Cub Tracks’ Apple-pologies

That was certainly sorry. Cubs lose.

Previously, Cub Tracks felt a draft, perhaps a premonition of the passage of the many home run balls leaving Citi Field Tuesday night. Or maybe it was a cold chill, seeing last night’s game in advance. I don’t even want to know what meat loaf in Flushing is like. Let’s move on. I like the view of New York in my rear-view mirror.

More ugly:

So now what? Mike Montgomery did a decent job. Eddie Butler is probably not the answer. Miguel Montero to the rotation? Kyle Hendricks endorses Montgomery, as seen below.

This is a very trying year. It’s harder, of course, because expectations have been raised. It feels like 1985, except that there is an actual World Series win behind us. I have to watch that series periodically to remind myself. Sure I’m not alone in that. The level of surrealism is almost Fellinian, Antonionian. I’m almost to the point of looking at the score before I decide to watch the game. Ugh. Let’s move right on past that -- the scribes have things for you to read. As always * means autoplay on™ (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

Today in Cubs History**:

• 1949 - Shortly after 1 a.m., Ruth Ann Steinhagen shoots Eddie Waitkus in the chest with a rifle at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel, after luring him to her room with an urgent note delivered by the bellhop. The obsessed fan, who had become infatuated with the first baseman when he played with the Cubs, apparently is upset and agitated because the All-Star infielder was traded to the Phillies.

• 1951 - The Cubs trade Andy Pafko along with Johnny Schmitz, Wayne Terwilliger, and Rube Walker to the Dodgers for Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, Eddie Miksis, and Gene Hermanski. The deal, which prevents the coveted 'Handy Andy' from going to the rival Giants, is the first of many to be made by Buzzy Bavasi, Brooklyn’s new general manager.
• 1964 - In a six-player transaction that also includes Jack Spring, Paul Toth, Doug Clemens, and Bobby Shantz, Chicago trades a little-known outfielder named Lou Brock, who will become a fixture with the Redbirds for the next fifteen years, amassing 3,023 career hits, to St. Louis, for right-hander Ernie Broglio. The deal, thought at the time to be a steal for the Cubs, will become infamous when the former 20-game winner pitches poorly for his new team, posting a 7-19 record during his brief two and half seasons with the team, and the 24-year-old they gave up enjoys a Hall of Fame career.
• 1969 - En route to setting the National League record of playing in 1,117 consecutive games, Billy Williams, after fouling a pitch off his foot in yesterday's contest, hobbles to the plate as a pinch hitter in the Cubs' 7-6 loss to Cincinnati at Crosley Field. It is the first time "Sweet Swingin' Billy" has not been in the starting lineup during the 878 games of the streak.

**all items derived from The National Pastime.

Cubs News and Notes:

• David Gardner (Sports Illustrated*): Chris Singleton’s year of strength and sorrow after the Charleston shooting. “Here on the field, she’s all around him. Here in his heart, she’s still alive.” Chris Singleton was drafted by the Cubs in the 19th round yesterday.

• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times*): No help wanted? Joe Maddon says answers for .500 Cubs are in-house. “I think the bats are here, I honestly do,” Maddon said.
• ESPN: Jon Lester on winning 150 games [AUDIO].
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times*): Mike Montgomery a full-time starter? Kyle Hendricks says it’s coming. “You have to think it has to happen eventually,” Hendricks said. “And when it does, I know he’ll be ready.”
• Daniel Shepard (Fansided): Is Eddie Butler a legitimate big league starter? The Butler hasn’t done it so far.
• Justin Curran (FanSided): Why the Cubs shouldn’t re-sign John Lackey. “According to Baseball Reference, the 38-year-old currently has a 5.26 ERA, a WHIP of 1.381, and is a -0.2 WAR player.”
• Jesse Rogers (ESPN*): The Cubs could be onto something with Anthony Rizzo as the leadoff hitter. "Go look what he's hitting since he got engaged," Montero said.
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): DL stint might be inevitable for Ben Zobrist. "It's just not getting better, as better as I'd like it to be getting," Zobrist said of his wrist.

• Randy Holt (Wrigleyville-Baseball Prospectus): Jon Jay: Everyday starter in the outfield? “...his role on the team probably should be enhanced until a handful of guys start to play closer to the expectations that were set forth prior to the season getting underway.”
• Carrie Muskat (MLB.com): Joe Maddon asks Don Mattingly to coach in Miami ASG. “Maddon said he's already talked to Mattingly about making sure to "choreograph" everything in advance, in terms of when pitchers and players can expected to be used.”
• Madeline Kenney (Chicago Sun-Times*): That’s a lot of green: Cubs selling 2016 ivy leaves for $200. “While you can’t put a price tag on the memory of the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series, merchandise vendors and the Cubs could put a price on the fan memorabilia.”
• Scott Chasen (MLB.com): Cubs focus on arms, intangibles in 2017 Draft. “Jason McLeod said he was pleased with the haul, especially some of the guys they got in the first 10 rounds.”
• Todd Johnson (Cubs Insider): Cubs get more pitching on Day Two, gamble on some high ceiling kids. Thumbnail portraits of draftees.

• Scott Chasen (MLB.com): Competitive spirit drives Cubs' third-rounder. “Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson...says Keegan Thompson -- a right-hander the Cubs selected in the third round of the MLB Draft on Tuesday -- might be the most competitive pitcher he's ever had, it means something.’
• Teddy Eley (Cubs Insider): On baseball’s past and growing presence in Europe. “The arrival of players like Max Kepler and Dovydas Neverauskas signals a change in the MLB landscape...”
• Maggie Hendricks (For the Win): Cubs and White Sox players discuss the struggles, joys of fatherhood. “In many clubhouses, children of players are welcome, but it isn’t always an easy co-existence.”

Food for thought:

• Lisa Grossman (Science News): Jupiter’s precocious birth happened in the solar system’s first million years. “Jupiter’s presence could help explain why the inner planets are so small — and possibly even be responsible for Earth’s existence.”
• Cassidy Mayeda (Popular Science): Hawaii is a hotspot for alien species. “...invasives are most pervasive.”
• Sara Chodosh (Popular Science): Eating potatoes won't actually kill you. “...correlation doesn’t imply causation.”

Thanks for reading. Cub Tracks will return on Fathers’ Day with more Cubs news and notes.