Jeff Samardzija has been a disappointment for the Chicago Cubs this year, getting knocked around pretty good when he wasn't being shuttled back down to Iowa.
In 17 appearances with the Cubs this year, Samardzija has compiled a 7.81 ERA. After his only start of the season last week—seven runs in three-and-one-third innings—I suggested to a friend that the former Notre Dame All-America wide receiver consider joining the Chicago Bears. Seriously, he could probably start this season.But then I saw this (the above photo) after Saturday's game. Apparently the Cubs demoted him to the grounds crew, as he can be seen getting ready ...
The argument has been made that Cubs fans aren't really that dedicated, that they're mostly a bunch of yuppies who turn Wrigley Field into the world's largest outdoor saloon, and that they couldn't tell you the right fielder's name or what the score is. But when you want to get buried in a Cubs-themed casket or have your ashes placed in a Cubs urn, that's saying something.I was picking my daughter up from camp the other day on the North Side of Chicago when I saw this about a mile from Wrigley. Yes, that's the Cubs logo on the inside of a casket, ...
Sports fans are going to love this. The Wise Guide series of books presents a succinct, all-inclusive look into what fans of various teams need to know to enjoy their trips to the stadium. The particular Guide I’m reviewing is for Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, but there are also Wise Guide books out for Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, AT&T Park, Ohio Stadium, and Notre Dame Stadium available at their Web site.
These books are perfect both for new fans who want the know-how that lifetime fans have built up over the years, and for the old pros who ...
Another racist t-shirt has popped up outside Wrigley Field, which leads to the question: Are Cubs fans racist? Or is it just the street vendors outside Wrigley? Or maybe the t-shirt makers? This newest version shows the outline of a man cutting grass and says "Pujols mows my lawn." Another one says "Zambrano mows my lawn," which is odd to see outside Wrigley; vendors, I suppose, were hoping to sell it to Cardinals fans this past weekend. There's also one targeting White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen that says "Ozzie mows Wrigley Field."That one first hit the streets last month, and while some reporters questioned whether it was racist, Ozzie ...
"The rivalry between the Cubs and Cardinals is probably the oldest and best in baseball, no matter how the Red Sox and Yankees spit and spite at each other. That's a tabloid-fueled soap opera about money and ego and sound bites. That's a pair of bratty high-priced supermodels trying to trip each other in their stilettos on the runway. The Cards-Cubs epic is about roots and geography and territorial rights. It's entwined in the Midwestern blood and therefore refreshing and honest and even heroic."
-Buzz Bissinger, from 3 Nights in August
The Cubs-Cardinals rivalry is one of the most intense in baseball, ...
The Chicago alderman whose ward includes Wrigley Field wants to ban street vendors and the so-called "bucket boys," those kids who pound on overturned buckets with drumsticks, from the perimeter of the Friendly Confines. "Let the Disneyfication of Wrigleyville begin," declared Ald. Thomas Tunney.Actually, I made that up. What he really said was that it's a, "public safety issue," which is, of course, comical. I can see if you have complaints about the noise but public safety has nothing to do with it. Here's a video I shot of the drummers on Sunday playing along Sheffield Avenue.As you can see, Sheffield is ...
One of the eternal mysteries of Wrigley, right up there with how they get the grass so green in April, is what it’s like inside the scoreboard. Fred Washington, who’s been flippin’ numbers at Wrigley since 1990, talked to Wise Guides about the “mystique” of the job.
Washington puts down the chalk baselines and takes care of other duties before climbing inside the scoreboard, where he’s joined by two or three workers. A ticker-tape machine spits out constant updates from around the league as the guys scramble to keep up.
Washington, a South Sider but die-hard Cubs fan, joined the grounds crew ...
