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Just One Morning Cubs Fact

Yelloncard_tiny by Al on in News

While we're all waiting for the big series with the Brewers to begin tonight, consider this: the Cubs have had many historic firsts this year, and many events that haven't occurred in years, if not decades.

The last two games represent the first time in major league history that any team has allowed only one hit, total, in two consecutive games.

Amazing. As I have said before here (thanks to Mike for giving me this), nothing this team does surprises me any more. Keep up the good work. The best is yet to come.

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I caught that on the CSN news last night

Amazing starting pitching (and pretty good relief pitching too)

Here’s hoping it is just as solid pitching the next three games against the Brewers. I hope we can clinch by Thursday or Friday.

by DWChaney on Sep 16, 2008 8:39 AM CDT   0 recs

Sometimes all we can say is

WOW,

I thought yesterdays game was in the evening and I didn’t find out diferent till the 8th and as I started to scroll through the game threads I saw the no hitter comments flying. Then when I went to gameday I saw it had been lost in the 7th.
All in all it’s been an interesting couple of days

If the world didn't suck we would all fall off.

by carolinacub on Sep 16, 2008 8:48 AM CDT   0 recs

saw that on ESPN myself

amazing .. these are indeed historic times

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Sep 16, 2008 8:48 AM CDT   0 recs

let's keep

the momemtum going and crush those brewers!!

by cubbiefanTN on Sep 16, 2008 8:49 AM CDT   0 recs

Unfortunately, Al, the tools at ESPN are diminishing this accomplishment.

They are “blaming” it on MLB for forcing the Astros to play this weekend because the Astros players were tired and tense. Jon Kruk last night, as well as Jason Stark, Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg this morning, were saying that the whole series should have been postponed until the end of the season. (Golic even compared the situation to the NFL’s, where the Texans game was postponed until October. He “forgot” that one game was postponed here as well until the end of the season. The NFL didn’t postpone 3 games as Golic is asking for here.)

The ESPN analysts say the games weren’t postponed to protect the TV contract and because the players union and MLB were adamant that the postseason schedule couldn’t be altered. (Of course, it’s easy for them to say that because they don’t have the rights to broadcast the playoffs on TV anymore.)

I’m amazed that these analysts didn’t realize that postponing the whole series would put either the Cubs at a disadvantage in the postseason (because their pitching rotation would be altered) or it would put the Astros competitors for the wild card at a disadvantage (if the Cubs decided to rest thair aces for the playoffs in what would be meaningless games to them).

As we have discussed here before, the Astros left MLB with no alternatives when they decided to stay in Houston during the hurrricane. Like many others in the area, they complicated matters by refusing to leave. Now everyone is whining. I’m tired of it. it seems that MLB has a public relations mess in their lap because they didn’t explain their decision in order not to assign blame to the Astros.

by Fraggin Judge on Sep 16, 2008 8:52 AM CDT   0 recs

Yet another reason that ESPN is rapidly becoming irrelevant.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Sep 16, 2008 8:54 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

And had the Astros won a game or both of them...

ESPN would be touting the “heroic” Astros and marveling at their professionalism in the face of overwhelming circumstances…

etc., etc., etc…

Go Green! Go White! GO STATE! (#13031 on the Cubs season ticket waiting list...)

by Zeke on Sep 16, 2008 9:07 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Good point Zeke...

Would anyone have asked them how they could leave the family at a time like this?

ailsle 409 - row 6 -seat 3 -June 23, 1984..price $6.50

by O'Cub on Sep 16, 2008 9:17 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

So ridiculous

Can’t ESPN do better than some of the guys on their shows. Jon Kruk is terrible, I want HR back. I like Emitt Smith but he has trouble getting through sentences.

If you have dumb ideas at least present them well.

