Monday was an off-day for the real Cubs™ and the simCubs™ rolled on. That gave us all another day to bask in Alec Mills’ triumph.
One of our favorite pages to update @Cubs https://t.co/9PajqP8rqP pic.twitter.com/Os7aedmlaF
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) September 14, 2020
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.
Remember when Alec Mills pitched a no-hitter? pic.twitter.com/oMKjQeKkOj
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 14, 2020
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Mills’ unlikely journey culminates in no-hitter. One of the beautiful aspects about baseball is the fact that history can arrive out of nowhere. Jesse Rogers adds on. Russell Dorsey has more. Gordon Wittenmyer has some oddities.
- Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): How the Cubs targeted Mills, trying to trade for the next Kyle Hendricks. “He learned from watching Hendricks’ evolution,” Mike Borzello said.
- Benjamin Hoffman (New York Times*): ‘In baseball, there is neither crying nor the asterisk’. John Thorn says so. He oughta know.
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): David Ross knows Victor Caratini’s role in no-no very well. “When I was catching, I felt like I was along for the ride with Jake,” Ross said. “He was kind of in control.”
- Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Current, former Cubs react on social media to Mills’ no-hitter. “The outing had his teammates and former Cubs ecstatic ... ‘
- Phil Rosenthal (Chicago Tribune* {$}): In calling Mills’ Cubs no-hitter, Marquee’s Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies match the moment — but Bob Uecker unfortunately commits an error on the final play. “From the windup, here it is,” Uecker said. “Bouncer back up the middle and played by Javier Baez, and he’s done it! Wow! Tyrone Taylor has just no-hit the Brewers, and the Cubs take the game 12-to-nothing.”
- (Bleacher Nation*): Why haven’t the Cubs called up their young lefty power arms? There are reasons! Referring to Sahadev Sharma article {$}.
- Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): Jeremy Jeffress and the mentorship he’s providing to the Cubs bullpen. “The guys are just starting to know how good they are and knowing that their stuff plays in the game,” Jeffress said.
- Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Craig Kimbrel being Craig Kimbrel again would be huge for Cubs. “Just like having a static lineup can make hitters more comfortable and productive, knowing when he’s most likely to pitch helps a reliever to establish a routine.” Russell Dorsey concurs.
- Cubs birthdays: Speed Martin, Vance Page, Jim Davis, Duke Simpson, Bob Lennon, Freddie Burdette, Charley Smith, Jason Hardtke. Also notable: Gaylord Perry HOF.
SimNews:
The simCubs won their fifth in a row and 103rd of the season. Yu Darvish an the bullpen allowed one second-inning run while the Cubs swatted doubles all over the yard and Jason Kipnis accounted for all the runs they would need with a fifth-inning long ball. The game ended up not being close as those doubles piled up.
With just 12 games left, the simCubs can’t equal the all-time wins record. But they can come close. The Cubs and Pirates will try again today. Ryan Yarbrough will face Joe Musgrove. Game time is 3 p.m. CT unless otherwise noted. All game video and related material is available commercial-free, 24/7, at the BCB Media Center.
Food for Thought:
Groups of "pissed off" orcas are attacking vessels — even biting chunks off the rudders and disabling the engines to strand them. https://t.co/lhaiFl1Iz2
— Futurism (@futurism) September 14, 2020
A CT scan revealed the cave angel fish has a pelvis and spine similar to those of land dwellers, offering a tantalizing glimpse into how our own aquatic ancestors might have first adapted to life on terra firma some 375 million years ago. https://t.co/GJfTK1v7xd
— Smithsonian Magazine (@SmithsonianMag) September 14, 2020
"These exoplanets are unlike anything in our solar system." https://t.co/CyAt38DqKE
— Futurism (@futurism) September 14, 2020