Cub Tracks uses their noodle

Kyle Hendricks, ‘the Professor’ tried to school the Reds Friday night. Two first-inning long drives got him off to a good start. But that was it — the Cubs bats subsequently resumed their secret identities as pool noodles until the top of the ninth when Willson Contreras and Jason Heyward went deep to make the game close. Hendricks stuck around for a good long while but the ball was getting barreled pretty regularly and even when it wasn’t, it was falling. Al will have full details of the contest in his recap.

More reportage has come out regarding the Cubs’ action or inaction Thursday. It dominates the news, so we have a lot of it.

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.

“He’s (Heyward) one of the best human beings on earth. Just the scenarios that people are dealing with that I haven’t ever dealt with. I’ve never had a gun pointed at me. Never. I don’t even understand what that feeling would be like.

“I’ve never had somebody assume things about me because of the color of my skin and be treated in certain ways because of that. I don’t understand that. I try to listen to them. I try to empathize with that and try to change my views and change how I talk to my kids and try to teach. I try to open my eyes to things that I had no idea about. And the only way to do that was to listen.” — David Ross.

• Gabe Zaldivar (Sports Illustrated*): Jason Heyward and Chicago Cubs set an example on astounding night of protest. “The joy has been sucked out of pastimes that used to bring us all such peace.” Mark Gonzales wrote about it. Brett Taylor gathered all of the pertinent tweets. Jordan Bastian brought it all forward to Jackie Robinson Day. NBC Sports Chicago has some video of Heyward. And some of Rizzo too. Jon Greenberg considers it all {$}.Patrick Mooney tops it off {$}.

• Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Cubs’ Heyward, Theo Epstein, Crane Kenney donate to The Players Alliance. “Those are the things that they’re doing to take action,” Heyward said.
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): When sports and racial injustice collide, white athletes must choose if they’re allies or foes. Russell Dorsey also has remarks.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs eye upgrades as Deadline nears. “Epstein is searching the market for possibilities.” Tim Stebbins elaborates, picking up on an Athletic article {$}. Cameron Maybin’s name has come up.
• Brendan MIller (Cubs Insider*): Cubs stats to follow: Willson Contreras rated MLB’s Best Defensive Catcher. “Contreras is the cream of the crop among his peers ...”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Kris Bryant and Steven Souza Jr. each reported to South Bend for some rehab at-bats. No timetable for them, though.
• Tommy Birch (Des Moines Register* {$}): Turk Wendell was baseball’s favorite oddball. Now, he’s living his dream on a small rural Iowa farm. “I (always) said when my son graduates from high school, I’m going to move back to Iowa,’” Wendell said.
• Cubs birthdays: Ensign Cottrell, Ensign Cottrell, Henry Blanco, Anthony Recker, Logan Watkins. Also notable: Billy Cox (goes with the Hendricks Experience doncha know).

SimNews:

Due to circumstances beyond my control, there was no broadcast Friday. Saturday’s game will run at 11 a.m. CT to accommodate the real Cubs doubleheader, and Sunday we’ll play two at old Shea Stadium, also starting at 11 a.m. CT, with a half-hour break between games. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.

Food for thought:

Thanks for reading.I’ll pass on the chili.