October 22, 2015

Five Takeaways From Theo Epstein’s Cubs Post-Mortem

Chicago Cubs President Theo Epstein spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field, and he covered a list of topics ranging from free agent priorities to the play of Miguel Montero to the development plans for Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Javier Baez.

To help recap the day at the Friendly Confines, here is a list of the five biggest takeaways from the press conference.

It’s The Pitching, Stupid

“The topic sentence is ‘we would like to add more quality pitching,’” Epstein said early on in his press conference. He went on to say that the team is looking to add “at least one quality starting pitcher” when free agency opens this winter, and he said that free agent pitching is a “necessary evil.”

Granted, none of that insinuates that the Cubs will go after one of the top-of-the-line free agents like David Price or Zack Greinke, but it would seem to indicate that they would be open to doing so. Both players will command large salaries, but with the savings the Cubs are getting as a result of having a lineup loaded with young, cost-controlled players, there is definitely incentive for them to add a top-of-the-line starter to take some pressure off of Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester.

Schwarber Will See Time at Catcher, Outfield Next Spring

“We’re keeping all the options open, as long as we’re not getting in the way of his development,” Epstein said of Kyle Schwarber and whether he would continue to work on his game behind the plate. He also said that the team likes the “imperfect path” in terms of allowing Schwarber to develop while playing at the big league level, preferring to keep his bat in the lineup instead of sending him down to the minors for more seasoning.

There has been plenty of talk about Schwarber’s future as a fielder with the Cubs after his route-running came into question during the NLCS, but Epstein and the front office clearly believe that he can develop into a serviceable player at either position, and that keeping his bat in the lineup is a priority to forcing him to take extra reps at either position during a minor league stint.

Jake Arrieta

Arrieta Contract Not Top Priority, but Cubs Open to Talk

“I’m sure there will come a time where we’ll approach Jake and Scott Boras and try to extend that window,” Epstein said when asked about Arrieta’s contract status. “We’re not going to talk about that time publicly, but we’d be foolish not to try to extend that window.”

Arrieta is not set to become a free agent until after the 2017 season, but with his dominant performance during the 2015 campaign, there are increasing calls for the Cubs to lock him up to a more team-friendly deal before a free agency campaign would likely raise his asking price. It doesn’t sound like Epstein is looking to lock up Arrieta any time soon, but conversations will surely take place with Boras this offseason as the Cubs pursue other free agents.

Hammel Will Likely Remain in Rotation

“He is that guy that you saw in the first half when he’s 100 percent and locked in, and it’s our job to get him that way for the first week of the season next year,” Epstein said when asked about Hammel’s status for next season.

There have been plenty of questions about whether the Cubs will add a top-line starter and a young, cost-controlled guy to the rotation, and about what that would mean to Jason Hammel’s status, but it seems that the Cubs are planning on having him in the mix for a starter’s job next season. Hammel will be entering the second year of a two-year contract that he signed with the Cubs, and he’ll be looking to rebound after an awful second half that saw his confidence dwindle and his performance suffer.

Baez, Bryant Could See Outfield Time

With the huge amount of positional prospects the Cubs have, it isn’t shocking that Epstein said the team is going to look at potentially giving both Javier Baez and Kris Bryant time in the outfield. Bryant played some at all three outfield positions this season, and with his arm and deceptive speed, he could potentially be a fit in right field for the Cubs if they choose to go in that direction.

The real question becomes, of course, whether the Cubs want to keep just one true outfielder and have Schwarber and Bryant serving as the corner guys. That is a big if from a defensive perspective, as we saw what happened when they skimped on defense during the postseason. A spring training spent developing talent and route-running could be just what the doctor ordered for both players, but it will be interesting to see how serious the Cubs are about having those types of players in the lineup on an everyday basis in those positions.

