2021 NL Central Preview

We're halfway through Major League Baseball for the 2021 season, and with the West slated for tomorrow, it's time for me to get back to work and start the second half of the preview series for 2021.

Earlier today I attacked the AL Central, so this afternoon I'll swap leagues and attack my home division.

Let's look at the NL Central.

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Championship

128 teams entered. Over six thousand games later, we're down to just two teams as we renew our quest to find the greatest MLB team of all time as part of the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions. Every World Series champion got an invitation to the fun, and every franchise without a title got at least one iteration from their history into the festivities. They then went through a grueling 90 game double round robin to build up a significant sample size.

That accounted for 5,760 of the 6000-plus games, but that was just the beginning as I began a single elimination tournament from the top eight teams from each of the groups I'd built out for this tournament. Five rounds later, we have our top two teams left standing. And the fun part for this: we get an old rematch.

On one side was arguably the favorite coming into this whole thing. They were the best team in the 2017 Tournament of Champions, but proceeded to need every possible game to win the Championship of Champions. For a title defense, the 2016 Cubs seemed poised to be a dominant force once again, but ran into some slight hiccups. Despite losing their final four series in group play, the Cubs went 54-36, good for second place in Group H. They swept the 1919 Cincinnati Reds in the opening round of the postseason before needing winner-take-all games at home to finish off the 1972 Oakland Athletics and 1938 New York Yankees. A quarterfinal sweep over the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals, winners of their own group, and a six game victory of the legendary 1927 New York Yankees, have the Cubs back to within four wins of further immortality.

On the other side was a team that, in 2017, tied for the third-best record among my National League representatives, but was relegated to Wild Card status for the postseason. They won the Wild Card series that year before dropping a heartbreaking fifth game on a walk-off homer to... the 2016 Cubs. The 1975 Cincinnati Reds came back two years later placed in a different group, and worked to a 57-33 record... which unfortunately for them was only good for third in their group as they finished just one game behind the co-leaders. But the Reds won their first two series in four games apiece over the 2004 Boston Red Sox and 1912 Boston Red Sox, respectively, before punching their ticket to the quarterfinals with a sweep of the group champion 1924 Washington Senators. Cincinnati followed that up with a six game victory over the 1984 Detroit Tigers to remove the DH from the rest of the tournament, then won a hard-fought seven game series over the 1953 New York Yankees to get one more crack at the team that knocked them off two years ago.

This time around, the Reds will get home field advantage by virtue of their better Group Play record. It's a best of seven series played in a 2-3-2 format, so the Reds will get a little more leeway than the best-of-five they had to play in two years ago. In prior rounds of this postseason I've just gone with results and records. This time, I'm going to do brief writeups of each game in this series. You can view the bracket to date, as well as scores and standings from as far back as group play, here. All simulations for the entire Tournament of Champions are provided by WhatIfSports.com. And so, one final time this year... let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Semifinals

And then there were four.

I started this project all the way back in April with 128 teams, including every World Series champion dating back to 1903. After 90 games for each team, that got narrowed down to 64. And after four grueling rounds, we've finally advanced to the semifinals, and there are some big names here. Murderer's Row is here, along with another Yankee iteration a generation later, the Big Red Machine has advanced after having to settle for a Wild Card and getting bounced in the NLDS two years ago, and our defending Champion of Champions in the 2016 Cubs round out what's left.

To narrow the field down to just two teams, we will play a pair of best-of-seven series in a 2-3-2 format, with home field advantage going to the team with the better group play record (and as luck would have it, seedings match that as well). With all of our 1973-onward American League teams gone, so is the designated hitter for the remainder of the tournament.

You can view the bracket to date as well as how group play went here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Quarterfinals

We're down to the final eight teams as the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on!

We've finally moved beyond the confines of group play, as the 90 round robin games and three playoff rounds were enough. We now have group "champions" as we move on to the tournament's quarterfinals.

There was a good blend of chalk and upsets through the first three rounds, as only three round robin group winners have advanced to this stage alongside a two, three, four, five, and six seed apiece. Some of the most legendary teams are included in this group, including a playoff team from the 2017 tournament as well as the defending Champion of Champions.

At this point, for all intents and purposes, seedings based on finish in group play are being dropped and home field advantage will go to the team with the better record from group play. For this round, the higher "seeds" did have better records, but I'm making this change for this round onward because I think the sample size speaks for itself. For the remainder of the tournament as well, we're expanding the rounds from best of five to best of seven to be played in a 2-3-2 format as used in Major League Baseball's postseason. We have one series that this will impact in this round, but since the 1984 Detroit Tigers played in the DH era, all of their home games will be played with a designated hitter. All other games will have the pitcher batting ninth.

You can view the updated bracket, as well as scores and standings from group play, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Preview: NL Central

The preview series continues on with, for all intents and purposes, official Opening Day coming on Thursday. And with four divisions left to cover before then... I'd better get to work.

As in prior years, I'm going across the country and alternating leagues, ending with the defending champion's division. That means tomorrow afternoon is when I'll have a gander at the AL East. But for now, let's visit the middle of the country and look at the NL Central.

2018 MLB Preview: NL Central

We're onto the second day of MLB previews as I've condensed this year's batch down to three days instead of six. We're still working our way across the country, alternating leagues, before ending with the division containing the defending World Series champion.