Lets do it Cubbies

by slocs55 on Sep 16, 2008 9:36 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

+1

I thought Harold Raines did a great job on Baseball tonight. I’m remember one of the first things Jon Kruk said when they hired him was the Randy Johnson would win 30 in his first season with the Yankee’s. Considering most pitcher these days don’t even come close to 40 starts a year that may have been on the worst predections I’ve ever hear.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 9:47 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I think that you

meant Harold Reynolds. While it would be interesting to see what a mixture of Harold Reynolds and Tim Raines would do if they were combined as a baseball player.

Baseball is too much of a sport to be a business and too much of a business to be a sport.
William Wrigley Jr

by bubbamike the one and only on Sep 16, 2008 10:57 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

There's a joke in there about what he'd do OFF the field

But I’ll let you fill in the punchline yourself.

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! --Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Sep 16, 2008 10:59 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Harold Reynolds is coming back

when the MLB channel debuts in January. I’m no fan of Harold’s, but compared to Kruk, he’s Earl Weaver, Joe McCarthy and John McGraw wrapped into one.

by Josh77 on Sep 16, 2008 11:32 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Don't you miss Kubek and Gowdy?

I really don’t like ANY of the other team’s announcers, or ESPN’s.

"WGN, Channel 9 Cubs Baseball, Excitingly, Importantly, Dramatically Yours." - Jack Brickhouse

by BigJohnAZ on Sep 16, 2008 12:14 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Sorry, I actually couldn't stand Kubek and Gowdy.

"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.

by zevkalman on Sep 16, 2008 12:54 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I miss Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been . . . baseball. It rules over America like an army of steamrollers." Terrance Mann
Tommie Agee was out.

by Weeghman Park on Sep 16, 2008 12:58 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

And hearing them say, "brought to you by G. Heilmann brewing company..

Lacrosse, Wisconsin, God’s country."

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been . . . baseball. It rules over America like an army of steamrollers." Terrance Mann
Tommie Agee was out.

by Weeghman Park on Sep 16, 2008 1:23 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Amen.

"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.

by zevkalman on Sep 16, 2008 1:25 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Did it take anyone else a while to warm up to Harry Caray...

being a Cubs broadcaster? To me he always was the voice of that team with the town with the arch and it took a while to seem right. Eventually I almost forgot he was anywhere else.

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been . . . baseball. It rules over America like an army of steamrollers." Terrance Mann
Tommie Agee was out.

by Weeghman Park on Sep 16, 2008 1:32 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

It tookme a while. The fact that he was

an ex-sox broadcaster didn’t set too well with me at the time.

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Sep 16, 2008 1:34 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

me too

in fact i never deified him the way many did—but do appreciate him more—now that he’s gone.

"Never. Never. Never. Give up."
Winston Churchill

by cubfever7 on Sep 16, 2008 1:37 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I discovered Harry on the WGN Superstation (cable).

So, to me, he only broadcasted for the Cubs. I never heard him anywhere else. He influenced me to become a Cubs fan.

by Fraggin Judge on Sep 16, 2008 3:37 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I remember Kubek and Garagiola

They were pretty good for their day, but that day is long gone. (Although you can occasionally hear Joe filling in on a Diamondbacks telecast on a Saturday night.)

by Josh77 on Sep 16, 2008 2:59 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

My bad

You are right it Reynolds not Raines. -1 for me.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 12:10 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I saw the Krukster go OFF last night...

…about the Cubs/Astros series. I think he used the word “ridiculous” about 20 times. I can see his point about the difficulty Astros players faced in leaving their families behind in that situation, and I do sympathize with them. But, c’mon, do they really want us to pity them? They’re professionals. They get paid to put the bat to the ball. Once they flew into Milwaukee, they needed to accept the reality of the situation and do their jobs.

"I see the playoff schedule posted in the paper, and that stuff makes me nervous because you can't take anything for granted. We have a great team. We have a really good team. We're playing well, but we haven't won yet." - Jim Edmonds, 8/31/08

by dat cubfan daver on Sep 16, 2008 10:06 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Meat Loaf Neglected To Place The Blame Where It Belongs

on Drayton McLane, for refusing to heed early warnings about Ike and then digging in his heels about the games having to be played in Houston.

