The Bears' playoff chances after Sunday's date with the Tebow steamroller?
None of the above
The answer is "D", none of the above. The post title refers to this blog.
When I started writing, the Cubs were run by Jim Hendry, the Illini were run by Ron Guenther, the Bears were run by Jerry Angelo, and everything seemed hopeless, sports-wise, so I needed an outlet to vent my frustrations. But now, 17 months later, the Cubs have a competent front office, the Illini have an AD who demands accountability from his coaches, and the Bears...well, two out of three ain't bad, right? Anyway, I don't know how many people are actually reading these posts, and I'm just tired of writing, so I've decided that I'm not going to be updating the blog anymore.
And as my final post draws to a close, I'm reminded of a few of the events that brought me closer to you: Albert Pujols leaving St. Louis, back-to-back football wins over Northwestern, premium ice cream wars, dogs that were mistakenly issued major credit cards, and others that weren't so lucky.
And so, farewell. It's been a blast. And if you do like what I write but can only take it in doses of 140 characters or less, don't forget to look for my new column in PC World magazine that you can still follow me on Twitter.
In all honesty, I wasn't exactly thrilled when I first heard the news that the Cubs were planning to hire Dale Sveum as their new manager. This is the first big decision by the Cubs' new front office team. So why were they (and the Red Sox, for that matter) so eager to pursue a guy who had twice been passed over for the managerial opening in Milwaukee - once when he was the Brewers' interim manager and had just guided the franchise to its first postseason appearance in 26 years? Then I read about how Sveum "is a believer in the advanced statistical analysis that Chicago's new leadership loves and is counting on to build up the farm system." Money quote:
''I do my due diligence and video work and prepare as much as anybody,'' Sveum said before he was hired. ''As far as the stats, those are what they are, and we can use them to our advantage. It's a big part of the game now. It's helping us win a lot of ballgames, the stats and the matchups. That's just part of the game now, and you use what you can.''
Taking advantage of stats and matchups...so no more equating drawing walks with "clogging the bases"? No more batting a low OBP guy in the leadoff spot because that's where he's "comfortable"? No more putting a thoroughly average hitter (career OPS+ of 100) in the middle of the order every day? Wow - if this is true, I can sum up my thoughts on this hire in two words (no, not those two words):
In my little corner of the blogosphere, 2011 has been quite a painful year when it comes to on-field results. The Packers beat the Bears in the NFC Championship Game and then won the Super Bowl. The Illini were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks (who at least had the courtesy to not win the championship). And the Cubs helped the Cardinals sneak into the playoffs on the last day of the season just so I could have the pleasure of watching Ryan Theriot and Corey Patterson get World Series rings.
But off the field - wow, things couldn't be much better. No more Ron Guenther running the Illini revenue sports into the ground. No more Jim Hendry running the Cubs front office as if it were still 1977. And now, the news that Mike Quade will not return to the Cubs dugout in 2012. In truth, Quade was put into a no-win situation last year (much of which was Hendry's fault), and the 2011 Cubs wouldn't have been any good even with the ghost of Joe McCarthy managing them. But there's no doubt that Quade was in way over his head as a major league manager, and it's nice to see Jedstein not letting this decision linger. Instead, they've put on their hazmat suits and are getting a quick start at cleaning up the toxic mess they inherited. The hunt is on for a new manager who will:
"place an emphasis on preparation and accountability" (i.e. - goodbye, Carlos Zambrano! No more standing at home plate watching long fly balls, Alfonso Soriano!)
"establish high standards and a winning culture" (i.e. - it will be someone from outside the Cubs organization)
"have integrity and an open mind" (i.e.- knowledge of Sabermetrics, or a willingness to learn and implement Sabermetrics, encouraged)
"and he must have managerial or coaching experience at the major league level." (at least they were classy enough to personally contact Ryne Sandberg to let him know he wasn't a candidate).
