By Andrew Reilly
I had the good fortune of attending the Leinster GAA Senior Hurling Final in Dublin last week, and for anyone not interested in learning the expectedly archaic rules and traditions associated with such an intricately-titled sporting event, the condensed version goes like this: soccer played with baseball bats.
And it was awesome, but not just for the reasons you’d expect (although let’s make one thing clear: dudes running at each other with wooden sticks is pretty amusing). The game was exciting and all, what with Kilkenny besting Dublin 2-18 to 0-18 (Up the Dubs!, as Dublin fans like to say), but as with most sports that happen outside of America the real entertainment was in the stands. Giant flags, painted faces, section-to-section call-and-response sing-alongs, prominently-placed signs strictly prohibiting air horns and flares (flares!) inside the stadium; the whole affair was less sports and more county-level rallies, the good people of Dublin County (Up the Dubs!) rallying their troops against the invading horde from the countryside and whatnot.

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Posted on July 14, 2009

By Jim Coffman
As I was walking down the Wrigley ramps after the Cubs’ delightful 7-3 victory over the Cardinals Sunday afternoon belting out “Go Cubs Go,” I experienced a revelation (it was of virtually no consequence but I believe it still qualified as a revelation). I hate most of the cutie Cubbie crap – throwing home run balls back, the Harry statue and glasses above the press box, the love of Ron Santo no matter how monstrously incompetent he is on the radio – but you have to love a good sing-along after a win. Anyway, it dawned on me that if we made a small change, just this once the song would actually make sense. It is, of course, goofy that we sing “The Cubs are gonna win today” after the Cubs wins. But here was our chance, all we had to do was sing “The Cubs are gonna win tonight!” Get it? Because it was a day-night doubleheader! So I belted that out at the end of the first few choruses and hoped a few of my fellow fans would join in. I know, I know – I am the most clever ever.

Beachwood Baseball: The Cub Factor The White Sox Report will appear on Tuesday.

Shockingly enough, I was still alone when I tried it a third time, at which point my 10-year-old son, who I think had found it at least slightly funny the first time I changed the lyric, turned on me with a “Daaaaaaaaaad!” I weathered his disapproval and belted out ” . . . tonight!” one more time but that was it. Maybe it was just general indifference or embarrassment on display but probably it was something more. Probably it was the fact that no one thought the Cubs were gonna win tonight. And sure enough they didn’t. And that was despite an unbelievable top of the ninth in which Lou Piniella out-LaRussa’d Tony LaRussa and the Cubs caught a giant break when Reed Johnson’s stumbling, sliding trap of Cody Rasmus’ shallow fly ball near the left field line somehow stuck in the middle of his glove (violating several laws of baseball physics) and was ruled the third out.
Previously, after bringing in left-handed Sean Marshall with two on and no outs in the ninth and watching him walk the first hitter he faced, Piniella actually moved Marshall to left field, replacing Alfonso Soriano in the lineup with the right-handed Aaron Heilman. Heilman struck out the only batter he faced, righty Brendan Ryan, and then headed for the bench. Marshall returned to the mound to face the lefties who awaited in the Cardinal lineup (with Johnson taking over in left field). Except LaRussa then pinch-hit a righty (Jarrett Hoffpauir – no relation to Micah despite the fact that they are the first two Hoffpauirs, names spelled the same – to ever appear in major league games). And then Marshall struck him out anyway. And then Rasmus hit that fly ball down the line that Johnson somehow corralled despite tripping over his own feet moments before. Baseball is so boring isn’t it?

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Posted on July 13, 2009

By Marty Gangler
As soon as you think this 2009 Cub team is going to turn it around they do something like, well, something like be themselves again. Even with the return of “leading man” Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs did little this week besides be themselves. And even though I rip the crap out of them most times, I’d really like them to win more and be, well, not themselves. With this in mind we here at the Cub Factor would like to throw out a few ideas based on some classic (and not so classic) baseball movies, you know, because in movies people aren’t themselves, they act like other people. And there’s some advice in these classics that could certainly help the Cubs.
* Major League: Ask Jobu for ability to hit. Julio Zuleta will do, too.
* Hustle: The Pete Rose Story: Put some skin in the game.
* The Natural: Start storm-chasing looking for trees hit by lightning. Dusty and Rabbit can help.
* Ed: The next second baseman is . . . a chimp. Or Sean Marshall.

