NEWSLETTER
There’s never a GOOD time for a roof leak, and I’m not sure it is PARTICULARLY worse during a global pandemic, but it’s definitely one of those things that makes you be like, come onnnnn. That is to say, we woke up to a nice bulge in our wall, as water came down through the roof, behind the paint, and created a huge blister. As oddly satisfying as it was to pop and drain that wall blister, this is a problem.
• Good news on broadcasting legend Vin Scully, who is home safely after a fall:
…”I am so eternally grateful for their help and selfless service. I’m home resting comfortably with my wife and we are both eagerly awaiting the Time for Dodger Baseball!”— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 26, 2020
• A new episode of ‘The Offseason’ is up, and it is focused on Ian Happ’s efforts to expand the things he can do off the field:
• Well this is a very fun(?) read, and you can lodge your guesses at the names that appear before you take a look:
.@ckamka ranked the biggest Cubs killers of all-time:https://t.co/ramiYdh3BO
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) April 22, 2020
• You may feel like the Cubs have mostly been abused by random scrubs, and, while that’s true for some in a very small sample, it turns out that mostly the Cubs have just been beat up on by many of the all-time greats. That’s what makes them great: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Randy Johnson, and Stan Musial are all up there at the top, and all are inner-circle Hall of Famers. Behind them, it’s Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer after future Hall of Famer. It isn’t until Gary Sheffield and Paul Goldschmidt in the teens in the rankings that you find Cubs killers who probably aren’t going to Cooperstown.
• But while we’re here, I still feel like I gotta give some love/hate to the one and only Billy Hamilton, who has hit a cool .276/.350/.393 against the Cubs with a 104 wRC+ (308 PAs). Given his elite speed and defense, that’s a borderline Hall of Famer right there if he did it every day. Again every other team in baseball for his career? Hamilton has hit .239/.291/.319 with a 63 wRC+ (2781 PAs). Now THAT is a guy who just kills the Cubs, because he’s doing it at such an insanely different clip than he does every other day.
• And now the obligatory ask: who do you think of immediately when we say “Cubs killer”? Is it one of those random scrubs that had a few huge games out of nowhere (Kirk Nieuwenhuis, anybody? soft-tossing lefties, anybody?)? Or is it one of the greats that you just saw do it again and again and again?
• Curious what the best-selling books are right now at Amazon? #ad
• Miscellaneous love for Ben Zobrist:
Ben Zobrist is also one of those guys whose career stats don't tell the story of how incredibly valuable he was. The flexibility he allowed his managers because of the versatility was unheard of when he broke out. Also an excellent clubhouse presence. Absolute difference maker. https://t.co/ZMFM17NkZ1— Brad Robinson (@bradrobinson8) April 21, 2020
• Yesterday was a big one in baseball history:
On this day in 1976, Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday famously stopped two protestors from burning an American flag at Dodger Stadium: pic.twitter.com/uqTjgb3Ujs— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 25, 2020
• And also because of this:
He may have been wearing a Blue Jays uniform, but Chris Coghlan was still a Cub when he did this to Yadi Molina three years ago today: pic.twitter.com/9YLjb4R11K— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 26, 2020
