NEWSLETTER
I didn’t want to wreck any goodwill by making him say it, but I’ll admit disappointment that, upon being defeated by his father, The Little Boy did not exclaim with pained urgency: “YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP!”
• Another country begins regular season baseball tonight (well, at midnight around here), with South Korea joining Taiwan. Because we are more familiar with the KBO, and because a number of players have come to the States from the KBO, it feels a little bit closer to a “whoa, baseball is back” kind of moment. Good on South Korea for how they put themselves in a position to play these games, and I’m looking forward to the highlights.
• Also, apparently we are all supposed to be Lotte Giants fans, those are the rules:
MLB equivalents for #KBO teams – in 2min 20 seconds!
Doosan Bears = @Yankees
Hanwha Eagles = @Royals
Kia Tigers = @Cardinals
Kiwoom Heroes = @RaysBaseball
KT Wiz = @Padres
LG Twins = @Dodgers
Lotte Giants = @Cubs
NC Dinos = @Brewers
Samsung Lions = @Braves
SK Wyverns = @SFGiants pic.twitter.com/oaRXjMMuzY— Baseball Brit (@BaseballBrit) May 3, 2020
• In all seriousness, and perhaps unknown to the Baseball Brit at the time, the Cubs *do* have a significant connection to the Lotte Giants, who are now GM’d by long-time Cubs scout and executive, Min-kyu Sung:
Looking for a KBO team? Min-kyu Sung is applying everything he learned with the Cubs as the new Lotte Giants GM. Story with @enosarris: https://t.co/XwZM0Osewf— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) May 4, 2020
• Consider that Sung, only 37, was with the Cubs as a player/coach/translator all the way back in A-ball Peoria in 2008, and then worked his way up, lasting through the transition to the new front office, expanding his role, and departing only this past year to head up the Lotte Giants. Dude is clearly very good at what he does, and it’s fun to see a direct Cubs connection like that in the KBO.
• Mooney/Sarris’s article is a fantastic read on that front – look at this on the transition to the Epstein-led front office, which tells you a lot about both men:
Sung thought he would be fired once Epstein took over baseball operations at Clark and Addison after the 2011 season. The Cubs traditionally ran a smaller front office, a concession to the limited space at Wrigley Field and a belief that a tighter group would feel a greater sense of ownership. Before the entire industry started adding layers and layers of analysts, coaches and support staff, Sung held onto his job by agreeing to do anything the Cubs asked.
“I was just trying to survive,” he said. “I caught ‘pens and threw BP and tried to prove myself. Sometimes I thought Theo asked too much of us. There were so many reports, and so much work at first I thought it was eyewash. There was a reason for everything, though, a reason for everything he did, and a process. I’m not trying to be Theo, but without a good process, you won’t get good results.”
• Can’t hurt to have a good front office relationship with a pro team in another country for all kinds of reasons. I mean, we’ve already seen how the intermingling of Cubs and Rangers front offices have helped each other out, and those are two teams in the same Major Leagues.
• I’m really looking forward to the KBO getting underway, seeing how fans over here follow, and also seeing how much MLB can learn from the process of the KBO opening up. Some of the games will be televised here on ESPN, though the details are being worked out as we speak.
• Speaking of baseball returning, I don’t really know what to make of this particular perspective, but here it is:
.@BNightengale: “Public health officials are saying, 'we want baseball. The public needs baseball. People miss it.’ Even if you can't be at the ballpark early on, hopefully the fans can come back late summer, maybe starting with 1-2,000. Go to 5 or 10,000 by the end of the year.” pic.twitter.com/2EA7Ta2p30— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) May 4, 2020
• Big Papi Big Timin’:
Having flashbacks to Big Papi big-timing #Cubs reliever Neil Ramirez in 2014: pic.twitter.com/hRa2uUVVDs
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) May 4, 2020
• Stumbled on this while going through some old tweets last night, and it just made me happy:
This is so freaking awesome. The Iowa Cubs clinched their first postseason appearance in a decade, and who is right there to greet every single one of them as they come off the field? Willson Contreras. https://t.co/Uo0AQ30rnI— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) August 31, 2019
• I mean, probably:
Video game execs forced to rate MLB the Show 17+ because Javy Baez is too damn sexy https://t.co/NlmkPHdKb4 pic.twitter.com/PdFtlkNn9h— The Heckler (@The_Heckler) May 3, 2020
• Disney released ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ today on Disney+ (because May the Fourth), and you can sign up for a free trial to watch while supporting BN in the process:
The final installment of the #SkywalkerSaga is now on Disney+ (it's #MayThe4th) – so if you want to watch and don't yet have Disney+, sign up for a free trial right here and support BN in the process: https://t.co/xLE1QtC5rA pic.twitter.com/baJqKeUh7A— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 4, 2020
• The Han Solo one looks the best as a piece of attire, but the Darth Vader one looks the coolest:
Happy #StarWarsDay everyone! Check out our #StarWars jerseys over the last five years… which one is your favorite?
2015 – Boba Fett
2016 – Darth Vader
2017 – Han Solo
2018 – BB-8
2019 – R2-D2#MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/tMQMuCTm3k— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) May 4, 2020
• Do not turn the sound on unless you want to be stuck with this song in your head all day (I have already been earwormed):
Stuck in my head all morning. pic.twitter.com/y6JHsmXKiB
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) May 4, 2020
• Healthy eating, healthy living, exercise, etc. at Amazon. #ad
