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Cub Tracks loves Yu, too

Yu know what day it is, more of Yu to love, and other bullets

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Greetings and solicitations, denizens of BCB. It’s Saturday, and therefore it’s time again for Cub Tracks, the long-running infotainment series. Today, rather than prattle, I’ve provided a piece of piquant poetry by a friend of mine ... originally about a certain postseason effort, but it certainly tugs at the feels today:

The Walls of Ivy

by Frank Coffman

©28 October 2016

For more than a century of empty Falls

I’ve clung here, fading as the air grew cold,

But full and yearning, covering these walls,

Awaiting what Baseball’s destiny has foretold.

But sometimes, there’s been action on the field,

Taking away some edge to autumn’s chill,

The stands have filled! But each time Time revealed

That there was no way—though they had the will.

Those boys of autumn, wearing the bright blue

In recent years—they have a storied past.

A legacy though dim, is still as true.

The echoes of those early victories last.

And once again I stand here lush and thick

Along the background of this storied field,

Covering up the ancient, ruddy brick,

That hard behind my face is well concealed.

And now, once more, October brings a crowd

“Perhaps it’s our time?” “Maybe it’s this year?”

The seats are filled. The voices loud! So loud!

The team is greeted with the greatest cheer!

The umpire shouts, “Play Ball!” I stand and wait.

The game begins. A different sense somehow

Pervades the park. Is this the turn of Fate?

I’ve been here through the Then, ready for NOW!

Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

{$}The Athletic’s preseason predictions.

Cubs birthdays: Tom Burns, George Van Haltren, Herman Bronkie, Ripper Collins, Ed Sicking.

Food for thought: