I’ve been reading a lot of things from fans the last few days about how silly it is that the organization may not call up Brett Jackson when rosters expand. I know we all want to see him play and it’s not like this team has anything to lose by playing him in terms of production, but they do have …
Dear Carlos Zambrano, Please Join My Team
Dear Carlos Zambrano, I know this has been a frustrating year or three for you. It’s been a frustrating year or 103 for Cubs fans, so we can relate. I’d like to help alleviate your frustration. I want to formally invite you to join my kickball team. You see, every year my employer holds an employee appreciation day, and one …
Want to know when a statistic is useless?
Aramis Ramirez leads the Major Leagues with a .427 batting average in August while teammate Reed Johnson is fifth at .400. Ramirez is tied for tops among any Cubs player in the month of August, dating to 1946. Shawon Dunston batted .427 in August 1991; Bill Madlock hit .425 in August 1975; and Manny Trillo hit .409 in august 1986. – …
Brett Jackson and strikeouts
I had planned to put something more thorough together for today, but was too lazy to do so. Instead, I’m just going to list the guys who the highest strikeout percentage since 2006 (minimum 1000 PA) followed by their minor league strikeout rate. Sometime when I’m not lazy, I’ll add to it. For MLB numbers, I’m using Fangraphs. For MiLB …
Jeff Samardzija and James Russell
Non-closers don’t have a whole lot of value and that will remain true for both Jeff Samardzija and James Russell, but both of them have quietly put together strong seasons in relief for the Cubs. Russell was a starter early in the season and was banged up before moving back to the pen. Since then, he’s thrown 41 innings through …
Cubs Already Losing
This could become a series, but for now we kind of just needed a new thread.
Tangotiger's Annual Fans Scouting Report
Tangotiger has his annual Fans Scouting Report survey published for this season and he needs our help. We watch more Cubs games than other team’s fans do so we’re better suited to fill it out. I’ve posted links to these surveys at ACB each of the last several years and hope with more readers that we can send even more …
Some more thoughts on the Matt Garza trade
Even though the Cubs are more known for their failures, mistakes and screw-ups, every once in awhile you have to give them credit. We probably should do so more than we have, but the acquisition of Matt Garza is one we definitely have to view differently than we did at the time. That doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good …
The End of An Era in Aisle 424 is Officially Official
Last night, the Cubs lost and didn’t look particularly impressive in doing so, but I had a good time at the game anyway. It was the first time all season that the three longest tenured members of the Aisle 424 Summer Family were together for a game. Life’s twists and turns, combined with the general crappiness of the Cubs had …