Cub Tracks’ strange wine

There may not be alligators under Manhattan, Harlan Ellison, but oh, baby, there’s one in Humboldt Park lagoon. I hope they can capture the creature alive and deal with them humanely. Kind of like White Sox fans.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

My cup of the milk of human kindness runneth over. I think I’m past last year’s total of Rick Morrissey columns and it’s only July. That indicates some kind of perturbation in the aether. Perhaps a flagon of phlogiston would help. Alas, we have none. We don’t even have a phlebotomist.

I’ll stop toying with you, as maybe three people in the audience will understand the subreferences and I buried the lede a long time ago. In lieu of such alchemical apothecary and in anticipation of approbation, we’ll keep a long story short and cut to the quick, Juliette. 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). {$} means paywall. {$] means limited views.

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs likely buyers with division still in reach. “If we start playing our style of baseball,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said, “a heads-up style of baseball that we play when we’re at our best, then things should take care of themselves.” Bradford Doolittle (ESPN+ {$}) has the shopping lists.
• Teddy Greenstein (Chicago Tribune* {$}): The new baseballs are more like golf balls, which has thrown Mike Montgomery and others for a curve. ““There’s no getting around it; it’s absolutely true,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Sunday.” Michael Cerami addresses this.
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): “Joe Maddon’s future with the Cubs may depend on a 2nd-half turnaround: ‘We have to play better to show that he deserves to be here’. “I won’t tell you we’re ready; we’ve got to play and get it back,” shortstop Javier Baez said.”
• NBC Sports Chicago: Kelly Crull talks to Willson Contreras [VIDEO].
• Daniel Shepard (Cubs Insider): Anthony Rizzo can build on best first half by wRC+ since 2016. “... Rizzo’s success this season can be traced back to one simple attribute: He’s hitting the ball harder than ever.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Robel Garcia’s ‘intriguing’ potential and where he fits on the Cubs in the second half. “He’s making his first impression; he’s getting used to the situation,” said Maddon.
• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Ben Zobrist as the Cubs’ savior? Easy there, folks. “If they need a 38-year-old in the autumn of his career to show them how to play the game correctly, then there’s a massive leadership problem on the roster.” Brett Taylor has things to say too.
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): The truth about Javier Báez: ‘Nobody plays harder or means more to this team than he does’. “He’s magnetic,” Brian Butterfield said of Báez. Dan Hayes tells of his bond with José Berrios.
• Zachary Silver (MLB.com*): Cubs All-Stars have fun with boos, family duel. “The fans in Cleveland were pretty good,” laughed Kris Bryant. “You can’t take these for granted,”: he added.
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): ‘Honestly? I’m pissed’: Bryant isn’t satisfied with himself, so he’s OK with your criticism. “Only two position players have amassed more fWAR than Bryant since his 2015 debut: Mike Trout and Mookie Betts.”
• Cubs birthdays: Happy belated birthday to Tommy Hottovy (7/9). George Meakim, Pop Schriver, Jimmy Slagle, Hank Griffin,

Food for thought: