The JOBC Contest

Five years ago today the Cubs acquired a former all-star slugger and one-time #1 overall pick in the draft. He hit 12 homers for the Cubs that year, but was out of baseball before the next season began.

Name him.

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard, an autographed copy of the excellent baseball novel "The Pitch" (by Hank Owens), plus a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrats to Yuji Fukunaga. He was the first one to e-mail me the answer to this week's JOBC contest question. He knew that Phil Nevin was the player the Cubs acquired on this day in 2006. If you didn't win, check back next Monday. We'll have another JOBC prize package.

Meet the new Cubs

There are seven Cubs on the roster that weren't there when the season began, and after attending a game or two recently, I heard so many "Who is this guy?" comments in the crowd, I thought I'd provide a little primer for you.

The new guys...

Doug Davis (#32)
He's a veteran pitcher that used to kill the Cubs when he was with the Brewers and the Diamondbacks, but was completely out of baseball when the Cubs brought him back. His best season was 2007 when he went 13-12 for Arizona. He pitches very sloooooooow. You can go the concession stand between pitches and not miss a thing. (AP Photo)

DJ LeMahieu (#33)
He's another former LSU infielder who won a game for the Cubs with a walk-off homer in spring training, but in his first at bat yesterday, he grounded into a double play. He was playing in Double A (as a second baseman) when the Cubs called him up.

Lou Montanez (#39)
He was a #1 draft choice of the Cubs in 2000 (as a shortstop), but never made it to the big leagues with us after a very disappointing minor league career. The Cubs released him in 2006, and he signed with the Orioles. He made it to the bigs with the O's as a backup outfielder in 2008. The Orioles released him after the 2010 season and the Cubs picked him up again. He was hitting .369 for Iowa when the Cubs called him up. (AP Photo)

Tony Campana (#41)
Fastest guy on the Cubs. The outfielder wears his hat slightly askew and hustles all the time. Campana has no power at all. He has never hit a home run, even in the minor leagues. He has been a stealing machine, however. In his last two minor league seasons he stole 66 and 55 bases respectively. He also has a lifetime average of over .300. Today is his 25th birthday.

Rodrigo Lopez (#50)
Another veteran pitcher. The Cubs just got him in a trade with Atlanta, where he was pitching for their AAA team. He has quite a bit of big league experience, however, and pitched for the Braves just last year. Unfortunately, he also led the league in home runs allowed (37), had a 5.00 ERA, and was nine games under .500.

Brad Snyder (#56)
He got a cup of coffee with the Cubs last year at the end of the season and hit .185, but Snyder is also a former first round draft choice (Cleveland, 2003). The Cubs claimed him off waivers in 2009. He is power hitting outfielder who slugged 25 HRs and knocked in 106 runs for the Iowa Cubs last year (and hit .308). He had seven homers for Iowa already in 2011 when the Cubs called him up.

Scott Maine (#57)
The Cubs got him from Arizona in the Aaron Heilman trade. He's easily recognizable because of his unusual soul patch beard and his 10.29 ERA. He was a pretty effective reliever in the minors, and even closed games for Iowa, so there is hope he will be able to do it in the big leagues eventually. He's only 26. (Photo: Getty Images)

Rodrigo Lopez?

This is how desperate the Cubs are for pitching right now. They just traded for a 36-year-old Triple A pitcher who led the league last year with 37 home runs allowed.

Details are here.

Sights & Sounds

Sights & Sounds this week features video of Jack Brickhouse talking about his all-time favorite Cub, and a song written by your humble editor and performed by radio legend John Records Landecker during the 1994 Cubs season.

Watch and listen here.

McCartney at Wrigley?

The Sun Times published the rumors I've been hearing, which is that they have two dates set aside at Wrigley for Paul McCartney concerts later this summer. (Details here).

I should note that nothing is being confirmed, but...it sure sounds like it really could happen. There will be suckers willing to pay quite a lot of money for tickets to see that show. I look in the mirror at one of them every day.

Sticking a Fork in it

This is not me talking, mind you, it's a reporter from a television station in South Bend. He is ready to stick a fork in the Cubs season, and has a good reason for doing so. (You can read his reasons here)

I've always been accused of being quick with the fork (last year I stuck it in the season on May 1--but I was right).

