OSS: Cubs raise the banners and pull out a late win.
Three up:
- The Cubs are World Series champions, in case you didn't know. I love the designs on the new banners.
- Anthony Rizzo's first RBI of the year was a walk-off against a guy who was one of the top five relievers in baseball last year. He also led the way in the pregame ceremonies, which was great to see.
- Justin Grimm was the day's WPA leader, thanks to his getting out of a bases loaded no outs jam with a one run lead.
Three down:
- Carl Edwards just didn't have it tonight, completely unable to find a strike zone. Luckily Grimm was able to bail him out.
- The Cubs had a few rough PAs, but the one that looked the worst was Baez's strikeout in the eighth. He was able to lay off one or two of Romo's sliders, but chased his way to a strikeout anyway.
- The Dodgers tied it up thanks to an ill-advised throw by Addison Russell on a tough double play. I actually thought it was Baez when I was watching it, since Addy is usually so good ad putting the ball in his pocket in these situations.
Next up: A boring off-day, then Lackey takes on Brandon McCarthy on Wednesday night.
Comments
I was surprised they didn’t intentionally walk Rizzo. Did they think his slump would last forever?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I’m tired…but not of Cubs victories.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
There was no World Cup in 1992.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
I think it may have said 1996.
dmick89Quote Reply
Poor Rizzo. That would have been an easy double under normal circumstances.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
SK,
You are right, it was 94. But I am pretty sure espn had 92 (dying laughing).
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
dmick89,
I know all about the recent World Cups.
SKQuote Reply
Just FYI: the shopping cart on Dutch e-commerce sites is called the Winkelwagen.
SKQuote Reply
Berselius is too lazy to login,
Or 96 or 94. Could go any way.
dmick89Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
SKQuote Reply
I would not be unhappy if the Cubs won 5 of every 7 games.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
A .714 winning average would be acceptable.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
It has taken a full 7 games to reach the 100-win mark on 538.
#fireTheo
ceruleanQuote Reply
You would settle for merely acceptable? They would only win about 116 games in that case.
No team that has won 116 games ever went on to win the World Series.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Do it twice and it’s a sin, boy.
uncle daveQuote Reply
cerulean,
First time for everything…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
KB hitting bombs into the river
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
mikeakaleroy,
Lots of long time Cubfans in the comments, like the guy whose favorite players are Ryne and Maddox.
/headdesk
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
I’m sure their favorite manager is Madden.
dmick89Quote Reply
Cary Wood had a great fastball. If only he and Mark Pryor could have stayed healthy.
dmick89Quote Reply
I believe you are talking about Kerry Woods, my frent.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
Dusty Baylor was a good coach.
SKQuote Reply
Some of my favorites are Shawn Dunston, Moises Aloo and Dug Dasenzo. Mike Quady was my favorite manager.
dmick89Quote Reply
Dale Swaim was better.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I guess I never forgave Quady for taking Sandburg’s rightful position.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Remeber when Jim Henry signed Ted Lily from a hospital? I think it was the same year he got Adolpho Soreono. And Jayson Marquee—he was coming off a monster season.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Jim Wrigley was the worst manager. I still don’t know why they named the field after him.
Should have stuck with Thom Treblehorn.
SK,
It was weird how they ran Dusty out of town, replaced him with Butch Kim, then rehired him. He did do a pretty good job even though Sammy Sossa was in decline.
ceruleanQuote Reply
In other news, Jered Weaver is dominating the Rockies in Coors Field, just as everybody predicted.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
And just as I type that, CarGo hits a dinger.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The Cardinals are on the verge of winning 25% of the time. That’s too much winning in my book.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Fowler is doing a grand Heyward impression thus far.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Cardinals lose
berseliusQuote Reply
The Reds are on the verge of taking sole possession of first place.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Welp. At least the Cubs are still in line for a Wild Card berth.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
#FireTheo
berseliusQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I don’t think the division race is over just yet. I can see both of these teams winning between 115 and 145 games. It’s going to be a close race and whichever teams wins more games will win the division.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Reds’ hot start reminds me of the 2006 Cubs, who had a pretty good April but were an obviously bad team (though at the time, I was dumb enough to have hope).
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
The Reds hot start reminds me of 2016, when they were in first place until Addison Russell hit a go ahead homerun to put them in their place. (These Cubs sure have a flair for the dramatic, particularly on opening day.)
