BCB After Dark: Thanks for the memory

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the swingin’ spot for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s so good you stopped in for the calm before the storm. We may all have to evacuate at any minute if the trade sirens go off, but until then, settle in and have a beverage with us. That you brought yourself, of course. No corkage fees. Let us know if we can do anything for you. We’ll have all the latest announcements if anything breaks.

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 have the day off before heading to St. Louis tomorrow to take on the Cardinals. I think we’ll see a pretty different team then.

Last time I asked you which departing Cub hurt the most over the past two seasons. I got a huge turnout for this vote—which just goes to show you that Cub fans really bond with their heroes—and Anthony Rizzo came in first in this vote with 48 percent of you choosing him. That makes sense, as Rizzo was the one who was with the team the longest and was the player that was the first piece of the puzzle that won the 2016 World Series. Everyone got some votes and Contreras—who is still with the Cubs but is probably gone by the time you read this—finished in second place with 17 percent.

By the way, a few weeks ago I asked you who the first Cub to get traded would be. Congratulations to the eight percent that said “Chris Martin.” No one said Scott Effross, who was the second one to get dealt. That one came out of the blue.

Here’s the part where I write about jazz and movies. You’re free to skip ahead to the baseball question at the end. You won’t hurt my feelings.

In keeping with tonight’s theme, I’ve got Ella Fitzgerald singing “Thanks for the Memory” on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. This song is most associated with Bob Hope, but I’m sure that were Bob still with us, he’d agree that Ella had the better singing voice. So we are going to present her here tonight.

And this song is dedicated to every Cubs player who has provided happy memories at Wrigley and has now moved on to another organization.

Some apologies for tonight, as between the Draft, the Trade Deadline and family obligations, I really haven’t had the time to do a movie essay. I did watch 1941’s Hold Back the Dawn over the weekend, directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland and Paulette Goddard. The screenplay is by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, and it’s one of the final pictures those two wrote for another director before Wilder started directing their scripts himself.

I will write something on this film for Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

But for now, I’ve also promised to write something about the great actor James Caan, who left us about a month ago. I’ve got “orders” from up-high to write about a particular Caan film and I promise that I’ll get to it soon. I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. But for tonight, I thought I’d just ask you to talk about your favorite James Caan films or your favorite performances from him.

The film that comes to mind immediately on Caan is The Godfather, unless you are an old-time Chicago Bears fan. Then you probably immediately think of Caan’s role in Brian’s Song, which was one of the few films of that time where it was considered acceptable for men to cry while watching it. (I seem to remember that joke during the seventies and early-eighties: real men don’t cry unless they’re watching Brian’s Song.)

Of course, if you’re a bit younger, you probably think of Caan’s performance in Elf or the television show Las Vegas. In any case, feel free to share your favorite James Caan roles or films in the comments.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the jazz and film club.

The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away. At 5 pm Central time, all deals must stop. The Cubs are expected to be very active over the next 14 hours.

So tonight I’m just asking “How active?” How many Cubs are going to be ex-Cubs at this time tomorrow? So far, only a pair of relievers, Chris Martin and Scott Effross, have been dealt. How many of them will join them before the deadline?

I’m not asking you to predict who will be dealt. We’ve already discussed that around here and besides, the trade of Effross shows that no one is safe. Well, I think Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner are about as safe as anyone on the Cubs can be. But everyone else needs to be on their phones and constantly refreshing Twitter.

So how many Cubs will be gone by this time tomorrow? We’re not counting Martin and Effross here. It’s how many in addition to those two.

Thank you all for stopping by. I do see a lot of you were constantly checking your phone, and that’s OK. I hope we provided some entertainment while we all wait for the clock to strike 5 pm. Please drive home safely. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow for another edition of BCB After Dark.