Cub Tracks stays in

Inside baseball: No Outside the Boxcar, today.

Continuum? I hardly started ‘em.

Today in Cubs/baseball history:

• 1938 - Boston’s Jimmie Foxx wins his third MVP award.
• 1964 - CBS becomes the first corporate owner of a major league team by buying eighty percent of the Yankees.

• 1971 - Pat Dobson of the Orioles pitches a no-hitter against the Yomiuri Giants in a 2-0 win. It is the first no-hitter in Japanese-American exhibition history. The Orioles compile a record of 12-2-4 on the tour.
• 1974 - The Braves trade Hank Aaron to the Brewers for Dave May and Roger Alexander. The move allows the all-time career home run champ to finish his career in Milwaukee, the city in which he started in the majors.
• 2000 - Will Clark retires.

• 2000 - Wrigley Field is granted preliminary landmark status by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Any plans to refurbish or tear down the Cubs' home since 1916 will have to be reviewed by this panel.
• 2004 - After a groundskeeper finds a grenade in the Wrigley Field turf, police bomb and arson investigators are called to evaluate the right-field discovery. The rusty, hollowed-out shell turns out to be harmless, and its origins remain a mystery.
• Happy birthday: Johnny Vander Meer, Billy Connors, Orlando Merced

Cubs news and notes:

...as always * means autoplay on™ (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

“Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don't move.” — Satchel Paige

Ganked from Michael Cerami. Good stuff.

• Bruce Levine (CBS Chicago Sports): Pitching the priority for The Cubs this offseason. “Replacing 339 innings from the starting rotation will be the biggest challenge for the Cubs front office this season.”
• The Rundown: Cubs have a new secret weapon, Shark should be target, one last day. Brian Butterfield is “the best at what he does”, and Jeff Samardzija “could offer the Cubs some much-needed stability over the next few seasons.”
• Ken Schultz (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): 2017 player profile: Kyle Hendricks. “The Professor wasn’t even letting students audit his courses. Because their only option was “Fail.””

• Todd Johnson (Cubs Central): State of the Cubs for 2018: The bullpen might be Hickey’s to sort out. “...the Cubs could be in search of a closer this winter and a couple setup men.”
• Joe Reed (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): The most important non-factor on the Cubs’ postseason roster. Justin case — “...an effective Justin Wilson could have potentially changed the game...”
• Patrick Mooney (NBC Sports Chicago*): If not Wade Davis, Cubs will need to find another closer with 'huge balls'. “We’d love to have Wade Davis back,” Epstein said.
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): It sounds like the Cubs signed a pretty legit Cuban catching prospect. All about Alexander Guerra.

• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com*): Inbox: Will Albert Almora Jr. see everyday play in 2018? “During their exit meeting, Theo Epstein told Almora that he couldn't promise he'll be an everyday player next year.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): The Rundown: Could Cubs Factor with Marlins looking to dump Giancarlo Stanton’s salary (including Jason Heyward rumors)? Refers to Barry Jackson piece. “The only way Stanton would make sense for the Cubs is if there’s a different logo on the massive checks Heyward is cashing.” So much that.

I’ll have caveat with that:

• Phil Rosenthal (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Ricketts family's ownership of Cubs is hardly business as usual. Rosenthal’s tone leaves no question as to his feelings on the matter.
• David Haugh (Chicago Tribune* {$}): As Cubs head into offseason of uncertainty, brain trust must think big. “...neither Bosio nor Mallee were the reasons the Cubs either blew leads in the playoffs or stopped hitting with runners in scoring position.” The Trib is still hitting the “Joe lied” button.

Food for thought:

• Kendra Pierre-Louis (Popular Science): Mayonnaise is disgusting, and science agrees. I know a lot of people that hate mayo. I did when I was a kid, but that’s because we used to bowl across the street from the factory. And I want to see someone try to spread a miasma on a sammich.

• Science Daily: Marine scientists discover kleptopredation, a new way of catching prey. “...attacking prey that have just eaten in order to plunder their target's meal.” I’ll meet you outside Wendy’s :)

Thanks for reading. Have a swell day. Smell you later.