File this under "Better Late Than Never".  Yep, I'm finally getting around to posting the results to the
Last Out to First Pitch – The 2010-11 Offseason IT'S HAPPENING!!!??? Contest.

What took me so long?  Well, I could trot out the usual litany of excuses - new job, Cubs sucking, summertime fun, Cubs sucking, family health issues, Cubs sucking, general indifference, Cubs sucking, etc.  And to a certain extent, those all were indeed factors, but insignificant ones at best.

Truth is, I did try a few times to tally the results and write something up.  But every time I got to this event/prediction from the original list...

H ..... Cubs announce a reduced broadcasting role for Ron Santo.

...it felt like somebody had just punched me in the stomach.

(sigh...)

Here were the 15 possible events:

THE FIFTEEN BIGGEST EVENTS THAT MAY (or may not) HAPPEN THIS OFF-SEASON:

A ..... Ryne Sandberg agrees to a coaching or managing job in the majors.
B ..... Cubs sign Kerry Wood.
C ..... Starlin Castro finishes higher than Jaime Garcia in the ROY voting.
D ..... Cubs new bench coach will have had some MLB managing experience.
E ..... MLB adds more teams to the postseason mix, i.e. more wildcards.
F ..... Cubs sign Adam Dunn.
G ..... Tyler Colvin is the starting right-fielder for Cubs on Opening Day.
H ..... Cubs announce a reduced broadcasting role for Ron Santo.
I   ..... Kosuke Fukudome is traded and/or returns to Japan.
J  ..... Northwestern beats Illinois on November 20 at Wrigley Field.
K ..... Jeff Baker is on the Cubs 25-man roster on Opening Day.
L  ..... Cubs offer arbitration to Koyie Hill.
M ..... Carlos Zambrano is the Cubs starting pitcher on Opening Day.
N ..... Cubs hire top-level executive, e.g. a "baseball guy", to oversee Hendry.
O ..... MLB further expands instant replay capabilities.

Turns out, only three of these events actually happened - Cubs sign Wood; Baker on OD roster; Cubs offer arbitration to Hill - so it didn't take long to add up the points:

• Tied for 3rd with 31 points each were eths and Dcr18.
• Coming in 2nd with 33 points was Endrick.
• And leading the way with a grand total of 34 points, and winner of an official ML baseball hit out of Wrigley Field, is cubsalw2009.
  

And on the other end of the spectrum, bringing up the rear with a total of 14 points is the winner of one severely grass-stained scuffed up minor league baseball, Fonzie2178.  Heyyyyyyyyyyy........

Winners can send me an e-mail (check my profile for address) for instructions on how to get your hands on your balls.

TWSS

Greg Maddux