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
Alas, the Cubs don’t play the Reds until next month. I expect their meeting to be a clash of titans. (dying laughing)
PerkinsQuote Reply
cerulean,
Or the 2016 White Sox, who walked well off of the cliff before looking down and sealing their fate.
uncle daveQuote Reply
cerulean,
But part of the reason that team fell apart was that big injury to Lee. If he was healthy they probably would’ve been at least respectable
Troy Oh LeerieQuote Reply
uncle dave,
Non-sabermetric front offices don’t understand cartoon physics.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Perkins,
I think they play them next weekend.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Wow, I suck at reading schedules. I was just looking at the home games.
I will go without dinner in penance.
PerkinsQuote Reply
The injury to Lee was bad, though 2006 was also the last year the Cubs tried to count on Wood and Prior, which also didn’t work out too well.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
That is true. I remember I went to see Prior’s only win of the season that year.
Troy Oh LeerieQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Schwarber
Bryant
Rizzo
Zobrist
Russell
Heyward
Contreras
Lackey
Jay
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
uncle dave,
They got rid of clubhouse cancer Chris Sale, so I expect great things from them this year.
#seriously
#reallyNotJoking
#whyDoYouKeepThinkingIAmJoking
#thereAreSoManyAlternativeFactsToBackMeUp
ceruleanQuote Reply
Troy Oh Leerie,
I was at two of Wood’s starts that year (including the penultimate start of his career, his last win as a starter). That season went off the rails in a hurry.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Come on, Juan Pierre had 204 hits that year, second most of his storied career.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
Here’s an odd memory to have: in his first plate appearance of the season, he tripled. Pretty sure that was the highlight of his season.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I just remember hearing 47,000,000 times on the radio and TV broadcast (and from beat writers) how he was such an incredible hard worker, first at the park every day.
SKQuote Reply
dmick89,
Didn’t he hit a HR or two as well?
PerkinsQuote Reply
I can’t get to a game thread.
dmick89Quote Reply
SK,
Yeah, they said that a lot. Probably true. Len said it often.
dmick89Quote Reply
Those rings were pretty rad. And it was kind of cool that they were playing parts of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack during the ceremony.
My geek worlds are colliding tonight.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I just think it’s hilarious that the Dodgers have had to sit and watch all of this.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Crap.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
uncle dave,
It’s a shame that it is not the Cardinals instead.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
Ugh.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Lackey’s looking pretty rough so far.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Did Manfred get some boos?
dmick89Quote Reply
Outs, please.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Lackey’s having a 3TO type of inning, that double notwithstanding.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Berselius is too lazy to login,
TURN IT GREEN
uncle daveQuote Reply
Tight zone today.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Now would be a good time for Bryant’s first HR.
dmick89Quote Reply
He needs to cut down on his strikeouts. (dying laughing)
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
Another one. Not cool, Lackey.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Puttin’ on the Rizz.
ceruleanQuote Reply
All the double plays
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
Fucking double plays.
dmick89Quote Reply
Stop. Hitting. Into. Double. Plays.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Pinch-hitter, please.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Pretty please?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Thought Willson had that one. Damn wind.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Same here. At least it wasn’t a double play.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
But he had such a great AB.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Terrible at-bat by Lackey. Damn it, Joe.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Taking on an 0-2 count with a runner in scoring position was a brilliant strategy. I bet they didn’t see that coming!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Perkins,
97mph EV. I don’t know what the launch angle was but it looked like it was around the 25° sweet spot. So yeah, damn wind.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Nobody saw Trump coming either.
(Save for some fake Russian hookers, maybe.)
ceruleanQuote Reply
Score some runs.
dmick89Quote Reply
cerulean,
(dying laughing)
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
The Pirates and Cardinals appear to be taking the year off. There’s always next year fellas.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Damn wind^2
ceruleanQuote Reply
Stupid. Goddamn. Wind.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
105mph EV. 😐
ceruleanQuote Reply
That was close. Bryant might be out.
If the glove touched him, that is.
EDIT: They figured he was tagged.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Nice slide regardless.
ceruleanQuote Reply
This game is horrible.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
There is some celebrity dancer in the booth. WTF!?!
ceruleanQuote Reply
Nice heat from Monty.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Can’t wait for Kenley Jansen to get in the game so the Cubs can walk it off.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Montgomery continues to not impress me.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
They’re leaving Monty in to face Turner? Seriously?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
There’s a double play I can get behind.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I’m just surprised Lackey wasn’t left in to get a couple more at bats.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
He could have stayed in in left field.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I was just getting ready to change the channel when that ball was hit. I’ll stick around for a little bit longer.
dmick89Quote Reply
E3. Thank you, A-Gon.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Gold Glove winner Adrian Gonzalez.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Stupid umpire.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Robot umps, please.
PerkinsQuote Reply
I wish we could just sic John Lackey on him.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
In Kyle we trust.ceruleanQuote Reply
This game keeps finding new ways to piss me off.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Strikes, please.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Fuck.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Jesus Christ.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
God. Fucking. Damnit.
