Getting You Hyped for Opening Night and Other Bullets

Apr 05, 2015

With the Cubs opening tonight, and the rest of MLB opening tomorrow, that means you have just 24 hours left to join the Opening Day contest. What else are you going to do tomorrow on the Cubs’ off-day? Wouldn’t you like to win some cash and a signed Anthony Rizzo bat? Sign up for the contest here, full details here.

This might be the best 12-second hype video you’ll see:

Welcome to 2015.

Are you in? #LetsGo https://t.co/rjdg9gUS7a

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 5, 2015

And, if that doesn’t do it for you, how about Ted Lilly trucking Yadier Molina:

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Ah, no, no, I’ve got you. It’s Jorge Soler going DEEP twice last year against the Cardinals:

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Patrick Mooney with a profile of the man whose vision clarifies just a little more today, Theo Epstein. It’s a great read, and also includes this bit on Epstein’s future and relationship with the man in charge: ““This is where I want to be. Tom [Ricketts] is who I want to work for. I feel like I’m on the same page with Tom. At any time, we could sit down and formalize the fact that this group is going to be here for awhile. It just hasn’t happened yet.” So, there are still no worries about the lack of an extension (Epstein’s deal runs through 2016). Read Mooney’s piece for so much more on Epstein.

Jon Greenberg on the start of a season and an era when the Cubs might actually be good, and how/whether we can still find humor in it. I wouldn’t worry about it, Jon. Somewhere out there, the Toyota Sign is still looking for a home.

Derrick Goold on the renewed Cardinals/Cubs rivalry – well, we hope. These are teams that have not played meaningful games against each other in August and September (let alone October) in an extremely long time. (If you missed Michael’s take on the rivalry that kicks back off tonight, here you go.)

Your Series Preview for Cubs/Cards is here, by the way.

I was walking down Clark last night with a couple friends, taking in the Wrigley atmosphere when we happened upon the ‘Baseball Tonight’ crew filming across from the marquee. It was fun to watch the group of collected, inebriated fans shouting – generally good things – at the cameras and crew, who somehow managed never to even flinch no matter how loud folks were, just 10 feet behind their heads. It was mostly Cubs fans, but there were several Cardinals fans, a couple White Sox fans, a Giants fan, a Yankees fan, and a group of Red Sox fans.

Most importantly, I heard Karl Ravech say that two Cubs hit the new video board in batting practice: Jorge Soler and Mike Olt, and they broke a panel (which has since been fixed). Since each panel is essentially a gigantic, high-def TV, I’m thinking they’re going to have to figure out a better way to protect that thing – especially when Kris Bryant and Javier Baez are up.

I’ll be heading to Mullen’s on Clark around 2pm CT if you want to grab a (very) pre-game drink. From there, I might bounce around a bit, but I will make sure to keep folks updated throughout the afternoon if you want to stop by. Best place for updates, since I’ll be out and about, is Twitter.

My take on the Bryant Adidas sign, which was aided by a particularly clear night:

Kris Bryant sends one into orbit. #ThatsNoMoon pic.twitter.com/j9acMWK99i

— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) April 5, 2015

written by

Brett Taylor

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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