Cub Tracks’ perfect 10

Ten. It goes to 10 with a 3-0 shutout of the Phillies, engineered by Ryan Yarbrough, Dam Winkler, and Craig Kimbrel, and made possible by the big bats of Ian Happ and David Bote, who drove in runs, and Kris Bryant, who has been barreling the ball in some bad luck lately. Bryce Harper was 2 for 2 with two bases on balls but he was kept in the park. The Cubs’ other run scored on a fielding error by Rhys Hoskins on a hard-hit grounder by Willson Contreras.

Today, Jon Lester faces Aaron Nola in the middle game of the series. Al will have more 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.

• Gordon Wittenmyer (NBC Sports Chicago*): Hey, Ricketts family: You People can make a difference — if you choose. “Sometimes it feels like You People are just looking for free stuff from the media.”
• Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich (The Athletic {$}): Ability of MLB, union to compromise – or not – will determine shape of 2020 season. “Major League Baseball is increasingly likely to be played in 2020, barring an uptick of COVID-19 cases that again forces the sport to shut down.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs ‘well positioned’ to get up and running if — and it’s a big ‘if’ — MLB, union reach accord. “... the bad-news vibe surrounding it all continued as MLB proposed a package for a 76-game regular season that the MLB Players Association likely won’t accept.” Evan Altman shares his take.
• Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Theo Epstein wants to improve diversity within the Chicago Cubs: ‘The majority of people I’ve hired have similar backgrounds as me and look a lot like me’. “Protocols are nice, but results are better,” he said. Jesse Rogers adds on. Sahadev Sharma {$} has thoughts too.
• Wells Dusenbury (South Fla Sun-Sentinel* {$}): Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo donates masks to hospital workers. “Along with his parents, Rizzo personally delivered the items on behalf of his charity ...”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): While we were all stress snacking, Rizzo used quarantine to SHRED. “He wasn’t exactly enormous before, but this transformation is truly impressive!” Tim Stebbins helps with the heavy lifting.
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Dan Kantrovitz: Increased access before draft was silver lining for Cubs scouts. “I think the reality is,” Kantrovitz said, “everybody’s just had to be a little bit creative.” Sahadev Sharma {$} has words about this.
• Alex Shapiro (NBC Sports Chicago*): Coronavirus: Most epidemiologists won’t attend sports game until next summer. “This is as much about feelings of social responsibility as about personal infection risk,” said Steve Mooney from the University of Washington.
• Dan Wiederer (Chicago Tribune* {$}): ESPN’s ‘Long Gone Summer’ revisits the Sammy Sosa-Mark McGwire home run chase of 1998. The task for the director was ‘can we go back and show what that summer really felt like?’ “Director AJ Schnack always had been fascinated with that season’s energy, its fun and its historical significance.” David Schoenfield has more.
• Cubs birthdays: Roy Smalley, Doug Clemens, Tom Edens, Buck Coats, Zac Rosscup. Also notable: Bill Virdon, Dave Parker.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading!