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There's not much Cubs news today. So let's talk about Adam Greenberg, shall we?
You all remember Greenberg's story; hit by the very first MLB pitch he saw back in 2005, he suffered a concussion and never returned to the majors, despite playing several years for other MLB organizations and in independent leagues.
Now, there's a petition drive to get Greenberg back into the majors so he can have an official at-bat. If that happens, it won't be with the Cubs:
"Adam made the big leagues based on merit in 2005," [GM Jed] Hoyer said in an e-mail. "While it is unfortunate he got hit in his first at bat, he is in the Baseball Encyclopedia as a major leaguer and he should be incredibly proud of that. We wish him the best, but there are no plans to add him to the roster now or in the future."
That's probably the right call. Greenberg did hit reasonably well in Double-A in the Royals organization in 2007, but never got a callup. He does have one more shot at big-time baseball:
Greenberg said he’s been invited by Team Israel manager Brad Ausmus to play in the team’s qualifying games for next spring’s World Baseball Classic. He knows that would be a more realistic springboard for an opportunity in the majors, though even that would be a long shot.
The Israel team does have a decent shot at winning some games in the WBC; any American Jewish player is eligible, which means guys like Gabe Kapler and Shawn Green, recently retired, could play, as well as any Jewish minor leaguers.
A bit of trivia: who pinch-ran for Greenberg after he was hit in the head? Answer (you'll have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post), and more on tonight's game, after the jump.
Cubs lineup:
DeJesus RF, Valbuena 3B, Rizzo 1B, Soriano LF, Castro SS, Castillo C, Jackson CF, Barney 2B, Rusin P
Nationals lineup:
Werth CF, Desmond SS, Zimmerman 3B, Morse RF, LaRoche 1B, Espinosa 2B, Moore LF, Flores C, Jackson P
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Chris Rusin threw a nice game in his MLB debut, August 21 against the Brewers in Milwaukee. Didn't stop the Cubs from losing that game, but if Rusin can keep up this sort of pitching, he'll definitely be in the mix for the 2013 rotation. Obviously, he's never faced the Nats or anyone on their roster.
Edwin Jackson -- who some of you think the Cubs should sign this offseason -- has not faced the Cubs this year. He did pitch against the Cubs twice in 2011, once while he was with the White Sox and once while he was with the Cardinals. The well-traveled Jackson, now with his seventh MLB team at age 28, has held players currently on the Cubs roster to a .235 BA (20-for-85) with one home run (Alfonso Soriano). Doomed? Probably.
Today's game is on CSN Chicago.
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball.
Today's first pitch thread will post at 6:05 p.m. CDT and the overflows at 7:05, 8:05 and 8:50 p.m. CDT. If you need more overflows due to extra innings or rain delays, post them in the fanshot section. Also please note: due to some under-the-hood changes, the sidebar box with the game thread links is no longer available. It seems you've found them with no problems, but if you haven't been able to find the overflow threads, click the "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" link under "Sections" on the left sidebar. They're all in there.
Finally, here's the answer to the bit of trivia about Adam Greenberg: Carlos Zambrano ran for him. Zambrano eventually scored on a Todd Walker double; the Cubs wound up beating the Marlins 8-2.
Discuss amongst yourselves.