I have no idea whom they'll come up with to replace Quade (Terry Francona? Bobby Valentine? Bob Brenly?), but since everything else the new front office team has done so far has been done in a completely professional manner, I'm sure the same will apply to the process for finding a new manager. It's exciting to see all of the positive changes happening at 1060 West Addison. Now if only we could see some similar shake-ups at 1000 Football Drive in Lake Forest, my year would be complete.
In the "Lisa the Iconoclast" episode of the Simpsons, Lisa sets out to prove that Jebediah Springfield, the beloved founder of the town of Springfield, was actually a brutal pirate named Hans Sprungfeld. Upon hearing Lisa's theory, Homer states that he believes Lisa, telling her "[y]ou're always right about this sort of thing, and for once I want in on the ground floor."
So what does this have to do with the the St. Louis Cardinals? Well, during this past season, I scoffed at several of the Cardinals' player personnel moves. You guys think Lance Berkman can hold up as an everyday right fielder? You think Ryan Theriot is an everyday shortstop? Edwin Jackson has been traded three times in less than three years, but you can figure out what's wrong with him? It seemed to me as if the top decision-makers in the Cardinals' front office had crayons lodged in their brains. But of course, like Lisa, the Cardinals ended up being right about everything they did, and to my dismay they won the 2011 World Series.
Now, I like to think that I know a little bit about baseball, so I've decided to adopt a new strategy this off-season. Whatever the Cardinals do, and no matter how ridiculous it seems, I'll go on record as saying it's a brilliant move. For example, if I heard that Rodrigo Lopez joined the Cardinals starting rotation in 2012, I'd predict 17 wins and a sub-3.00 ERA. If Albert Pujols were to leave via free agency and the Cardinals made Bryan LaHair their starting first baseman next year, I'd guarantee LaHair would hit 35 home runs. If the Cardinals were to decide that Mike Quade should be the one to replace Tony LaRussa as manager, I'd still expect nothing less than a second consecutive championship. In other words, for once I want in on the ground floor.
To be clear - I'm not saying that I'm going to abandon the Cubs and become a Cardinals fan. But it's worth acknowledging that Aristotle's quote "no great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness" is right on the mark when it comes the maneuverings of our I-55 rivals. And it's also worth recognizing another baseball truism. As Jebediah Springfield himself might have said (had he known about baseball): "[a] noble redbird on the jersey embiggens the statistics of the crummiest ballplayer."
The press conference introducing Theo Epstein as President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs was held this morning at 11:00, which means that the nearly two-week-long wait for Epstein to actually begin working for the Cubs is finally over. What a fortnight it's been - I don't think I've seen this level of national media hyperventilation about an off-field sports event since the second Brett Favre unretirement announcement. And it's not just the mainstream media: throw in the blogosphere and the Twitter-verse, and I think the only subject that's consumed more Internet bandwidth than speculation about Epstein these past two weeks is pornography.
In any event, with the media circus behind us, it's good to know that Epstein will now be able to begin re-building the completely decimated Cubs franchise, because there's a lot to do (replace the manager, find better players, dump the bad contracts, figure out whom he's going to trade to the Red Sox for himself, teach the front office holdovers what "on-base percentage" is, etc.) Thanks again to the Ricketts family for going all-in on this one and giving Cubs fans a reason to believe that good things are coming our way. Now quit your lollygagging and get to work, Epstein!
The Jewish fall harvest holiday Sukkot began on Wednesday night, and to celebrate, it looks as if the Cubs have harvested themselves a GM who assembled a team that won two World Series in a four-year span. According to reports, Theo Epstein has agreed to a five-year deal to leave the Red Sox and take charge of the Cubs.
When Jim Hendry was fired, I said that hiring his replacement would be one of the most important decisions in franchise history, and I'll give credit to the Ricketts family - they knocked this one out onto Waveland Avenue. It's not just that Epstein broke the "Curse of the Bambino" in leading the Red Sox to glory, it's the way he accomplished it:
After a protracted illness lasting the entire 2011 season, the Cubs were mathematically eliminated from postseason play on Tuesday night. Elimination occurred at home, where the Cubs were surrounded by a few thousand of their closest friends. The Cubs were preceded in elimination by the Houston Astros, and are survived by every other team in the National League. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Please Hire a General Manager Who Knows How to Build a Productive Farm System Fund.
You probably already know that Jim Hendry was fired by the Chicago Cubs on Friday. Actually, that's not true - he was really fired almost a month ago, but in a baffling move he was allowed to stay on as GM through the July 31 trade deadline (when the Cubs twiddled their thumbs and did nothing). Which means that, technically, the Cubs allowed an ex-employee to make crucial decisions (or non-decisions) affecting the team's future. It figures that even when the Cubs do something right, they still do it wrong.
Looking back on Hendry's nearly ten-year tenure running the Cubs, one could make the argument that he's the most successful GM the team has ever had (granted, there's not much competition). After all, the Cubs won three division titles under his watch, and made back-to-back postseason appearances (in 2007 and 2008) for the first time since Tinker, Evers, and Chance (and Steinfeldt) patrolled the infield at West Side Grounds in the early 20th Century. But there was always a feeling that, given the Cubs decided financial advantage as the only major-market team in the NL Central, they could have done even better. For one thing, their three division titles included an 88-win season (2003) and an 85-win season (2007); both times, the Cubs didn't field dominant teams, but instead they barely were able to prevail over weak competitors to finish first. And Hendry's three division winners were counterbalanced by the last-place, 96-loss clunker of 2006 and the last two lackluster seasons, which left the Cubs' overall record during his time as GM at 749-748 - which is about as mediocre as you can get.
Wow, what a great year this is turning out to be! First, Ron Guenther retired. Now comes the news that the Cubs have fired GM Jim Hendry. Since I wasn't expecting this to happen until after the season ended (if ever), it will take a little time for me to put together a longer retrospective on Hendry's tenure as GM. But for now, it's good to know that three of my four favorite teams are giving me hope for something different (accountability and sustained success) going forward. And since these things usually happen in threes, if I were Jerry Angelo (and if Angelo were aware of my blog), I'd be getting really nervous.
Getting into a dugout (and locker room) fight with his catcher (Michael Barrett) didn't do it. Engaging in a dugout shouting match with the mild-mannered Derrek Lee didn't do it either. But cleaning out his locker and walking out of Turner Field in the middle of Friday's game - that may be the act that finally marks the end of Carlos Zambrano's tenure in the Chicago Cubs organization. The Cubs have placed Zambrano on the disqualified list, essentially banning him (without pay) from the team for 30 days. Judging by the reactions of his teammates, they won't miss him, even if it means more starts for the likes of Casey Coleman or Ramon Ortiz in Zambrano's absence.
If this is indeed the end for Big Z's time in Chicago, it's a sad reminder of another once-popular Cubs player who walked out of the clubhouse in the middle of a game - Sammy Sosa, who also never played with the Cubs again after committing his transgression. And as with another hot-headed Cub of recent vintage - Milton Bradley - Jim Hendry (or his successor) will undoubtedly be forced to purge Zambrano from the roster one way or another. It's not like finding a taker for a slightly-above-average pitcher with an $18 million contract for 2012 would be an easy job under any circumstances, but Zambrano's selfish actions have made getting any kind of value in return a near-impossible task.
Carlos Zambrano won 125 games as a Cub - a total topped by only three other Cubs pitchers since World War II (Fergie Jenkins, Greg Maddux, and Rick Reuschel, who has an awesome nickname). Only Jenkins recorded more strikeouts as a Cub than Zambrano. Only eight pitchers in major league history have hit more home runs than Zambrano, who had 23. And in 2008, he pitched the Cubs' first no-hitter since 1972. But unfortunately, that's not what fans will remember. They'll likely remember him the way baseball fans remember players like Dick Allen and Bradley - both of whom had emotional issues that prevented them from reaching their full potential as players and teammates. Despite the anger management issues, Zambrano is still young enough and healthy enough that someone will probably find a spot for him on a 2012 major league roster. But it won't be the Chicago Cubs' roster.
So farewell, Big Z. Thanks for the memories, and best of luck to you getting not only your professional life together, but also getting your personal life together.
The Cubs and Indians have been talking about a Kosuke Fukudome trade for a few days now, but apparently it took having a no-hitter thrown against them to spur the Indians into action. Jim Hendry has sent Fukudome to the Indians for two low-level prospects: 21-year-old OF Abner Abreu (who has a .294 OPB and 102/22 K/BB ratio in A-Ball this year, meaning that he should fit right in with the Cubs' organizational philosophy); and 25-year-old RHP Carlton Smith (who in two years at AAA Columbus has posted a 5.46 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP). Oh, and the Cubs will be picking up most of Fukudome's remaining salary for the year (all but $775K). So as far as return, not much in the way of prospects, and not much in the way of salary relief this year, although maybe enough to help get contracts done with some of the Cubs remaining unsigned 2011 draftees. But how much can you expect to get for a 34-year-old corner OF with a $13.5 million contract and a .369 slugging percentage? Of course, to the Indians, who have lost Shin-Soo Choo to injury and have been using a platoon of Travis Buck (.617 OPS) and Austin Kearns (.632 OPS) in RF, Kosuke must look like Mel Ott.
Fukudome never became the player the Cubs thought they were getting when they signed him. The Cubs expected him to become a middle-of-the-order run producer from the left side, but that role didn't work out for him, as his high OBP made him more suited for the top of the order (unfortunately it wouldn't be the last time the Cubs made that mistake while assessing a player's skill set. Of course, had Fukudome hit the way the Cubs thought he would in 2008, that 2009 mistake would never have been made in the first place. But I digress). Eventually, the Cubs found themselves in a similar situation with Kosuke as they were in with Matt Murton - another player with a solid on-base skills, but not enough power to be a corner OF and not good enough on defense to play CF. Fukudome's habit of fast starts (.979 April OPS) and slow, painful declines during the season (.772 career OPS) was maddening, as were the ever-popular "helicopter" swinging strikeouts. Bottom line - Fukudome's skills and the Cubs' needs weren't a good match. Since he would have found himself playing elsewhere in 2012, at least now he finds himself in a pennant race.
With Fukudome gone, the Cubs will let Tyler Colvin, who is pretty much the complete opposite of Fukudome (decent power, low OBP), take most of the playing time in RF, and the Cubs will be down to two regulars (Soto and Peña) who consistently work counts. And I guess this is as good a time as any to recall Kosuke's greatest moment as a Cub, which came in his very first game in blue pinstripes and gave us hope that the 2008 season was going to be a special one:
Thanks, Kosuke, for your often underappreciated skills, and best of luck to you in Cleveland, where I hope you'll help keep the Indians ahead of the 3rd place AL Central team.
One year ago today, I came up with a bold, innovative idea that promised to revolutionize the way we viewed Internet sports coverage. But instead of pursuing that idea, I started this blog. When I first put fingers to keyboard, I had no idea my favorite teams would provide so much material. So on the occasion of the first birthday of "The Frustrated Fan", let's take a look at some of the highlights from my first year of blogging:
The Cubs made a nearly seamless transition from a hopeless, crappy 2010 season to a hopeless, crappy 2011 season.
The Bears surprisingly won the NFC Central and hosted the NFC Championship Game (that's good)...which they lost to the Packers, who went on to win the Super Bowl (that's bad).
With an exciting freshman QB at the helm, the Illini football team overcame the frequently idiotic coaching of Ron Zook and won their first bowl game of the new millennium.
Bruce Weber finally won an NCAA tournament game at Illinois without players recruited by Bill Self, then lost in the next round of the tournament to a team full of players recruited by Bill Self.
