Game Six of the 2016 World Series is tonight. Jake Arrieta is on the mound, Kyle Schwarber is in the lineup, and the Cubs have the Indians right where they want them.
Read all about it. As always * means autoplay on (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).
- Jon Lester and David Ross on MLB Tonight [VIDEO].
- CSN Chicago*: Can the talk about Cubs’ curses stop? [VIDEO].
- Gabe Lacques (USA Today): Why the Cubs still have a fighting chance to win the World Series. Three thoughts.
- David Waldstein (NY Times): World Series Ticket to Wrigley fulfills a 71-year-old promise by brothers. “...by 2016, Frank Colletti was old enough to go.”
- Mike Axisa (CBS Sports): A return to Cleveland means the DH is back in action. “Carlos Santana's days as a left fielder are over.” Kyle Schwarber is back in the lineup.
- Andy McCullough (LA Times): With backs against wall, Cubs feel confident as World Series shifts to Cleveland. “I feel like we play our best with our backs up against the wall,” said Kris Bryant.
- James Wagner (NY Times): Cubs, known for big bats, can also win with gloves. “We have to catch the ball to win,” Joe Maddon said. “We have to, and we did.”
- Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune): Joe Maddon tempers talk over bullpen revolution. “Maddon warned against assuming this was the wave of the future after examining the rosters of other teams.”
- John Harper (NY Daily News): If Yankees fans want Aroldis Chapman back, they should cheer for Cubs in World Series. “...he’s going to break records for closer money, and Theo (Epstein) may not see it as the best way to allocate funds.”
- Tom Ley (Deadspin): The Cubs can't touch Cleveland's breaking stuff. “Playoff series often come down to which team is able to make the proper adjustments.”
- Dayn Perry (CBS Sports): You could hear Wrigley Field singing 'Go Cubs Go' from a mile away. “When you think about it, every song is a drinking song.”
- Meilssa Isaacson (ESPN): The psychology of being a Cubs fan. "Every year, we're just waiting for justice to occur."
- Adam McCalvy (MLB.com): Return to Cleveland means return of Cubs' X-factor. Oh my stars and garters! Warbird’s back.
- Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Maddon, Cubs embracing historic opportunity. "Getting back to Cleveland with Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks rested and Kyle Schwarber back in the lineup presents itself differently," Maddon said. "I think everything changes at that point."
- Richard Justice (MLB.com): Maddon appreciates Ben Zobrist's unique impact. "Right now, he's such a calming influence," Maddon said.
- Jesse Rogers (ESPN): Cubs going again with Jake Arrieta-Wilson Contreras battery. “Maddon also intimated that Contreras could be behind the plate for Game 7 on Wednesday if the Cubs can stave off elimination.”
- Julio Ricardo Varela (ESPN): May the Cubbies win it for my 'abuelo'. “...instead of heading over to my cousin's house to binge on MTV, I stayed to watch a baseball game with my grandfather.”
- Neil Paine (Five Thirty-Eight): The Cubs’ comeback only gets harder from here. They seem to like it that way.
- Howard Bryant (ESPN): Tech me out to the ballgame: Replay, 'K-Zones' causing major league headaches. "Be careful what you wish for," said C.J. Nitkowski.
- ESPN: Dave Martinez a candidate for Rockies' manager. "I would hope that Davey does get that opportunity to interview and possibly get the job," Cubs manager Joe Maddon told Carrie Muskat of MLB.com on Sunday.
- Jayson Stark (ESPN*): What are the odds the Cubs can go the distance? "It's that team chemistry deal, man," said Kyle Schwarber.
- Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Aroldis Chapman’s long save saved the Cubs. “...Chapman almost single-handedly preserved the Cubs chances of winning this year’s World Series back in Cleveland.”
- Scot Gregor (Daily Herald): Cubs' offense perks up just enough to keep World Series hopes alive. Just enough. But enough. More would be better in Game 6.
- Patrick Mooney (CSN Chicago*): Why Cubs made the high-risk, high-reward play to build around Javier Baez. Baez stood up, pointed to the tattoo on the back of his neck and announced: “I’m going to the University of Major League Baseball.”
- JJ Stankevitz (CSN Chicago*): Jake Arrieta not putting added pressure on himself as Cubs look to force Game 7. “It's just like any other game where you feel comfortable with the game plan and you go out there to do your best to follow through on the execution,” Arrieta said.
- Jack Magruder (Today’s Knuckleball): Kyle Schwarber playing with his young Arizona friend in mind. “Schwarber has made headlines with his remarkable recovery from knee surgery this postseason, but his work far from the public eye is what makes him special to one family in Queen Creek, Arizona.”
- Jack Magruder (Today’s Knuckleball): Beauty of the DH, Aroldis Chapman, self-aware at-bats. “For Halloween, Joe Maddon wore a Ron Blomberg jersey.”
- Bobby DeMuro (Today’s Knuckleball): Chicago Cubs prospect profile: Second baseman Ian Happ. “Happ turned in the type of statistical summer you’d expect from a high-round draft pick coming from a polished four-year college background.”
- Larry Brown (Larry Brown Sports): Jon Lester will be in Cubs’ bullpen for rest of World Series. Lester said in an interview with FOX’s Ken Rosenthal after Game 5 that he would be available for the rest of the series.
- Carlos Portocarrero (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Home field (dis) advantage. The Schwarb overbalances the ledger.
- Ken Schultz (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): One third of the way to a miracle. “...it turns out that the Cubs are only mostly dead.”
- Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Rumor: Cubs could host Wrigley watch parties for Games 6, 7 (updated). “...the local aldermen would probably never let it fly.” That turned out to be prophetic.
- Dave Cameron (Fangraphs): The most fascinating stolen third base that didn’t matter. A credit to Jason Heyward’s baseball instincts.
- Dave Cameron (Fangraphs): The Cubs’ continuing curveball crisis. “The story of this World Series, to this point, has been Cleveland’s dominance over Chicago’s hitters.”
- Craig Edwards (Fangraphs): Terry Francona’s fourth-inning dilemma. “Did Francona wait too long to make a move?”
- Jeff Sullivan (Fangraphs): Jon Lester’s favorite strikeout. “This post is centered around a bad call.”
- Jeff Sullivan (Fangraphs): Jon Lester controlled the running game. “Lester’s problem doesn’t make sense. Therefore, it’s mighty difficult to believe.”
- Scott Merkin (MLB.com): Lifelong Cubs fan Bob Newhart facing Game 6 dilemma. Dinner with Don Rickles or Cubs?
- Grant Brisbee (SB Nation): The Cubs finally got a World Series party at home. “It’s not a World Series championship yet, but it’s just enough to keep the hope sustained.”
- Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times): Did one week in July determine the outcome of this World Series? Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said, “that was something we focused on: `Let’s not touch the core group of guys in order to improve our bullpen at the deadline.’ “
food for thought
- Laura Beil (Science News): Riding roller coasters might help dislodge kidney stones. Better than the Kramer method.
- Mindy Weisberger (CBS News): Scary science: How your body responds to fear. “Fear is, first and foremost, a survival mechanism.”
- Five Thirty-Eight: The complicated science of risk. “I’m choosing this thing, and I’m sort of like, I know that it’s uncertain, but I’m kind of hedging my bet, or whatever.”
Thanks for reading. See you Thursday. I still don’t want to write an elegy.