You Can't Go Back To The Past

I received telephone calls from concerned friends on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Saturday call was from my old Chicago friend Slow Eddie. After the traditional Howya doin’ conversation:
He sez “Howya doin’?”
I sez “Ok, howya doin’?”
He sez “Ok”.
We both lied!
He said that he called because I haven’t written a Blog in over three weeks and that he was concerned. Basically he was just checking to see if I was still among the living.

We then talked about Baseball. He a White Sox fan and I am a Cubs fan. He was boasting that he has watched more than 100 Sox games this year and even some Cubs games. He retired last spring so, like me, he has a lot of time to watch Baseball.

I boasted back saying that I have seen more than 250 games this year (predominately the Tampa Bay Rays). Plus I have seen every MLB Team play this year.

He also asked me why I was a Cub and not a White Sox fan, after all I did grow up on the south side. I told him that I had told him the story nearly 50 years ago and maybe I would blog about it in the near future.

After about 15 minutes of talking Baseball, he switched the topic to our High School days and the old neighborhood. A week ago Slow decided to show his grandchildren our old neighborhood and what once was Harrison High School. A big mistake says Slow, since he hadn’t been there for about 25 years. Slow has lived in Berwyn of more than 30 years.

His grandchildren live in a northwestern suburb named Schaumburg and except for going to the Lake or the Downtown/Grant Park area they have never seen the real city up close. Both of his sons will come to visit him in Berwyn and bring their children to see Grandpa. He told me the route that he took and I cringed. It was very similar to the route that my cousin, the Admiral, took to show my daughters our old neighborhood in 1996 (I remember him saying to “make sure the doors are locked and the windows are closed”).

Slow Eddie was surprised to see all the changes on 26th Street (South). He said there was a sign in one store window that said English Spoken Here. He said that it must had been a joke because he didn’t a single white person on the streets that he traveled (Eddie considers Spanish speaking people to be non-white – it has something to do with the Moors invading the Iberian Peninsula).

The kids couldn’t wait until the tour was over and neither could Eddie. He took 31st Street back home and stopped at the “Home Run Inn” to get a pizza for lunch. He decided to take it home because “except for some of the staff there wasn’t a white person in the place”.

After the story about the trip to the old neighborhood, he decided that he is considering moving from Berwyn to Schaumburg, He would sell his house and buy a condo outright. I asked him if it was to be closer to his children and grandchildren. He said that and the fact that some Salvadorians had moved in across the street from him and that they do not speak English. Besides he was tired of mowing the lawn and shoveling the snow.

So I sez “how do you know that they are Salvadorians?” He sez “the Mexicans that live three doors down told me.”

Slow Eddie closes the conversation with “I’ll really miss the neighborhood Bars, all that they have in Schaumburg is high class yuppie places.”

The Beach Bum

A Perfect 9

In modern day Major League Baseball it is rare to see a pitcher throw a complete game. Rarer yet is seeing a no hitter pitched. Before yesterday I had seen six no hitters and one of those in person. But the rarest pitching feat in baseball is the perfect game.

In my lifetime, I would estimate that I have seen more than 7000 MLB games. Two of those have been Perfect games. Actually two and a half (I was able to watch the last four innings of Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series – I’ll never forget Yogi Berra jumping on Larsen after the last pitch).

The first perfect game that I watched was on our new 17 inch color television. I believe that my Dad (who would always say “color television hasn’t been perfected yet.”) had bought it so he could watch Baseball games in color. It sat on top of our old 27 inch B&W on which he would watch almost everything else.

This game was the Cubs versus the LA Dodgers in Los Angeles. Sandy Kofax was pitching for the Dodgers. Although we were both die hard Cubs fans we found ourselves cheering for Sandy during the 9th inning. My Dad had never seen a perfect game.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to watch my second perfect game. It was an afternoon game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago White Sox. Mark Buehrle was the White Sox pitcher. It was shown in the local market by Fox Sports Florida. The announcers were Dwayne Staats and Brian Anderson (I would have much preferred to hear Steve Stone and Hawk Harrelson call the game but it wasn’t on WGN America).

During the eight inning, Staats spoke about the possibility of Buerhle getting his second no hitter in the last three seasons. Shortly after that statement Pat Burrell slapped a ball up the left field line. Fortunately it went foul and Burrell lined out to third base on three pitches later to end the inning.

At the beginning of the top half of the ninth inning both Staats and Anderson intimated that Buerhle was flirting with a perfect game as well as a no hitter: mentioning that the Chicago fans had not seen a no hitter in their ballpark for a long time. This is usually the “kiss of death” as players as well as fans tend to be superstitious. In the old days it was an unwritten rule that broadcasters did not mention these possibilities.

At this time Sox manager Ozzie Guillen made a defensive move placing Dewayne Wise in center field.

The first Rays batter in the ninth inning was Gabe Kapler. After a two and two count Kapler whacked a pitch to center field; it was heading for the center field stands and would surely be a Home Run (Gabe, Mark and I knew that "crack of the bat" sound well). This would end the perfect game, the no hitter and the shutout for Buerhle.

But center fielder Wise timed his move perfectly, jumped high and caught the ball just before it went into the stands. The look of amazement on Buerhle's face was an awesome sight to see. Now, for me, that’s baseball excitement!

Two outs later Buerhle was swamped by his fellow players; he had pitched a perfect game. I cried, thinking about the time that my Dad and I watched Kofax’s perfect game.


The Beach Bum

Slammin' Sammy

Wednesday I read some rather alarming news. I was really shocked to find out that Sammy Sosa was on the list of over 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003.

Give me a break; who didn’t know this? I was actually shocked when they found his corked bat; I guess that he had to make up for the discontinued use of steroids somehow.

Then yesterday the Chicago Tribune polled their sports writers (the ones that are eligible to vote on the Hall of Fame ballot) to see if they would vote for Sammy. There was one yes, one undecided, and the rest basically said hell no. I wasn’t surprised. I read these writers online on a regular basis. Most of them don’t really cover the sport as I think that it should be covered. If I want to read opinions I go to the Op-Ed page not the Sports section.

Also most these Baseball writers are not as knowledgeable as some of the broadcasters; such as Steve Stone, Bob Uecker and Peter Gammons. In fact, I as well as some of my friends know the game better than the writers do (of course we are much older and have followed baseball for a much longer time). Sometimes when reading their columns I chuckle and just shake my head.

Should Sammy be kept out of the Baseball Hall of Fame? I think not.

I never was a big Sosa fan; in fact I was upset when the Cubs traded George Bell (a fellow Dominican) to the White Sox for him in 1992. Sosa was then hitting in the low .200’s with no “Pop and Hop” and was a satisfactory outfielder at best. Steve Stone was broadcasting for the Cubs on WGN back then and he held the same opinion (of Sosa and the trade) as I did. Great baseball minds think alike.

The Sammy started to play on a regular basis and his numbers went up. The Cubs Fans started to like him, more and more.

Then in 1998, Sosa and Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) battled it out to see who would beat Roger Maris’ Home Run record (61). Everywhere that they (Cardinals and Cubs) played the attendance records would skyrocket. WGN (a Tribune Company) broadcast all of the Cubs games and I’m sure that they raised the cost of an advertising minute during these broadcast. The Cubs and Sammy Sosa were being seen across the nation on almost a daily basis.

People that would not normally watch these games were now watching. It was bringing excitement back to Major League Baseball and building a broader overall fan base. It essentially rejuvenated baseball.

The fact that both McGwire and Sosa were more than likely using performance enhancing drugs was mentioned, but not really an issue at the time (I knew it, the Sports Writers knew it, and MLB knew it). It’s the same case with Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron’s career Home Run record. In all three instances, the fan base and attendance increased. Is this bad for Baseball?

The same Nanzy-Panzy Sports Writers that had previously lauded all three of the aforementioned players are now condemning them.

Is the using of performance enhancing drugs good for Baseball? Definitely not! Should their use of these drugs keep the users out of the Baseball Hall of Fame? Definitely not! These players created a lot of new Baseball fans and brought back some old fans. Their records are tarnished, but they still are on the books.

The Beach Bum

Saluting

On Saturday I watched two MLB games; the first game was between the Marlins and the Mets and was presented on our local Florida cable sports network the Sun Sports Network.

The second game was on Fox featuring Minnesota at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Both Florida teams won their games.

I should have been happy, but I wasn’t; in fact I was a bit perturbed.

Saturday May 30th was the real Memorial Day, at least in my opinion. The Federal Holiday was last Monday. This change (of dates) was created to give government employees (federal, state and local), as well as bank employees and Wall Street, a three day weekend.

First of all, Memorial Day (Decoration Day) shouldn’t be considered as a day to celebrate, party and shop, but a day to honor our soldiers. It’s a day to honor the dead that served their country. And served it with the ultimate sacrifice; their lives.

Back to Saturday and the ballgames.

Both the Sun Network and Fox switched to commercials when the National Anthem was played. This really angered me. I had planned to stand up and salute (it is now allowed for former serviceman to salute during the Anthem) to honor our fallen soldiers during the singing of the Anthem.

The Cubs (and White Sox) games on WGN always show the singing of the National Anthem before the game and then they cut to a commercial. I usually stand and salute (and get tears in my eyes)!

Saturday was a special day and to salute my fallen comrades I had to go to youtube. This is a shame!

The Beach Bum

Cheering for the Home Team

For the past two nights I’ve been watching the Rays and Marlins (no, not the sea critters, the Baseball teams) and I am watching the rain delayed game now. The Interleague games are being played at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Land Shark Stadium) in Miami. This is not a Baseball Park it is a Football Stadium which is adapted to look like a baseball field. It doesn’t look like a ballpark.

The seating for Football is in the mid 70 thousand range and cut back to around 40,000 for Baseball (the seating is expanded when the Marlins are in the Playoffs or in the World Series).

The Marlins are a marginally profitable Baseball team; they have very low attendance at most home games. Therefore they trade away their good players just before it comes time for them to become free agents. More than several of the best pitchers and hitters in Major League Baseball are products of the Marlin’s organization. They are no longer on the team because the Marlins could no longer afford to pay them. What do the Marlins get in return; some more top prospects, young players that will work cheap until they get a shot at the big money.

The Marlins average about 17,000 fans per game. Although the cameramen try not to, all you see in the outfield is empty seats. Also when you watch the game on television the (amplified) crowd noise is not that loud. Imagine how it sounds to players at this large stadium. The players tend to play better when there is a large crowd cheering for them.

I remember going to Wrigley Field on weekday afternoons in the late 1950’s with attendance under 10,000 fans and it sounding louder than what I am hearing on amplified television today.

A friend explains this phenomenon to me by saying old people cannot yell too loud (plus most are half asleep during the game – “Wake me up if someone hits a Homer”). Kids can yell loud and tend to cheer for their team much more than the older crowd.

When I was a kid I went to a lot of Cubs games at Wrigley Field. I would arrive there for batting practice and talk to the players. One of my all-time favorite players was Ernie Banks. Ernie would talk to all of the kids and sign autographs. He would genuinely thank us for coming to the game to cheer on the Cubs, saying that we should make a lot of noise for the home team. According to Ernie this made a difference to the players (he told us “we want to hear you”).

If I were David Sampson (President of the Florida Marlins) I would give 10,000 General Admission tickets (per home game) away to kids between the ages of 11 and 16 when accompanied by an adult paying for a half priced ticket (and fill up those empty seats). Not only are you building a fan base but you are also making money on concessions that you wouldn't have otherwise. Plus the players get to hear a lot more cheering for the home team.

The Beach Bum

Number 42

When I was a preteen there was a phrase that you always heard when you went to the Ballpark; “You can’t tell the players apart without a scorecard.” I always bought one because I usually got to Wrigley Field during batting practice and would try to get the players autographs. I didn’t really need it to “tell the players apart”; I had their baseball cards and had seen most of them on television. Besides the public address announcer would name them before the game and again during their first at bat in the game.

Yesterday I watch three games on television. Only one of my favored teams won; the Marlins. The Rays came close against the Yankees and the White Sox decided not to hit the ball against the Tigers. The best part about the Sox game was being able to hear Steve Stone’s commentary once again. I believe that Stoney is one of the most knowledgeable people in Baseball; he knows the game better than many managers (especially former Cubs manager Dusty Baker).

Yesterday was Jackie Robinson Day and every player, on every team, wore the number 42 in his honor; even a scorecard would not have helped a neophyte baseball fan at the Ballpark. I never got to see Robinson play in person but saw him several times on Black & White television.

For you non-baseball fans, Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the Major League of Baseball. Branch Rickey, then president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, first signed Robinson to a minor league contract and brought him up to the majors the following year.

There were many players in the Negro League that were better and younger than Jackie Robinson. But Rickey chose Robinson because he believed that Jackie could handle the pressure and harassment by fans and from the other players more easily. Jackie did and in a few years became a fan favorite; the rest is history.

Had Rickey (or someone else) waited another 4 or 5 years to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball, we may not have celebrated Jackie Robinson Day yesterday. “Say Hey”, it could have been Willie Mays Day.