Never, but NEVER, put ketchup on a hot dog.

by CaliCub on Sep 16, 2008 1:38 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

in the court of public opinion...

the Cubs couldn’t win. We see what’s happened by sweeping 2 games. Had they lost two, they’d be lambasted for not even being able to beat a refugee Astros team.

Fortunately, the Cubs won in the only way that matters. In the standings.

by rgonzale on Sep 16, 2008 10:37 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Doesn't that imply they were once relevant?

The day we lose our will to fight - Is the day we lose our Freedom.

by sanantonecub on Sep 16, 2008 9:33 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Yeah, it does.

They were, for a short time. Not for quite a while, though.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Sep 16, 2008 9:35 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

You don't really think this do you?

You believe that ESPN is irrelevant? How are you defining the term?

As far as I can tell, there is not a single company/institution that plays a bigger role in educations the public about sports than ESPN.

by Leon Durham on Sep 16, 2008 11:38 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I agree with the theory

And I agree that in many ways, ESPN has rested on its laurels for too long, but to call ESPN irrelevant, when it remains the single largest source for sports information is, in my opinion, dead wrong.

by Leon Durham on Sep 16, 2008 1:37 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Relevant, Like Paris Hilton

Never, but NEVER, put ketchup on a hot dog.

by CaliCub on Sep 16, 2008 1:39 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

irrelevant might not be the right word

but they have become very East coast bias. Baseball seems to be the Yankee’s, Red Sox and 28 other teams. There are certian players, teams or stories that they focus on and if they are not in thier “favored” status then it gets less coverage. They may not always be East coast, but most are. They day after Daryle Wards game winning home run in Florida the 10am Sportcenter never even showed highlights of the game.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 1:43 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

And we say this as Cub fans

who get their fair share of coverage even as a bad team. Imagine a Mariners, or Rangers fan. You never hear about them.

make/art

by neverAcquiesce on Sep 16, 2008 1:57 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

That's true

I’m also a huge Colts fan and I’ll admit they get a lot of coverage also.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 2:17 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

They do

But not like the Patriots (some of it deserved), Giants and Jets.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg

by Trey2317 on Sep 16, 2008 2:18 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

+18

The cheating bastards Patriots do get a heck of a lot of coverage

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 2:26 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

How huge? This huge? Bigger?

As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.

by santoswoodenlegs on Sep 16, 2008 2:48 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

OMG

no not even close. Wow that’s going haunt me in sleep tonight.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 2:59 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

welcome to Indianapolis.

fried-food capital of the world.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg

by Trey2317 on Sep 16, 2008 3:09 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

You call what ESPN does "education"?

As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.

by santoswoodenlegs on Sep 16, 2008 11:47 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I call it

the place where more people go than any other to get information (education) about sports. Do you disagree?

by Leon Durham on Sep 16, 2008 1:38 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Information = Education?

Sometimes yes….most times no.

I can get a lot of information about something…and still not know what the hell i’m talking about.

ESPN isn’t in the education business…they’re a sitcom wrapped around a game show that’s wrapped around a sports cast. I guess you could be educated on the latest “hip” phrases in our pop-culture, or on the inter workings of Joba’s off day routine, or what Bert Favor had for breakfast. Aside from just telling us the score of the games, the rest is the back of a cereal box…sometimes I read it if there’s nothing else to do.

As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.

by santoswoodenlegs on Sep 16, 2008 2:13 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

That education

is on their agenda, which far too often, IMO, includes a heavy emphasis of the East Coast at the expense of other, more interesting story lines.

It appears to me that ESPN, over the years, has eschewed interesting, involving stories for loud soundbytes and analysis that brings almost nothing to the table.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg

by Trey2317 on Sep 16, 2008 11:48 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

But what about the Cowboys?

They’re not an East Coast team and they get covered a lot. Progress!

—————————————-

As an aside, the sarcasm.gif is now showing this:

I think he can singlehandedly blame us.

make/art

by neverAcquiesce on Sep 16, 2008 12:23 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Join the BCB Flickr group.

