Cub Tracks sits and wonders

It turns out that baseball is a couple of generations older than commercial sliced bread, so I humbly submit to you that sliced bread is the greatest thing since baseball. Morning baseball also makes me stop loafing much earlier, especially if the Cubs are losing, as I’ll get up and start doing things and leave the game on in the background, but, no matter which way you slice it, eleven o’clock games are in the upper crust of experiences.

That such games allow me to avoid doing any chores until 2 o’clock or so is just gravy to pour on the meatloaf and sop up with all of that bread. Of course the home plate umpire (and to be honest, the bullpen) denied our chance at meatloaf but I’m just gonna pretend that didn’t happen and exercise my own judgement.

Ah yes, exercise... I’m in the best shape of my life — almost perfectly round, and ready to roll. Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. Everything is #narrative today. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).

“Everybody is worried about electronic strike zone. I want an electronic method to control check swings. That would be much more interesting and I would prefer that. Let the umpires call the games like they always do and have a way to control check swings. I have ideas on that.” — Joe Maddon.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Kyle Schwarber’s outburst and a fan’s faux pas distract from the Cubs’ real culprit — 7 bullpen walks in a 6-5 loss to the Angels. “Loved the fight,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I thought we came back. We just walked too many guys.” Also checking in: Brian Sandalow, Rick Tarsitano, Jordan Bastian, Bradford Doolittle, Paul Sullivan, Evan Altman.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): How the Cubs look at their catching situation without Victor Caratini. “... for right now, we’re really happy with Taylor Davis,” said Maddon.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Day off for Kris Bryant might be a beneficial break. “... the respite was always part of the plan.” Tony Andracki concurs.
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): Ian Happ enlists the help of former big leaguer during trip back to the minors. “He wanted Chris Valaika, Chicago’s minor-league hitting coordinator, to join him with the Iowa Cubs.”
• Laura Messer (Cubs Insider): Will we see Jason Heyward surpass his career-best home run total? “Heyward is on pace for 44 home runs this year (hooray for small sample sizes)...”
• George Castle (Tribune/The Doings): Scott Sanderson remembered as ‘smart and unflappable’ by those who knew Glenbrook North grad before MLB career. “Sanderson was the first athlete who came up through local youth baseball ranks on his way to playing for the Cubs...”
• Cubs birthdays: Ben Tincup, Marty Keough, Greg Maddux (HoF), Kyle Farnsworth,

Food for thought: