Memorial Day historically has been the primary actual mile marker within the lengthy baseball season, regardless of its relative insignificance in a six-month marathon.
In lieu of baseball’s ongoing quest to hurry issues up, we’ve determined to vary that arbitrary milestone to May 21, kind of the quarter pole of the season. Coincidentally, that’s additionally the date for this week’s Sunday baseball smorgasbord.
Reality bites
Veteran TV sports activities director Marc Brady as soon as stated curiosity in Chicago Cubs telecasts weren’t essentially depending on the workforce’s place within the standings.
“The funny thing is the team’s record does not play as much into what’s interesting as one would think, because it’s a reality show and every day is different regardless,” Brady stated. “You could have a really good team that wins by 10 runs every game and be boring.”
We gained’t be capable of check that principle this season. The Cubs aren’t constructed to win by lopsided margins day by day. Ditto the White Sox.
But Brady’s level was that curiosity in a workforce shouldn’t wane so long as a lot of the video games are shut and the storylines are stable.
And that has been the case with each Chicago groups, win or lose. There continues to be a purpose to observe a dropping workforce. It’s as much as the broadcasting retailers, NBC Sports Chicago and Marquee Sports Network, to search out these storylines and guarantee followers keep tuned.
Mostly they’ve hit their objective, regardless of the Sox’s horrific begin and the Cubs’ current downward spiral. Chicago has educated followers on either side of city, they usually can see when issues aren’t working. Other than the Cubs’ West Coast journey in April throughout which former Cub pitcher Rick Sutcliffe went overboard in praising everybody within the dugout, the asserting groups have been constantly truthful and balanced.
But the competing postgame exhibits couldn’t be extra totally different. The Sox postgame analysts, led by former supervisor Ozzie Guillen, usually haven’t any qualms about criticizing supervisor Pedro Grifol and his gamers after losses. The Cubs postgame analysts, in the meantime, seldom query the technique of supervisor David Ross or criticize gamers for blown video games. Exhibit A was Wednesday’s 7-6 walk-off loss in Houston, that includes a gut-wrenching bullpen collapse.
Just think about how Guillen would’ve dealt with it had the Sox skilled the same pain-inducing loss.
Worst Cubs proprietor?
Former Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell, who died Thursday at age 81, was remembered for his actual property offers and his affiliation with this newspaper. His transient stint as the person in control of the Cubs went just about unmentioned.
Probably simply as effectively. Though the Cubs gained back-to-back division titles throughout Zell’s transient reign in 2007 and ‘08, his stewardship left a lot to be desired. After his $8.2 billion leveraged buyout, which put the corporate into chapter 11, Zell put the Cubs up on the market on opening day in April 2007.
Zell was not embarrassed to say he had no use for baseball. White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf instructed the New York Times that Zell was not only a disinterested proprietor however “actually dislikes” baseball.
“He never would have bought the Cubs if they didn’t come with the Tribune,” Reinsdorf stated. “It’s just another asset to him.”
Zell mainly handed the keys to the Cubs over to President Crane Kenney, who was the workforce’s spokesman on most issues, together with a report in 2008 that Zell needed to promote naming rights to Wrigley Field.
“This thing has got a little life of its own,” Kenney stated on the ‘08 Cubs Convention. “(Zell) is taking a fresh look at everything. As he asks questions, I’m responsible to give him answers. When he asks ‘What are we getting paid for the naming rights today?’ I tell him ‘Nothing.’ He said: ‘What are they worth?’ ”
Kenney stated he reeled off numbers of a number of groups’ offers.
“I give him that information, and (Zell) says, ‘Well, I can do pretty good math here — $400 million seems to be the benchmark, and you’re telling us we’re being paid nothing?’”
Zell wound up conserving the Wrigley title and in 2009 offered the Cubs, Wrigley Field and their share of Comcast SportsInternet to the Ricketts household for round $900 million. Kenney wound up being retained by the Ricketts household after working the search committee and spearheaded the renovation of Wrigley Field.
According to Forbes, the Cubs are price $4.1 billion.
Sunday morning flashback
Fifty years in the past this week, on May 20, 1973, the Sox had one of the profitable promotions within the historical past of Chicago sports activities — Bat Day at previous Comiskey Park.
A document crowd listed at 55,555 loved a doubleheader between the Sox and Minnesota Twins, with knuckleballer Wilbur Wood incomes his tenth win whereas pitching on two days’ relaxation within the opener. Some 25,000 youngsters aged 14 and beneath took dwelling a Dick Allen signature bat, whereas a whole bunch extra went dwelling sad after arriving too late.
The Sox had underestimated the recognition of Allen and free bats and have been compelled to close off ticket gross sales an hour earlier than the primary recreation after all of the bats had been distributed. Management refunded tickets for two,608 followers who got here to the park and determined to depart after they found there have been no extra bats. “Although they got their money back, a large number of them left the park carrying the free bats,” the Tribune reported.
The attendance complete almost definitely was fictitious, with the workforce preferring to spherical up the quantity as much as 55,555 to make it memorable.
There have been no stories of any bat-related accidents, which undoubtedly would have been the case if groups nonetheless scheduled bat giveaways.
Revisionist historical past
Fellow Chicago baseball scribes Bruce Miles and Jesse Rogers discover one of many longtime myths of Cubs historical past of their new e book, “The Franchise,” a curated historical past of the Cubs. One chapter is dedicated to the false narrative that the 1984 Cubs’ loss to the San Diego Padres within the best-of-five National League Championship Series was partly the results of MLB rewarding the Padres an additional dwelling recreation as a result of lack of lights at Wrigley Field.
Several media retailers — together with the Tribune — and former Cubs gamers helped unfold that narrative through the years, and lots of followers nonetheless appear to imagine it. The authors cite a number of examples of the false narrative, together with a Harper’s Magazine story that known as the Cubs’ alleged lack of home-field benefit to the Padres “a great miscarriage of justice.”
The fact was the Padres, because the NL West champion, already had home-field benefit within the NLCS, which alternated in these days between the 2 divisions. The Cubs would’ve ceded home-field benefit towards the Detroit Tigers within the World Series had they superior.
It was the National League’s 12 months to get 4 dwelling video games to the American League’s three. But MLB, wanting extra prime-time video games for scores, determined in the course of the season that the Cubs would solely get three World Series dwelling video games in the event that they superior.
The Cubs didn’t, making it a moot level.
“The only miscarriage of justice here was that done to the truth,” the e book states.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com