The Beach Bum

Prioritizing Things

The reason I haven’t been Blogging much lately is that I have been very busy studying. During the past week or so I have been reading to a great extent everything that I can about the upcoming Major League Baseball season. I do this every year at this time.

I ‘m busy preparing for my Fantasy Baseball League’s draft this Saturday. This is our league‘s 25th Anniversary. It’s an Old Farts league but it didn’t start out that way. Most of the guys were in their early to mid 30’s when the league was formed 25 years ago.

It will be held, as usual, in Forest Park, Illinois. Five team owners will not be in attendance because we live too far away to make it practical to for us attend the draft; especially the team from Hawaii. The last draft that I attended was in 2003.

In the past, by not attending you had to make frequent telephone calls for updates. You also would miss out on the Pizza break; not to mention the constant chiding and harassment by the other team owners.

Five years ago I partially remedied the situation by setting up a chat room. Several of the guys will bring wireless notebooks to the draft and will type the barbs as well as the picks seconds after they are chosen. This has sped up the drafting process by nearly an hour.

For now, I’ll have to go back to doing my homework and somewhat put my Blogging on hold for the next few days.

The Beach Bum

Baseball, Hamburgers and Politics

Last weekend I spoke to a friend and fellow Cubs fan. I hadn’t spoken to him since last October. As always, the first 20 minutes of our conversation centered on the Cubs and Baseball in general. Once the 2009 season begins we will be on the phone nearly once a week.

Then we moved on to health concerns, particularly mine. This lasted for about 3 minutes; he has no major health concerns (except for high cholesterol – he takes Lipitor) and mine are Status Quo.

Finally we moved on to meatier topics. Our new President, the Bailouts, the Economy and Hamburgers.

This part of the conversation began with Hamburgers. I asked him if he remembered the name of a certain restaurant in Melrose Park that served the best burgers that I have ever eaten. When I lived Berwyn in the early 1980’s I would take my girlfriend there at least once every ten days.

I began to describe the Restaurant and within seconds he said “Come Back Inn.” How could I have forgotten? I then asked him if he been there lately and he told me that it was closed several years ago. I said “What? – Why?”

He then asked me if I remember why he moved from Cicero (Cook County) to Downers Grove (DuPage County) in 1990. He had lived on the southwest side of Cicero for 38 years (from birth until 2 months before his 39th Birthday). The house that he bought in Cicero was just two blocks away from his parents’ house. So I said “To be closer to work (the Company that he work for had moved to Schaumburg the year before)?” He laughed and said “Guess again.”

My second guess was lower taxes. Wrong again! “OK I give up.”

He answered “The demographics (in Cicero) were rapidly changing, the crime rate was swiftly rising and the Democrats were outnumbering the Republicans (Cicero and neighboring Berwyn had always been a stronghold for the Cook County Republican Party). The same thing happened in Melrose Park, but at least the criminals there spoke a version of the English language; when they asked you for your wallet, you understood what they were saying and didn’t get knifed or shot.” Now it was my turn to laugh.

Next, I said “I guess that you’re not happy with the outcome of the last election.” He then said “What do you mean, I voted for Obama.” For a few seconds I was thunderstruck. All that I could say was wow. After the shock wore off, I asked him why?

He gave me the same reasons that other Chicago suburban area lifelong Republicans had given me.

For that one moment, they put aside the bigotry that they were taught (as I was) as children. They voted with their minds rather than their hearts. I hope that President Obama proves their decisions to be right.

The Beach Bum

A Good Interview - A Great Baseball Player

Last Monday night I watched an interview on ESPN. The interviewer was Peter Gammons. I don’t particularly like Peter Gammons, but I do respect him for his knowledge of the game of Baseball. He is extremely perceptive; however he comes off as being very dry when making his comments.

Monday night’s interview was with Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. I have always been an A-Rod fan and in my opinion he is currently the best player in Baseball. Many other Baseball fans share this opinion. He is a team player, rather than being someone like Barry Bonds; who tended to look at his teammates as a supporting cast for his show.

The last time that I went to Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg), several years ago, was not to see the Rays play, but to see Alex Rodriguez play. I can’t stand the Trop; it’s a crappy Ballpark. Many others came to the Ballpark that night and the three game series with the Yankees set a record in attendance for a three game series.

The subject of the Monday night Gammons’ interview with Alex Rodriguez, was centered on his taking of performance enhancing drugs during the three years that he played for the Texas Rangers. He tested positive in 2003.