And (perhaps) best of all, Ron Guenther's reign as Illinois Athletic Director came to a peaceful end.
So many memories - and so many questions still to be answered in the upcoming year:
Which veterans will the Cubs dump at the trade deadline? With over $40 million in payroll coming off the books in 2012, whom will the Cubs bring in to upgrade next year's roster? And will Jim Hendry be the GM doing that off-season upgrading?
Will the NFL lockout end in time for the season to begin as scheduled? And wouldn't a cancelled NFL season actually be better than the alternative - a season in which the Packers stand a good chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions?
Can Zook build on last season's success after losing his best offensive player and two best defensive players to the NFL draft? If not, how much longer will the new AD (whoever (s)he is) keep him around?
Shouldn't a basketball team which possesses three consecutive highly-ranked recruiting classes and plays a relatively soft non-conference schedule and in a weak Big Ten be able to comfortably make the NCAA tournament? And if Weber's Illini spend another Selection Sunday on the bubble (or worse), how much longer will the new AD (whoever (s)he is) keep him around?
Stick around to get the answers to these (and many more) questions. It's sure to be a better "Year Two" than the Ricketts family is having!
In a previous post, I speculated on which washed-up starters the Cubs would try out next. In doing so, somehow I overlooked Dave Bush. Fortunately, Jim Hendry did not, as Bush has been signed to a minor league deal by the Cubs organization. Bush has been so bad during his career that, unlike a lot of crappy pitchers, he hasn't fared well against the Cubs (lifetime 2-10, 5.28 ERA). The good news is that if we're down to picking up guys who can't even beat the Cubs, we must be scraping the bottom of the barrel now, and there shouldn't be too many more of these signings.
You'd think that it wouldn't be possible for a Chicago baseball team to make a more desperate move than this one, but then along come the White Sox to do just that. Being released by the 2011 Cubs is pretty much the definition of "finished", but Kenny Williams must have slept through the first half of the season, as Doug Davis, who went 1-7 with a 6.50 ERA for the Cubs, was signed to a minor league deal by the White Sox on Friday.
So it's not enough that the White Sox have beaten the Cubs on the field and won the BP Crosstown Cup each of the last two years. By signing a pitcher who's even worse than the one the Cubs signed today, now their GM is apparently trying to wrestle the title of "Worst GM in Chicago" away from ours. Well, Kenny, you may have won this round, but you've still got a long way to go if you want to catch up to Jim Hendry in this race.
It's great to know that I can leave the Cubs for two weeks and come back to find everything's almost exactly the way I left it. Sure, the Cubs have swapped in one has-been starting pitcher (Ramon Ortiz) for another (Doug Davis), but they still can't win more than two straight games and still have the second worst record in the major leagues as we hit the All-Star Break.
As for the All-Star Game itself, at least the Cubs' pity only representative in the game is the one who's most worth watching. But even the presence of Starlin Castro on the National League's roster isn't enough to compel me to tune in tonight. The whole "this time it counts" novelty has run its course, and not just for me. TV ratings for the All-Star Game have steadily dropped since the infamous 2002 tie game, to the point where last year's Game was the least-watched midsummer "classic" ever. While many people may attribute that to Fox Sports's taking over coverage of the game and to "Buck-McCarver Fatigue" in general, I think another culprit helps explain the declining interest in the All-Star Game - interleague play.
To this Cubs fan, the results of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Giants weren't exactly a surprise. But after the double-dip, my doctors have advised me to stay away from the Cubs for a while - no watching, no listening, no tracking games on the Web, and certainly no blogging.
So with the NFL lockout still in place and Illini football and basketball in a summer dead zone, nothing else should be happening; as a result we'll be unplugged here for a short time. Here's hoping that by the time I come back, the Cubs will have ripped off six or seven straight wins, instead of closing in on (or passing) the Astros for the worst record in the major leagues. See y'all soon!
