Cub Tracks is ready to go home

Huzzah! Fly the W! SimCubs win!

The simCubs prevailed 2-0 behind a resplendent Yu Darvish, with David Bote driving in Willson Contreras for the game-winner in the 8th and Anthony Rizzo connection for his 5th homer as a little bit of insurance. The simNationals were unable to solve Darvish, Brad Wieck or Ryan Tepera, and Craig Kimbrel came on to shut the door before the goose egg escaped.

The worst thing that can happen is a split on the road, with a long h, muyomestand coming up. Today’s game will feature Kyle Hendricks facing Max Scherzer in the last contest of the series. Al will have more information about that game in the game post at 2:30 p.m. 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.

• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): If baseball ever returns, teams should play at their own ballparks (sorry, Arizona plan). Here are 5 steps to make it work. “Here’s a proposal that at least wouldn’t separate players from their families for long stretches while cutting down on travel and allowing teams to play in their own ballparks ...”
• Madeline Kenney (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg still reeling from baseball being put on hold. “Every now and then it catches me, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this is really something,’ ” he said in a phone interview.
• TC Zencka (MLB Trade Rumors*): Which pitchers should fear robot umpires? “... Jon Lester complains from pitch one and doesn’t stop griping until the ball is forcibly removed from his hand.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Cubs hitting coach Rachel Folden Joins ‘The Rant’ to share wisdom. “She offered tremendous insight on coaching to players’ strengths and combining modern tech with old-school drills and basics.”
• Grace Grill (WDVM25*): Middletown’s Chicago Cubs prospect, Connor Myers, talks great year in Double A, new normal without baseball. “... Myers is a Chicago Cubs prospect who was coming into spring training this year after a career season with the Cubs Double A affiliate, the Tennessee Smokies.”
• Cubs birthdays: None.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading. Happy 4/20.