Tag Archives: Chicago Cubs

CONGRATULATIONS CHICAGO CUBS ~ 2016 WORLD CHAMPIONS!!

Posted on November 2, 2016 | 1 comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Chicago Cubs

Tagged 2016 world champions 2016 world series, Chicago Cubs, go cubs go

The “Supposed” Agony of Defeat

Posted on October 14, 2016 | 2 comments

Let’s face it. How many of us really believed the Giants were going to make it to the 2016 Playoffs? You’d have to be the eternal optimist to even suspect there might be a chance after the disastrous play the last half of the season. I mean, really, the team went 0 for 60 in games where they were behind in the 8th inning. That must be an all-time record. Sure, there were some bright spots and there’s always hope in baseball, but really?

We know how to win. And this was our time, being an even year and all. The year started out with a bang and we had the rest of the baseball world believing it too, with our best record in major league baseball at the All Star Break. So when the bottom fell out in the 5th game of the NLDS we were in shock and disbelief and we were angry. My anger was directed toward our dear quiet, unassuming Manager, Bruce Bochy. The team played their hearts out that last game. Matt Moore’s pitching was incredible throughout, but was pulled at the top of the 9th to make way for our not so incredible bullpen, at which time I left the room and started cleaning up the kitchen. I knew it was over. We all knew it was over. What was he thinking?

In retrospect, in my heart I don’t think the 3 time World Champion San Francisco Giants really deserved to be there. And I don’t think they thought so either. Okay. I said it. But that’s how I felt. When you compare it to the Chicago Cubs season, the Cubs belonged there. They deserved to win. And they did win, fair and square. Did Moore have another 10-12 pitches left in him? Probably. But we’ll never know and it doesn’t really matter. It pains me to say it, but the best team DID win and good for them.

I love my Giants. Always have. Always will. Ann Killion wrote this in her SF Chronicle post today: “Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard said on social media: ‘Baseball has a way of ripping your heart out, stabbing it, putting it back in your chest and then healing itself just in time for spring training.”

My point is this. The Giants had a real weakness in the bullpen this year. It was apparent in 60 of 60 games. It won’t happen again. They have an amazing staff that will build on this and they’ll be back. Not all of them, of course, but enough that another world champion team will emerge again.

And when it does, and if we lose then, we’ll really know the true agony of defeat. Because in this defeat, we should have felt honored just to be sitting at the table. Personally, I can hardly wait for the NLCS to begin tomorrow with the Chicago Cubs against ….. wait for it …….a worthy opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

My bet is on the Chicago Cubs who have the best record in Major League Baseball this year. But like Syndergaaard said ……baseball has a way of ripping your heart out ……..

Good luck to the Cubs and Dodgers. It’s gonna be a great series!

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants

Tagged 2016 baseball, 3 time world champion, ann killion, Bruce Bochy, Chicago Cubs, Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, matt moore, NLCS series, NLDS series, noah syndergaard, San Francisco Giants, sf giants

SF Giants – A New Hero Emerges

Posted on October 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

How can you explain Madison Bumgarner and his band of buddies marching to the tune of their own drum after such a pitiful showing following the All Star Break? We knew they were in it because, after all, it is post season and they’ve done it before and in such spectacular fashion. But how many of us truly expected a shut-out against the Citi-Field warriors Wednesday? Not me, that’s for sure.

Looking back on this band of misfits in prior years almost every game and every series had a new hero. Most memorable for me was Sandoval’s three home runs in one game against the unhittable Justin Verlander in a World Series Game 1. And the entire Giants team when they forced the vocal Rangers pitcher, Cliff Lee, to the bench and out of the game before the 4th inning in World Series play, back in 2010.

Last night a most unlikely hero found his way to the spotlight with a 3 run homer in the top of the 9th. Without that hit who knows how long that game would have gone on? Remember the 18 innings against the Nats in the 2014 NLDS? We could have seen that last night. Not likely, but possible. Syndergaard had already taken the bench and Bum was headed there, but ’twas not to be. Conor Gillaspie, tied at $507,500, for the lowest paid man on the roster, became a hero in postseason play, alongside the legend of legends Madison Bumgarnerwhen he smacked his home run out of the park for the only score of the game.

Rough road ahead you say? But of course. How could it be anything else? Chicago Cubs on the horizon? Who cares? This is post season and it’s the Giants and it’s an “even” year.

How can you help but love this Giants team? Best team in MLB the first half of the season and close to the worst the 2nd half.

It’s the stuff baseball’s made of and no one embraces it better than the San Francisco Giants. Let the torture begin!

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants

Tagged bumgarner, Chicago Cubs, Cliff Lee, conor gillaspie, gillaspie, hero, nlds, ny mets, sf giants, syndergaard

Name Origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams

Posted on September 22, 2014 | Leave a comment

Cincinnati Red Stockings. 1st Professional Baseball Team

Cincinnati Red Stockings Photo Courtesy “www.todayifoundout.com” Daven Hiskey.

I “Stumbled” on this great post that lists the origins of all 30 Major League Baseball Teams. It appears the Boston Red Sox hold the oldest named team dating back to the 1860’s, popularized by the Cincinnati Red Stockings from 1867-1870 and used by Boston’s National League franchise from 1871-1876.

But the actual team name origin that’s with the same team is the San Francisco Giants, formerly the New York Giants, that dates back to 1885.

Read the original Post Stumbleupon.com, written by Scott Allen.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, General, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

Tagged arizona diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, BALTIMORE ORIOLES, baseball name origins, Baseball origins, boston red sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, cincinnati red stockings, Cincinnati Reds, cleveland indians, Colorado Rockies, DETROIT TIGERS, florida marlins, Houston Astros, kansas city royals, los angeles angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, minnesota twins, New York Giants, new york mets, new york yankees, Oakland Athletics, philadelphia phillies, pittsburgh pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Scott Allen, seattle mariners, St Louis Cardinals, Stumble, Stumbleupon, tampa bay rays, Texas Rangers, toronto blue jays, washington nationals

Clown shoes in Chicago: the Cubs grounds crew couldn’t get the tarp on the field

Posted on July 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

Ronni’s Comment: Yesterday during the Cubs -Giants game there was a torrential downpour. I mean the kind that monsoons are made of. It lasted probably 15-20 minutes. But when the grounds crew tried to put the tarp on the field it turned into a nightmare for the guys pulling the tarp for sure, but also for the Giants fans and, in particular, for Mike Krukow, commentator for the Giants

I’m not sure I agree with the official ruling, but Mike Krukow commented several times during the rain delay stating in his words to the effect that the field crew “intentionally” screwed up the laying of the tarp. That it was totally intentional. That it wouldn’t have happened if the Cubs had been behind.

And I say shame on you Mike Krukow. You know better. Just because the Giants have won a few championships doesn’t give us the right to belittle others. We (the Giants) have been playing pretty lousy lately but that’s not a reason to take it out on the grounds crews or the umpires.

I’ve heard other commentators say similar things when I’ve had to listen to them from the opponent’s perspective and I’ve always been glad we were blessed with our own special Kruk & Kuip. They are a class act, top of the game, and they know everything! So I’m hoping this was just a bad day for Mike and I’m hoping he’s hoping it doesn’t happen again. But that’s just me hoping.

I can’t wait to hear what they have to say tonight, about last night, and praying it doesn’t rain again!

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A4 Uncategorized, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants

Tagged baseball and tarps, Chicago Cubs, craig calcaterra, grounds crews, Hardball Talk, kruk and kuip, Mike Krukow, rain delay, sf giants, umpires and tarps

Remember when Yasiel Puig was gonna cost the Dodgers a playoff game with his recklessness?

Posted on October 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

GFBB Comment: Loved this post by Craig Calcaterra. I was one of those naysayers, but he hit the nail on the head. I think Puig’s going to be one of those love em or hate em guys. And right now I’m sorta loving him. After that great base running performance last night I kept waiting for him to do something stupid, like sticking his tongue out at the opposing bench, but he refrained and I’m glad. Hang in there Dodger fans. Only a month or so to go!

Playoff spotlight shines on Dodgers’ Puig (nypost.com)
So Who’s Your Favorite Team Now? (garlicfriesandbaseball.wordpress.com)
HBT: Yasiel Puig removed from today’s game for disciplinary reasons (hardballtalk.nbcsports.com)

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Posted in A4 Uncategorized

Tagged Atlanta Braves, Baserunning, Chicago Cubs, Clayton Kershaw, craig calcaterra, Evan Gattis, Game 1 NLDS, Hardball Talk, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, nbc sports, Playoffs, Puig, Yasiel Puig

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was drafted by the Cubs in 2009

Posted on November 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

GFBB NOTE: Ever since Alex Smith, QB for the 49ers appeared at a news conference wearing a SF Giants cap, and then threw out the first pitch at the 2012 NLDS game at AT&T Park, there’s been a real fondness between the SF Giants and the SF 49ers, especially since the NFL threatened to fine Smith if he kept wearing the Giants cap at NFL functions. It made Smith sort of a hero in my mind. The mutual admiration society continues as we learn today that yesterday’s hero, back-up QB Colin Kaepernick, was also a standout pitcher in high school and had to choose between football and baseball scholarships for college. We might just have another Montana-Young combo in the works here folks. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants

Tagged 49ers quarterback, Alex Young, Chicago Cubs, Colin Kaepernick, Niners, SF 49ers