October 7, 2015

Prediction and Preview of the NL Wild Card Game

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On a day that’s only occurred six other times in my 31 ½ years on this earth, the Cubs are hours away from getting their 2015 playoff season under way in Pittsburgh. As you’ve probably heard by now the game is set for first pitch at 19:08 hrs. Military time on 10-7 or 107 years since the last title. Let’s try to get past superstitions and try to plant a seed of why this year is different than the past. Here’s five reasons I’m picking the Cubs to move the Pirates to face their arch nemesis, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Joe Maddon

Maddon has been the talk of baseball all season. The best move of the offseason, Maddon has made the right moves all season. Whether it be drawing the media’s attention away from the club when they’d have issues, playing players in different positions so he has as many options as possible, sitting players in a slump to get a spark out of them, or keeping things light around the club house with late arrival days and costume days. They say managers are responsible for a few wins or loses a season. Baseball Reference used their Pythagorean W-L formula to calculate the Cubs at 90 wins, so the argument could be made Maddon is responsible for at least seven of the Cubs wins. Win or lose, Maddon should be manager of the year with how he’s managed this team.

1A. Jake Arrieta

To say Arrieta has been dominate in the last half of the season would be a true understatement. In the first half of the season he went 10-5 in 18 starts, giving up 35 earned runs in the process. In the second half of the season, Arrieta went 12-1 in 15 starts while only surrendering 9 earned runs in those games. On normal days rest (4 days), Arrieta is 11-2 with a 1.02 ERA in 16 starts. In night games, Arrieta is 14-2 with a 1.51 ERA in 20 starts including two complete game shutouts. In PNC Park this season, he has a 0.82 ERA in three starts this season with 0 home runs and 17 strikeouts. Lastly, the Cubs ace is 13-1 on the road this season with a 1.60 ERA this season.

Tired of stats? How about this last goodie: Against the Pirates, Arrieta is 3-1 in five starts this season with a 0.75 ERA. It’s the second best ERA he has against a team that he’s faced two or more times.

Feeling better going into this game? The man has been dominate this season and is well deserved to be in the Cy Young Award conversation. After listening and seeing interviews with Arrieta leading up to this game, the guy is definitely confident. Some have even called it cocky, but,on this team, it’s exactly what they need. This is the biggest reason I’m picking the Cubs.

Starlin Castro

This season Castro has definitely been a hot topic among Cubs fans, whether it be his hitting slumps or his lack of attention in the field. However, ever since Maddon benched Castro after a pitiful defensive display against the Cincinnati where he had three errors. Castro has had 17 at-bats against Cole in the last five seasons and has a .353 average with four RBI’s against him. This could be Castro’s chance to redeem himself in the eyes of Cubs fans and the best news is he’s been hot. In the last 27 games Castro has hit .369 with five home runs and 21 runs batted in. The other bright spot about his performance lately, Castro has had only one error since his 3 error game Aug. 31^st. I believe his bat will be alive tonight versus Pittsburgh and he’ll leave the game with no errors.

Defense

The defense has been solid across the board (especially lately with Castro’s head back in the game). For the 2015 season the eight position players have combined for 85 errors (including Castro’s 24 errors). The one question a lot of media has brought up yesterday and today is whether having Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber in not at their respective usual positions of third and left field going to cause an issue. The outfield in Pittsburgh is larger than normal in left and right fields. The foul line in left is 325 ft. from home plate and left center jumps out to 410 ft. deep which is actually longer than center field (399 ft. deep). That’ll be the challenge for Bryant and Dexter Fowler to deal with in tonight’s game defensively.

In right, the jump isn’t quite as deep but it goes out to 375 ft. in right center. Schwarber will have to navigate that on his side of the field along with making sure to not run all the way to the wall if a ball is going to ricochet off the wall. I believe both guys have the speed and baseball smarts to be able to play well in the outfield. By the end of the game both may not be in the outfield anyway due to double switches and defensive subs.

The other issue on defense people have been talking about is Tommy La Stella playing third base. According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN 1000AM, he watched La Stella take several grounders at third base yesterday prepping for tonight’s game. La Stella only has played 52 innings at third base this season. Eleven of those games have come since August 26^th, and he only had one error in those appearances.

The feeling is that Maddon is trying to load his lineup with lefties to face the right-handed Garrit Cole tonight. This season La Stella has hit .286 with one home run and 11 RBI against right-handed pitchers. There probably come a time in the game where for defensive reasons or even just straight up pitching hitting substituting, La Stella will probably exit the game in the 7^th inning or later.

Anthony Rizzo

If you’re looking for a side bet heading into these playoffs, bet on who will be hit more in the playoffs: Anthony Rizzo or every other team’s players? Rizzo has been hit by a pitch a whopping 30 times this season. Since he covers the plate so much, I wouldn’t be shock if while trying to jam Rizzo, Cole hits him at least one time.

