The Inmates Have Keys To The Asylum

No, I wasn’t referring to Jim Hendry in the caption, although many would say that it applies to the Cubs braintrust as well.  Instead, as I sit down before the keyboard with all the anxiety of a shower-singer appearing at his first open mic night, I thought I might introduce myself to whose who don’t already know me and talk about my plans.

I’m 39 and have been a devout Cubs fan for as long as I remember breathing.  I’ve seen some really lousy baseball, but it hasn’t deterred me in the least.  Happily, my faith has been rewarded on several wonderful occasions as well.  I can still remember singing along to “Hey Hey Holy Mackerel” (which I still prefer to “Go Cubs Go”), and although I had probably gone to earlier Cubs games, the first one still in my memory was the one I went to the day before my 7th birthday, sitting in the right field bleachers with my dad and kid sister.

I thought I knew a lot about baseball at the time, but my real sabermetric education probably began about 10 years ago when I began to read Rob Neyer and Bill James in earnest and also started following rec.sport.baseball and becoming familiar with the postings of many current BTF and BPro regulars.  Back then, I posted under the handle “True Blue,” which I kept when I first started visiting BTF a few years ago.  Since then, I’ve had a few handles, but have generally been known as “DeJesusFreak,” drawn from the name of the third player I described as my all-time favorite Cub (earlier ones were Don Kessinger and Rick Monday, while Ryne Sandberg later followed). 

Most of you probably know all that, though.  What am I going to offer to you, the BTF and Gonfalon Cubs faithful?  I can’t make any guarantees, but here are some of my goals:

* Beyond posting in various threads, I do not know how frequently I will write about the Cubs or have original thoughts to say.  I’d like to say that I’ll have a mini-essay at least once a week, but take that with a grain of salt.  Some weeks it might be more, some less.  I will do what I can, however, to try to keep this blog going when things get slow.

* Keith Olbermann once referred to Matt Drudge as an idiot with a modem.  Although I cannot promise to educate or enlighten, I do hope to entertain to the extent I can—even if it turns out to exhibit my own idiocy.  Even though I’ve seen plenty of baseball, I still learn more about the game all the time and look forward to this experience as the chance to learn even more.  I expect that I will be humiliated from time to time and have more than a few thoughts that are . . . let’s just say “controversial.”

* I do not promise to watch or even to listen to all Cubs games, at least while the current regime is still at the helm.  Last winter’s Neifi Perez resigning finally pushed me over the edge, and the fact that I’ve started watching another team has helped preserve whatever sanity I still have.  Nevertheless, I do promise that I will continue to follow the team, stay current with the local media commentary, and follow the farm system to the extent I can.  I will also squeeze in more than a few innings of the major league club when I get the chance and my patience permits.

This may be more attention than Jim Hendry is giving the team.

* Above all, no matter where my attention lies and whatever I may write, I promise that I will continue to care deeply about the Cubs.  I do believe that things need to get worse before they get better and although that causes me to have mixed feelings about how things are going at the present, there are very few things in life that I’d like to see more than the Cubs being a perennial contender and bringing a championship to the longtime Cubs faithful.

Enough self-indulgence about me, though, other than to add that I’m really happy to be here and that I look forward to contributing to Gonfalon Cubs in any way I can and thank you for your support—I hope to keep earning it.

In the meantime, try the veal and remember to tip your bartenders and waitresses . . .