Cub Tracks’ Mean Green Meme Machine

Last time in these parts, Cub Tracks kept its nose to the grindstone, its shoulder to the wheel, its eye on the ball, and its ear to the ground, and was able to get work done from that position. That was just some of the questionable wisdom decanted as your humble narrator imparted a bug juice recipe and then went on to attend the shenanigans.

Not quite as dank as Harambe and Dat Boi, amirite? I know...men of questionable memes and all that, but one of these froggy evenings that Cubbie Blue Kool-Aid might come in handy.

Or not. In the spirit of ‘embracing the target’, maybe we should kiss that frog goodbye, Peter Gabriel.

I can’t help but notice that so many celebrities have died this year, and that there have been so many other unfortunate events, which makes the Cubs’ World Series Victory stand out all the more. Hell, if I were to make a top ten list, that would be all of it, like this:

Top Ten Great Things About 2016

1. Cubs win World Series.
2. Cubs win World Series.
3. Cubs win World Series.
4. Cubs win World Series.
5. Cubs win World Series.
6. Cubs win World Series.
7. Cubs win World Series.
8. Cubs win World Series.
9. Cubs win World Series.
10. Cubs win World Series.

The rest is pretty much just pain. Going over it is like reading game threads. I’ll pass. Feel free to tell what your favorite moments were. Really my favorite was when Javy tried to turn a triple play but nobody else had gotten to that page yet. I love me some Javier Baez. The guy has rare style. I wished him better pitch selection for Christmas. I’m just about at the point of wanting to trade Ben Zobrist to make room for Javy to play every day. A hot start would possibly make me jump on that bandwagon, provided that someone else can deal with leading off. I also really liked this play:

Spring training will tell. Javy could conceivably leapfrog Benzo. And there are only 45 days remaining until those shenanigans start. We can stop staring out the window soon, Rogers Hornsby. But not quite yet.

Today in Baseball History:

• 1877 - The Professional Baseball League of Cuba was founded.
• 1932 - Shanty Hogan, who started his career in Boston, is purchased by the Braves after five years as the regular catcher for the Giants. Hogan will finish his career as a part-time player, but will also have a .295 career batting average.
• 1933 - Yankees owner Jake Ruppert refuses to release Babe Ruth so he can become manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
• 1969 - The New York Times reports that Curt Flood will sue baseball and challenge the reserve clause.

That last one is pretty darn important. The rest are interesting to impart if you’re tipping a few with your friends. Here’s the very latest of what’s going on in the Cubverse, as of Wednesday evening. As always * means autoplay on (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

• Sarah Schulte (ABC-7): Cubs fan travels from Wisconsin to Wrigley Field in his wheelchair for charity. Dennis Schulze lost part of his leg in a horrific crash. He left Tuesday, and plans to arrive at about the time you’re reading this.
• Phil Rogers (MLB.com): Pay that man his money: Arrieta worth it for Cubs. Rogers asserts that paying Jake Arrieta is the smaller risk, and that the bigger one is assuming that Arrieta can be replaced.
• Bradford Doolittle (ESPN): What will baseball have on tap in 2017? Cubs, Cubs, Cubs, Cubs, and Bryce Harper.
• David Schoenfield (ESPN-Insider {$}): A Zobrist for every team. Schoenfield identifies those who might fill those shoes, on other teams. At least one prominent former Cub is mentioned in this context.
• Sam Miller (ESPN): Inside the greatest game ever. 11/2/2016. A must-read. Bleacher Nation agrees.
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Kris Bryant finishes fourth in AP’s Male Athlete of the Year voting. LeBron was first.
• Ryan Davis (FanRag Sports): Who should the Cubs lock up long-term next? Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Addison Russell?
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): A few Cubs storylines to follow in the coming weeks. Instead of looking out the window, there are these. The last one is in my Top Ten list.
• Cat Garcia (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Player profile: Kyle Hendricks. “No one can be sure how much better Hendricks can get...”
• Ken Schultz (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown deserves a spot in Cubs history. “...what Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown accomplished in a Cubs uniform made him worthy of not just a celebration but also a statue alongside Williams, Ron Santo, and Ernie Banks.”
• Jared Wyllys (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Game Seven’s Ninth Inning. How Aroldis Chapman got away with what he did.
• Neil (Chicago Cubs Online): Tyson Ross reportedly reviewing options as Cubs continue pursuit. Ross is not expected to make a decision until January.
• Tim Baffoe (CBS Chicago*): The Chicago Cubs won the World Series’ & The awfulness of 2016. Indeed. I concur.
• Joshua Sadlock (FanSided): Should the Cubs be in on Jose Quintana? Just because they haven’t previously show any interest, and the Sox don’t want to deal with the Cubs, why should that be any barrier?
• Mike Piellucci (Vice Sports): Inside the Anthony Rizzo trade that kickstarted the Cubs' historic World Series run. Nice backstory.

Food for thought:

• Lisa M. Krieger (Phys.org): Scientists plan to send greetings to other worlds. “Part of the mission will be to figure out how to craft the perfect message to say "Hello."“
• Lisa-Ann Lee (New Atlas): Bridging the gap between science and fiction: The year in robots. “...an MIT study at a BMW factory reports that human and co-bot teams are actually more productive than all-human or all-robot teams.”
• The Science Explorer: World's Smallest Diamonds made into wires three atoms wide. “...the new technique could potentially be used to build tiny wires for a wide range of applications...”

Thanks for reading. See you next year.