2012 MLB Team and Player Salaries

Posted on September 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

2012 All Star Game Photo

Here’s the 2012 update to our 2011 listing published August 27, 2011. This comes to us compliments of USA Today. If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries. It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs; in other words, did they get what they paid for? For example; the Washington Nationals have the best record in the Majors this year, but have the 11th Lowest Salary out of 30 Teams. Salary Chart Linked Here

2012 MLB Salaries
TEAM	TOTAL PAYROLL
New York Yankees	$ 197,962,289
Philadelphia Phillies	$ 174,538,938
Boston Red Sox	$ 173,186,617
Los Angeles Angels	$ 154,485,166
Detroit Tigers	$ 132,300,000
Texas Rangers	$ 120,510,974
Miami Marlins	$ 118,078,000
San Francisco Giants	$ 117,620,683
St. Louis Cardinals	$ 110,300,862
Milwaukee Brewers	$ 97,653,944
Chicago White Sox	$ 96,919,500
Los Angeles Dodgers	$ 95,143,575
Minnesota Twins	$ 94,085,000
New York Mets	$ 93,353,983
Chicago Cubs	$ 88,197,033
Atlanta Braves	$ 83,309,942
Cincinnati Reds	$ 82,203,616
Seattle Mariners	$ 81,978,100
Baltimore Orioles	$ 81,428,999
Washington Nationals	$ 81,336,143
Cleveland Indians	$ 78,430,300
Colorado Rockies	$ 78,069,571
Toronto Blue Jays	$ 75,489,200
Arizona Diamondbacks	$ 74,284,833
Tampa Bay Rays	$ 64,173,500
Pittsburgh Pirates	$ 63,431,999
Kansas City Royals	$ 60,916,225
Houston Astros	$ 60,651,000
Oakland Athletics	$ 55,372,500
San Diego Padres	$ 55,244,700

Updated MLB Power Rankings: Where Does Your Favorite Team Stand? (bleacherreport.com)
Low-Salary Rays Show Moneyball Still Works as Yankees Struggle – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
MLB’s Most Disappointing Teams of 2012 (bleacherreport.com)
MLB Pennant Races Heating Up (seatgeek.com)

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Posted in Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

Tagged arizona diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, BALTIMORE ORIOLES, boston red sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, cleveland indians, Colorado Rockies, DETROIT TIGERS, florida marlins, Houston Astros, kansas city royals, los angeles angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball, Milwaukie Brewers, minnesota twins, new york mets, new york yankees, Oakland A's, philadelphia phillies, pittsburgh pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, seattle mariners, St Louis Cardinals, tampa bay rays, Texas Rangers, toronto blue jays, USA Today, washington nationals

Happy Mother’s Day Baseball Fans and Patriots ~ This One’s For You!

Posted on May 12, 2012 | 1 comment

What does this have to do with baseball? Well, probably not very much but Gary Sinise is an avid baseball fan, a Cubs fan, Check it out here. And I thought you might give me some leeway, me being a mom, a patriot and a baseball fan myself.

Hope you enjoy the video (disregarding the girlies promo at the end).

Happy Mother’s Day!

Gary Sinise In Town For Concert To Benefit Wounded Vets (chicago.cbslocal.com)
Actor Gary Sinise supporting veterans in Ill. (miamiherald.com)
Actor Gary Sinise supporting veterans in Ill. (heraldonline.com)

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, A4 Uncategorized, A5 Baseball Videos, Chicago Cubs

Tagged Academy Award, Akron OH, BASEBALL, Chicago Cubs, Chicago metropolitan area, CSI NY, Daily Herald, Elgin Staples, Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Forrest Gump, Gary Sinise, Guadalcanal, Life Belt, Lt. Dan Band, Sailor, USS Astoria, WWII

Ron Santo ….. Newest Selection to Baseball Hall of Fame!

Posted on December 6, 2011 | 2 comments

“Voice of Ron Santo Broadcasting”

I’ve spent most of the day researching Ron Santo and all I can say is I wish I could have known him. What a character! At least that seems to be the consensus of all who knew him. A wonderful wacky yet sentimental man whose playing career ended in 1974, but is known more by the younger crowd of Chicago Cub fans for his career in the WGN broadcast booth as a color commentator. Wikipedia has done an excellent job with a four page article that spans his birth in 1940 in Seattle, Washington to his death on December 3, 2010 in Scottsdale, Arizona and includes his legacy and election into the Hall of Fame today.

Here’s a worthwhile commentary on Ron Santo’s Hall of Fame selection today by D. J. Short, Hardball Talk, 12/5/11

“The Veterans’ Committee just announced that the late Ron Santo has been elected to the Hall of Fame. Continue reading →

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, A4 Uncategorized, A5 Baseball Videos, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox

Tagged Baseball Hall of Fame, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, D. J. Short, Hardball Talk, Ron Santo

Update: 2011 MLB Payrolls & Individual Salaries.

Posted on August 27, 2011 | 2 comments

Courtesy TTF Baseball

Here’s the 2011 update to our 2010 Major League Baseball listing published November 22, 2010. This comes to us compliments of USA Today. If you’ll click the individual teams, you can access the individual players salaries. It will be interesting to note the annual salaries of the teams that make the playoffs; in other words, did they get what they paid for?

TEAM TOTAL P/R AVG SALARY MEDIAN

New York Yankees	$ 202,689,028	$ 6,756,300	$ 2,100,000
Philadelphia Phillies	$ 172,976,379	$ 5,765,879	$ 2,625,000
Boston Red Sox	$ 161,762,475	$ 5,991,202	$ 5,500,000
Los Angeles Angels	$ 138,543,166	$ 4,469,134	$ 2,000,000
Chicago White Sox	$ 127,789,000	$ 4,732,925	$ 2,750,000
Chicago Cubs	$ 125,047,329	$ 5,001,893	$ 1,600,000
New York Mets	$ 118,847,309	$ 4,401,752	$ 900,000
San Francisco Giants	$ 118,198,333	$ 4,377,716	$ 2,200,000
Minnesota Twins	$ 112,737,000	$ 4,509,480	$ 3,000,000
Detroit Tigers	$ 105,700,231	$ 3,914,823	$ 1,300,000
St. Louis Cardinals	$ 105,433,572	$ 3,904,947	$ 1,000,000
Los Angeles Dodgers	$ 104,188,999	$ 3,472,966	$ 2,142,838
Texas Rangers	$ 92,299,264	$ 3,182,733	$ 1,251,000
Colorado Rockies	$ 88,148,071	$ 3,390,310	$ 2,318,750
Atlanta Braves	$ 87,002,692	$ 3,346,257	$ 1,275,000
Seattle Mariners	$ 86,524,600	$ 2,884,153	$ 825,000
Milwaukee Brewers	$ 85,497,333	$ 2,849,911	$ 1,050,000
Baltimore Orioles	$ 85,304,038	$ 3,280,924	$ 1,425,000
Cincinnati Reds	$ 75,947,134	$ 2,531,571	$ 825,000
Houston Astros	$ 70,694,000	$ 2,437,724	$ 467,000
Oakland Athletics	$ 66,536,500	$ 2,376,303	$ 1,400,000
Washington Nationals	$ 63,856,928	$ 2,201,963	$ 1,050,000
Toronto Blue Jays	$ 62,567,800	$ 2,018,316	$ 1,200,000
Florida Marlins	$ 56,944,000	$ 2,190,153	$ 545,000
Arizona Diamondbacks	$ 53,639,833	$ 1,986,660	$ 1,000,000
Cleveland Indians	$ 49,190,566	$ 1,639,685	$ 484,200
San Diego Padres	$ 45,869,140	$ 1,479,649	$ 468,800
Pittsburgh Pirates	$ 45,047,000	$ 1,553,344	$ 450,000
Tampa Bay Rays	$ 41,053,571	$ 1,578,983	$ 907,750
Kansas City Royals	$ 36,126,000	$ 1,338,000	$ 850,000

Guess Which MLB Team Has $65 Million In Salaries Sitting On Its DL Right Now (It’s Not Who You Think) (businessinsider.com)
MLB Team Rankings and Updated Standings – Week 22 (stealofhome.wordpress.com)

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Posted in A1 Baseball, General, A4 Uncategorized, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals

Tagged arizona diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, BALTIMORE ORIOLES, boston red sox, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, cleveland indians, Colorado Rockies, DETROIT TIGERS, Houston Astros, kansas city royals, los angeles angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, milwaukee breweers, minnesota twins, new york mets, new york yankees, Oakland Athletics, philadelphia philllies, pittsburgh pirates, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, seattle mariners, St Louis Cardinals, tampa bay rays, Texas Rangers, toronto blue jays, washington nationals

Hit by a Pitch …….. You’re outta here! (Continued)

Posted on September 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

Image via Wikipedia

Talk about timing after Tuesday’s blog ~ Tonight in the 2nd inning, during the Giant’s/Cubs game, Jose Quillen was hit by a pitch in the 2nd inning not once but twice, at two separate at-bats, by two separate pitchers! Whodathunkit? No need for an ejection. Manager benched the pitcher as Giants scored 9 runs in the 2nd inning and went on to win the game 13-0. Giants are in contention for the division title, but after losing to the Cubs last night by score of 1-0, things were getting a little testy for players and fans alike. Tomorrow they go to the Colorado Rockies who are also in the running for the National West division title. Too bad for the Giants they can’t average those runs over some of the games huh?

An interesting note to the game…..Juan Uribe hit two home-runs (one was a grand slam) also in the 2nd inning, and as I recall this was off two separate pitchers also, but haven’t seen the stats yet. Giants games – torture? You bet! But that’s baseball! Gotta love it!