The Giants also have more guys to dislike than the Mets, so I feel like I'll work up more sports hate for the Giants than the Mets (even after losing to the Mets last year). Bumgarner, as awesome as he is and as much as I enjoy watching him pitch, I *really* enjoy watching him get upset and rattled; but he's a major ####### on the mound and fun to root against (then again, so are Lester and Lackey). I have fond feelings for Pagan, since he was a rare minor bright spot the Cubs found way back when. I like Posey, and Pence is hard to dislike and easy to dislike at the same time. I enjoy watching BPJ struggle, as I was never a fan. Cueto seems like a fun guy (his instagram is awesome), and since Cards fans hate him so much...the enemy of my enemy and all that.

Wait a minute, I was supposed to talk about not liking the Giants. Stupid MadBum. #### Crawford's hair. And Bochy's giant head and TLR pitching changes. #### their success.

Damnit, I think I realized I kinda like the Giants in spite of everything.

Bumgarner beat Arrieta 3-2 on Sept. 3, but their first matchup came way back in spring training. The Cubs hit Bumgarner hard in a come-from-behind victory, and the Giants lefty got peeved when he thought Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward were stealing signs from second base. That was also the game Arrieta left with a blister. Both went on to have solid seasons and now will get one more time to face off.

I forgot about that. Also the Cubs broke Pence's hand on a HBP in the preseason last year.

I expect the Cubs to win the pennant, since they're clearly the best team in the NL, but I also expect that much of the pre-game conversation will be along the lines of "One of these four teams has proven that it can handle postseason pressure, while three of them have yet to demonstrate anything like that".

About half of the Giants' postseason roster was on at least one, if not two or all three, of their recent World Series winners, including the manager and highest impact players. The Giants are only as good as they are at scoring and preventing runs, but without a doubt they benefit from a degree of confidence and experience that none of the other teams can claim. Last night's win should only reinforce that.

Despite their poor showing in the second half, I fear the Giants more than any of the other NL postseason teams. It's fear, which does not necessarily have a rational basis. It's also not so much the confidence/destiny thing as the Cueto/Bumgarner thing, and Samardzija has had a pretty decent run lately too. I think the Cubs are the better team in just about every sense, but they only have five games to show that.

Not that it has anything of all that much value or what people don't know or hasn't been said above -- but just to copy it over from the last thread...

When it comes to the SP, we obviously dodge a huge bullet by only seeing Bumgarner once. If the Giants could start him twice, I think you'd honestly have to give the rotation edge to the Giants if only because the Postseason Jesus really puts you in a hole. As it stands -- Cueto is certainly a fine ace, but except for last year's WS winner, he's been rather pedestrian in the postseason. The Cubs have also, of course, seen him a lot going back to his Reds days. He beat the Cubs in his only start against them last month, but even while Lester isn't Bumgarner (because no one is), Lester has a pretty nifty postseason resume himself. Bullpen Jesus scares me not in the slightest - which I'm sure means he throws a no-hitter in game 2. If 2015 Jake can show up in the MB showdown - that would be great. All in all, it feels like the Cubs have a slight edge here thanks to schedule. Lester/Cueto is probably a wash, but I'll take Hendricks/Lackey over BPJ/Moore any day.

The bullpen really ought to be a massive Cubs advantage. Even if Romo managed to put out the conflagration over the last couple weeks, I have every confidence that our pen ought to be able to do a better job of either holding leads or keeping games close, while I think we can certainly get to their pen. I like our setup guys better, I like our middle relief a LOT better, I like our nominal LOOGYs better, and the closer is no contest. Optimally, the pens won't matter - but it's nice to have this advantage in our back pockets.

I do think the Giants lineup is a bit underrated -- but their propensity to put the ball in play also plays well into the Cubs defensive strengths. Our lineup goes deeper - and of their offensive core (Belt/Posey/Pence) -- only Belt is really any kind of hot right now. Posey has had a down year and Pence obviously missed a lot of time. I think the Giants do have a very underrated 2nd tier in their lineup -- Panik is a grinder, Crawford has legitimately learned how to hit, Span is sort of a discount brand Fowler, etc. It would be nice if Heyward suddenly came to life, but that ship seems to have sailed long ago for 2016. Still, our big bats are better than their big bats and I think our secondary weapons are also a smaller, but still measurable bit better than theirs.

The Giants are probably the 2nd best defensive team in the NL -- but the Cubs, of course, are probably the NL's best defensive team. Other than (NO JINX!) curse anomalies, hard for me to see how we don't at least fight them to a draw in the field. Baez, of course, also gives the Cubs a premier bench glove all over the IF. I suspect Crawford wins the NL GG, but Russell probably finishes 2nd.

I'd likewise give the Cubs' bench the edge -- we ought to have plenty of options from both the left and right. The bench is flexible - only enhanced by Bryant and Zobrist's ability to play all over, too. Szczur (assuming he's on the roster) gives you a PR. Baez alone constitutes a nice glove option wherever you want to use him. Finally, unlike most 3rd catcher options that teams decide to carry in the postseason -- the Cubs' trio doesn't really have a worthless, break-glass-in-emergency member since Montero remembered how to hit in September. It's a really nice thing when you've got three catchers, all of whom can hit and two of whom can play defense (or even all three, if you want to cancel out Montero's throwing problems with his pitch-framing).

I'm gonna say Cubs in four.

I'm hoping for a relatively anxiety-free series that goes according to script... Lester outduels Cueto and the Cubs win a game 1 squeaker. Game 2 is a laugher. Game 3 goes how you might expect a Bumgarner game to go (my hope would be that Jake duels him to a near-draw, if only to make me feel better about future Jake starts)... and game 4 wraps it up.

If I were to do a fear factor ranking of the Giants --

Belt
Pence
Cueto
Bumgarner
Posey
---BIG gap
etc

Bumgarner would, of course, be tops -- but he's only gonna start one game with a very slim chance he comes out of the pen if we get to game 5.

I've got Belt at the top because he finished the year REALLY strong -- and while the Cubs handled him quite well (1 for 15), he seems to be peaking at the right time.

Despite their poor showing in the second half, I fear the Giants more than any of the other NL postseason teams. It's fear, which does not necessarily have a rational basis. It's also not so much the confidence/destiny thing as the Cueto/Bumgarner thing, and Samardzija has had a pretty decent run lately too. I think the Cubs are the better team in just about every sense, but they only have five games to show that.

Very succinct, and a much more efficient way of saying my thoughts over the last few days.

If I were to do a fear factor ranking of the Giants --

Belt
Pence
Cueto
Bumgarner
Posey
---BIG gap
etc

Pence is at the top for me. He had a really good series against the Cubs in September. I put a lot less weight in how guys are recently - both applies to Belt, and Montero.

Here's a pretty looking thing on how the Cubs roster was built. Of course, Theo gets all the credit:

How did Epstein build a 100-win team?

I'm glad Hoyer appears to be happy here, because even though I don't think I have an ego, I think I wouldn't be as ok giving my boss every single bit of the praise while I'm just a complete afterthought.

One of these four teams has proven that it can handle postseason pressure, while three of them have yet to demonstrate anything like that

True enough. Obviously guys like Posey and Bumgarner have tons of legitimate successful postseason experience. But it's not like the Cubs are newbies to this thing. Their entire starting lineup played in the playoffs last year with one of them (Zobrist) winning it all. All 4 of their starting pitchers have won a postseason start and 2 of the 4 have won World Series clinching games.

Lester - Cueto is perhaps a toss-up, but adding in the Cubs' defense, I think the Cubs win that matchup.
Hendricks/Lackey - Samardzija/Moore clearly favor the Cubs
We clearly have the better offense

The one pitching matchup that the Cubs are not favorites has them throwing out the defending Cy Young winner.

Anything can happen in a short series, but I think the season series is a nice capsule of how the teams compare. 5 of the 7 games were one-run games and 1 was a 2-run game - in which the two teams split 3-3. The Giants are capable of keeping these games close if their starting pitchers step up and any team, especially a good, confident team like the Giants, is capable of winning a close game. But the Cubs clearly have more talent and if their bats break out in a big way in 1 or 2 of these games, I think they're the team much more likely to win an 8-1 game or two in this series. Win the blowouts / split the close ones should be enough to get the Cubs into the next round.

Ugh. This waiting in INTERMINABLE!

Can't we just start tonight? The rain has stopped and it's supposed be just scattered this evening.

FWIW -

The forecast for tomorrow is cloudy and cool, but not cold. Scattered chance of precip, but not expected to be a problem by game time. Saturday, the clouds are expected to depart and a pretty nice fall evening, roughly about you'd hope for out of an early October saturday night.

Damnit, I think I realized I kinda like the Giants in spite of everything.

Precisely how I feel. Dammit.

A short series is tough. If the Giants win either of the first two, here come the night sweats.

A short series is tough. If the Giants win either of the first two, here come the night sweats.

