BCB After Dark: See you next October?

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the hip joint for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s great that you stopped by this evening. I hope you’ll make it a habit. There are plenty of good seats still available. Is it raining out? We can check your umbrella if it is. Settle in for a spell. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The Yankees and Guardians finally played Game 5 of their American League Division Series and the Yankees advanced with a 5-1 win. Home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge were the biggest reason New York won, which is pretty much the Yankees plan all along.

The Phillies took a one-game-to-none lead over the Padres with a 2-0 shutout later this evening. Our good friend Kyle Schwarber hit the longest home run in Petco Park history off of our good friend Yu Darvish. Bryce Harper also homered. The Padres offense couldn’t do much off of Zack Wheeler and two relievers.

Last night, I asked you if you preferred a domestic free agent pitcher in Carlos Rodón or an import in Kendai Senga. By a margin of 62 percent to 38, you wanted the import of Senga. In this case, the import might actually be cheaper.

On Tuesday nights/Wednesday mornings, I don’t do a full movie write-up. I am willing to listen to suggestions for tomorrow night because I’m stumped on what to write for a film essay this week. But I always have time for jazz, so those of you who skip that can do so now. You won’t hurt my feelings.

I’m going to interrupt our week of spooky Halloween jazz to honor the birthday of the great bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding, who turned 38 on Tuesday. I’ve made no secret that I’m a fan and I’m betting that 40 years from now, we’ll be mentioning Spalding alongside the legends of jazz like Satchmo, Diz, Bird, Miles, Lady Day, Trane, etc. I guess she’s going to need a catchy nickname first.

Here’s a terrific performance of Spalding singing the jazz standard “Afro Blue” in Istanbul this past July. My only complaint is that she’s only singing and not playing the bass, but she’s got a terrific band behind her anyway and her voice is as good as her bass playing.

In this performance, Spalding is joined by Robert Glasper on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Dale Barlow on flute and Ben Williams has the intimidating task of playing bass behind Spalding. But they all do a great job. This one’s got soul.

Welcome back those of you who skipped the jazz.

Patrick Mooney wrote an article for The Athletic today that said there’s no excuse for the Cubs to not make the playoffs next year. (sub. req.) Mooney points out that six of the seven National League teams that were better than .500 in the National League this season made the postseason. The Cubs certainly have the money to add to the current roster that played over .500 in the second half.

We’re not predicting whether or not the Cubs will put together a World Series contender, although the Phillies and Padres are proving that once you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.

This question will probably be asked around here a few more times before the start of the 2023 season, but let’s ask it again tonight. Will the Cubs make the playoffs next season?

Thanks so much for stopping by. We hope you had a good time. Please recycle any cans or bottles. If you checked anything, we’ll get that for you now. Tell your friends about us. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for another edition of BCB After Dark.