A-Rod said that he took them because of the pressure to perform up to the expectations of the fans and the Texas Rangers management (he had just signed a 10 year contract for $252 million – the highest paid Baseball player ever). He also said that he stopped taking performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 and that he has not tested positive since Major League Baseball began penalties for testing positive in 2004.

I looked up his career Stats on Baseball-Reference.com. From 1998 though 2000 A-Rod hit 125 Home Runs while playing for Seattle. In his three years with the Rangers he hit 156 Home Runs. However he played 47 more games in those three years than he had in the past 3 years with Seattle. Not to mention the fact that playing 81 games per year in Texas (historically) helps the player’s Slugging Percentage and Home Run production.

A-Rod never specifically said what he was taking and where he got it. He did however say “Back then, you could walk into GNC and get four or five different products that would probably trigger a positive test.” He also intimated that many other players were doing the same as he did, when he said “The culture was pretty prevalent.”

I hope that this doesn’t blemish Rodriguez’s accomplishments. He had the guts to tell us about his drug use and he also apologized to his fans and to all baseball fans, for falling into a trap.

Instead of diminishing my admiration for A-Rod, the interview increase my appreciation of him as a player and a person.

The Beach Bum

The New Mister October?

The Tampa Bay Rays are on their way to the MLB World Series. Including the playoffs, I’ve watched more than 130 of their games this year and I’m a Cubs fan. But the Rays are the local team and appear on television for most, if not all, of the games they play. In past years I probably only watched 80 to 100 games per year, I now have Rays fever.

The Tampa Bay area also has Rays fever. It’s about time. In the past all would hear about, when people talked about local pro sports teams, were the Buccaneers and the Lightning. The Bucs are having a very good year and still they have been overshadowed by the Rays.

But that is not really what this Blog is about. It’s about an individual player on the team.

In the 1970’s New York Yankee catcher Thurman Munson called Reggie Jackson “Mister October”. The nickname stuck because he lived up to the title. In 5 World Series his team won 4 times. In 98 World Series at bats Reggie had a Batting Average of .357 and a .755 Slugging Percentage. He hit 10 home runs and had 24 RBI’s. His lifetime regular season Batting Average was .262 and a Slugging Percentage of .490.


During the regular season this year Rays Outfielder/2nd baseman B.J. Upton hit .273 with a .401 SLG%, 9 Home Runs and 67 RBIs. This is the first time that Upton has played in the post season. His numbers for 11 Playoff games, 46 at bats, .304 BA, 7 HR’s , 15 RBI’s and a Slugging Percentage of .826.

If he keeps up pace this during the Series, I’ll be calling him the New Mister October.

The Beach Bum

Next Year - I'll Pray to Saint Jude

A long time ago a friend’s father, who was an avid Cubs Fan, told me that the corner of Clark and Addison was where the “Street of Broken Dreams” meets the “Avenue of Despair”. I laughed! That was in 1980 when I could still laugh about my favorite Baseball team losing. There was always next year.

Last night, or should I say, in the wee small hours of the morning, I recalled what a 70 year old Cubs Fan had told me 28 years before. Now I understood the meaning of his words.

The Cubs were swept by the Dodgers in the Divisional Playoff Series. The team with the best regular season record in the National League lost three games in a row to the team with the worst divisional record in the Playoffs.

I didn’t read any of the Chicago Sports Writers take on this series and probably won’t for several days; when the angst wears off.

I really believed that this would be the year that the Chicago Cubs would go to the World Series. And perhaps even win the World Series. Other years I just hoped, but this year I believed.

This morning I received 2 consoling emails. One was from a Cubs Fan who said “didn’t I tell you not to get your hopes up” and the other from a White Sox Fan who wrote “I know how you feel, maybe next year.”

I don’t think that I have that many next years left.

The Beach Bum

No Joy in Wrigleyville

There is no joy in Wrigleyville tonight. The Chicago Cubs have just lost their second home game, in the divisional playoffs, to the LA Dodgers. It was a slaughter! Cub’s fans, like me, are crying in their beer tonight. Two Cub errors in the second inning (4 total in the game) put the Cubs in a hole that they couldn’t crawl out of. For the second night in a row the Cubs bats remained silent. They showed a little life in the ninth inning. It was too little, too late. As Maynard G Krebbs, from Dobie Gillis would say “for shame, for shame.”

