Cub Tracks’ Uncoverage

So that happened yesterday. Here’s the Obama family’s Lifetime Pass. Pretty cool. Al had a good writeup. If you haven’t seen the ceremony, here it is. A significant event indeed. Historic, even. All the right feels, even up to St. Louis fans being mad at Dexter Fowler. Speaking of mad, I’m going to talk about Kyle Schwarber just to punch up the lede, but that’s it. Listen for yourself and decide. I’m not gonna ruin everything again. At least, not immediately. Later, things might be in Cubbie Jeopardy.

We should still have All-Stars if the Cubs get the year they’re aiming at. That sounds fun. Better than going nowhere, man. Better than losing on Jeopardy, anyhow.

We also have other news from yesterday, and today in baseball history. And tomorrow’s fund, today, because tomorrow never knows.

• 1934 - Carl Hubbell, the NL MVP winner, is rewarded with an $18,000 contract by the New York Giants.
• 1952 - Detroit owner Walter O. Briggs dies at the age of 74. His son will succeed him in the presidency.
• 1970 - The Sporting News names Willie Mays as Player of the Decade for the 1960s.
• 1977 - Kansas City releases Tommy Davis, ending an 18-year career spent with 10 different teams.

Here’s your infotainment news for today - as always * means autoplay on (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

• Daniel Holloway (Variety): Ken Burns teases new ‘baseball’ doc pegged to Cubs World Series win. ‘The Eleventh Inning.'
• Todd Johnson (Cubs Central): Baseball Prospectus Busts Out its Top Prospect list – it looks familiar. Some are Eloy Jimenez. Some are Morlocks.
• Isaac Bennett (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Prospect Day: The “Next Five”. Eloy Jimenez, Ian Happ, Albert Almora, Jr, Trevor Clifton, Jeimer Candelario, and another ten top prospects are reviewed.
• Jeffrey Paternostro (Baseball Prospectus): Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects. Referenced by the above.
• Jon Ferlise (Cubs Insider): Cubs held a kids’ press conference at CubsCon and the result was priceless [VIDEO].
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): REPORT: Commissioner’s Office closing in on Cardinals hacking decision. Weaving more threads into Buster Olney article {$}. Unfortunately, we have the San Diego Padre incident for precedent.
• Phil Rogers (MLB.com): Exorcise regimen: Demons purged, Cubs eye repeat. "Hopefully we'll be the team to beat," Kris Bryant said. RIP, William Peter Blatty.
• Matt Snyder (CBS Sports*): Cubs benched Jorge Soler for lack of hustle several times in 2016. People try to figure out why Soler isn’t a superstar. His attitude is sometimes brought up. Elaborating on Tony Andracki piece.
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Cubs allow '16 top pick Thomas Hatch to ease into pro ball. He didn’t pitch because of rehabbing an injury but he attended the instructional league and watched the Myrtle Beach Pelicans’ playoff run. Plus pitching prospects and Eddy Julio Martinez.
• ESPN*: ESPN's 2017 Hall of Fame ballot. Lee Smith and Sammy Sosa got Hall of Fame votes. Not a lot of votes, but votes.
• Buster Olney (ESPN-Insider {$}): Top Teams: Can anyone stop the Cubs? The injury bug seems to be the only suspect.
• Dick Goss (The Herald-News): Cubs must replace David Ross' leadership skills. Not really. Plus Bryzzo.
• Kurt Voight (Daily Herald): Cardinals intent on improving, not chasing champion Cubs. “ 'Keeping up with the Joneses' can be dangerous...” said John Mozeliak.
• Tim Huwe (The Zygote 50): The arbitration generation. Projecting current success longterm isn’t about the players already in place.

Food for thought:

• Dave Marzullo (WGN News): ‘The big freebie out of space is education’ – Remembering astronaut Gene Cernan. Rest in peace. Chicago-born-and-raised astronaut, the last man to walk on the moon, is interviewed in 2011.
• Stephanie Bucklin (Live Science): Cup of Joe could fight age-related inflammation. “...coffee drinkers tend to live longer than those who do not drink coffee...”
• Kevin Loria (Business Insider): 11 findings from one of the most comprehensive studies ever on marijuana's health effects. “Context is important...”

“I can’t hide, I can’t hide, I can’t hide...” — oft-misheard lyrics to “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”

Things are not always what they seem — pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Cub Tracks will be back Thursday with more undercoverage. Thanks for reading.