Cub Tracks opens up

I used to eat my hot dogs Chicago style, with mustard and all the fixin’s. I still do, but I used to, too.

Thanks, Mitch. RIP.

You gotta love that home cookin’. I can’t shake this feeling that good things are just around the corner, but I’m gonna dip my toes in the moat from time to time, whilst I occupy the fence. It’s the nature of things Cub, to me, to expect the other shoe to drop.

I was out on the ledge, just chillin’, but I looked down into the abyss, and the abyss was looking back at me. It had Ryan Dempster’s face and it was toting a Buena beef.

“Just stahp,” said the abyss, in its Haray Caray voice. “I do the abysmal around here.”

And then I saw Al on the tv. Right before the top of the 3rd, 12:15 pm, my time, during Dionne Miller’s segment. No video on the net that I can find...

... and speaking of abysmal, 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).

(unavailable on Apple news)

• Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic {$}): Would the Cubs think the unthinkable?; Craig Kimbrel is a difference-maker; Christian Yelich has lots to say; more notes. “A full-blown rebuild no longer is a realistic option for high-revenue clubs...”

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs reshift focus to ‘sense of today’. “The Cubs are hoping that their return to Wrigley Field will allow the team to hit a mental reset button after a tough season-opening road trip.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Joe Maddon’s laid-back approach ideal for Cubs’ slow start: ‘Adversity is a good thing for the soul, brother.’ “I just want the sense of today,” Maddon said.
• Craig Edwards (ESPN+ {$}): Finding fixes for the biggest holes in MLB. “... even after their weekend shake-up, the Cubs’ pen is still essentially just full of Tyler Chatwoods.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs see light at the end of the tunnel with bullpen. “That’ll build their confidence,” Joe Maddon said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Victor Caratini impresses, set to get more playing time. “He’s done a nice job,” Maddon said Sunday morning.
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Javier Baez is here for all your ‘bullcrap’. “I like it, ‘cause when people talk about you, it’s ‘cause they care,” he said.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Is Jason Heyward’s encouraging start for Cubs a sign of bigger payoff in 2019? “It’s good to be part of the offense,” he said. Forbes adds on.
• Brittany Ghiroli (The Athletic {$}): ‘It’s almost like a part of you dies’: Retired players on hard choices and life after baseball. “One of the reasons I didn’t retire in those years of grinding it out was I never wanted the what-if,” said Mark Prior.
• Morgan Greene (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs’ new private Catalina Club angers fans who lost seats: ‘We watched a lot of bad baseball and this is how we’re paid back’. “There are people in the world with much bigger problems than this,” said Gary Dupuis. “But it’s a bittersweet day for me.”

• Madeline Kenney (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs remove ‘no women admitted’ art amid backlash for being viewed as tone deaf. “A “no women admitted” sign in the Wrigley Field press box that was intended to “illustrate and acknowledge” the past is now history...” Deadspin concurs.
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): What to watch from the Iowa Cubs: Pitching prospects ‘going to be a really special group of arms’. “I think quite a few of those guys will contribute to the big-league club this season,” said Jaron Madison.
• Cubs birthdays: Jack Hendricks, Hippo Vaughn, Tiny Osborne, Claude Passeau, Brian Dorsett, Jose Guzman, Mike Brumley, Blaise Ilsley, Ryan O’Malley.

Food for thought: