I know, right? Strange days indeed. Most peculiar.
I’m going to miss Mark Gonzales. Good luck out there, Mark.
I’m leaving the Tribune after more than 15 years. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented editors, writers and photographers. I look forward to the next chapter TBD.
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) January 11, 2021
Kris Bryant is in the best shape of his life, and he’s still a Cub.
According to @martinonyc, Kris Bryant could be traded “as soon as this weekend.”
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) January 9, 2021
Where do you think he will end up? pic.twitter.com/Oq0Brq5G0R
Hot legs, man. Dancin’ on that stove.
Sources: The #BlueJays, still seeking a major offseason move, are among the clubs that have checked with the #Cubs on Kris Bryant, but there haven’t been active talks between the teams in recent weeks. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 11, 2021
Here’s Cub Tracks News and Notes, your every-other-day-except-on-weekends escape from the humdrum. 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 on this page as sarcasm font. (In the comments section, use @ before and after your remarks @ to produce sarcasm font.)
“He is one of the few play-by-play men who could do color commentary,” Rick Sutcliffe said about his former ESPN TV partner. “That is how smart and versatile Boog’s range is as a broadcaster. He will be able to keep your attention and have fun even in a 17-4 game.”
- Bill Thompson (Beyond the Box Score): The time has come for the Ricketts to sell the Cubs. “The Ricketts family has used the Cubs exactly as intended...”
- Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation*): Marquee should offer alternative Chicago Cubs broadcasts. “If you want to build your next audience, you need to entertain them, sure, but you also need to educate them.”
- Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Why Jon ‘Boog’ Sciambi took the Cubs job, expects smooth transition. “Len Kasper had used Sciambi as a sounding board to help him decide if he was making the right decision.”
- Bruce Levine (Marquee Sports Network*): Boog Sciambi fits the mold of historic Cubs TV voices. “... the game may not always hold the interest of all viewers without some redirection from the interlocutor doing the broadcast.”
- David Schoenfield (ESPN+ {$}): Should the Chicago Cubs trade Willson Contreras and Bryant — and who should deal for them? “... the Cubs have indeed talked with teams about Contreras.”
- Todd Johnson (Cubs Insider*): Cubs set to sign 5 International Free Agents Friday, including phenom SS Cristian Hernandez. “MLB’s international free agency will finally open this Friday.”
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Bryant, Ryno top Cubs’ best 1-game displays. “The best game of my whole life, obviously,” Bryant said after that game in ‘16.
- Matt Monagan (MLB.com*): This small nation is crazy about the Cubs. “The wild story of how Belize embraced a team 3,000 miles away.”
- Will Leitch (MLB.com*): The longest-tenured player on each club. “Our teams are constantly shifting and transforming into something different, whether we realize it or not.”
- AP via ESPN*: Longtime baseball man, former player Joe Amalfitano retires. “... just shy of his 87th birthday.”
Food for thought:
This is pretty impressive, from an engineering point of view. https://t.co/8eigCfhO0a
— Futurism (@futurism) January 11, 2021
For The First Time, Astronomers May Have Heard The Background 'Hum' of The Universehttps://t.co/0D7E4n3fff
— ScienceAlert (@ScienceAlert) January 11, 2021
Here's what the Earth would look like in a "Mad Max" scenario. https://t.co/DWrta8IdJe
— Futurism (@futurism) January 11, 2021
Thanks for reading.