Rizzo stands the best chance at seeing a pitch over the plate. He’ll have to do as much damage as he can with those pitches. He carries a .353 batting average against Cole with one RBI. If the Pirates decide to shift on Rizzo, don’t be shocked if the bases are empty, and Rizzo actually attempts to lay down a bunt or a chop swing to the left side to try to beat the shift.

This game will come down to cleverness. Something like Rizzo bunting to the left side could lead to a big inning or even the one run Arrieta needs to carry the Cubs. The Cubs have a clever manager and young, fun, clever players who would do anything Maddon asks them to do.

Prediction for the game

5-1 Cubs win. Arrieta goes eight innings with one earned run on 4 hits, 7 strikeouts, and one walk. Rodon comes into the game in the 9^th and will give up one hit, a double-play and a strike out to close out the game.

August 11, 2015

Maddon Looking to Give Castro Work at Second, But Should He?

The Chicago Cubs have made some interesting lineup changes over the past few games, but the most notable change to the group has been the full-time replacement of Starlin Castro as the team’s everyday shortstop.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon made it clear that Castro was not just getting days off when this whole process started out, and he has consistently kept the shortstop out of the lineup as the team’s offense has picked up steam. On Tuesday, Maddon did toss Castro a bit of a life preserver, as he announced that the 25-year old would get reps at both second and third base during batting practice:

The move comes as Maddon looks to get Castro more playing time, but the question that immediately has to be asked is this: should the team be making that big a push to get Castro into the lineup? After all, putting Castro at a place like third base would likely mean that Kris Bryant would be sitting out, and putting him at second would either push Chris Coghlan or Kyle Schwarber out of the mix.

There are ways around benching those players to get Castro playing time, but time and again this season the infielder has shown that he is incapable of making the adjustments necessary to break out of his slump, and his regression was a big part of the reason why the team’s offense was so putrid at times during the campaign.
Even with all of that being said, it’s understandable to a degree that Maddon wants Castro to continue to be a part of the Cubs’ lineup. Adding more quality bats is always a good thing for an offense as it goes through ups and downs, so hopefully Maddon will be able to strike a balance between giving Castro playing time without throwing off the hot streak of players like Russell and Schwarber.

July 23, 2015

Rob Manfred Says MLB Could Explore Moving Trade Deadline

While the Chicago Cubs deal with decisions over whether or not they should mortgage part of their future for a better chance at success in the present, another debate topic has been percolating around the sport of baseball, as discussions abound as to whether or not MLB should move back the non-waiver trade deadline.

That deadline, which currently sits on July 31, was established in 1986, when baseball only had four playoff teams each season. That meant that by the middle of July, teams knew whether or not they were in viable contention for a playoff spot, and that meant that more teams were able to make decisions as to how they should proceed in terms of roster construction.

Nowadays, that number has increased to 10 teams, and you now have teams like the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers that still have an outside chance of making the postseason instead of knowing that they should be selling off assets and going in a completely new direction.

With that in mind, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says that the league would be interested in changing the deadline:

“I think that the July 31^st deadline is something that we may want to revisit in the context of the revised playoff format,” he said. “Obviously when you have two additional opportunities to be in the playoffs, you have more teams in the hunt and they may want to wait a little longer before they make decisions.”

Manfred’s statements bring up two interesting questions: should MLB change the deadline date, and if so, when should they move it to?

The answer to the first question is an emphatic yes. Having a dearth of trading partners makes the trade deadline pretty much meaningless as it stands right now, but moving the date would give teams an opportunity to either hold out longer before making a decision or take advantage of their status as sellers in order to get better deals on starting pitchers, giving teams more bang for their buck in a trade and likely increasing the return in those swaps.

As for when the deadline should be set, an August 31 deadline would be feasible, but likely shouldn’t be adopted. If a team were to trade for a starting pitcher, it seems unlikely they would be willing to give up much of anything for a guy who will only get a handful of starts before the postseason begins. Can you imagine the return the Detroit Tigers would get on David Price if they waited until there was only one month remaining in the season to ship him out?

Instead, the league should push the deadline back by two weeks, putting it at August 15. There is still plenty of meaningful baseball that could be played at that point, and it doesn’t really impact the return on players as much as a month-long extension would.

July 7, 2015

Opinion: Optimism After Solid First Half a Good Sign for Cubs

The Chicago Cubs started out their season with a shutout loss to the St. Louis Cardinals with Jon Lester on the hill, and they finished off the first half of the campaign in identical fashion as they dropped a 6-0 decision on Monday night at rain-soaked Wrigley Field.

Aside from the crazy similarities between games 1 and 81, the fact remains that the Cubs are in a pretty good spot. They are nine and a half games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, but they do hold a two and a half game lead over the New York Mets for the second wild card spot in the National League, they have gotten some tremendous pitching as of late, and young stars like Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have been playing very well for a team that is looking to be a serious contender for the first time in nearly a decade.

Jake Arrieta warms up prior to the Cubs’ September 3rd game against Milwaukee

Even with those positives, there are still plenty of reasons for concern. The team has one of the worst offenses in the National League, ranking near the bottom of the heap in the senior circuit in terms of runs scored (11th), batting average (13th), and strikeouts (most in the NL). They haven’t gotten the type of production they’ve needed from guys like Miguel Montero and Dexter Fowler, and players like Starlin Castro still aren’t quite living up to expectations.

Add to that the fact that Jon Lester has had difficulty performing consistently (although measures like Fielding Independent Pitching and others indicate that he is better than he’s been given credit for) and the fact that the Cubs are just 2-8 against the Cardinals this season, and there are some reasons for concern and pessimism after the halfway mark of the season.

Despite those negatives, the positives far outpace them. Joe Maddon’s team has developed a never say die attitude, going 19-15 in one-run games so far this season. They may be striking out a lot, but they’re walking a lot too, with the fifth-most free passes of any team in baseball. They are stealing bases at an excellent rate, converting on over 73% of their attempted steals. They have found ways to win even as their offense has sputtered, winning thanks to creative tactics and tremendous pitching over the last month or so of play.

Most importantly of all, the Cubs have persevered through injuries and the second-toughest schedule in baseball this season and still are in prime position to secure a playoff spot. Maddon has this group believing in themselves, and with all of his techniques and little tweaks to the lineup and the strategy of the team, he really has effected a serious culture and attitude change within the 25 men on the roster.

That, perhaps more than any other factor, represents why Cubs fans should be optimistic after the first half of the season. This team has fully bought into what Maddon has been preaching, and although their offense has struggled and the final order of the bullpen hasn’t been established (although adding Rafael Soriano to the mix will make an already strong bullpen even better), this team has found ways to win, and that’s the key ingredient if a team wants to make an October run.

May 4, 2015

Chris Denorfia to Go on DL with Pulled Hamstring

The Chicago Cubs had a pretty bad Monday night overall as they dropped a 10-9 decision against the St. Louis Cardinals, but the news got even worse as it was revealed that outfielder Chris Denorfia will be placed on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled hamstring that he suffered in the game.

Denorfia, who has appeared in 12 games for the Cubs this season and is batting .429 with a .931 OPS, will be replaced on the roster by Matt Szczur. He was pulled from the Iowa Cubs’ game on Monday night in the eighth inning, so the corresponding roster move should be made soon.

The injury could not come at a worse time for Denorfia, who had a three-game hitting streak halted by the hamstring ailment. He was 2-for-2 with his first RBI of the season on Monday night when he pulled the hamstring going from second to third base, and he was immediately pulled from the game.

After showing some prodigious power in Cactus League play, Szczur has slowed down a bit for Iowa this season, hitting .250 with a home run and five RBI so far on the triple-A campaign.

May 4, 2015

Opinion: Cubs Fans Should Savor Anger After Monday Loss

On Friday afternoon, the Chicago Cubs were sitting at 13-8 on the season, Addison Russell had just hit his first career home run, and Jon Lester had pitched a gem of a game and gotten his first win in a Cubs’ uniform.

Everything, as they say, was coming up Milhouse.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything seemed to unravel. The Cubs’ bullpen began to falter. Their starting pitching vanished. Their offense even vanished over the weekend as they were badly outscored and dropped two straight games to the Milwaukee Brewers. On Monday night, it appeared that they were back on track as they took a 5-0 lead in the first inning, but it all came undone as Travis Wood surrendered four runs and the Cubs ultimately lost the game thanks to some poor work done by their bullpen.

