By Marty Gangler

Sure it was just five games this week, but it was a complete and utter mess. Little clutch hitting and hardly any extra-base hits is no way to win baseball games. Throw in some physical and mental errors and here you are.
With all of this in mind, we here at The Cub Factor think that the one big thing the Cubs need is that legit 3rd-place hitter. It just does not exist on the roster, but what if we were able to make one from the talents on the team they currently have? Like a player named Frank Enstein.
We here at The Cub Factor have given this a little thought. This is what we would like to see in our 3rd-place hitter:

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Posted on May 16, 2011

By Marty Gangler

“Attendance for the first month of the Chicago Cubs’ season is down at Wrigley Field, so the team will offer a few incentives any fan can rally around – T-shirts and discounted beer and hot dogs,” WGN reports.
“On Tuesdays, beginning with the May 10 game againt the St. Louis Cardinals, select brands of beer will cost $3.
“On Wednesdays, starting May 11, hot dogs will cost $1 and each Monday, beginning May 30 against the Houston Astros, bleacher-goers will receive a free T-shirt.”
At least they have troughs in the restroom for easy $3 beer puking. The Cub Factor has learned that other potential incentives remain under consideration should attendance continue to dip:

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Posted on May 9, 2011

By Marty Gangler

At least this week the Cubs are no longer .500.
Cub fans can finally be angry that the team has lost more than it has won. And that is important.
With few expectations coming into the season with this team, you would have to feel pretty good if they kept playing .500 baseball.
So they aren’t even average now, and you can really begin to dissect what the issues with this team are and complain about them.

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Posted on May 2, 2011

By Marty Gangler

Another week goes into the books and the Cubs continue to make fans ask:
Um, are these guys good or are they bad?
It’s impossible to say right now.
Are they overachieving? Underachieving? Or just achieving?
I’m kinda thinking that what you have is what you got.
A team that will be around 81-81 at the end of it all.

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Posted on April 25, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

Marty Gangler is on a top secret scouting mission this week so I’m filling in until his return. He isn’t missing anything. For example:
* Pirates Nip Cubs To Stay In First. Oh wait, that’s from 1974.
* Pittsburgh’s Power Clubs Cubs, 22-0. Oh wait, that’s from 1975.
* Expos Gain, Whip Chicago Cubs. Oh wait, that’s from 1978.
* Dexter Fowler Heroics Help Colorado Rockies Rout Chicago Cubs 9-5. There we go. That just happened yesterday.

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Posted on April 18, 2011

By Marty Gangler

The first Cub Factor of the season could have appeared last week, after the opening three games of the season, but I have to admit I just didn’t know these guys yet.
I still have to say I’m not sure I have my head wrapped around this team.
But we may have already seen the defining play of the season – or at least one that so far sums up the 2011 Cubs. Let’s take a look.

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Posted on April 11, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

Seeing Joe Girardi in the New York Yankees dugout chasing his second straight world championship is a reminder that Cubs general manager Jim Hendry has not only saddled his franchise with some of the worst contracts in baseball history, but that his choices for manager have been as bad as his choices for players to invest in.
If Hendry had hired Girardi four years ago, he’d likely still be in the Cubs dugout. Instead, Hendry went after a manager who let it be known that he would be working on his last contract, ensuring continuing instability instead of finally growing a real baseball organization.

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Posted on October 11, 2010

By Marty Gangler

The news last week that Jim Hendry’s ever-expanding list of managerial candidates being granted interviews now includes Don Wakamatsu led us here at The Cub Factor to wonder who isn’t getting an interview. Is Hendry getting paid per candidate? And why does he seem determined to interview everyone who ever managed Milton Bradley?
The Cub Factor put its crack reporting staff into the field to answer these questions and struck gold when we obtained the remainder of Hendry’s interview schedule. Here is today’s lineup, just for starters.
7 a.m.: That kid at the Dunkin’ Donuts who always knew Soriano shouldn’t lead-off.
8 a.m.: Tom Ricketts, third interview.
9 a.m.: Yosh Kawano. He understands Cubs culture.
10 a.m.: Bob Brenly. Len Kasper.

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Posted on September 27, 2010

By Marty Gangler

Did anyone notice that the Cubs went 6-0 for the week? Anyone? Anyone?
Maybe they should have made a managerial change when it still mattered. The Cubs are 17-7 with Mike Quade at the helm. And yet, Quade doesn’t seem to stand a chance to get the job permanently, what with Joe Girardi, Ryne Sandberg and Eric Wedge in the mix. What does the guy have to do to prove he belongs?
* Win every game by slaughter rule.
* Play second base for these last few games at a Hall of Fame level to get the fans to think that you are a better manager because you know what it’s like to be a Cub.
* Change last name to Quenneville.
* Change full name to Mark DeRosa.
* Wear silly glasses and manage from the bleachers with a beer in your hand to prove to the new owners that you are all about the Cubbie experience.

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Posted on September 21, 2010

By Marty Gangler

The big news this week was the Billy Williams statue being unveiled in front of Wrigley Field. Although that isn’t really that big of news to anyone under, like, 60. The more interesting news is that there are going to be more statues coming. And, well, it makes one wonder, who is actually going to be next? The Cubs really haven’t won very often so I mean, what statues are they going to make? With this in mind we here at The Cub Factor would like to speculate on what statues might be coming.

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Posted on September 13, 2010