Cub Tracks’ the Fall of the House of Epstein

**DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on foot, through a singularly dreary tract of city; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Epstein.

There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart --an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime. What was it -- I paused to think -- what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Epstein?

The radiance was that of the full, rising, and blood-red moon which now shone vividly through that once barely-discernible fissure of which I have before spoken as extending from the roof of the building, in a zig-zag direction, to the base of a single baleful arch.

While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened --there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind --the entire edifice of the Gallagher burst at once upon my sight --my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder --there was a long tumultuous shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters --and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the “HOUSE OF EPSTEIN.”

Isn’t it funny how we’ve come to expect playoff-caliber baseball? Even us olds have been spoiled by the day-in, day-out sheer and utter competence of the core and the bit players, and it is horrible to consider the complete and final dissolution as entropy and perhaps bad planning and the lack of ability to develop home-grown pitching prove ruinous to our gonfalon dreams and the screams of the faithful dwindle as the red tide drowns us...

The hell with the ledge. I’m staring down the abyss. Let’s start talking trade. Tear it ALL down. I have come not to praise Theo, but to bury him. I’m in the throes of anger glee. Waves and waves wave goodbye at ebb tide. Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. I want to rend and shred and bite.

Craig Kimbrel can explain it himself [VIDEO].

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. Italics are often used here as sarcasm font.

**with sincere and most abject apologies to Edgar Allan Poe

“... the Cubs’ secret sauce the last few years simply hasn’t tasted very good. That’s a concept we’ll have to explore more in the early part of the offseason – something went wrong deeper in the org a few years ago, and I think we’re seeing the spoiled fruits now in the way these games keep shaking out.” — Brett Taylor.

“Let’s just play today’s game before you start getting too upset about things.” — Joe Maddon

• Bill Shaikin (LA Times* {$)}: Cubs fans: Will Sinclair convince your team to copy Dodgers with a TV blackout? “Paying for something you don’t want, which has been a great business model for the past 30-plus years, is increasingly challenged in the new world order,” said Rich Greenfield, partner and analyst at LightShed Partners in New York. Evan Altman addresses the audience.
• Derrick Goold (St Louis Post-Dispatch* {$}): Cardinals keep coming back, crush Cubs and Kimbrel in ninth for 9-8 victory. “And now the air has gone out of the Chicago Cubs’ season.”
• Tony Andracki (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs playoff race: Hope on life support after another disastrous meltdown. “Kimbrel now has a 6.53 ERA in 23 games with the Cubs this season.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): After Cubs’ wild loss, every game is a must-win. “The Cubs dropped to six games back...” Jesse Rogers take his cuts. Tim Stebbins takes offense. Patrick Mooney {$} sets off the alarms.
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Any ‘reckoning’ should start at top for a Cubs team that performed as well as its roster was built. “Free agent whiffs, a tapped payroll and unaddressed bullpen issues spelled an uphill climb for the Cubs before the season ever started.”
• Mark Townsend (Yahoo Sports*): Cubs are living to regret Kimbrel’s $43 million contract. “Kimbrel’s struggles were on full display again on Saturday...” Jeff Arnold addresses this issue.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Cubs among MLB’s worst teams for grounders, hard contact yet again. “... the Cubs have an uncanny ability to come up with groundballs at the most inopportune times...”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Nicholas Castellanos is just 10th player ever to hit 58 2Bs. “Castellanos is approaching a milestone that has not been achieved in the Major Leagues in more than eight decades.”
• Cubs birthdays: Doc Marshall, Harry Walker, Harry Bright, Ken Aspromonte, Lou Johnson, Mark Guthrie. Also notable: Bob Lemon (HoF), Tom Lasorda (HoF).

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.