It’s on to LA, where doubtfully, they will win two and return to Chicago for the series finally. I can dream, can’t I?


The Beach Bum

Let the Games Begin

Yesterday I watched all three MLB Playoff games on WTBS. I was disappointed with the outcomes, but not the least bit surprised. All three of the teams that I wanted to win, lost. This is one of the reasons that I do not bet on sporting events.

Being a lifelong Cubs fan the most disappointing game was the Cubs/Dodgers. The Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster had the best regular season home pitching record (14-3) in the National League. He averaged 3.3 walks per 9 innings pitched this season and .3 home runs (6) per game started (20) at Wrigley Field. So what happens? Dempster gives up 7 walks in 4 and 2/3 innings and dishes up a Grand Slam. Seeing this happen, the Cubs bats go silent for the remainder of the game.

I didn’t think that the Brewers would beat Cole Hammels, but I can hope, can’t I. I dislike the Phillies, or should I say that I dislike their fans. This dates back to the 1980’s when I went to see the Cubs play the Phillies at Veterans Stadium (I was living in Maryland at the time). I, of course, was cheering for the Cubs and was surrounded by Phillies fans. The language aimed towards me and my friends (one female) would make a sailor blush. But this didn’t stop me from rooting for my team. What followed then was a threat; that if I didn’t shut my trap, it would be shut for me. We left our good seats and moved to seats where there were no other people. I never went back to the Vet. Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, Bullshit.

The last game of the night was the Angels/Red Sox. This was the best game that I watched yesterday. Both starting pitchers pitched excellent games. Lester pitched a fantastic game. I was favoring the Angels because I like their manager Mike Scioscia. I liked him as a player (Dodgers) and I like him as a manager. Of course I should be rooting for Boston. Because if the Rays beat the White Sox in the Divisional series, I think that they would stand a better of going to the World Series by playing Boston.

This puts me in a quandary. Who should I cheer for this afternoon when the Rays play the White Sox? When I moved to Florida the Rays became my second team (I've watched more than 100 of their games this year), when I lived in Maryland it was the Orioles. But I’m originally from Chicago and I always cheer for Chicago teams. It’s going to be a tough call that I’ll make a game time.

As far as a prediction as to who will win the divisional series and who will go on to the League Championship, I rather not say, for fear that I jinx the teams that I am pulling for. Like most true Cubs fans I am very superstitious about making a prediction.

Yesterday, one of my favorite Bloggers , The Curmudgeon, wrote two Baseball Blogs and made his predictions for divisional series. I hope that he isn’t right!

The Beach Bum

The Playoffs

After I posted yesterday’s Blog I turned on the television to watch the Marlins play the Mets. But at 2PM I switched over to the Cubs/Brewers game. I think that the Cubs gave this game to the Brewers. For the Cubs it was a meaningless game and it meant the playoffs for the Brewers. I toggled back to the Mets game during the commercials. I was happy to see them lose. Now a Milwaukee win would put them into the Playoffs.

Most Cubs fans have an extreme dislike for the New York Mets. Every time I see them play I’m reminded of 1969 and the Miracle Mets. This dislike is instilled in new Cubs fans by the older generation Cubs Fans. My Dad disliked the New York Yankees for beating the Cubs in two World Series in the 1930’s. I grew up hating the Yankees. And that was long before George Steinbrenner (a man you love to hate) bought the team.

Chicago baseball fans have a natural dislike for teams from New York. The Cubs fans that I know will cheer for their cross-town rivals, the White Sox, when they play the Yankees. I don’t know too many White Sox fans, but I sure that they root for the Cubs when they play the Mets.

I would imagine that the players, coaches and managers of both Chicago baseball teams feel the same way.

I’m not saying that the Cubs intentionally lost the game yesterday, but they had nothing to gain by beating the Brewers and a warm feeling inside if the Mets did not make the Playoffs.

The Beach Bum

I Missed Number 7

To say the least, I was extremely aggravated last night. My hostility stemmed from the fact that four of the major Sports sites that I visit (including Cubs.com) said that the Cubs would be on WGN last night. My cable company disagreed and they were correct. No Cubs on WGN (at least not here in Florida).

I have seen my fair share (more than in a normal year) of Cubs games this year. So I shouldn’t be complaining.

But I am, because Cubs "Pitching Ace" Carlos Zambrano pitched a no hitter last night and came very close to pitching a perfect game.