I don't know if I'm giddy from the blowout win last night, or if it's just because I can't in all good conscience hand off the division to the likes of Dusty or Tony LaRussa, but I'm not quite ready to stick the fork in the season yet. On the other hand, I'm just being honest when I tell you that I have taken it out of the drawer, and I have polished it.

Sammy loves the Heat

Did you see who was in the stands for the Bulls-Heat game the other night in Miami?

Yup, it was Sammy, and he was rooting for the Heat.

At least he has given up on the idea of bleaching his skin. He looks like the same old Sammy.

The JOBC Contest

On this day in 1967, the Cubs purchased the contract of a little used infielder from the Chicago White Sox. He played briefly for the Cubs, but became better known as their notorious manager a few decades later.

What was his name?

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard, an autographed copy of the excellent baseball novel "The Pitch" (by Hank Owens), plus a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Joe Kane. He was the winner in this week's JOBC Contest. He knew that Lee Elia was the answer and was the first one to e-mail me at rick@justonebadcentury.com. Of course, we all remember this fine Lee Elia moment from his managing days

Marlon Byrd

I don't know if you saw that pitch that hit Marlon Byrd in the face, but it was gruesome. (He's on the 15-day DL with multiple face fractures). I sure hope he's OK. That kind of an injury can affect his eyesight, which is an essential tool for a baseball player.

I'm betting that there were more than a few Boston fans in the stands that were instantly reminded of one of their heroes from about 40 years ago. I remember it well. They had a young star named Tony Conigliaro who also was hit in the face with a pitch. He was never the same after that.

Cubs-Red Sox

A non "was it thrown?" preview of the Cubs versus the Red Sox.

Actually a very enjoyable article that discusses the history of the two respective franchises.

Ogden Nash

My favorite poet, Odgen Nash, died exactly forty years ago today at the age of 68. Nash may not be the literary world's favorite poet, but he speaks to me. For instance, he penned this classic, the shortest poem ever: Candy is Dandy but Liquor is Quicker

Have seven words ever said more?

He also wrote this incredible poem called "Lineup for Yesterday." It was originally printed in the Sport Magazine in 1949, and it's about the greatest baseball players from the first half of the 20th century. Eight of these guys played or managed for the Cubs at one time or another in their career (Alexander, Bresnahan, Dean, Evers, Frisch, Hornsby, Newsom, and Foxx). Long live Ogden Nash.

A is for Alex
The great Alexander;
More Goose eggs he pitched
Than a popular gander.

B is for Bresnahan
Back of the plate;
The Cubs were his love,
and McGraw his hate.

C is for Cobb,
Who grew spikes and not corn,
And made all the basemen
Wish they weren't born.

D is for Dean,
The grammatical Diz,
When they asked, Who's the tops?
Said correctly, I is.

E is for Evers,
His jaw in advance;
Never afraid
To Tinker with Chance.

F is for Fordham
And Frankie and Frisch;
I wish he were back
With the Giants, I wish.

G is for Gehrig,
The Pride of the Stadium;
His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.

H is for Hornsby;
When pitching to Rog,
The pitcher would pitch,
Then the pitcher would dodge.

I is for Me,
Not a hard-hitting man,
But an outstanding all-time
Incurable fan.

J is for Johnson
The Big Train in his prime
Was so fast he could throw
Three strikes at a time.

K is for Keeler,
As fresh as green paint,
The fastest and mostest
To hit where they ain't.

L is for Lajoie
Whom Clevelanders love,
Napolean himself,
With glue in his glove.

M is for Matty,
Who carried a charm
In the form of an extra
brain in his arm.

N is for Newsom,
Bobo's favorite kin.
You ask how he's here,
He talked himself in.

O is for Ott
Of the restless right foot.
When he leaned on the pellet,
The pellet stayed put.

P is for Plank,
The arm of the A's;
When he tangled with Matty
Games lasted for days.

Q is for Don Quixote
Cornelius Mack;
Neither Yankees nor years
Can halt his attack.

R is for Ruth.
To tell you the truth,
There's just no more to be said,
Just R is for Ruth.

S is for Speaker,
Swift center-field tender,
When the ball saw him coming,
It yelled, "I surrender."

T is for Terry
The Giant from Memphis
Whose .400 average
You can't overemphis.

U would be 'Ubell
if Carl were a cockney;
We say Hubbell and Baseball
Like Football and Rockne.

