorite time of the Thoroughbred racing year.
It’s time for the best meet, Saratoga. The three-year-olds are maturing and the cream rises to the top. This year, we have the subplots of Rachel Alexandra’s efforts to regain her top form, and Zenyatta’s efforts to remain undefeated. And is Quality Road truly the best American horse in training?
And while the game rides the rainbow toward the lucrative Breeders’ Cup, the noble steeds and little people will be running in many of the most prestigious races of the American year.
Let’s start close to home.
Posted on July 16, 2010
By Dan O’Shea
Fantasy Fix was saddened to hear of the passing of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, for if there is one MLB owner whom all fantasy league owners try to emulate, it’s George, by George.
We all want to be the most competitive, the most decisive, the most aggressive at picking up free agents and trading fading players for those just hitting their stride. And, more than anything else, we all want to be standing above the rest at the end of the season, chomping our cigars, and savoring the jealously on the faces of the vanquished.
As the second half begins in a couple days, let Steinbrenner’s spirit continue to be your guide. That means, in part, making some bets on which players will reach peak value as the summer wears on. Here are a few ideas among players still widely available in most Yahoo! leagues:
Posted on July 14, 2010