Here’s the URL. We can all freely post the version I saved there.

"I see the playoff schedule posted in the paper, and that stuff makes me nervous because you can't take anything for granted. We have a great team. We have a really good team. We're playing well, but we haven't won yet." - Jim Edmonds, 8/31/08

by dat cubfan daver on Sep 16, 2008 12:28 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I have to agree, slightly....

….I sympathize with the Astros’ players, and it IS somewhat patently unfair to have played these games in Milwaukee, less than 2 hours from Chicago.

But Houston’s failure to make a decision earlier truly left MLB with no other choice. And let’s not forget that Houston’s ownership, by getting the gate receipts from a series that was WELL attended (certainly more so than it might have been if played in Atlanta, Seattle, Washington DC, or Minnesota, to point out a few alternatives suggested) probably made MORE money this way….

by Chadnudj on Sep 16, 2008 9:06 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I don't sympathize with the Astros players, especially the crybabies Berkman, Ausmus, Oswalt...

Berkman on the “home field” fans in Miller Park: “I can’t believe our home fans would cheer that lustfully for the Cubs…I said ‘wait a minute. Why are our fans cheering for the Cubs?’’”

Brad Asumus: “They [the fans in Miller Park] really didn’t seem to take into consideration our circumstances.”

Wa, wa, wa, wa. Stop playing the victim card, fellas. Get into your private jet, fly to Miami on your hyper-inflated salaries, and play baseball.

"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.

by zevkalman on Sep 16, 2008 9:46 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I agree

Yes, the hurricane was an unfortunate occurrence, but, no one got hurt or died, right? Someone told me years ago that if all it takes is money to fix something, then don’t worry about it. The players and families were inconvenienced, etc., but their upper management waited too long to do what they should have dobe all along, and get the players and families out of there. Sure, it sucks because it happened during a stretch where they are beating everybody, but suck it up and play.

"WGN, Channel 9 Cubs Baseball, Excitingly, Importantly, Dramatically Yours." - Jack Brickhouse

by BigJohnAZ on Sep 16, 2008 11:41 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

That's why they got beat...

..even thought they had tough circumstances, they carried a defeatist attittude onto the field with them.

"Never. Never. Never. Give up."
Winston Churchill

by cubfever7 on Sep 16, 2008 1:49 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

None of this would hvae been a problem...

…if the Astros management used common sense and thought, “Hell, we ain’t gonna be able to play these games in Houston, there’s a CAT4 hurricane comin!” They would have had their choice of ballpark, and not been forced to play at Wrigley North. I have sympathy for Houston, but not for their team’s idiocy.

And 1 hit in 18 innings is stil…1 hit in 18 innings. Doesn’t matter the location, team, situation, etc.

Dan

Evey Hammond: Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici. V: By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

by dtpollitt on Sep 16, 2008 9:08 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

What I find least understandable about the Astros whole approach...

… was their attitude after MLB made the decision. Yes, they didn’t get the best possible deal for them. But instead of sucking it up and saying, “Let’s go get ’em”, they whined, “Poor us”, and approached the two games as if they were playing in a pit of flaming pork chops instead.

It’s no wonder they lost two games. The Cubs benefitted from the Astros’ whining. What I don’t understand is WHY they whined AFTER the decision was made. Their lack of professionalism and leadership is baffling.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Sep 16, 2008 9:12 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I think all of this can be summed up quite nicely in the following article.

The title of the article is “A message to the Houston Astros: Please Shut Up!”

I highly recommend everyone to read this here:

Here’s an excerpt:

And in all of this, there is a bittersweet irony behind all the moaning and groaning. The Astros still got the game receipts. The Cubs fans that they so callously mocked and used as objects of scorn are in reality helping the team put money in the coffers, and the Astros’ treatment of them in this media blitz is unacceptable.

