Somewhat random advice from Cub Tracks: For those of you who are maybe thinking about getting a cat, here's my input. Our family has three of them, one American Shorthair and two Russian Blues. They're great pets, very low-maintenance, and I absolutely love them.
But man, they can certainly make it hard to try and write a story on the computer. Or use my iPad. So be prepared for that tradeoff.
(Yes, Graci. I'm still paying attention to you. Now can I have my keyboard back, please?)
From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:
- Sammy Sosa will still be on the Hall of Fame ballot next year, but he's getting dangerously close to falling off.
- It's a Number 34 sighting! No, not the Jon Lester version. Kerry Wood participated in the Shoot the Puck at Tuesday's Blackhawks game to help raise awareness for his upcoming event, Woody's Winter Warm-Up.
From CBS Chicago:
- Will anyone from the performance-enhancing drug group ever make it into the Hall? Bruce Levine thinks it will happen at some point.
- Levine also thinks that center field is still a question mark for the Cubs and that the answer may be enhanced with Welington Castillo as a bargaining chip.
From ESPN Chicago:
- Jesse Rogers also believes that Castillo's days as a Cub are numbered, along with Edwin Jackson.
From the Chicago Tribune via RedEye Chicago:
- Paul Sullivan also chimes in on Sosa's Hall of Fame vote decline and thinks that Sosa probably has one more shot before having to rely on the Veterans Committee down the road. In other words, he has one more shot.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
- What does Rick Telander have to say about Sosa's vote decline? Blame Bud Selig.
From the Daily Herald:
- Mike Imrem also has something to say about Sosa and this year's ballot in general, pointing out what he feels to be a double-standard in voting.
- Another problem that Sosa has faced and will continue to face, according to Bruce Miles, is the number of good candidates that have been on the ballots.
From Cubs Den:
- Turning to prospects, John Arguello looks at Cub prospects that didn't make the recent Baseball America list but he feels can break out in 2015.
- And while we all look forward to Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Addison Russell, don't forget that Anthony Rizzo is pretty good.
From Chicago Cubs Online:
- One team possibly interested in Welington Castillo, according to Fox Sports: The Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Joe Maddon is looking forward to next week's Cub convention and thinks it's important that the team and the fans are pulling on the same end of the rope.
From Cubbies Crib:
- When it comes to another Cub making the Hall of Fame, Nicholas Blazek thinks it may be a while before it happens.
From Chicago Cubs 101:
- I wasn't sure he was even still in consideration, but Tim Duxbury explains why adding Jonny Gomes to the Cubs no longer makes sense.
From Cubs Insider:
- Closing out the Sosa stories today is Ryan Davis, who writes that despite the steroid issue he believes that Sosa's career is still worthy of the Hall.
- Turning to Javier Baez, Tom Loxas ponders the question: Did the Cubs set Baez up to fail by calling him up when they did?
Today's food for thought:
- It's easy nowadays to take an impressive picture of a snowflake. But how would you do it in 1885?
- The "oldest time capsule in the United States", buried in 1795 by Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, has been opened and its contents have been revealed.
- For those of you who have walked along the beach and spotted something interesting in your stroll, here's a list, along with photos, of some of the weirdest things ever to have washed up on the shore.