by Kent Sterling The Cubs were in trouble. President of baseball ops Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer looked at their roster, and had no idea where the Cubs would find a workhorse to eat innings. Matt Garza couldn’t be counted on because of his elbow, and free agent acquisition Scott Baker was still […]
by Kent Sterling This is the fourth straight year the Cubs have been a terrible baseball team. When people talk about the reasons for their low quality of play, a black cat at Shea Stadium and a billy goat that belonged to the Sianis family are recited. The truth is that baseball is played by […]
by Kent Sterling Add one more thing to the list of things Len Kasper does a whole lot right as the Cubs TV play-by-play voice. He calls the action in an authentically enthusiastic way, and he never elevates his performance beyond the needs of the audience. He is enough of a fan to call out […]
by Kent Sterling A first base coach can be a drinking buddy for the manager – a bobo who hits pregame fungoes and tells the baserunners on first how many outs there are. They say things like, “Make the line drive go through!” Or he can be a key component in the rebuilding of a […]
by Kent Sterling I wish Cubs owner Tom Ricketts played poker and I could get a seat at his table. Every time he plays a hand, he bluffs, and I would own the Cubs the next day. Today, at a breakfast of business owners in Chicago, he threatened to move. Cubs fans and the City […]
by Kent Sterling Andre Dawson had one of the quickest bats in major league history, a cannon for a right arm, and now is using another asset to help owner Tom Ricketts find his checkbook – the truth. Dawson spoke with the Chicago Sun-Times Gordon Whittenmyer and said some insightful and obvious things: “I never thought […]
by Kent Sterling There is only so much a man can take. Dale Sveum is the manager of the Chicago Cubs, but he’s a competitive human being first. He’s tired of losing. Sveum vented last night before the Cubs blew another save – this one in the 13th inning – to lose to the Cincinnati […]
by Kent Sterling There was a time not too long ago that fans in what is now Bankers Life Fieldhouse bought all the available tickets, got to the game early, and were engaged throughout even meaningless games. Indianapolis was a Pacers town, and Reggie Miller was the hero of every grade school kid who ever […]
by Kent Sterling Since newer stadiums started pampering players as the rock stars they believe they are, opposing players have hated Wrigley Field. Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen raised hell about seeing rats. Now Lance Berkman becomes the latest to squawk about the lack of comfort in one of baseball’s great Cathedrals. “It’s one […]
by Kent Sterling I’ve finally had it with this smarmy intellectual creep. Cubs owner Tom Ricketts has finally gone too far – way too far – in campaigning for what is now the framework of an agreement for expanding the profitability of Wrigley Field and the area near it. There is language for additional night […]