NEWSLETTER
We have been absolutely spoiled by great football games this NFL playoff season. Football has the built-in advantage of every game being a win-or-go-home, so the stakes are always as high as they can get. But still, these games have been great. Makes me want to watch a Game Seven right about now.
• The two Chicago Cubs tribute statues at the corner of Addison and Sheffield (southeast corner, across from Sports Corner, greeting you as you came in from the Red Line) are being removed for now:
Cubs say the Billy Williams and Ron Santo statues will be removed from their current locations at corner of Sheffield & Addison and will be taken to temp storage in Comstock Park, MI
Cubs say more details on when statues will be returned to Wrigley will be provided at later date
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) January 30, 2022
• That corner is notable for being extra spacious at the moment (relative to the rest of the area around the park), because it used to be home to the attached bar (Captain Morgan Club and then DraftKings Fantasy Sports Lounge or something like that). It is expected to become the home of the big new DraftKings sportsbook, which figures to be a combination bar/restaurant/sports betting location. Pull it off well, and it’s a nice addition to the area. Pull it off poorly, and it’s a huge tacky mess attached to the beauty of Wrigley Field. We’ll see.
• As for the statues, they will presumably be relocated somewhere else for the season, maybe over on the plaza side, or by the front gate? It’s also possible they’ll just return to where they were, and are being moved out only for construction. The new Fergie Jenkins statue is possibly coming this year, too, so it’ll just be a year FULL OF statue news!
• Speaking of the statues, a Happy Birthday to the one and only Mr. Cub:
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"This is one hell of a game, baseball."
Happy birthday to the legend, Ernie Banks. #MrCub pic.twitter.com/TZZhm2GFY1
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) January 31, 2022
• Not sure why this came into my head, but it’s definitely one of the most compelling walk-off hits in my Cubs fan memory:
Kris Bryant's first career walk-off homer was incredible in its own right. BUT who remembers all of the context surrounding the homer – the rest of that game, the series that preceded it – which made it truly special? pic.twitter.com/8qBExc448m
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 30, 2022
• That context, of course, was that the upstart Cubs had just been swept in particularly ugly fashion by the Phillies (including the first no-hitter against the Cubs in decades), and then had just blown a huge lead in that game and looked like that was the moment their fun one-year-early season was going to go down the tubes. Instead, it wound up being EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE, and Kris Bryant’s walk-off homer started a 46-19 run to finish the season, grab a Wild Card spot, and you know the rest of the story.
• Valentine’s goodies, earbuds, inversion tables, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• I said a thing that a lot of people disagreed with:
Peak deGrom is probably the best peak performance/ability of any pitcher ever. https://t.co/1x4wDy7Z2y
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) January 30, 2022
• I’m totally fine to hear those disagreements (especially if your response is “Pedro Martinez”). It’s almost impossible to compare eras, so you’re going to be “right” pretty much whoever you say. But I’m just saying, for me, the version of deGrom we saw in 2021 is the best version of a pitcher that has ever existed. It’s borne out in the statistics (yes, even over Jake Arrieta’s second half of 2015, which is right up there), but even setting the stats aside, you’re talking about a pitcher who can perfectly locate 101 mph with late life, and pair it with a 93 mph slider that tunnels perfectly. And then he’ll mix in a 91 mph changeup just for good measure. So when I say “peak deGrom” is the best ever, I’m strictly talking about the peak of his ability (which we say, only briefly, in 2021). I feel pretty confident that I’m “right” about that. HOWEVA, that doesn’t mean I’m saying he’s the best pitcher ever, or that his extended peak – however you want to define that – is the best ever. Just that the best version of deGrom is the best version of any pitcher I can think of.
• The Space Cowboys have officially launched:
A new era. A new look. pic.twitter.com/8EqZFpLpD6
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) January 29, 2022
A new journey begins.
We are the Space Cowboys. pic.twitter.com/LvU3UqHHZs
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) January 29, 2022
• The new name for the Triple-A Astros club really works for me, though the logo isn’t quite what I was hoping for. I was thinking they’d go more goofy, rather than serious.
• While the Bears are set to introduce their new GM and Head Coach today at a presser, this would be a strange thing to play out in the background:
Is There Suddenly a Battle Shaping Up Between the Vikings and Dolphins For Jim Harbaugh? – https://t.co/ipdRn7aSX4 pic.twitter.com/SEZpMtTvdo
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) January 30, 2022