PerkinsQuote Reply
ceruleanQuote Reply
Grimm hit 98. Damn.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Bryzzobrist vs Jansen.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Meh.
ceruleanQuote Reply
At least Lackey got some RISP practice at the plate for later in the season when the Cubs only have all their bench guys left.
dmick89Quote Reply
That was a weird one.
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
I don’t remember the last time I saw a catcher miss an easy dropped strike three throw like that.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Does anyone know if MLB publishes a feed of Statcast data, and if so, is it in near real time?
PerkinsQuote Reply
I can only take around 3 GIDP a game, so I checked out after 4.
MylesQuote Reply
Perkins,
I’m not aware of any live feed or anything like that. Here’s the leaderboard: http://m.mlb.com/statcast/leaderboard#avg-hit-velo
Brooks baseball still has the games after they are done.
dmick89Quote Reply
Perkins,
Baseball savant has the 2015–16 data, but 2017 doesn’t seem to be available yet. I think this happened last year too, so maybe it will become available soon.
ceruleanQuote Reply
So, uh, everyone worried that Hillary would start WWIII must be heartened by recent turns of events.
When two thin-skinned propagandists adept at sowing discord discover collaboration to be anathema to their being, good* things happen.
*I am using an alternative definition here.
ceruleanQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Schwarber
Bryant
Rizzo
Russell
Contreras
Almora
Heyward
Baez
Anderson
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
cerulean,
We bombed six different countries in 2016, so while this doesn’t exactly feel great, it’s not particularly far removed from the status quo, either. I don’t like the seemingly indiscriminate nature of our military actions these days, but people have been way too comfortable with the supposed separation of war and civilian populations for the past couple of decades.
Nothing about what Trump is doing now diminishes the brutality of what we were doing under Obama, and it was a solid bet that Clinton would have gone further than that. I still feel comfortable with my criticisms.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Rizzo! Too bad Schwarber got caught stealing there.
PerkinsQuote Reply
If Almora and Heyward become consistent offensive threats this lineup will be disturbingly good.
uncle daveQuote Reply
I’ve been trying to argue this with some friends for about 6 weeks and I can’t seem to get them to understand the brutality of the Obama administration. Because it’s not as bad as Trump, it didn’t happen to these friends.
dmick89Quote Reply
That was an entertaining catch by Schwarber.
Unless it wasn’t a catch.
PerkinsQuote Reply
There needs to be a hard time limit on replays. I say 30-45 seconds.
dmick89Quote Reply
uncle dave,
If you ever said that you voted for Trump because he is not as hawkish as Hillary (that is, has no prior experience except as a professional celebrity throwing bombs on Twitter) my comment was directed at you. Otherwise, carry on.
I fear Putin knows how to push Trumps buttons (lovers as they were) so he will be able to goad the the shape-shifting Donald into escalating. A dance of devastation by lovers scorned.
—Donald Trump on nuclear weapons
ceruleanQuote Reply
dmick89,
None of this is to excuse people who believed that Trump would keep us out of war, or wouldn’t actually be worse. The guy was clearly going to be a disaster. But I feel like we need a reckoning with the whole shebang, not just with what’s happened over the past two months.
uncle daveQuote Reply
cerulean,
Nah, that would be just dumb. But to hear a lot of folks on the center-left talk these days, we were all sitting home and drinking lemonade before mid-January, not sending a fleet of robots around the world to assassinate civilians.
uncle daveQuote Reply
This whole Bert Anderson thing has been a pleasant surprise so far.
uncle daveQuote Reply
I think an important distinction is that Trump’s decisions nearly always seem to stem from either malice or incompetence, and his domestic policy is unnecessarily cruel in a lot of ways. For most people, they at least got the sense that Obama was trying to do the right (or at least good) thing, regardless of the means or outcome.
That said, my biggest problem with the Obama administration’s foreign policy is that its use of violence frequently did not seem to be tied to outcomes (the surge in Afghanistan was a spectacular failure; the bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq diidn’t have clear objectives or a strategy for victory beyond holding the line for the next administration to solve). Beyond that, he continued and expanded on the Bush-era reliance on military solutions to problems best solved by State or another civilian agency (the military will do its best, but soldiers are not primarily diplomats or economic development specialists). On a more tactical/operational level, he also seemed to see Special Operations Forces and drones as silver bullets to deliver a kinetic outcome without putting a ton of people in harm’s way, an approach that has its own problems (not least of which is the crushing optempo in the SOF community).
For all of President Obama’s rhetoric about not getting into military adventurism, he really didn’t have a problem with it as long as the political risk to himself was low.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Also, ALMORA!!!!