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Posted on July 13, 2009

By Thomas Chambers
I get the heebie jeebies in River North.
I’m thinking of opening a ministry there, like the Save-a-Soul Mission in Guys and Dolls. My apostles will walk the sidewalks telling the tourists that just because it’s bigger – maybe the biggest – it’s still just a McDonald’s, with higher prices. Don’t be tempted by the frog on the roof, and you’ll be disappointed that it’s not very hard rock. No, there’s no gangster museum here anymore. And the chicken-wing girls aren’t any different from the ones you have out by your airport.
Now I walk among these downtrodden of our Tourist Economy. I will reach out to these souls of limited disposable dollars, providing guidance to true neighborhood spots unique to Daley City. Watch locals drown sorrows, and with good food. I’ll recruit the microphone preacher from Washington and State, for he’ll become our human Green Sheet and spread the word on pace scenarios and false favorites and PolyTrack tendencies. If one should have a need to testify with $2 on a horse, one of His great creatures, as such a man, from Ohio, did last Saturday, we will remain true to our calling and show him the way.

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Posted on July 10, 2009

By Dan O’Shea
Are you ready to trust Manny? Since returning from a drug-related suspension last Friday, Manny Ramirez has gone 4-16 at the plate with two home runs and five RBIs, which isn’t bad for a guy who went two months without seeing major league pitching. Since the beginning of his suspension, I have liked the potential for “Man-Ram” to come back and be like Steve Austin with a bat during the second half of the season. Because Manny is so famously loose about nearly everything, I felt he could deal with any stress, boos and (possibly, sadly) syringes that might be tossed his way.

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Posted on July 9, 2009

By Jim Coffman
The Cubs have gathered themselves, haven’t they? And now they are surging forward. Of course you can’t be sure this will last, but the starting pitching, the key in baseball every time, has settled into a groove of late and it therefore isn’t even a little surprising the North Siders are on a roll. It helps that they are in the midst of a long homestand, no doubt. But still . . . this is a team that could very well run away and hide atop the Central Division in the second half of the season. And if they do pull that off, I hope folks will remember how grim it was in June, when the team was struggling desperately to stay at .500 and everyone was just hoping they wouldn’t fade away. Now the division is clearly up for grabs. The Astros for goodness sakes, who struggled mightily out of the gate, have rallied back into contention.

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Posted on July 7, 2009

By Mike Conklin
As Chicago sports fans get fed their steady diet of the Big 5, otherwise known as the Bears, Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks, the dustup surrounding David J. Hernandez and the alleged Ponzi scheme surrounding Chicagosportswebio.com proves once again how journalism is seldom practiced in sports.
The most basic technique for a reporter – a check of newspaper archives – would have shown to Mike North, Dan Jiggets, Chet Coppock & The Gang that yes, indeedy, Mr. Hernandez and his business plan was too good to be true.

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Posted on July 6, 2009

By Marty Gangler
It’s about time Uncle Lou finally decided to manage this team again instead of slipping into early retirement right before our eyes. But what finally pushed him over the edge? We’ve got some ideas.
* He took a look at his tanking 401(k) and realized he really needs that Manager of the Year bonus money to buy his dream boat and stock it with Falstaff.
* His old lady gave him what-for after he failed to phone home right away upon arriving in Pittsburgh last week, so he took it out on Alfonso Soriano.
* The clubhouse guy was really giving it to Lou after having to re-size Lou’s jersey once again for his ever expanding gut, so he took it out on Alfonso Soriano.
* He just awoke from a bad dream in which his starting outfield was Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley.
* The University of Illinois called and demanded that Sam Fuld be admitted to the lineup.

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Posted on July 5, 2009

By Dan O’Shea

June may be remembered as the month when Albert Pujols ran away and hid with the National League MVP trophy. It may be no real surprise that Pujols has jumped out ahead, especially with Hanley Ramirez and David Wright just finding their power strokes, but barring serious injury, he has likely locked up the No. 1 player ranking in fantasy baseball for the foreseeable future. He hit 14 HRs and had 35 RBIs during June, and though his average of .320 was lower than what you can usually expect of him, it was good enough to earn him the Fantasy Fix MVP of June award.
Our other monthly awards go out to:

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Posted on July 2, 2009

By Jim Coffman
In the middle of my son’s baseball game at Welles Park on Sunday, the coaches and spectators’ attention was drawn by a burst of noise emanating from a nearby bar. We initially surmised that something big had to be going on at the Cell. But then one of the dads voiced his belief that it was actually a reaction to the U.S. soccer team’s Confederations Cup championship game against Brazil. He wondered aloud if “the U.S. scored again?!” A minute later he confirmed that it had. The U.S. led Brazil 2-0 midway through the first half (on its way to a thrilling but ultimately disappointing 3-2 loss).

Beachwood Baseball: The Cub Factor The White Sox Report

Could we have imagined that scenario even 10 years ago? I think not. First of all, this was the first time the U.S. team had ever advanced to a FIFA final (and it completed an unbelievable journey to do so – more on that later). Second was the fact that in the middle of the day on a big summer baseball weekend (featuring Cubs versus Sox at the same time for goodness sake), the crowd at an average sports bar was captivated by a soccer game.

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Posted on June 29, 2009