A quick perusal of social media after the game revealed plenty of anger within the Cubs’ fan base, and rightfully so. This was a game that the Cubs by all accounts should have won, and a combination of bad pitching and bad luck conspired against them as they dropped their third straight game and fourth in the last five games overall.

Amid all of that anger though, an interesting fact becomes abundantly clear: it feels good to get this worked up about baseball again.

For years now, a Cubs loss would be met by some eye-rolling and maybe an occasional hand-wringing gesture, but fans got over it. To paraphrase Heath Ledger’s Joker, it was “all part of the plan.” The Cubs needed to lose these games to give their young talent time to develop in the minor leagues, and they got some really high draft picks and made some serious trades as a result as they reshaped the entire roster from top to bottom.

Now, with a group of veterans brought in and the youngsters really starting to come into the big leagues, expectations are on the rise on the north side of Chicago. Every Kris Bryant at-bat is met with breathless anticipation as fans await his first home run. Every diving stop by Starlin Castro is fawned over at length. Every Anthony Rizzo stolen base elicits reminders that he has more steals than the entire Chicago White Sox roster.

These things are part of the allure of baseball, and it’s so nice to have them back.

So before you get too worked up about losing a game to the St. Louis Cardinals in early May, or before you rue the fact that the Cubs could easily be 17-7 or 16-8 at this point of the season, just remember this: how much more fun is it to care about baseball than it was to ignore it and wait for Bears season to start?

From one observer’s perspective, this is a heck of a lot better.

April 25, 2015

BASEBALL AND GAMBLING: MLB Has No Excuse To Not Reinstate Rose, Jackson

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson with the White Sox

This season marks a new era in Major League Baseball. MLB has announced an “official” partnership with DraftKings. Draftkings is an app for playing fantasy sports. Basically, once you download the app you can “buy in” and begin playing on a day-by-day basis, and you can win money based upon the performances of the players you select.

Why do I say this is a new era? Because for the first time, Major League Baseball is in the business of gambling on baseball. Let me repeat that…Major League Baseball is in the business of gambling on baseball.

In the past, MLB has always had a zero tolerance policy when it comes to gambling. Great players like Joe Jackson have been banned for life for merely taking money from gamblers, despite not doing anything to throw games. Pete Rose, the all-time leader in hits, has been banned for betting on his own team. As many times as Rose has asked for reinstatement, or as many times as people have petitioned on behalf of Jackson (or his teammate Buck Weaver), baseball has always refused on the basis of zero-tolerance.

Pete Rose hits the dirt in Wrigley Field

Now that MLB has entered into a partnership with DraftKings, any attempt to justify keeping Rose or Jackson from being reinstated, and ultimately considered for the Baseball Hall Of Fame, is a false equivalency on MLB’s part.

In the past, MLB has always been able to claim a moral high ground when it comes to gambling. Now they are active participants. As such, there is now implicit approval toward gambling on baseball. In fact, as much as they may want to believe this will never find its way down to players, they have accepted the very real risk that it will.

In fact, at this point, how would they punish any players who use a product endorsed by MLB? What if some relief pitcher is in a game, 4 or 5 runs ahead or behind, facing a hitter that he picked on DraftKings? What if a manager picked one of his guys on DraftKings and leaves him in or takes him out based upon his value in fantasy points? Isn’t that exactly why Rose was suspended?

Yet here we are. MLB has decided to take the revenue from gambling, and therefore must take all the circumstances ot that revenue. And a huge circumstance is that they no longer have any justification to preserve the banishments of players who have been involved with gambling on baseball.

They’ve sold their guardianship of the integrity of the game.

April 17, 2015

Kris Bryant Excited for Wrigley Debut Friday

The Chicago Cubs welcomed new third baseman Kris Bryant to Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon for his first big league game, and after only getting three hours of sleep as he flew in from Des Moines, the star was ready to get things underway.

“Right now, it’s a little overwhelming, but I’m ready to have fun with it,” he said in a pregame media availability.

Joe Maddon and the Cubs aren’t hesitating to throw the youngster to the wolves right away, as he will bat in the clean-up spot and play third base in Friday’s game against the San Diego Padres. With Mike Olt and Tommy La Stella both on the disabled list, Bryant has an opportunity to grab a roster spot for the long haul over the next few weeks, but he’s focused more on the day-to-day chances that his new spot gives him.

“When you start putting expectations that are way out there, you start losing sight of what’s important in this game,” he said.

High expectations can be the downfall of many players, but Bryant doesn’t seem to be one of them. He has excelled at every level of professional baseball he has played at so far, and even after he was sent down following a nine-home run stint in Cactus League play, he slugged three more home runs for the Iowa Cubs before his call-up.

Fans can count Maddon among the chorus of people who don’t believe that Bryant will be affected by the pressure surrounding him.

“I don’t think he’s going to be impacted by any of that,” he said. “Whether we batted him first or ninth, it doesn’t matter. He’s still going to play the game. I told him that my expectations are that (he) respect 90 feet and enjoy himself.”

As for what the plans are for Bryant after his initial time at third base, Cubs President Theo Epstein indicated that he believes the slugger will remain at the hot corner for the foreseeable future.

“The need right now is at third base, and we’re very comfortable with his defensive abilities,” he said. “I think this guy can play third base for a while.”

Bryant is only 23 years old, so his career with the Cubs could end up lasting a very long time. Even with that bright future ahead of him, his debut is still a moment for celebration for him and his family, and they will be in the building at Wrigley Field on Friday.

“I’ve never seen my dad cry before. That’s what it’s all about,” Bryant said. “Now my family, friends, girlfriend get to watch me on this stage.”

April 17, 2015

Merry Krismas: Kris Bryant a Reminder of the Joys of Being a Fan

Kris Bryant Stands In vs. Indians

Throughout my life as a fan of the Chicago Cubs, I’ve seen all manner of prospects make their big league debuts. Whether it’s a player like Corey Patterson, touted for his five-tool ability, or a player like Mark Prior, who came out of college touted as the best pitcher to ever toe a slab, the team has had plenty of guys for me and my fellow fans to be excited about.

Kris Bryant is different. Kris Bryant is a different animal altogether.

Ever since the Cubs grabbed him with the second pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, I’ve kept an eye on his stats on a weekly, sometimes daily basis. I watched a few of his college games before that, but it was when the Cubs selected him in the draft that I fully grasped the enormity of what Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer had pulled off. This guy is a special player, and he was going to be playing for my favorite team.

Seeing him in person for the first time in spring training in 2014 was a bit of a letdown. He bobbled an easy play at third base (before he ultimately made the throw across), and he was stranded in the on-deck circle before I even got a chance to see him hit. This spring was a heck of a lot different, as I got to witness his home run against the Cleveland Indians (you know the one, as it was part of the trio of consecutive home runs by Bryant, Javier Baez, and Jorge Soler) and I got to witness two more when I saw the Cubs play against the Seattle Mariners. All I could do for that second set of bombs was whistle, because I was in the press box and aggressive fist-pumping and hooting is generally frowned upon.

Today will be the first time Bryant will be in the lineup for the Cubs, and he will be batting fourth for Joe Maddon. That sentence doesn’t have any particular meaning other than this: it feels like a dream to me. Ever since Maddon led the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series in 2008, I’d harbored fantasies about him managing on the North Side. Adding a guy like Bryant to the mix only heightens the sense for me that this team is becoming something special.

At the same time that I’m salivating over the possibility of Bryant hitting in the heart of the order for the next seven years (thanks arcane MLB free agency rules!), I’m also well aware of the fact that the Cubs are a team that historically hasn’t had much to cheer about when it comes to homegrown talent. Guys like Ryne Sandberg (acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade) are about as close as we can get to that, but Bryant could be this team’s Ken Griffey Jr. He could be this team’s Mike Trout. He could become the prize that the Cubs didn’t steal. He could become the shiniest crown jewel.

Feeling the sense of giddiness that I do about Bryant becoming a member of the Chicago Cubs is an emotion that I hope I never lose. Writing about the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bears full time for NBC, I feel like my enthusiasm for both teams has dulled over the years. That isn’t a bad thing, and is in fact beneficial as I try to dispassionately analyze both teams. I do miss that rush of adrenaline that I used to get, and baseball has become one of the only outlets I have when I’m looking to get my “fan on,” so to speak.

Bryant reminds me that sports are supposed to be fun. Bryant reminds me that it’s okay to get really excited about something in the sports world. Today is going to be a day that a lot of us are going to remember for a long time, and I hope it’s another step up the ladder toward a championship that would mean more to me than I probably realize as I type these words.