Would You Be Happy Being the Indians? and Other Bullets

indians logoFresh podcast episode on the way this morning. Huzzah!

  • It was the American League’s turn to crush a team’s 162-game season with a one-game playoff last night, and the Rays did just that, beating the Indians 4-0. It was a battle of young pitchers – Alex Cobb and Danny Salazar – and small market teams. Although the Rays got the best of the Indians, I’d like to think the Indians will view this season, overall, as a success. When they went spend-heavy over the Winter and brought in Terry Francona to manage, very few gave the Indians a reasonable shot at actually making the playoffs just a year removed from finishing 26 games under .500. Looking at the Cubs going into this offseason, I ask you: wouldn’t you be plenty satisfied with the Cubs having an Indians-like season next year?
  • With their win, the Rays face the Red Sox in the ALDS starting on Friday. The Cubs can vicariously ride out the Rays’ playoff run through David DeJesus, who led off and played left field for the Rays last night (he didn’t do much worth noting, except for become the recipient of the most disgusting “beer” shower ever – whoever you are, dude, you should be shamed publicly).
  • The playoffs continue today, with the Pirates visiting the Cardinals in the first game of their NLDS series (4pm CT), and the Dodgers visiting the Braves in the first game of their NLDS series (7:30pm CT).
  • Jesse Rogers looks at the Cubs’ outfield situation this year and in the future.
  • Bruce Miles reviews the Cubs by position in 2013.
  • An uncomfortable story about the Cubs inadvertently throwing out some memorabilia, including a giant card fans signed for the family of Ron Santo in 2011, and then rooftop owner Beth Murphy finding the stuff. (As an aside … what is the socially appropriate length of time you’re supposed to keep commemorative, oversized cards signed by your fans? Unless it’s a really good one, cards I receive usually last about two months tops.)
  • I would like to be friends with Stewart McVicar, who has created the ultimate Cubs man cave at his house. Call me maybe?
  • Some turnover in the Chicago media for those interested: Phil Rogers is leaving the Tribune in favor of MLB.com, and Bruce Levine is leaving ESPN in favor of a yet-unannounced destination. Hopefully Levine lands somewhere that we can still hear/read his work regularly. I like Levine.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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