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Corey Seager can’t buy a hit. Those two were scalded—104 and 105mph off the bat.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Russell murdered that pitch.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Addison!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Holy shit he blew that ball up
Myles HandleyQuote Reply
uncle dave,
Spoke too soon.
uncle daveQuote Reply
This sucks.
dmick89Quote Reply
uncle dave,
Anderson hurt?
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
This does not suck.
oogQuote Reply
oog,
You are correct.
dmick89Quote Reply
Berselius is too lazy to login,
Schwarber cut himself on the slide into home.
dmick89Quote Reply
So rejoice—Jeff Garlin is in the booth! Everyone’s favorite!
ceruleanQuote Reply
I didn’t hear on the broadcast, but he was at 90 pitches and may have tweaked something in the 4th, so it probably made sense to cut his outing short.
PerkinsQuote Reply
At least Joe let a reliever get some much needed work at the plate.
dmick89Quote Reply
Normally I’d grouse about an Edwards at bat, but I am happy that inning is over.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Almora has walked as much as he has struck out in 15 steps to the plate: 2 times. He might one of those players the Cubs can use to get past the Mets and finally make it to the World Series.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Wade Davis should write a pop-up book.
ceruleanQuote Reply
That’s the way a lot of decisions are made, unfortunately.
I think what gets lost in this discussion sometimes is how poorly suited military action seems to be if the intent is to do something besides go in, kick everyone’s ass, and take over. I don’t know enough to say what an appropriate level of engagement might be, but if you don’t want collateral damage and you don’t have clearly established conditions for engagement, victory, and disengagement, using full military force seems to be a poor fit no matter how good the execution is. Maybe there’s no reasonable alternative. I dunno.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Another two out of three. *yawn*
uncle daveQuote Reply
uncle dave,
One of the big takeaways I had from Bob Gates’s memoir was the shoehorning of the military into roles that State should do, but didn’t because they either didn’t have the funding or couldn’t find people.
Anecdotally, my battalion was involved in public works projects in our sector of northern Afghanistan (getting wells dug, schools and hospitals built or renovated, etc.), and pretty much every unit there had a similar task in addition to their primary missions. The Army has a branch called Civil Affairs that focuses on that type of stuff, but there’s not too many of them, and a lot of those tasks aren’t things that a normal operational unit should have to do.
One of the biggest failures of the GWOT is that neither Iraq or Afghanistan had clearly defined victory conditions or measurable ways to define success. I use it as an example of what not to do when I teach project management courses (specifically around scoping and outcomes). The fact that most of the public has been entirely insulated from the wars has only reinforced that it’s somehow worthwhile to have an occupation force abroad for a decade and a half without any real sign of success.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Why couldn’t the Cubs play this well yesterday, when I was able to watch them?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Perkins,
Seems like we could do a lot of that without the whole war part, no? But maybe the war itself is the point.
I’ve never been in the military (and never will be, since I’m already 43 somehow). I can’t imagine how insane the bureaucracy must be given the breadth of what the military actually does these days.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Lesson: don’t watch. Thanks…
uncle daveQuote Reply
cubs continue to hang on to that 2nd WC spot
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
It’s unfair that they have to play in the same division as the mighty Reds.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
They were feeling such a pressure to perform because they knew you were watching.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Analysis: Bronson Arroyo might be bad at pitching.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
uncle dave,
I like to keep in mind that institutions are living things. They have to eat and shit like the rest of us, and their continued existence relies on self-preservation.
So institutions that have stuck around have adapted to certain conditions and changed others to fit themselves better. The larger the institution, the harder it is to adapt but the easier it is to change its environment to suit itself. If there are no checks on it, no constraints, it grows to collapse under its own weight often by destroying the institutions that it comprises or that comprise it.
When that happens, institutions die sudden and dramatic deaths that can ripple out and destroy others, exactly like the financial collapses we’ve had or the cancer that has taken many in my family. It’s the same processes at different levels.
So when I see the horrible brutality of drone strikes in the name of protection from terror, I see them as an action by the emergent agency of our system of defense. I can and do blame Obama and his administration, but blame falls equally on congress and the military leaders throughout the chain of command. But I did at least trust Obama to seek diplomacy first. I don’t feel that way about Trump (though there may be a tactical advantages to playing the loose cannon, I can tell pretty easily that he is not thinking tactically).
If a system is built for defense and defense extends beyond our borders because of our global interdependence, this is what happens.
When I am supreme dictator of world, I will rebrand the military as an aid organization before inadvertently destroying everything.
ceruleanQuote Reply
new shit
http://obstructedview.net/cubs-4-dodgers-0-4-13-17/
berseliusQuote Reply