Cub Tracks observes the occasion

The 12-4 simCubs will face the 6-10 simOrioles in the first game of a series today at 1 pm NL Central. Kyle Hendricks will pitch against Kohl Stewart.

simHendricks is having a splendid year so far and the Cubs aren’t doing so badly despite a series loss to the hated Cardinals. The Orioles are in last place in the AL East. Their pitching is not bad but they don’t score much. So expect a slugfest?

Al will have more information about that game in the game post at 2:30 pm CT, for our 3 p.m. start. I’ll drop the specific URL to the contest in the game thread, but you can lurk at the BCB Media Center and catch it there as well. All past games and highlights reels are available there too, if you want the full #simCubs experience.

And now, 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.

• George Castle (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Pat Hughes still does pregame preparation before taking calls during radio rebroadcasts of the Cubs’ 2016 postseason run: ‘This is a routine for me’. “The 2020 season would be his 25th behind the mic at Wrigley Field, the longest tenure for a Cubs radio play-by-play announcer.”
• Buster Olney (ESPN+ {$}): These teams will be impacted most by MLB’s changing financial landscape. “... the Cubs will have a lot of flexibility to adapt to any future shift in the business.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Until baseball returns, there’s time to ask hard questions: Would watching games on TV in empty ballparks suffice? “Isn’t there more to life than baseball?”
• Matt Monagan (MLB.com*): Let’s settle it: Who hit most majestic Wrigley HR? I vote Mr. Hill. A BCB article from 2016 is cited.
• George Castle (Chicago Baseball Museum): Serious as a player, Glenn Beckert provoked smiles in his on- and off-the-field Cubs exploits. “Glenn almost was an accidental second baseman, a beneficiary of tragedy.”
• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Glenn Beckert’s death, ‘69 Cubs underscore value of sports in a crisis. ““It’s kind of similar to the [1985] Bears, only the Bears won the Super Bowl,” Hall of Famer Billy Williams said Sunday.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs’ Top 5 third basemen: Bastian’s take. KB over ARam? Stan Hack? Check it out.
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Sammy Sosa admits mistake in leaving final Cubs game early, time for ownership to drop grudge. “... it’s impossible to deny how important Sosa was to Cubs during his time in Chicago.”
• Cubs birthdays: Ben Tincup, Greg Maddux HOF, Kyle Farnsworth.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading. Happy 4/20.