NEWSLETTER
I’m not used to seeing an absolute POURING shower in December, but it’s a weird one today around here, with temperatures starting near 60 degrees, and then apparently falling down to like 25 degrees later today. So, a big front comes through, and with it, a deluge of rain. Now we find out if the roof fixes from last month are actually working …
• One of the most impactful people in baseball, a long-time veteran of the Negro Leagues and champion for preserving its memory, a scout with the Chicago Cubs, and then the first Black coach in MLB in 1962, Buck O’Neil is now rightly also a Hall of Famer:
We’ve always known it, but now it’s official.
Buck O’Neil is Forever Legendary.
Congrats to our late Chairman John Jordan Buck O’Neil on his well-deserved and long overdue induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame! pic.twitter.com/CU8qFHLJu3
— Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (@NLBMuseumKC) December 5, 2021
Buck O'Neil is an icon.
And now he's in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/2CiYZURDlY
— MLB (@MLB) December 5, 2021
Buck O'Neil was a legend whose impact on the game, and the Cubs organization, is immeasurable.
Congratulations to Buck and @NLBMuseumKC on his well-deserved induction into the @baseballhall! pic.twitter.com/iUrABWpTzP
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) December 5, 2021
Buck O’Neil discussing Satchel Paige facing Josh Gibson. #CongratsBuckHOF pic.twitter.com/zZpQXV7lt6
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) December 6, 2021
• O’Neil was not the only new inductee from the Golden Days Era Committee process:
Check out @SABRbioproject to learn more about the lives and legacies of baseball's newest Hall of Fame inductees: Buck O'Neil, Bud Fowler, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso, and Tony Oliva: https://t.co/o2ZSk93OcI #SABR @baseballhall pic.twitter.com/CDiL4bGaIh
— SABR (@sabr) December 6, 2021
There’s not a lot of video of Minnie Minoso’s baseball career.
So enjoy him coming back to the White Sox in 1976 and getting a hit at the age of 50!!
Harry Caray on the call. https://t.co/eZGuv5T7jz
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) December 6, 2021
• The regional Emmys honored a number of media this weekend, including a specific Cubs broadcast on Marquee:
Outstanding achievement for a live sports broadcast 🏆@chi_natas | #EmmyChicago pic.twitter.com/CSXGqvYQEN
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) December 6, 2021
• I’d imagine the way this works is that Marquee chose a particular broadcast to submit for consideration, and I immediately got curious about that game. It was a night game in Pittsburgh, started by Trevor Williams (who had two hits and went six strong innings), and won by the Cubs 4-1. Kris Bryant was the offensive hero with three hits while playing a capable first base. I vaguely remember the game because of Williams’ success in Pittsburgh, but there isn’t anything that sticks out in my memory as being wild from the game, itself. Must’ve just been a good broadcast. Went back to watch the highlights and there was one fun thing at the end – it featured the first balk of Craig Kimbrel’s career … which he did on purpose.
• Speaking of Cubs-affiliated awards, this is well-deserved. We all had a lot of fun with it:
Myrtle Beach @Pelicanbaseball win the Golden Bobblehead for Best Digital Campaign for their beer bats! pic.twitter.com/Z7S10vGCeh
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) December 6, 2021
• A stray bit of fun from the MLB.com folks who have to fill time with some evergreen content: the longest hitting streak for each MLB organization, where Bill Dahlen’s 42-gamer for the Cubs is the 4th longest streak in MLB history. Of course, he did it back in 1894, when the Cubs were known as the Colts, and a number of rules were still being settled. Jerome Walton’s 30-gamer in 1989 is the more recent mark for the Cubs.
• I just liked this moment:
Enjoy something nice to cleanse the palate.
Here's Cubs rookie Manny Rodriguez reacting to his first big league save earlier this year. Can't hide the joy. pic.twitter.com/0iHypLtBmn
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) December 5, 2021
• Meanwhile, new week, same stuff:
Matt Nagy Makes a Mess of It Allhttps://t.co/j0V8v2bJew
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) December 5, 2021
• Another shootout win for the Blackhawks:
21st Game-deciding shootout goal for Patrick Kane, 2nd all-time (Frans Nielsen 23)#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Hb8qNe572O
— Mario Tirabassi (@Mario_Tirabassi) December 6, 2021
Enhanced Box Score: Blackhawks 3, Islanders 2 (SO) – December 5, 2021 https://t.co/eL8yyKT77a
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) December 6, 2021
• No sports here (unless you count lava luge), just a combination of technology and the Earth being incredible:
Take 31 seconds to fly over lava flows from the #CumbreVieja eruption…
…and get a sense of what the earliest days of our planet looked like.
This video is incredible.
Credit: RTVC (@RTVCes) pic.twitter.com/9i801pg9lQ
— Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) December 1, 2021