No hitters are very rare. In my lifetime (and I’ve seen thousands of baseball games) I have seen six No Hitters. I’ve seen one in person (Nolan Ryan at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore – June 1975) and the other five on television. One of the others was a perfect game thrown by Sandy Kofax against the Cubs. But I’ve have never seen a Cubs pitcher throw a no hitter.

I feel that a No Hitter is far more enjoyable to watch than a Slugfest. In modern day Baseball, where complete games and shutouts have (due to pitch counts) become a rarity, the no hitter is the ultimate pitching feat.

A tip of my hat goes out to Carlos as well as Geovany Soto who called the game. If Soto previously wasn’t a cinch for NL Rookie of the Year, he now is. He might even be in contention for the league MVP.

Go Cubs Go!

The Beach Bum

Obama on Baseball

The other night on ESPN’s Sports Center they showed a taped interview with Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The interview took place when Obama was campaigning in North Carolina last week.

I was half in the bag when it aired and was hoping that they would replay it again. I do recall that I didn’t like some of the comments that Barack made about my favorite Baseball Team; The Chicago Cubs.

Today I watched the interview again on ESPN.com. I also read the transcript of this interview. The interviewer was ESPN’s Stuart Scott.

When Scott asked Obama who he would root for if both the Cubs and their South Side rivals, the White Sox made it to the World Series. Obama replied, ““Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. Southside.”

This is not out of the ordinary for a comment that is usually made by a Chicago White Sox fan. Sox fans constantly berate Cubs fans.

It is sour grapes!

C’mon Barack, “Fair weather fans”, my ass. Even in losing seasons the Cubs will pack the ballpark, while the Sox are lucky to get 70% of the ballpark filled during a winning season; and the Sox play predominately night games at home.

“You go to Wrigley Field; you have a beer, beautiful people up there.” What is he saying? Is it that they don’t have beer and beautiful people at US Cellular Field? The last time that I was at a Sox game (it was Comiskey Park at the time) I saw 4 beautiful people being escorted from their seats for overt intoxicated behavior. And let us not forget the “Disco Demolition” which caused the White Sox to forfeit the second game of a double header in the 1970’s.

Beer and baseball seem to go together like peas and carrots (or maybe, I should say like peanuts and Cracker Jack).

Then Barack sez “People aren't watching the game. It's not serious.” Sir, I beg to differ! All of the Cubs fans that I am acquainted with are avid baseball fans as well as Cubs fans. They can rattle off stats better than most commentators do. They know the standings in both Leagues and they watch games of other teams besides the Cubs.

Perhaps what Mister Obama is referring to is what he sees on the camera shots of the fans at Wrigley Field. He has obviously never been to Wrigley, so all that he knows is what he sees on television (a common thing for people in his age group).

I have a friend that has had season tickets at Wrigley for more than 30 years. He told me that he sells more than half of them to Barack’s “beautiful people”. Cub’s tickets have a great resale value and for the past ten years he has made a profit over what he paid for the season tickets plus what has spent on the games that he attended.

I want to hear any White Sox fan say that!

The Beach Bum

A Field of Broken Dreams

I read a story in today’s online version of the Chicago Tribune that raised my ire. The story was about Little League Baseball in New Haven, Connecticut. I'd passed through New Haven in the 1960's and wasn't impressed (except for the buildings on the Yale campus).

There is this 9 year old little leaguer who has been barred from pitching in this league of 8 teams.

The first thought that comes to mind is that this kid has been hitting a lot of batters. But that is not the case. He’s just too good for the rest of the league.

They told him that he could still play in the league, but he just couldn’t pitch in the league. He possesses a 40 MPH Fastball with very good control. This is seemingly an unfair advantage to the other teams in the league. One team forfeited the game when they saw him on the mound.

However, the kid’s coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.

The league administrators want the team to disband and the players be absorbed by the remaining 7 teams.

This reminds me of the Bad News Bears movie. My God, this is Little League Baseball not the World Series. The game should be played for the sake of the game, for the children involved in the game and not for the Parents or Sponsors.

The boy’s mom said "The whole objective in life is to find something you're good at and stick with it. I'd rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner."

The other team managers and the league administrators are trying to prevent this from happening. And this is the real shame.

The Beach Bum

It's Baseball Tonight

Usually at this time of year (for many years) I am in the Chicago area visiting with family and friends. Unfortunately, because of health problems, I am still here in Florida.

If I were there, tonight I would be sitting in a neighborhood Sports Bar with a bunch of friends. We would be watching the Major League Baseball All-Star game as we have for many years.


