Cub Tracks leads to Berwyn

As has been related previously, I watch MeTV habitually, on Saturday nights when I do my writing. Dennis Hopper was on former Cub Chuck Connors’ show The Rifleman just now, playing a young man who was beaten every day by his only-slightly-psycho father until he got drunk one day and shot up the saloon. He dragged Mark McCain into the scene and asked him how often Lucas ‘whupped him’.

The negative answer enraged him into trying to force Lucas at gunpoint to whup the boy.

Naturally Lucas undid his belt, ostensibly to whup the child with, and used it to gain possession of the weapon and subdue the inebriated Hopper (playing artist Johnny Clover, in his second appearance on the show), because Lucas McCain is always the adult in the room. He’s PAW, for crying out loud!

He gave the guy a job and kept him out of jail.#arrestingnarrative

The Cubs just need to remember that they’re Lucas. A whole team of Lucases, playoff-tested young guns, hard as nails and ultracompetent in any situation.

Never mind that the situation blew up in Lucas’ face as Papa Clover engineered the incident at the closed-lid picnic. Good story though.

Any resemblance to actual life situations is strictly coincidental.

Speaking of narratives, a friend of mine has a stocking-stuffer you might like, about Keisha Green, the first woman to play in the Majors. It’s called A Season in Hell, and it’s priced to move.

Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes, such as they are. It’s the season! No, the other other season. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

Potential breakout candidate: Cole Roederer, OF, Cubs No. 14

Roederer, the Cubs’ supplemental second-round pick from the 2018 Draft, got off to a fast start in the rookie-level Arizona League, hitting .275/.354/.465 over 36 games in his professional debut. The 19-year-old has a mature offensive approach and an ability to hit the ball to all fields, and if his stint in the AZL was any indication, he could be in store for a big first full season. — William Boor, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum.

• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): A Cubs fan’s guide to handling offseason so far. Remain calm?
• Robert Kuenster (Forbes*): Despite a silent winter, expect the Cubs to make noise in 2019. “Prosperous roster moves by division rivals this offseason have Cubs fans still waiting anxiously for that big move that will reenergize the team’s roster and place them back as the team to beat in the National League Central.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs remaining relatively quiet while NL Central rivals make their moves. “So far it has been all nuance.”
• Joel Sherman (NY Post): MLB contenders are building rotations with a common theme. “...you don’t want to be, well, left out.”
• Dan Buffa (KSDK.com): The Cubs are making a mistake in standing by Addison Russell. “Theo Epstein is spinning this off as a learning exercise, standing by his player and starting a conversation about domestic violence.”
• Todd Johnson (Cubs Insider): Cubs position-by-position, pt 5 – Cubs getting all the shortstops again. “...the position at which the Cubs once had “too many” prospects is back to being a strength.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): How the Cubs see Trent Giambrone as a potential David Bote 2.0. “Giambrone is coming along at a time when the Cubs aren’t loaded with high-end position-player prospects in the upper levels of their farm system and will be looking for more depth and low-cost solutions.”
• Chris Kamka (NBC Sports Chicago*): Remember that guy: Doug Dascenzo. “...Dascenzo was a position player pitcher before it was cool to be a position player pitcher.”
• Patrick Finley (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Vic Fangio jokes he has one job interview booked this offseason — with the Cubs. “Fangio and Maddon are close friends...”

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading. Happy holidays.