The night sweats began Monday and one way or another, I do not expect them to stop until the Cubs have played their last 2016 game (one way or another).

So their FIP was actually slightly better than the Cubs (3.76 vs 3.77), even though their ERA was a bit worse (3.69 vs 3.15)

But isn't ERA a better comparison in this case? As opposed to trying to figure out how good an individual pitcher was in a given year, we're talking about the pitchers on this particular team. They're in front of the same defense, so eliminating fielders actually takes out an element that will be present.

I wasn't really try to say the Giants have better pitching, just putting everything out there. And it was another way to show how the Cubs defense is better.

---

Mark Sheldon ‏@m_sheldon
#reds claim INF/OF Arismendy Alcantara off waivers from A's. DFA Patrick Kivlehan

He hit .211/.211/.263 in 19PA with Oakland, and it would appear he was hurt because I only see 27 total minor league PAs with OAK (in A+ ball). I'm still disappointed he didn't work out.

Coming off the wild-card game win against the Mets in New York, it's tempting to pick San Francisco and pretend as if its second half never happened. The Giants' rotation goes four deep, same as Chicago's, and the quality is nearly as good. The offenses also are comparable when San Francisco is in first-half form

-snip-

Still, picking the Giants would require too much of a suspension of disbelief.

So this is just Robothal's prediction for the series, and he's not really an analyst, and the fact that he acknowledges that first sentence - one game (and things from years ago) are influencing the feeling on this series. As for the offense part, well, that's just not true. First half, Giants scored 4.7r/g, Cubs were at 5.2; full season SFG 4r/g and CHC 5r/g. He still picks the Cubs, so I'm just complaining for no real reason. Start the damn game already!

For reference

DATE TIME VENUE STARTING PITCHERS TV STREAMING RADIO
Game 1 Fri., Oct. 7 9:00 p.m. Wrigley Field Jon Lester vs. Johnny Cueto FS1 Fox Sports ESPN Radio
Game 2 Sat., Oct. 8 8:00 p.m. Wrigley Field Kyle Hendricks vs. TBA MLBN Fox Sports ESPN Radio
Game 3 Mon., Oct. 10 TBD AT&T Park Madison Bumgarner vs. Jake Arrieta FS1/MLBN Fox Sports ESPN Radio
Game 4* Tues., Oct. 11 TBD AT&T Park TBA vs. John Lackey FS1 Fox Sports ESPN Radio
Game 5* Thurs., Oct. 13 TBD Wrigley Field TBA vs. TBA FS1 Fox Sports ESPN Radio

You'd have to assume game 2 is BPJ and Moore is game 4, with game 5 a rematch of game 1.

Mark Sheldon ‏@m_sheldon
#reds claim INF/OF Arismendy Alcantara off waivers from A's. DFA Patrick Kivlehan


He hit .211/.211/.263 in 19PA with Oakland, and it would appear he was hurt because I only see 27 total minor league PAs with OAK (in A+ ball). I'm still disappointed he didn't work out.

Are you trying to bait me?

Damn right I am.

No, I liked him, I really did. Something is just not working, and hopefully someone can fix it. But if it wasn't the A's DFA him now, it would be the Cubs doing it.

He is still just 24.

If I know the waiver rules well enough (and there's a good chance I don't) -- I would presume this means he passed through all the AL teams but didn't make it very far down the NL list.

I am glad to see him in another organization via a transaction like this -- if he DOES ever figure out, it makes it easier to swallow.

Not sure Cincy is a great fit for him - unless they move Phillips AND/or Cozart. Suarez was decent enough at 3B. Peraza looks like a keeper. They've got a handful of other fringy IF types (Renda, a couple others).

His upside is just be a utility guy; I don't think he'll ever hit for an ok average and he's going to strike out a lot, but he has pop and is fast. He seemed stretched at SS, but could play there in a pinch. If he's a full time starter, your team isn't good and you're looking to upgrade. Being able to play 2b and CF (so presumably, he could also play the corners) is a plus. I can't recall his arm well enough to know whether he'd be ok at 3rd. But he's a useful player for Cinci, and it's worth it for them to try and see if it works.

Start the damn game already!

14 14 14 14

I am wondering if perhaps I should just start drinking heavily now, take tomorrow off.... and be passed out until tomorrow night. Still more than 26 friggin hours to go.

Maybe I'll go sim a few hundred OOTP playoffs.

My wife said I could go to Chicago tomorrow and watch the first couple of games. Stub hub prices are not all that bad. So tempting. I have like an hour to make this decision.

If you do, let me know. I'll at least try to meet up for a beer or two.

