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The Cubs' roster now stands at 40, per this tweet from Carrie:
#Yankees claim #Cubs RHP Brian Schlitter off waivers. Schlitter was 0-1 with a 12.38 ERA in seven ML relief appearances
Carrie Muskat
CarrieMuskat
And so, here are my thoughts, with apologies to the late Gerald R. Ford and his Inaugural Address of August 9, 1974:
My fellow Cubs fans, our long roster nightmare is over.
Our transactions work; our great sport is a sport of deals among men. Here the general managers rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy, except for the Cardinals and Brewers.
As we bind up the internal wounds of Roster-gate, perhaps as painful and poisonous as those of 102 years of futility, let us restore the golden rule to our waiver process, and let brotherly love purge our hearts of suspicion and of hate, except for the Cardinals and Brewers.
In the beginning, someone jumped the gun and Kerry Wood was added to the roster. Before closing, I ask again your prayers, for Brian Schlitter and for his family. May our former player, who brought a high ERA to millions, find a better roster spot for himself in New York. May God bless and comfort his teammates, whose love and loyalty will forever be a shining legacy to all who bear the lonely burdens of the pitcher's mound.
We can only guess at those burdens, although we have witnessed at close hand the tragedies that befell Dusty and Lou and the lesser trials of others.
With all the strength and all the good sense Mike Quade has gained from life, with all the confidence his family, his friends, and his dedicated staff imparts to him, and with the good will of countless Americans he has encountered in his thirty years in baseball, we now ask for his promise made last October 19: to uphold the Cubs organization, to do what is right as God gives him to see the right, and to do the very best he can for all Cubs fans.