Cubs.com has the scoop on playoff tickets for the first two rounds. In order to be fair, they are having a drawing with everyone's name and address registered online. Presumably, proof of address will be needed to collect the tickets, eliminating spoofers and scalpers.

This is not good news for me. I was pretty good at working the Virtual Waiting Room last year and scored four (useless) tickets to the (non-existent) NLCS at Wrigley Field.  Oh, that's the other thing. Fans will be limited to TWO tickets each in the drawing. 

see cubs.com for more details

Yesterday, Kevin Bacon was summoned when BCB poster fuku-domentation said he was friends with the brother of the newest Cub farmhand, Brian Schlitter (traded from the Phillies for Scott Eyre). 

I had no idea until last night that I could sorta claim a one (or is it two?) degree separation from a member of the Cubs’ 25-man roster.  Turns out that the star of my ramshackle recreational baseball team, a young guy from Vancouver, played against Rich Harden in high school.

Now, I expect absolutely no one to be impressed by the lame second-hand name dropping involved – but if you’re like me, maybe you find the “degrees of separation” thing kind of fun.  Have you established how many degrees of separation YOU are from the guys on the major league team?

Do you expect the team to stand pat? Do you want them to make a certain move?

The Cubs have really been pretty quiet on the trade front all month, but I can’t believe that Hendry isn’t in full Trader Jim mode.

via farm2.static.flickr.com

This is the year, everyone keeps saying.  Zell wants to sell when the team is at its most successful, so there isn’t going to be a payroll roadblock. And although Piniella won’t be drawn on specifics, other than to hint that they’re not looking for bullpen help, he said last night that "if you can improve the team, why not?"

The Tribune this morning talks more about who could be dealt away from the Cubs than who their target might be.

The Sun-Times thinks they could or should be targeting Raul Ibanez, speculating that Jedmonds is out of gas.

The Herald says all they need is a lefty bat off the bench. Funny –all the talk last week was about the Cubs needing a right handed bat off the bench….

In my opinion, I think they should focus on getting the best hitter available, and find a place for him in the line-up or off the bench. The pitching remains deep, with a variety of spare parts available for trade.

Lou says  with the three Mondays off in a row, he "may" juggle the rotation to give the team’s best starters more starts, and he names Z, Dempster and Lilly as ones he’d like to get 7 starts each by the All-Star break.  Z may go this Thursday instead of Gallagher, to get the thing started. I actually see Z and Lilly getting seven and Dempster getting six, with the #4 also getting six and the #5 getting five starts. Unless I’m missing a chance to juggle somewhere?

It also looks like Z might be pitching the last game before the break, which could impact any chance he might have to appear in the ASG. Again, please suggest any adds/drops/changes to this rota:

10-June     Lilly

11-June     Dempster

12-June     Zambrano

13-June     #4

14-June     #5

15-June     Lilly

16-June     OFF DAY

17-June     Zambrano

18-June     Dempster

19-June     #4

20-June     Lilly

21-June     #5

22-June     Zambrano

23-June     OFF DAY

24-June     Dempster

25-June     Lilly

26-June     #4

27-June     #5

28-June     Zambrano

29-June     Dempster

30-June     Lilly

1-July     #4

2-July     #5

3-July     Zambrano

4-July     Dempster

5-July     Lilly

6-July     #4

7-July     OFF DAY

8-July     Zambrano

9-July     Dempster

10-July     Lilly

11-July     #4

12-July     #5

13-July     Zambrano

News today that Sam Zell, new owner of the Tribune, plans to sell the team and the park in the first half of 2008. They need to sell assets to help pay down debt as advertising revenue and circulation declines. This is a little earlier than some had expected, given that the company hasn't even given bidders the team's financial details yet.

Most interestingly, the Sun-Times reports that "Zell is looking at selling Wrigley Field and surrounding real estate separately from the team itself."

That won't go down well with prospective buyers, right?

ST article: http://www.suntimes.com/business/693025,trib121207.article

Others: http://news.google.ie/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&ncl=1124842460