My wife said I could go to Chicago tomorrow and watch the first couple of games. Stub hub prices are not all that bad. So tempting. I have like an hour to make this decision.

I say do it.

I went to game 4 of the NLDS last year -- paid $150 for an SRO on stubhub -- and glad I did. It was the first playoff game at Wrigley I ever attended and it was well, well worthwhile. The crowd was awesome and stupid as it sounds to spend 150 just to stand in the stadium, it's among the best money I've ever spent. It was totally spur of the moment... just decided to check the prices, figured what the hell, and never enjoyed myself so much at the park.

Yeah, "I think I need to do this."

Bleacher tickets are $180 right now. Do you have to sit in the assigned seat?

I went to the WC game in Pittsburgh last year, which was awesome.

I assume bleacher seats are still first come, first serve.

When's the last time you were at Wrigley?

Unless something changed this year - all bleachers ought to be first come, first serve, non-reserved...

I haven't been to the bleachers in a couple seasons - have they changed to numbered/reserved seats?

However, during the playoffs, the Bleachers have assigned seating.

Link. I did not know that.

Huh... that actually makes them far better (well, at least in the front half) than during the regular season. The big pain with them was always having to stand in line for an hour or more to ensure you didn't stuck way in the back.

In the four-game series in Chicago, Bochy used 24 relievers to get 40 outs while facing 57 batters.

From Sheehan. Yeah, that was fun.

I went to game 4 of the NLDS last year -- paid $150 for an SRO on stubhub -- and glad I did. It was the first playoff game at Wrigley I ever attended and it was well, well worthwhile. The crowd was awesome and stupid as it sounds to spend 150 just to stand in the stadium, it's among the best money I've ever spent. It was totally spur of the moment... just decided to check the prices, figured what the hell, and never enjoyed myself so much at the park.

You're making me reconsider my decision not to go to Game 3. Bumgarner/Arrieta, but do I want to pay $200+ for a ticket? I had said no, but I might have to change my mind.

#### yeah, you gotta go.

Someone's asking $10K for seats in the upper deck. I guess if you don't ask you'll never know.

I can get arcade seats for about $200. I might have to do that, just to watch a couple of Rizzo HRs sail over my head into the bay.

I'm in, folks. I'll be scrambling to get there but disasters notwithstanding I should be in Wrigleyville by 6 or so. I am Primer mailable.

I'm 4-0 in my last four Cubs games (two in Chicago, one in Pittsburgh, one in Oakland).

Better than me, I am 1-4 this year at cubs games, my 4 year winning streak a part of the distant past

I'm in, folks. I'll be scrambling to get there but disasters notwithstanding I should be in Wrigleyville by 6 or so. I am Primer mailable.

Primer mail sent. Hope to see you tonight.

I'll be back for game 2. Tonight I'll be watching from my new neighborhood microbrewery.

11 hours. Here comes the anxiety...

My anxiety has been on overdrive since Wednesday...

Glad to hear you're making the trek, Andere! Would love to meet up -- well, actually meet, I guess -- you and other fellas for a pregame beverage...

I had assumed you'd be grabbing a last minute flight, but sounds like you might be driving? If so - FWIW, I've got zone 383 daily/guest parking stickers if wanted to skip lots and do a sidestreet in the neighborhood... I'll send an e-mail...

I'll be attending tomorrow with Spahn. If anyone is looking for something to do post-game that is within easy walking distance but doesn't involve the Clark Street idiocy, I'm playing music at Butcher Tap (Southport/Addison) until probably 1:30 a.m. Come by and say hi.

Post-game tonight or tomorrow, Elroy?

Post-game tonight or tomorrow, Elroy?

Tonight - sorry I wasn't clear. Tomorrow Spahn and I will be out and about in the neighborhood as well.

Very cool stuff Elroy.

Enjoy the game(s), all of you attending! I wish work weren't so crazy right now for me heh

Curse this wait... It is causing me to look at stubhub and risk my carefully allotted postseason budgeting and I find myself disappointed prices are not higher.

I may stop by tonight, Elroy -- but if the unthinkable happens, will they all be dirges?

Cubs released their roster on Twitter (and elsewhere I assume). Almora over Szczur; nothing else terribly surprising. 11 pitchers.

I may stop by tonight, Elroy -- but if the unthinkable happens, will they all be dirges?

Hah - no, it's only Game 1. Gotta get people's spirits back up. Now, starting a set immediately after the Bartman game...that was a rough one.

Cubs released their roster on Twitter (and elsewhere I assume). Almora over Szczur; nothing else terribly surprising. 11 pitchers.