V is for Vance
The Dodger's very own Dazzy;
None of his rivals
Could throw as fast as he.

W is for Wagner,
The bowlegged beauty;
Short was closed to all traffic
With Honus on duty.

X is the first
of two x's in Foxx
Who was right behind Ruth
with his powerful soxx.

Y is for Young
The magnificent Cy;
People battled against him,
But I never knew why.

Z is for Zenith
The summit of fame.
These men are up there.
These men are the game.

The 1918 World Series

Oh this won't be the last article written about it because of the historic upcoming series against the Red Sox, but I will say this: It's the first one that's appropriately sarcastic about the "thrown" World Series.

I didn't write it, but it's written pretty much exactly the way I would have written it.

(That's the official 1918 Cubs logo from 1918, by the way)

Andrew Cashner

The news is not good on Andrew Cashner, the best young arm in the Cubs system. His MRI showed an aggravated strain.

More details are here.

I have to say, the way things have been going the last few weeks, I have pulled the fork out of the silverware drawer. I'm not sticking it into the season yet, but I am polishing it and getting it ready to go.

The All Over The Hill Pitching Staff

The list reads like a pitching Who's Who. It's hard to believe they all pitched for the Cubs, but it's true.

Burleigh Grimes, Dizzy Dean, Johnny Vander Meer, Lew Burdette, Curt Simmons, Don Larsen, Robin Roberts, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Goose Gossage.

Of course, I gave it away in the headline. They were all waaaay over the hill, and that's today's Tale from a Bad Century.

The JOBC Contest

We'll be hearing a lot about the 1918 World Series this week because the Cubs will travel to Fenway for the first time since 1918. That 1918 Cubs team featured a first baseman that was one of the best known players in the league at the time...and not for a good reason.

What was his name?

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard, an autographed copy of the excellent baseball novel "The Pitch" (by Hank Owens), plus a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.


UPDATE: Congratulations to Bill Whitburn, the first person to e-mail me the correct answer. He knew that Fred Merkle, the notorious Boner or Bonehead, was the first baseman on that 1918 World Series Cubs team. (Read all about Boner's story here.)

Jim Hendry fired?

Did you hear that Cubs GM Jim Hendry was fired? He wasn't, but Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio reported it before correcting himself.

Here's how that whole event transpired.

The 1918 World Series

With the upcoming Cubs-Red Sox series this weekend, be prepared to be hearing an awful lot about the 1918 World Series, and the possibility it was fixed.

The New York Times did a story about it this past weekend, and I suspect their version will be the best one out there. They don't have a horse in this race, so at the very least, it's unbiased.

Bulls vs. Cubs

What does this say about me? Last night the most exciting player in the NBA, our local hero MVP, led his team to a playoff victory at the United Center...and I was watching the Cubs-Cardinals game instead.

I think I may be sick.

By the way, the Cubs had 17 baserunners last night against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter and scored a whopping 4 runs.

When is the next Bulls game? I think it's officially time to switch.

The SI Curse

A Yahoo! writer examines the SI Curse and worries that Starlin Castro is already falling victim to it. He also names several other high-profile jinx-victims that SI has strewn across the countryside.

I share his sense of foreboding, but as someone on my facebook page pointed out to me--the curse has also been broken many times. Most recently, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers did OK in that Super-thingee, and if memory serves a certain guy named Michael something or other was on the cover about fifty times.

Ryan Theriot

He's baaaaack. But this time he's wearing red. Ryan Theriot is the starting shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals this year and the Cardinals are in town for a three game series.

You may not remember this, but in the off-season, Ryan said some things that angered Cubs fans. He told a St. Louis radio station in December that he was now "finally on the right side" of the rivalry and questioned his former team's commitment to winning a long-awaited World Series title.

Carlos Zambrano, when told about this comment, labeled Ryan as "the enemy."

Should be a great pitching matchup at Wrigley today (Zambrano vs. Carpenter), but all eyes will be on Theriot when he steps in the box the first time against Carlos. I'm guessing there will be a playful brushback, followed by a total overreaction from Tony LaRussa.


LATE UPDATE: "RP" writes in to make me feel guilty..."No overreaction from Tony tonight. He will not manage the game, but has stayed in Arizona at the Mayo Clinic there to receive treatment on the shingles that has swollen his right eye shut." (Read the story here)