Cub Tracks is bigger than it looks

Well, our spring training is over, and we’re getting ready for the simulated regular season, as there isn’t yet any evidence that there will actually be a season. Color me skeptical. But hopeful. There’s going to have to be a second set of ST games, you know, if indeed there is baseball in 2020.

The future is yet unclear. But we can make it into a monster, if we all pull together as a team.

I hope none of you get the roni. Should there be news, I’ll share it here.

In the meantime, here’s Cub Tracks News and Notes, the only links column that really matters. 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.

• Derrick Goold (St Louis Post-Dispatch*): Anchored and quarantined off Argentina’s coast, Cardinals and Cubs fans share common goal: ‘Getting home’. “Even in quarantine, the usual ribbing between baseball rivals continues.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Coronavirus impacts sports like Spanish flu, 9/11 attacks, world wars did not. “It’s hard to even fast-forward to next week and understand where our country’s going to be at that point,” said Cubs coach Mike Borzello, who was in New York on 9/11.
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Handful of Cubs players still getting in their work – safely – out in Arizona. “Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, David Bote, Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks, and Brandon Morrow. Catching/strategy coach Borzello, who lives in Arizona, is also around.”
• ESPN*: The best home runs we ever saw: Rocking Wrigley, Game 7 drama and Bat Night fun. “... it doesn’t get better than that.”
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): The last day of spring training has many traditions. But they were all put on hold this year. “Issues such as the center-field competition and who will fill the last few bullpen spots quickly became insignificant.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Alec Mills talks to Cubs Insider about slow curve, low heartbeat, staying in shape for whatever happens next. “As far as I knew, the competition for everything was still on,” Mills said.
• Tim Stebbins (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs 2020 roster outlook: How Adbert Alzolay can build off 2019 debut. “Alzolay made his MLB debut last summer ...”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Rizzo foundation helps those fighting pandemic. “The move to expand the program comes after Rizzo’s foundation spent the past week providing meals to patients and staff at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago.”
• Bruce Miles (Daily Herald* {$}): 20th anniversary of Cubs vs. Mets at Tokyo Dome. “Would I want to do it again? Where do I sign up?”
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): Cubs, Blackhawks, White Sox, Tom Waddle all winners in our sports fan survey. “The constant rehashing of old games on TV feels like a sports funeral.”
• Cubs birthdays: Jim McCauley, Jamie Arnold, Chad Gaudin, Starlin Castro. Also notable: George Sisler (HoF).

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading. Rants and raves at medium.