This brings us to the country's center, and after ending yesterday in the American League, we go to my division of greatest familiarity in the NL Central.

MLB Tournament of Champions: Championship

Four and a half months. 1,415 games. That's how long it has taken for the MLB Tournament of Champions to reach its apex. 30 teams entered this tournament with dreams of being the greatest team of all time, one representative from each franchise. We're now down to two, who will do battle for the title of Champion of Champions.

As with every series to date, I will end up going through game by game, because after all this time, these two teams deserve the fullest attention I can give them.

On one side of the battle, we have what many people probably would have considered one of the pre-tournament favorites: the 2016 Chicago Cubs. The team that every Cubs fan was waiting for came into this tournament and largely dominated, winning a tournament-high 59 games to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. One could argue they've needed it, though they're 3-4 at Wrigley this postseason. It hasn't mattered, as they've done enough on the road, going 4-1 over two series to reach this point. Problem is, in both series they've needed a winner-take-all game to advance, and they've squeaked by in both, needing a walkoff home run by Ben Zobrist to make the NLCS, and requiring some masterful Game 7 pitching by Jake Arrieta to survive and advance to this round. Arrieta has probably been the best pitcher in the tournament, and the Cubs have gotten timely clutch hits from guys like Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and even the ageless David Ross. Now, they are just four more wins from another level of immortality.

Standing in their way was a team that was a strike away from winning the World Series in its time: the 2011 Texas Rangers. After dropping heartbreaking Games 6 and 7 six years ago, the Rangers used that defeat to fuel them in the tightest division race in the tournament en route to 53 wins and an AL West title. It ranked them third among American League division winners, meaning they had to start on the road, but it didn't matter. They took the first two games in Boston in the ALDS and knocked off the 2004 Red Sox in four. They also had to start on the road in the ALCS against Cleveland, but took two out of three both there and at home, including the clinching Game 6 to bring them to this title round.

These two titans will play a best of seven series in a 2-3-2 format to determine the Champion of Champions. The Cubs get home field advantage by virtue of the better tournament record, even though they played no interleague games so there are no common opponents to judge these teams by. This means that in Games 1, 2, and if necessary 6 and 7 pitchers will bat for themselves in the National League park. Games 3, 4, and if necessary 5 in Texas will have the benefit of the designated hitter, so both teams will have some lineup tinkering to do here and there. The Rangers had to do it for their three games in Baltimore, but for the most part have had the benefit of the DH all tournament long. For the Cubs, this is new, and unfortunately unlike the 2016 World Series, Kyle Schwarber is not walking through the virtual clubhouse doors.

I have kept stats for the entire postseason portion of the tournament, and you can view those stats both by round and in aggregate here. I will use these stats when all is said and done to pick both a Series MVP and an overarching Tournament MVP. At a later time I will also make a post with some All-Tournament Teams from the entire tournament. For this series, as with all 1,415 games before, all simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's crown a champion.

MLB Tournament of Champions: NLCS

The MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on as we continue with the postseason and the League Championship Series!

We're over in the National League today as two of the best teams from the regular season collide. For a series like this, I can't just do this half-heartedly. We're doing a full-on look, game by game, at this series that promises to be a classic.

In one dugout we have the 2016 Chicago Cubs. The Cubs won 59 games in the regular season and were pretty much wire to wire the best team in the tournament. They earned the top overall seed in the postseason with those 59 wins, but they faced a tough NLDS opponent in the 1975 Reds. The Cubs needed a pair of walkoff home runs, including one in the winner-take-all Game 5, to advance to this stage. Anthony Rizzo hit a pair of homers against Cincy, including a Game 1 walkoff, while Jake Arrieta pitched masterfully in Games 1 and 5.

They take on the 1995 Atlanta Braves. The Braves overcame having to play on 34 straight days and logged the longest winning streak of any team in the tournament en route to a 55 win campaign. That gave them home field advantage in the last round, though they lost Game 1 against the 2007 Rockies before taking three straight to advance. Ryan Klesko had a monster NLDS with three home runs, and the starting rotation threw 22 1/3 innings and allowed just seven runs against the Rockies.

The Cubs and Braves will play a best of seven series, and by virtue of having the best record in the tournament, the Cubs get home field advantage in a 2-3-2 format. They may need the help, considering the Braves won four of six in the regular season. Stats for this and every series of the tournament can be found here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some baseball!

MLB Tournament of Champions: NLDS Series 2

The postseason of the MLB Tournament of Champions continues onward as we continue a look at the League Division Series!

As I mentioned in prior series posts, I'm devoting one post to each series to go through the storylines of each game and give every series the time and attention it deserves. And this one absolutely deserves every bit of attention it is getting, when we consider the storyline.

1975 Cincinnati Reds were a powerhouse in their day, and that power translated to the regular season where they won 52 games and challenged for, though never actually led, the NL Central. Instead, they settled for home field advantage in the Wild Card Series, though they needed the full three games to dispatch the 1998 San Diego Padres. Nonetheless, they are here and ready to continue their run.

Their obstacle is the all but unquestioned best team for the entirety of the Tournament of Champions in the 2016 Chicago Cubs. Chicago ran roughshod over pretty much every team in the tournament and had the best record virtually wire to wire. While they ran into a couple rough spots here and there, their 59 wins were the most in the tournament, and they were the first National League team to lock up a postseason berth. They defeated 108 years of negative history, and now they sit 11 wins away from being crowned the greatest team of all time.

The Cubs and Reds will play a best of five series, with the Cubs getting home field advantage in a 2-2-1 format thanks to having the aforementioned most wins in the tournament. However, it should be noted that these teams split their eight games in the regular season, which means this is anyone's series. I am keeping stats for this series, which you can view by series and in aggregate here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some baseball!

2017 MLB Preview: NL Central

It's the sixth day, which means we're all set on baseball previews after today. As is my tradition, I've been going division by division, alternating leagues, and finishing with the division of our defending champion.

Speaking of our defending champion, they are taking part in my newest project, the MLB Tournament of Champions. You can check out information on that tournament here, and check out the action starting this coming week.

Without further ado, let's get to the NL Central. Let's note once again that both wild cards are taken.

Fly The W

I'm running on just three and a half hours of sleep this morning. But a lack of sleep has never felt so good.

It's a stark contrast from just 24 hours ago when my stomach was in knots from anticipation and extreme nervousness.

As a background, I am from suburban Chicago. My parents came here from North Dakota in the summer of 1984. That's a summer which, Cubs fans know, was a fun one on the north side of Chicago when the Cubs made a run, won the NL East, and fell just short of a World Series berth. They got hooked, spent pretty much every weekend that following summer in the bleachers at Wrigley, and fell in love with this team. My dad, who grew up a Twins fan, was able to pull off rooting for both because interleague play wasn't around yet and neither team was likely to make the World Series. He got a pair of Twins championships, but this one eluded him.

I first was "blessed and healed," to borrow a phrase from Eddie Vedder, in 1998 when my dad took me to Wrigley for the first time. I was hooked then and there, and this was helped by Sammy Sosa taking a bunch of steroids hitting a crapton of homeruns and leading the Cubs to the playoffs. I was in love with the Cubs from then on.

So of course, within a few years I got the required course in heartbreak. The 2003 NLCS was devastating, and is one of only a few times sports I wasn't directly involved in made me cry. It hardened me up a little bit for the early exits in 2007 and 2008, the latter of which kept me up until 3:30 in the morning, feeling numb, watching Family Guy and playing video games of some sort just to feel something again. This led to disappointing falls from 2009 onward, until Theo came aboard.

He was honest up front about the rebuild: it was going to take time, and it wasn't going to be pretty at first. Those first couple of years were not good, but I knew it was all part of the plan. Restock the farm system, build from within, draft high, trade for prospects, and watch them grow. 2014 ended on a fairly positive note as some of the seeds began to sprout. I expected 2015 to be a step towards contention, but last season exceeded my wildest expectations as I got to see Kris Bryant hit his first Major League homer in person, see a crazy walkoff win, and watch the Cubs shock the world with the third best record in the National League but finish third in their division. Thanks to the Wild Card Game, they got a shot to make a postseason run, and even though it ended sooner than I wanted it to, I was still optimistic about the future.

This year they came into the season with a target on their backs, but per Joe Maddon, they embraced it en route to the best record in baseball. They needed four games to handle the Giants, though not without a thrilling ninth inning comeback to eliminate Even Year Magic. They went 21 innings without a run against the Dodgers as many Cubs fans panicked (I was definitely freaked out but not in full panic mode) before flipping the switch, getting to Kershaw, and winning the pennant at home.

They faced an extremely good Indians team that took them to the brink. I'm not even going to make any "It was 3-1" jokes here, even though it would be karmic, because I respect the Indians and their fans. By all accounts of Cubs fans in Cleveland that I've heard, the city was incredibly welcoming, and even watching the game last night you could see the respect the Cubs and Indians had for each other.

None of that overrode the extreme nerves, the likes of which I don't think I've ever felt before except maybe during a Blackhawks overtime playoff game. The Cubs building a 5-1 lead helped relax me a little bit, but I've been a Cubs fan long enough to know that weird stuff happens. The Indians rallied in the eighth to tie the game, and I pulled a "surrender cobra" after Rajai Davis' game-tying home run, but with the game still tied, I had faith. I was scared after they blew a chance in the ninth that the Indians would walk it off, but Aroldis Chapman held firm. Then the rain came.

I debated about going to shower, but I didn't know how long the delay would last. Thankfully it wasn't long and the Cubs had the right part of the order coming up in the 10th. I would have been yelling with joy were Kristen not asleep, having gone to bed in about the fourth inning. I spent the entire bottom of the tenth on my feet, texting my dad, wishing I was there with him. And then, magic.

History. #FlyTheW pic.twitter.com/S8vVDYA87T

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 3, 2016

I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit. Kristen even heard it from upstairs. Prior to last night, I had seen all of my teams win multiple titles. I don't remember the first three peat, but I have memories of Michael Jordan leading the Bulls to their second three peat. I was on the wagon for Green Bay's Super Bowl XXXI victory, and reveled in their win 14 years later. I got on the bandwagon in time for the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup, though the Cups in 2013 and 2015 were much sweeter for me. That's 11 championships, by the way, and they all pale in comparison to last night.

Maybe it's recency bias, but I think it's more of the emotional investment. Last night is why we love sports. Last night is why I am a Cubs fan. Losing sucks, and losing tough games when your team hasn't won in a long time hurts. But then you have nights like last night, and it makes it all worth it.

2016 MLB Predictions: NL Central

We're just a day away from the start of the season! The excitement is mounting, and I'm nearing the end of my series of baseball preview posts.

I've handed out one predicted wild card on the National League side of things, and after looking at each coast so far, it's time to come to nation's heartland and preview the final two divisions. Today, it's the NL Central.

Fandom, Generalizations, and "The Best Fans In Baseball"

Photo from @BestFansStLouis

Friday was a great day for me as a Cubs fan. The much discussed topic of the past week was the landing spot for outfielder Jason Heyward, who just finished his first season with the St. Louis Cardinals. Needless to say, Cardinals fans wanted him back. The announcement broke early Friday afternoon that Heyward was leaving the Gateway to the West behind and coming to the North Side. This set off a firestorm.

I've referred to the "Best Fans St. Louis" Twitter account a couple of times before. It's one of my favorite follows on social media just because of the collection of sheer idiocy on display. Also, schadenfreude is fun. It's especially fun when the fanbase of the team you hate is exploding with rage at the loss of their premier free agent to their biggest rival. It's also kind of fun to rile them up a little bit. I've traded jabs with a few, attempting to be respectful (most of the time), only to be called a "faggot", "self-righteous" for calling out one fan's self-righteous elitism, and been blocked by a "juggalo" who stupidly suggested that Yadier Molina is a better catcher than Yogi Berra was, though that may have just been a successful attempt at trolling. I don't know.

And that gets to the crux of the argument that I wanted to make today. The so-called "Best Fans in Baseball" are anything but. There is a very vocal portion of the fanbase of the St. Louis Cardinals that are racist, homophobic, elitist, outright dumb, or a combination of the four. The purpose of @BestFansStLouis is to expose these people to the criticism that they deserve. When you tell me that Matt Carpenter deserved to make the All Star Game over Kris Bryant, claim that "All Stars aren't based on stats", then use stats to justify your argument, you deserve to be raked through the coals. When you glorify a drunk driving murderer who just so happened to play baseball for your favorite team, you deserve to be raked through the coals even more so.

All of that said... this should not represent the entirety of the St. Louis Cardinals fan base. Yes, the people retweeted on @BestFansStLouis are scum and deserve to be called out for their idiocy/hate/whatever, but we need to not judge the entire area or fan base based solely on this sample. I know multiple Cardinal fans who absolutely disagree with the notions this vocal minority express and are in fact the classy people that the so-called "Best Fans in Baseball" claim to be.

Jay Rush, a WONC alum who just barely overlapped my time there and Quad Cities radio personality, is a die hard Cardinals fan, but he expressed respect when Heyward signed with the Cubs, was respectful when the Cubs knocked the Cardinals out of the playoffs, and I've never noticed the self-righteousness about the franchise that other Cardinals fans express. He epitomizes what the fan standard of conduct should be.

I went to St. Louis in 2009 with my dad for a couple games at Busch Stadium when the Twins were in town. I wore Cubs gear because I was a 19 year old idiot (though let's be honest, I'd do it again), and I only got two comments about it: a pastor who joked about how my dad and I "need to be saved" (and while some people might take offense at being told that, it's clear he was joking and we'd had a respectful conversation up to that point), and a concession worker said that I was "a brave soul" for wearing Cubs gear to Busch Stadium. That was it. I also saw the fans in attendance that second day give Mark DeRosa, who had just been traded to St. Louis, a standing ovation for his first at bat. It was painful to see after seeing DeRosa in Cubbie blue the two years prior, but I appreciated the respect he got. I'm sure a large chunk of those people wouldn't agree with the hate speech expressed online.

Long story short, there are plenty of classy Cardinals fans. What @BestFansStLouis wouldn't have showed were the Cardinals fans that expressed disappointment that Heyward was leaving, but thanked him for his time in St. Louis and wished him well. It doesn't fit the agenda of the account, and that's fine. What it does is shows that the St. Louis Cardinal fan base, as a whole, is no better and no worse than any other fan base. I'm a Cub fan, and I know there are a ton of drunk idiots that are Cubs fans, and former Cubs have claimed that they heard fans say racist things at Wrigley while they were wearing Cubbie blue. I hate that that happened, and those actions deserve to be condemned, but they don't represent the entirety of the fan base. Likewise, not all Cardinal fans are elitist, racist homophobes who deify an aging catcher who spits on umpires.

I guess the tricky part for me is that no other fan base has the audacity to call itself the "best fans in [insert sport]". Organizations will claim such on behalf of its fans, but the self-declarations as far as I'm aware exist only with the St. Louis Cardinals' fans. It can be tricky to find that balance, but it needs to be done. Of course, personal vendettas that I may or may not have don't help the matter either. Whatever the case, it's important not to judge the entirety of the fan base to be these horrible people... but when the horrible people surface, call them out on it.

Waiting Till Next Year

It's a common refrain we hear on the North Side of Chicago: "Wait 'till next year." It's, sadly, a refrain that we've heard for 107 years and counting. And now, we have to hear it for another year.

Late in 2011, the Cubs made sweeping changes to their administration, bringing in Theo Epstein from Boston to be the president of baseball operations, and begin a full fledged rebuild. I knew then that the next few years would be painful, but like Theo said, "There's a day coming." To a degree, that day is here.

Two incredibly painful years followed a year of some guarded optimism as the pieces began to fall into place. The prospects were lining up, and 2015 was beginning to see projections for the beginning of contention, even though Theo himself said that he was expecting 2016 at the earliest to be contention time. Instead, the Cubs arrived a year ahead of schedule. I correctly had them third in the NL Central behind St. Louis and Pittsburgh, but even I underestimated just how quickly this team would come together and make a run.

This was the first baseball season though that I had really looked forward to. I made it to Milwaukee to see the Cubs in early May, and got to see Kris Bryant hit his first Major League home run. Less than a week later, Kristen and I made the annual pilgrimage to Wrigley for a game, and it was a long day that turned out quite all right. Games like that set the stage for a fun summer filled with walkoffs, watching the young guys grow up before our very eyes, and see an ace turn into one of the best pitchers in baseball. It all culminated in a trip to October, earlier than expected.

As I'm sure you can imagine, I enjoyed the fact that the Cubs knocked off Pittsburgh in the Wild Card game, and even more so the elimination of the Cardinals at the Cubs' hands while the morons amongst the Cardinal fan base whined. I was all but on cloud nine. Then the NLCS started.

I don't know that I've ever been more frustrated by a baseball playoff series. Ultimately though, I have to tip my cap to the Mets. They were clearly the better team, and they've absolutely earned the right to play in the World Series. They're going to be a challenge for whoever comes out of the American League. I developed a sports hate for Daniel Murphy in the span of a week, but I can let go of it. Dude got hot at the right time; it happens.

It's depressing to see your team's season end when the hopes were so great, especially given Cubs history. I'm a veteran of the 2003 and 2008 heartbreak, so it doesn't surprise me that on all of the days the Cubs could have been eliminated, much less in a sweep, it's on the day where Marty McFly came to the future in Back to the Future II and found out the Cubs won the World Series. Of course, because he changed the future/past, he altered that timeline and probably made it so that the Cubs wouldn't win it. Time travel hurts my head.

The heartbreak has, to a degree, subsided this morning. I'm bummed, sure, but I'm still optimistic. Unlike the prior years, you can see that the foundation is in place for this summer's success to be sustained. This core will be around for years to come. Obviously, tweaks need to be made (i.e. the Cubs need more pitching), but I trust Theo to make the right moves.

2016 may not be The Year. But it has just as good a chance as any other to be, and I look forward to seeing what this team has in store.

Game Notes: Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs (5/15/15)

Final Score
Cubs 11, Pirates 10 (12 innings)

Game Summary
In the longest game I've ever been to, both sides failed to cash in on opportunities until the Cubs (20-15) got on the board thanks to a Kris Bryant three run homer. The Pirates (17-19) answered back with a home run, but the Cubs responded with two more, including a solo shot by Anthony Rizzo. A pair of fifth inning runs made it 7-1 Cubs, but then the wheels came off a bit. Pittsburgh strung together a four run rally in the sixth to chase starter Kyle Hendricks, though the Cubs struck back with a run in their half, plus two more in the seventh to make it 10-5. The Pirates didn't go quietly though, scoring four in the eighth before a two out rally plated the tying run. The Cubs threatened in the tenth, loading the bases with one out before a double play on a would-be sacrifice fly ended the chance. It was déjà vu in the 12th though, as the Cubs walked off on maybe the weirdest play we'll see all year.

Pitchers of Record
W: Edwin Jackson (2-1)- 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 K. Not the most effective outing, but Jackson was able to get out of trouble. This is where you see how much the win stat is overrated, but he earned it with the scoreless 12th. Now, terrifying side note from former Major Leaguer Fernando Tatis:

Edwin Jackson has 10% of the Cubs wins

— Fernando Tatis (@FTatis23) May 15, 2015

L: Radhames Liz (1-3)- 0.1 IP, 1 R (1 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K. It should be noted that one of Liz's walks was intentional (to Soler to load the bases), and really, he can't be faulted too much for the loss. He struck out Kris Bryant, Destroyer of Baseballs to start the inning before it all fell apart, really through no fault of his own.

Key Stats

• Matt Szczur (CHC): 2-7, 3 RBI. Szczur had kind of a weird day at the plate. He had a two run single in the fifth to make it 7-1, but didn't do much else until extra innings. He twice had bases loaded, one out at bats because the Pirates wanted no part of Jorge Soler and intentionally walked him to load it up both times. The first time Szczur came up in that situation, he hit a fly ball into shallow right field, which Gregory Polanco caught, then threw an absolute strike to nail Starlin Castro at the plate. The second time, he hit it to almost the exact same spot, only this time his feet gave way. You take that every time, though.
• Kris Bryant (CHC): 1-4, HR (4), 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 BB. Note to the Cubs: Kris Bryant, Destroyer of Baseballs has hit four home runs so far this season. I've been present for two of them. Tickets. Now. Anyway, his home run was pretty majestic even though it only got a couple rows into the bleachers, and it came after he fell behind 0-2 in the count and worked it full. He also drew those couple of walks, which is crazy to think about from a 23-year-old rookie.
• Josh Harrison (PIT): 4-6, HR (4), 2 2B, 1 RBI, 3 R. Harrison was retired his first two times up, then proceeded to hit the ball really well. His homer made it 10-6 and set the stage for the comeback, and he scored the tying run in the top of the ninth after a two out double.

Mrs. Mitzel's Food Roundup
This section is written by Kristen Mitzel, and focuses on the food at the ballpark, because ballpark food.

"You can't go anywhere in Chicago without having a Vienna Beef hot dog. This is especially true at Wrigley, where the smell of grilled onions and other ballpark treats make the taste of a steamed bun and a Vienna Beef hot dog even more enjoyable. The nachos are your typical fast food nachos; they're good for a nice crunchy snack. Don't waste your money on the chocolate malt cup; it didn't taste like a malt at all. As a surprising addition, there was Nuts on Clark popcorn, but Garrett's would have been preferred. I'd like to see Wrigley get some Dippin' Dots as an ice cream option. Cheese curds can't hurt, either."

Final Thoughts

Photo by Kristen Mitzel

This was a long, long game. The sixth inning took forever, and even with the new pace of play rules, with some mid-inning pitching changes, it kind of dragged on. We sat in front of a couple Pirates fans, who put it pretty well: the Cubs need pitching, especially in the bullpen, but their offense is in great shape. They got contributions from all over today, including from starter Kyle Hendricks, who doubled (the lesson, as always: the designated hitter is for sissies). But really, any time you can pull out a game like that, especially in a manner where your fans are used to losing that way, you take it and run with it.

It's still very early in the season, but the Cubs have won five in a row and are on pace for a 93-win season. We'll have to see to what degree the league adjusts to guys like Bryant though, and whether he can adjust back. Overall though, there's a lot to be excited about on the North Side.

This might be it for me for Cubs baseball in person this season, though I will end up in Arlington for a Rangers game in August. Hopefully I'll get to see more of this team though, because this is fun!

Game Notes: Chicago Cubs @ Milwaukee Brewers (5/9/15)

Final Score

Brewers 12, Cubs 4

Game Summary

This was a game that got out of hand fairly early. Milwaukee (10-21) scored a pair of runs on a Gerardo Parra home run, but the Cubs (15-14) responded with the Destroyer of Baseballs hitting a three run shot to take the lead. It wouldn't last, as Milwaukee scratched out three runs to retake the lead. The Cubs got one back on the fourth before giving it back up in the bottom half. Milwaukee put it away with a five run fifth to go up 11-4. The Cubs really never threatened again, and the Brewers would tack on one more in the sixth for the final tally.

Pitchers of Record

W: Kyle Lohse (2-4)- 5 IP, 4 R (4 ER), 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K. Lohse may have had his best start of the year, though he had to labor to get there, and even then it wasn't pretty. He really only made the one mistake, one Cubs fans have been waiting for for weeks. He did enough to get the win, which is why wins and losses are kind of overrated stats.

L: Travis Wood (2-2)- 4 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Wood didn't have his best stuff either. After a quick first inning he struggled, giving up the homer to Parra, though a pair of errors didn't help matters. He had a high pitch count though, thus the early hook.

Key Stats

• Khris Davis (MIL): 3-3, 2 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI. I guess Davis had been struggling, but broke out with a couple big doubles to drive in runs, including the go ahead one in the third. Good night at the plate.
• Ryan Braun (MIL): 1-2, 3 R. Despite getting ruthlessly booed by the sizable Cubs contingent (of course I was in on it(, Braun worked a couple walks and took advantage of the good hitting day for the Brewers. Still a talented hitter.
• Kris Bryant (CHC): 1-4, HR (1), R, 3 RBI. I was giddy about seeing Bryant for the first time in person. Down 2-0 when he came up the second time, I told Kristen that he was the guy I was looking forward to, and my dad made the comment that now would be a good time for a three run homer. Then on cue, he launched one into the Brewer bullpen. That alone was worth the trip.

Final Thoughts

Kristen came along, primarily for the food. She enjoyed the chorizo plus some of my waffle fries, was underwhelmed by the cheese curds (come on, Wisconsin, you can do better), tried to improvise a Chicago mix out of a bag of kettle corn, and then had Dippin' Dots for dessert.  Not a bad collection overall.

On the field, this was one of the worst games I've been to. Blowouts happen, but it sucks to see it happen to your team. The usher in our section made the comment that I did well scoring the Brewers' runs on my scorecard, so we got a laugh out of that.

All in all, just one game. The Cubs are doing all right for early May, and Kris Bryant has that first home run out of the way. The Cubs will try to pull out the rubber game tomorrow.

Finally, given the holiday weekend, I wish a Happy Mothers Day to all mothers reading Confessions of a Sportscaster, and to all mothers everywhere. Thank you for all that you do. Readers, make sure to do something special for your mom tomorrow!

2015 MLB Preview: NL Central

First things first: Happy birthday to my dad, who helped nurture my love of sports in general and baseball in particular. He also helped birth my love of the Cubs, which may or may not be a good thing given history.

We're onto the National League Central as we move past the halfway point of the division previews. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can find them here.

War On the Rooftops

It seems like a lot of my favorite teams have interesting quirks that make them unique compared to any other franchise in sports. For Green Bay, it's the fact that they're publicly owned. More relevantly, for the Cubs, it's that they're a team with neighborhood ballpark and a tough contract with some of the neighbors.

Last week, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts decided that he'd had enough shenanigans with the city and the neighborhood, and decided to file his proposal for the much-needed renovations of Wrigley Field. Problem is, he opted to file the original plans for the ballpark, involving the jumbotron and ad signage for the outfield. And as anyone who's been paying attention knows, this means the owners of the rooftops on Waveland and Sheffield are going to fight.

I've never been to a game on one of the rooftops, and sure, it provides a unique experience and adds something different to the area around the park that others don't have. And up until 2004, the rooftops admitted people and paid nothing to the Cubs for the rights to the view. Finally the old administration decided to allow the rooftops to operate without any blockages to views in exchange for 17 percent of their revenue. At the time, I didn't really have much of an opinion one way or the other, other than noting that proposed "wind screens" to obstruct their view was a stupid idea, and thankfully that didn't pass. But it didn't really hurt the Cubs. At least, not until talk of renovation and modernization came up.

Today, I saw some proposed plans for how the ballpark would look after the renovation. I'm not super crazy about some of the signs there (the green Cubs logos are just kind of meh), but the jumbotron ideas look good. It's something I think the ballpark needs to get to the 21st century. I saw someone on Twitter who laughed about one fact with the signs though: all of the rooftop views are now to some degree obstructed. It's like the ultimate middle finger to the people that have held up the renovation plans.

It's all but a certainty that the rooftop owners will sue over this for a breach of contract. They may have a case, as the deal runs through 2023. But Comcast SportsNet's David Kaplan got to see the contract, and the case comes down to one provision.

"6.6: The Cubs shall not erect windscreens or other barriers to obstruct the views of the Rooftops, provided however that temporary items such as banners, flags and decorations for special occasions, shall not be considered as having been erected to obstruct views of the Rooftops. Any expansion of Wrigley Field approved by governmental authorities shall not be a violation of this agreement, including this section."

Would you consider this project an expansion of Wrigley? Since it's not just advertising but also a video screen that can be used for in-game purposes, I think it would be. And if a judge agrees, there go the rooftops.

I had no problem with them for years, even though until 2004, it could have been argued that they were thieves. Even with the deal, I didn't really have anything against them. It wasn't until they meddled in the affairs of ballpark renovations that I had issues. The Cubs are a Major League Baseball club that has the right to fix up its home park as it pleases, with approval of the city of Chicago. No other Major League team has to bow to the pressure of neighbors over what they can and can't do to their ballpark. And the Cubs shouldn't have to either. I understand that the rooftops are businesses and they're trying to protect their "product", but their "product" involves someone else's business, and they don't have the right to dictate terms like that to a sports franchise. Call me vindictive if you will, but I hope they get shafted. Wrigley has needed fixing up. This will finally put an end to the interference of allowing that to happen.

Game Notes: Milwaukee Brewers @ Chicago Cubs (5/16/14)

Final Score
Brewers 4, Cubs 3

Game Summary
About a year ago, Kristen kidnapped me to take me to a Cubs game. I said then that I needed to be more suspicious. Today, instead of participating in a round table with Senator Dick Durbin about student loans, I was kidnapped... again... and made the all-familiar trek to the Friendly Confines. Kristen put together a plan for a month that included buying tickets, getting my dad in on making sure I was home, and informing the people in charge of the aforementioned round table that I wasn't going to be able to make it. I stand by my decision, and my future bride.

On a cold afternoon, the Brewers (27-15) jumped to an early lead in the first with a pair of unearned runs (though honestly, one should have been earned, but whatever) thanks to some poor defense. They added another pair in the second before the Cubs (13-27) responded in kind with a Darwin Barney two run shot. The Cubs would add another run in the third on a solo blast by Junior Lake. After that, the Brewers settled in and didn't allow any more shenanigans. The Cubs got into and out of a couple jams, and couldn't string together another rally late to finish it off.

Pitchers of Record
Win: Kyle Lohse (5-1)- 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K. While he wasn't dominant in terms of stuff, he minimized the damage to those two home runs and worked out of a couple jams early, then retired the final 13 batters he faced. Despite only two strikeouts, when you can keep any lineup from doing any damage for that long, you earned the win.
Loss: Jeff Samardzija (0-4)- 5 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K. Shark got roughed up a bit early, but wasn't helped after errors by Junior Lake and Starlin Castro enabled two runs to come across. The other two runs were more so his fault, but a passed ball by Welington Castillo didn't really help either. His pitch count was really high after two innings, so while he settled down, that meant the bullpen had to take over early.
Save: Francisco Rodriguez (17)- 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K. K-Rod looked awful on his first two pitches, missing badly and prompting a visit from Jonathan Lucroy. He then gave up a solid single to Starlin Castro to lead off. He proceeded to get a fielder's choice on a bunt by Chris Coghlan, got Castillo to fly out, then saw Schierholtz line out to end the game. Honestly, it wasn't that great an outing, but he got some help from his defense and a bad bunt by Coghlan. Still counts.

Key Stats

• Starlin Castro/Anthony Rizzo (CHC): 3-7, BB. This was the big question for the Cubs coming into this season: how well would these guys rebound? They have fairly well. Castro had two hits and Rizzo had one, though neither one came in a major spot or resulted in any damage being done. Still, it's a good omen on an otherwise dreary day.
• Jean Segura (MIL): 3-5, R, 2 RBI. Segura proved to have the game-winning hit when he singled in a pair of runs in the top of the second. It's a different game if Welington Castillo doesn't allow the passed ball before said knock, as if the rest of the game played out that way, it's 3-3 going into extras. Then again, both Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez were off today.
• Cubs: 3 errors. This was what ultimately killed the Cubs I think, aside from not getting a hit between the third and ninth innings. The first error was a bobble in the outfield by Junior Lake on a Jonathan Lucroy base hit that Segura scored on. Segura probably would have scored without the error, but it went down as an unearned run. The following play, Castro threw a ball hit by Lyle Overbay too low over to first, and it allowed Lucroy, who had been at second thanks to Lake's error, to score and make it 2-0 at the time. In the third, Samardzija made a beautiful move to pick off Mark Reynolds, but on the ensuing rundown, Anthony Rizzo threw over Castro's head and allowed Reynolds to advance a base. While it didn't come back to bite the Cubs, it defined the "#Cubes" meme that has become prevalent in the past season or two to come to light.

Final Thoughts

Yes, it was cold. Sure, there was some rain, but we were under cover the whole game. Was it worth the trip? You bet. I was completely floored that we were going. Kristen orchestrated the perfect surprise that I didn't even have an inkling about. Guys who are reading this: if your girlfriend/fiancee/wife does this sort of thing for you, keep her. I'm not giving up mine.

I wasn't sure when this year I'd make it to Wrigley, given the chaos of a wedding and the ensuing honeymoon, but I'm glad we made it, even with the weather. It was a nice throwback weekend, and we got Babe Ruth "Called Shot" bobbleheads, which was cool. The game itself went... pretty much as expected, but there are some silver linings to take out of it. And at the end of the day, if you get to spend a day with the person you love in one of your favorite places, you take it every time.

Happy Birthday Wrigley!

If you read my MLB previews, and in particular the NL Central preview, you know that for the third year in a row, I have absolutely no faith in the Cubs this season. I think I've already tweeted out something to the effect of "#Cubes" about half a dozen times so far this year, which seems light given how bad the Cubs have been so far unless they're facing the somehow worse Arizona Diamondbacks. But today is a special day.

A lot has changed since April 23, 1914. My grandparents weren't alive yet, the World Series drought was at a whopping five, going on six years, and Weeghman Park was a single-tier stadium that held fewer than 20,000 fans. The Chicago Tribune has a great interactive graphic on how the park has changed in the last 100 years and what's to come.

Photo from April 13, 2009 game vs. Colorado

Wrigley was not my first Major League ballpark; that distinction belongs to the Metrodome when I was about three or four and Kirby Puckett was still doing Kirby Puckett things (RIP Kirby). I didn't want to stay for the whole game though; we left in about the seventh inning. My first full game though was a trip to Wrigley in the summer of 1998 when Sammy Sosa was on the juice baseball was undergoing a rebirth following the '94 lockout. Sosa would hit his 38th of 66 home runs that year and the Cubs would win.

Since then, I've been to Wrigley at least once every season. And despite most of those years ranging from mediocre to abysmal, the Cubs have had a minimum of a .500 record when I've been there every season except, weirdly enough, 2008.

Photo from April 22, 2009 game vs. Cincinnati

I have a lot of great memories of times at Wrigley Field. I skipped school one day in April of my sophomore year of high school to freeze my butt off for a double header. I've had seats right behind home plate thanks to connections with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. North Central has had alumni outings here every year towards the beginning of the season, and I was for all intents and purposes kidnapped into going last season by my wonderful fiancee. I was out in the bleachers the day Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux had their numbers retired in 2009, and again last year when Joel Quenneville brought the Stanley Cup with him to throw out the first pitch. I've heard multiple insults thrown at opposing outfielders and laughed at the chorus of boos directed at a guy wearing a Cardinals shirt at a Cubs-Orioles game (and the call in the ninth inning from a probably drunk guy that "It's not too late to throw him onto the field!"). It's where I saw my first two walkoff wins in person, including one from the bleachers after a phenomenal pitcher's duel between Ryan Dempster and Tim Lincecum. It's also the site of my favorite game I've attended in person back in 2003 when the Cubs blew out the Brewers behind a wealth of home runs; Kerry Wood was part of a set of back-to-back-to-back jacks, and Sammy Sosa hit a pair of bombs, including one that went at least 520 feet (I can still see that ball sailing well past me out over Waveland and onto Kenmore Avenue).

Photo from May 3, 2013 game vs. Cincinnati

My dad has been going to games at Wrigley since he first moved to Chicagoland in 1984, and he's the one who introduced me to this cathedral of baseball. He'll be the first to tell you that "Wrigley is a pit", and even said so in a project I did during my senior year at North Central for my Writing Across Media class. But he and I can both attest to the magical feeling that you get when you're on the Red Line approaching the Addison stop when you can first see the lights atop the ballpark, and the atmosphere you get when you first step out of the station and into the neighborhood. Just being among that throng of people and seeing the history in and around the ballpark... you can't really put it into words. If you haven't been yet, you need to.

I'm not sure yet when I'm going to make it to Wrigley this season. Planning a wedding while working on a new home, plus a honeymoon takes up a lot of your time. Hopefully I'll be able to make it there after all the excitement is past and I can celebrate the Party of the Century with the Birthday Park itself.