BCB After Dark: Remembering Jake

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the swinging spot for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Pull up a chair and settle in. Let us take your hat and coat. If you were at the game tonight, I hope you brought something warm to drink. The show will start soon.

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 Cubs fell to the Rays tonight, 6-5. Had there not been instant replay, the Cubs might have won this game as the Rays scored three runs in third inning, including a two-run home run by Wander Franco, after Randy Arozarena was ruled safe on review after what had looked like an inning-ending double play. I think replay got the call correct, but it’s still a bitter pill to swallow.

Last time I asked you which homegrown Cubs pitcher you were most excited about and you went with tonight’s starter Justin Steele with 55 percent of the vote. In second place was Keegan Thompson with 31 percent. Adbert Alzolay got seven percent of the vote.

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I don’t do a film essay. But there’s always time for jazz during Jazz Appreciation Month or any month. So those of you who skip that can do so now.

Tonight’s jazz track may not be a jazz track at all. I think it may be better classified at prog rock played by a group put together by a jazz artist. As I listen to this video, there are parts of this performance that are definitely better classified as progressive rock and others that are more jazzy or at least jazz fusion.

But really, jazz shouldn’t get hung up on labels. And if I can throw a bone to all those prog rock fans out thee, I’ll do so. Here’s a track from keyboardist Brad Mehldau’s new album Jacob’s Ladder. It’s a cover of Rush’s classic rock tune, “Tom Sawyer.” Listen and tell me what you think, especially if you’re a Rush fan. Because I’m still not sure what I think about it.

On Monday, one of the greatest pitchers in Cubs history, Jake Arrieta, called it a career, saying “It’s just my time.” Anyone who saw Arrieta pitch in 2021 probably wouldn’t argue with Jake about that, but in his prime, Arrieta was the best. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2015 and won both of this starts in the 2016 World Series. But maybe just as important, Arrieta’s arrival in 2013 from Baltimore became a sign that the Cubs were on the right track during their painful rebuild. Arrieta struggled with the Orioles (his ERA in five starts in 2013 was 7.23 and it was 6.20 in 114 ²⁄₃ innings the year before), but he looked like a solid starter with the Cubs, going 4-2 with a 3.66 ERA in nine starts down the stretch. That seemed like it was a sign of better things to come. For Arrieta and the Cubs, they sure did come.

So going off this article by Maddie Lee from February of 2021 when Jake re-signed with Chicago, what was your favorite memory of Jake Arrieta? Was it either of the two World Series games? The incredible performance at PNC Park in the 2015 Wild Card Game? One of his two no-hitters? Something else?

We are so glad you stopped by and we hope we were able to take your mind off tonight’s loss for a while. Tomorrow is another game. Let us get your hat and coat for you. Please tip your waitstaff. Get home safely. And join us again tomorrow night for another edition of BCB After Dark.