It's been a rough first half of the season for the Chicago Cubs. There have been many instances when it seemed that things couldn't get any worse, only to discover that they could, in fact, sink way lower. But now, I think we've finally hit rock bottom.
"Wait," I hear you saying. "The Cubs didn't hit rock bottom when our manager gave multiple starts to a LOOGY reliever, or when he repeatedly used a player with only 17 career HR in over 300 career games in the #3 spot in the batting order?"
Congratulations to all the Mavericks - Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, John McCain, James Garner, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise - on winning your first ever NBA championship!
Also, a hearty "Mazel Tov!" should go out to owner Mark Cuban. Cuban took over a franchise that had missed the postseason ten straight years, but since then the Mavericks have now made eleven consecutive postseason appearances. Given his team's track record in a sport where it's more difficult to break through and win a championship (even after last night, only nine different franchises have won NBA championships in the last 30 years), I have no doubt that if MLB had let him purchase the Chicago National League Baseball Club, we'd see similar results at 1060 West Addison before long.
Whoever had June 5 as the day Carlos Zambrano had his first meltdown since being "cured" of his anger management problem - Mazel Tov! You win! Money quote:
We should know better than this. We play like a Triple-A team. This is embarrassing. Embarrassing for the team and the owners. Embarrassing for the fans. Embarrassed - that's the word for this team....We should play better here. We stink. That's all I've got to say."
It's good to see that someone on this team cares enough to have the guts to come out and say what everyone in the world (except for maybe the guy who matters most) is thinking. Big Z didn't necessarily have to throw his closer (or was it maybe his backup catcher or his pitching coach?) under the bus for poor pitch selection to Ryan Theriot in the bottom of the 9th inning. But I think that's a good thing. In my last post, I said this team wasn't even "fun" bad, and wondered if I'd have trouble sticking with them to the All-Star break. But considering Zambrano's history of scuffling with a teammate or two, a little internal dissension, especially involving Big Z, could make this snoozefest of a season worth watching after all.
EDIT: So it turns out Big Z wasn't actually angry when he said this, just frustrated. And boy, howdy, do I understand how that feels:
"What I said yesterday was (in) a moment of frustration," Zambrano said, before the first game of a series against Cincinnati. "I apologized to Marmol. Let's move on."
Aw, great, thanks for making with the nicey-nice, guys. So now I guess the Cubs won't have any internal dissension, and after another listless performance against Cincinnati on Monday night, it looks like Snoozefest 2011 is back in business.
So why do a Cubs mid-season review now, when the 2011 season isn't half-over yet? Well, we're 1/3 of the way through the season, the team hasn't played even up to my lowered pre-season expectations, and with all of the injuries and bad baseball I'm not sure if I'll still be paying attention to this team when they do reach the halfway point. Through 54 games, the Cubs are sporting a 23-31 record, good for the fourth-worst record in all of baseball, and they just finished a 3-6 homestand against three sub-.500 teams (Mets, Pirates, and Astros) with a flourish, getting swept by Houston, the team with the worst record in the NL. The Cubs have come by their record honestly, too - with a run differential of minus-45 (only two teams in baseball are worse right now), their expected won-loss record is 22-32. So if anything, they're lucky they aren't even worse.
Almost a year into this blog, and this is my first NBA post, because even though I'm a sports fan I'm just not really into the NBA. I know, I know - these are the best basketball players in the world, playing at a ridiculously high level - what's not to like? Well, the regular season is too long, and too many teams make the playoffs, which makes the playoffs take too long (and why did the Bulls and Heat have four days off between games 2 and 3?), especially considering that the NBA is the least competitively-balanced of the four major leagues (only eight different teams have won championships in the last 30 years). It's great when you're a fan of a "have" (Lakers, Celtics, Jordan-era Bulls), but not so great for everyone else. But last night's season-ending Bulls loss compelled me to write for a couple of reasons:
