Ten Years Later and Other Bullets

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  • It’s been ten years. Today. For me, I don’t flash on Steve Bartman when I think back to Game Six of the 2003 NLCS, because that was an element that developed over the days/weeks/years that followed. Instead, I flash on a routine grounder to short. Moises Alou yelling. Mark Prior pointing. Dusty Baker sitting. And Marlins hitting, hitting, hitting. Ten years later, the Chicago Cubs have yet to win another playoff game.
  • (If you want to relive that inning in precise detail, the Hardball Times has you covered. And if you want to catch up on Bartman, himself, ten years later, Paul Sullivan writes about it. No, Bartman has still not come out of hiding, which is more than understandable. For what it’s worth, I feel like there’s probably been enough distance at this point that the vast majority of Cubs fans would welcome Bartman back into the public fold, and most would apologize for how he was treated. My long thoughts on the whole thing from last year.)
  • Patrick Mooney and Theo Epstein on the Cubs’ 2003 flameout, and the dream possibility – at that time – of a Cubs/Red Sox World Series.
  • The Red Sox were down 5-1 to the Tigers last night before David Ortiz hit a game-tying grand slam in the 8th, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked it off in the 9th with a single. The ALCS is now tied at one game apiece, with a trip to Detroit and Justin Verlander on tap for the Sawx. The Cardinals head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers tonight at 7pm CT in Game Three of the NLCS. The Cardinals lead 2-0.
  • Arizona Phil says that Arodys Vizcaino threw a 45-pitch simulated outing in Mesa this weekend and “looked good.” The hope is that Vizcaino will get into an Instructional League game this week.
  • A nice profile on Albert Almora, who’s been working at the baseball thing since he was three years old. I really need to get The Little Boy a bat and ball.
  • The MLBPA and the Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Venezuelan Winter Leagues came to an agreement that will allow MLB players to continue playing in those offseason leagues. There are new limitations on which players can participate (the gist? if you’ve already thrown a ton of innings this year or played in a ton of games or were injured, you might not be able to play – Jeff Passan has the full rundown), but it looks like it will be mostly business as usual. The VWL and MWL started play late last week, the DWL starts later this week, and the PRWL starts on November 1. We’ll have more on those leagues, and the Cubs’ participation therein, soon.
  • garfieldminusgarfieldplusbartman

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    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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