"I'm not much of a chemistry guy, you know. Chemistry to me is a pinch-hit double with the bases loaded"--Jim Frey, Chicago Tribune, 1985.

by zevkalman on Sep 16, 2008 9:40 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Another quote from that link that sums it up well:
It sucks, but not one player came out and said, “Yeah, we have it rough in terms of baseball, but we realize that we flew here on a private jet and are getting paid to play a game we love, and meanwhile people are suffering back in Houston. We are playing for them.”

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Sep 16, 2008 9:54 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Exactly.

They could have turned their situation into a positive and rallied themselves around it. Instead, they whined and moped and engaged in silent mock protests. Again, I do feel bad for what those players and everyone in that area went through and continues to go through. But once the situation is set in stone – here is where the games will be played, here is when they will be played – a team has to be able to set aside the unjustness and play the game.

"I see the playoff schedule posted in the paper, and that stuff makes me nervous because you can't take anything for granted. We have a great team. We have a really good team. We're playing well, but we haven't won yet." - Jim Edmonds, 8/31/08

by dat cubfan daver on Sep 16, 2008 10:10 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

And now they have to go to Florida...

where there will be literally tens of Marlin fans in attendance. Will their suffering ever end?!?

by hokie316 on Sep 16, 2008 10:14 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

The horror, the horror!

"I see the playoff schedule posted in the paper, and that stuff makes me nervous because you can't take anything for granted. We have a great team. We have a really good team. We're playing well, but we haven't won yet." - Jim Edmonds, 8/31/08

by dat cubfan daver on Sep 16, 2008 10:22 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

That's why I want ABA for the wild card.

That is, anybody but the Astros as the wild card team. I we are going to be the villains on this I might as well see the Astros complaining from outside.

by Fraggin Judge on Sep 16, 2008 12:01 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Is Golic even a baseball fan?

His views of college and pro football can be good… not so much on baseball. There show is about sports but also about some humor.

Where as the point of baseball tonight is to show hi lites and have baseball commetary by baseball players or analysts. Which they don’t do. So I far more critical of them.

"A catchers biggest concern behind the plate is to make his pitcher pitch a little better than he can" Roy Campanella

by Madison Cub Fan on Sep 16, 2008 10:15 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Perhaps somebody could send an email to the ESPN ombudsman

Here’s the link for those wishing to do so. I’d send something myself, but I didn’t see Baseball Tonight so I really don’t know exactly what was said.

"I see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game." - Walt Whitman

by hip2bsquare on Sep 16, 2008 10:19 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

I didn't see it either

But if it’s as bad as what I’m reading, I hope people do send e-mails.

This is on Houston ownership for being thick-headed, and on the players for not sucking it up and playing ball.

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! --Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Sep 16, 2008 10:20 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Kruk's behavior was abysmal

but whoever said the games couldn’t be moved to the end of the season because of TV schedules was right. But while the MLBPA wouldn’t have wanted the end of the season changed and would have blocked it had it been proposed, there is no fracking way that Bud Selig wanted to extend the post-season another four days. Both MLB and the MLBPA didn’t want that to happen. So that’s half-right.

But Kruk’s behavior was typical for him. He had absolutely no idea what the hell he was talking about, yet still felt justified in making major statements about the moral failings of others.

by Josh77 on Sep 16, 2008 11:31 AM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Yep, just another typical MSM blowhard...

…who feels it’s his solemn duty to state a “strong” opinion instead of an informed, reasonable one.

"I see the playoff schedule posted in the paper, and that stuff makes me nervous because you can't take anything for granted. We have a great team. We have a really good team. We're playing well, but we haven't won yet." - Jim Edmonds, 8/31/08

by dat cubfan daver on Sep 16, 2008 12:32 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Another MSM hater

There’s not enough of us. They feel too obligated to their ratings, aka: appealing to the lowest common denominator.

by dr stabbingworth on Sep 16, 2008 1:41 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

for those who didn't see it

he is not joking.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Sep 16, 2008 12:36 PM CDT to parent up   0 recs

Confirmed.

"I see the playoff schedule posted in the paper, and that stuff makes me nervous bec