Cub Tracks’ over easier

I liked the sound of the cicadas rubbing their wings together on the Marquee broadcast. It beat the crickets I usually find around here. The Home Run Derby, on the other hand, well, I didn’t care for that.

The crosstown series doesn’t have the frisson it once did. But I find myself wondering if that will change once both leagues are the same. I’m pretty much a National League guy and don’t watch a ton of AL games. Most of my life, those games were unavailable.

Now it’s just too much baseball. My life revolves around other things in this day and age. Plus, well, to be honest, I don’t much like the White Sox or Sox fans, having grown up on the southwest side where such folks are common, and having been subjected to their blandishments until my family moved to the western burbs in my mid-teens. It’s hard to wallpaper over that kind of feeling.

Hate-watching loses its luster when the Cubs are losing, though. Those goose eggs made me hungry and I spent the middle innings in the kitchen, where I made a pan of ‘mushy, mushy’ brownies. That made the late innings easier to take.

Let’s get ‘em tomorrow. Friday wasn’t the Cubs’ night.

Here’s Cub Tracks 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.

• Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Thom Brennaman, Mark Grace and the problem with being yourself. “... when you say something publicly, it’s a pretty good indication of who and what you are.”
• Parick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Next question: David Ross is the star of the Cubs’ daily Zoom show. Ross can blow off a question and give an insightful answer a few minutes later if it’s framed a different way or the conversation flows in that direction.
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): By one measure of “Most Valuable,” the Cubs don’t have a single player in the Top 50. “Kyle Hendricks comes in for an honorable mention and that’s it.”
• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs pitchers José Quintana, Tyler Chatwood could return from injury at Tigers. “... two injured starters continue to progress.” Evan Altman also reports.
• Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Is Craig Kimbrel returning to form? Latest results suggest he might be. “Everything feels pretty under control,” Kimbrel said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Bryant still out of action with wrist injury. “We don’t want players to try to play if they just can’t perform,” Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said Friday. Tim Stebbins also reports. Patrick Mooney adds on {$}.
• Bill Quinn (Cubs Insider*): Ian Happ’s career trajectory strikingly similar to current superstar. “It’s none other than Las Vegas native and former would-be Cubs target Bryce Harper.”
• Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic {$}): After surprising PED tests, MLB players fight to clear their names. “... there are a bunch of unknowns with how this particular metabolite is excreted,” said USADA’s chief science officer, Dr. Matthew Fedoruk.

• Cubs birthdays: Al Carson, Oscar Fuhr, Frank Ernaga, Bob Speake, Jose Arcia, Ray Burris, Darrin Jackson, Gary Scott. Also notable: Ned Hanlon HOF, Carl Yastrzemski HOF, Paul Molitor HOF.

SimNews:

The game is different today. Ryan Yarbrough and Daniel Ponce de Leon took turns throwing pills but outside the door was a single and then the next Cardinal batter took two more bases and that meant a run scored for those mothers on a ball that just eluded Jason Heyward. Ponce de Leon continued to pitch like he had found the fountain of youth, belying his inauspicious stats, and the Cubs wasted a scoring opportunity when Willson Contreras flew out after a single and a wild pitch put Kris Bryant on second. “What a drag it is getting old”, said the young catcher.

The fifth inning was similar as Jason Heyward and Greg Jones reached with one out and both got into scoring position as Yarbrough bunted, but Rizzo grounded out harmlessly and the Cubs got no satisfaction.

The Cubs tied it in the seventh as Pittsburgh-area native Ian Happ doubled and was driven in by a Jones single, but the Cubs eventually succumbed in the tenth when Kolten Wong doubled in the lead run.

Today Max Fried tries to tie the series up at 3 CT. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.

Food for Thought:

Thanks for reading!