Actually, in the past, we had hardly watched the game. We spent most of our time shooting the bull and reminiscing about our glory days. We’d glance up at one of the many televisions that were tuned into the game to see what was happening, especially if one of our favorite hitters was up to bat. The All-Star Game (although we are all baseball/Cubs fans) was not the reason that we were there at the bar. We were primarily there to renew friendships and get pleasantly intoxicated.

However this year it is a different ball of wax. More eyes will be focused on the TV screens than ever before. Why? Probably because I will not be there, but more than likely because there are 8 Chicago Cubs on the All-Star team this year. Eight years ago the Cubs only All-Star was Joe Girardi, who is currently the manager of the New York Yankees.

The other reason that this game is important is that the winner decides home field advantage for the World Series. In past years this wasn’t too important to Cubs fans, there was no way that they were going to the “Big Show”. But this year is a different story because the Cubs stand a good chance of going to the series this year. The way that the Cubs have been playing at Wrigley Field (37-12 .755) this year, the home field advantage would give them a great shot at winning their first World Series in 100 years.

I’ll be watching the game at home tonight, getting pleasantly intoxicated and cheering for the National League.

The Beach Bum

Stuffing The Ballot Box

Former Mayor Richard J. Daley, of Chicago, would be proud of Major League Baseball.

Today I visited Cubs.com and cast my All-Star Ballot for 2008. As a Cubs fan, I voted for several players on the team. Given the choices available, I made one or two marginal picks just to give my favorite Cub players an All-Star vote. And in the process I omitted some of the players that I really believe to be All-Stars.

After I had finished voting for players in both the National and American Leagues, they asked me if I would like to vote again. You are allowed to vote 25 times. That is 25 times per email address, not ISP.

Now if I wanted to do so, I could set up another 24 email aliases and vote a total of 625 times. Judging from the early results, I don’t doubt for a moment that some others are doing this and much more.

It’s time for Major League Baseball to revise the All-Star balloting system.

Here’s what I propose:

First and foremost – No Internet Voting!

All Active Players, Coaches and Managers would vote 1 time with a weighted value of times 25. Also they could not vote for anyone on their own team.

The Sports writers would get 1 vote each with a factor of times 20.

Each team would pick 7 home games in June to let their fans vote for their favorite players. One vote per fan per game on a cardboard ballot as was done in the old days. This would also encourage fans to come out to the Ballpark.

This system would turn All-Star Balloting into the right direction. At least until someone figured out how to stuff the Ballot Box.

Just my opinion.

The Beach Bum

Barry Barry Bad for Baseball

Being a fan of the sport of Baseball and particularly a Chicago Cubs fan, I have been distressed this past week.

It started out as good Baseball week for me, with the Cubs winning the sweepstakes for Japanese Baseball star Kosuke Fukudome. More than likely he will be the Cubs’ Right Fielder on opening day. He will give the Cubs a desperately needed left handed bat. He is a two-time League batting champion, he led his league in on-base percentage three times and four times won a Gold Glove for defensive excellence in the outfield.

A left handed hitter that can catch a ball hit to right field on a regular basis. Wow! What are the Cubs trying to do? Win a World Series. I’ve always said “not in my lifetime.” But maybe the powers that be have decided to end my suffering and make my team a contender. The 2008 Chicago Cubs look very good on paper.

Just to burst my bubble the Mitchell Report is then released. I downloaded the PDF file from the Chicago Tribune. It is tedious reading; I have spent 6 hours reading it and have not yet finished the entire report.

There are some surprises in the report and there are some notable omissions in the report. I just can’t believe some of the names that were mentioned for steroid abuse. Others that did not appear on “The List” will probably make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you are a player on “the list” you probably have a very slim chance of receiving this honor. Some of my favorite players from the past 15 years are on “The List”.

Personally, I am not against the use of performance enhancing drugs in Baseball. But I am against the players demanding more money because of the use of these drugs. That is what is bad for Baseball. Avarice by both, the Players and the Owners, threaten the game that I love.


Finally, I read yesterday that my beloved Cubs might be going commercial. That is dependent on the new ball club ownership; the ballpark may be renamed. To me it will always be Wrigley Field. I attended my first game there in 1954 and fell in love with Baseball. Since that day, the game has become my personal lifetime passion. Every year, year after year, I can’t wait for the first pitch of the season and last strikeout of the season.

The Beach Bum