BCB After Dark: Surprises

Welcome back to BCB After Dark, the after-party for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Please make yourself at home and be kind to the staff. We’re on a limited scheduled tonight, but we’re glad you could stop in. Please 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 Cubs beat the Braves, 6-3 in ten innings tonight. It’s always nice to win one after blowing a lead.

Last time I asked you which struggling Cubs hitter you were least worried about and with 50 percent of the vote, you said Nick Madrigal. Frank Schwindel was in second place with 38 percent.

If I can drop the late-night music club schtick for a moment, I do want to apologize again for not having a BCB After Dark last night. As I wrote in tonight’s Minor League Wrap, I was simply too ill to even sit up straight last night. I’m better tonight, but I’m still quite fatigued and I’m suffering from a persistent headache.

Because of that fatigue (I’ve been on an awake-two-hours/sleep-one-hour schedule today), I’m going to have to have an abbreviated After Dark tonight. I had promised an essay on Odds Against Tomorrow, a very good film noir from 1959 starring Harry Belafonte tonight. But my illness simply didn’t leave me with enough time or energy to do that. You’ll just have to wait until next week.

So there’s not going to be a movie essay tonight, but I did have a jazz track picked for this evening and I can share that with you now. You’re free to skip the jazz if you wish.

When I do get around to writing about Odds Against Tomorrow, I promise that I will mention the terrific soundtrack by The Modern Jazz Quartet. It’s one of the things that film does so very well. So I thought I’d just share a live performance of the title track from the MJQ’s soundtrack Odds Against Tomorrow.

Welcome back everyone who skips the jazz.

I thought tonight’s Cubs win was a pleasant surprise tonight after they blew a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning. So I thought I’d ask you who has been the most “pleasant surprise” for the Cubs so far this year.

You could say Seiya Suzuki, and he’s definitely been the best player on the team so far. But are you surprised about that or did you expect that? Or are you more surprised that Nico Hoerner is hitting over .300 with strong defense at shortstop? Or maybe you’re more surprised that David Robertson has seized the closer’s job and hasn’t given up a run yet this year?

So who is your “most pleasant surprise” on the Cubs so far this season?

Thank you so very much for stopping by tonight. We’ll try to do a better job next week. Please get home safely. Tip your waitstaff. Tell your friends about us. And please join us again next week for another edition of BCB After Dark.