Oh, interesting. Szczur has quietly been bad for a while now - .136/.190/.169 since 8/13. Almora is the better defender, though I'd say Szczur has more in game experience in the corners. Not sure who's the better baserunner, they're both fine, but neither are threats to steal.

I think this solidifies that Montero is catching Arrieta and Lackey. Almora can PR for him in those games, and Contreras is another right bat off the bench those games. We kind of assumed this already, but I think Almora over Szczur makes it clearer (I don't really expect Almora to get any PH ABs; he may hit once he's replaced someone).

Of course, we already know tonight is Bryant in LF and Baez at 3b, so Almora could either PR for Ross (or Montero, when he PHs).

I know Szczur really flailed for the last 6 weeks and I agree - Almora is probably the better option... but I feel bad for Matt.

Rany on the Cubs. He doesn't write much these days, but is always a must when he does.

Echoing ElRoy's comments, it'd be great to meet up with any of y'all who might be in the vicinity tomorrow. I'm sorry I'm not able to be there for tonight's game/related shenanigans.

Rany on the Cubs. He doesn't write much these days, but is always a must when he does.

This surprised me -

That depth might be why the Cubs won eight games this season that they were trailing entering the ninth inning, the most by any NL team in the last 10 years. (Only one NL team since 1987 won more than eight games when trailing in the ninth: the 2001 Rockies, who played in a ballpark and an era in which no lead was safe.)

My recollection was that we certainly had an ample number of wins where we entered the late innings 7th/8th/AND 9th trailing, but I guess I actually don't remember that many 9th inning comebacks. I imagine they're all there, tucked beneath the season's delirium...

Nevermind about Butcher Tap tonight. They just called it off. Lame.

This endless waiting is shaking my October plan to forego NLDS game 1/2 tix... I see there are still options below 200, including some not half-bad ones (any reserved bleacher seating, thus eliminating the need to stand in line for 2+ hours sans an adult beverage puts them in play). I think I might have to grab tonight or tomorrow.

It's very difficult to tell from the SH seating WRT bleacher seats/sections... I'm assuming row numbering starts at 1 closest to the OF and works upwards, but it's hard to tell.

...and the postgame music festivities for tonight have been moved to Vaughan's Pub at Sheffield and George. It's a 5-10 minute walk due south of Wrigley.

Just wanted to check in and say hi to everyone. This can't come soon enough.

In praise of the Cubs defense.

I especially liked this part:

The Cubs do pretty well when they don't shift, which isn't surprising. They have Anthony Rizzo's footwork, they have Javier Baez hunting for outs and they have about a dozen other areas of defensive excellence, so they're just good at making outs. While the league's batters hit .299 against non-shifted defenses this year, they hit just .261 against the Cubs' straight-up formation. While the league had a .797 OPS when there was no shift on generally, they had a .714 OPS when the Cubs didn't shift. Thirty-eight points of batting average, 83 points of OPS -- pretty good.

But the Cubs do extraordinarily well when they do shift. The league's .299 batting average against the shift drops all the way to .252 against the Cubs' shift, and its .842 OPS (remember, better hitters are more likely to be shifted against) drops to .707 against the Cubs. Forty-seven points of batting average, 135 points of OPS. The Cubs' defense is either extremely well suited to shifts, or the Cubs' field staff is extremely good at deciding which batters to shift, and when.

I have no idea if it's a factor of Heyward beside him, the Cubs oft-cited decision to play the OF deeper, or just random noise... but I really do think the unsung hero of this defensive juggernaut might actually be Dexter Fowler.

Not intending to elevate him into prime Andruw Jones or anything -- just saying that while Russell seems the smoothest, Baez the most "wow" inspiring, Heyward the OF anchor, etc -- it's Fowler that has gone from being a relatively poor CF to actually being above average. He has actually been a PLUS CF this year. FG has him 8th among CFers. That, to me, is the most amazing part of this year's defense. Prior to this year, I think we were all willing to accept that what he gave on offense justified him being closer to the bottom third.

Agreed, especially since LF is almost always the worst defender; be it Schwarber for those couple of games, Soler or Coghlan - and while I've been surprised with how Contreras is out there, he's probably not a plus there; that means they have a good defender there when Bryant (353inn), Szczur (200inn), Almora (26inn) or Zobrist (127inn), maybe (I'd say he's average there). Heyward's good, and it definitely helps Fowler some, but he's not good enough to impact LF that much too.

The waiting is very difficult today.

Chicago Cubs ‏@Cubs 51m51 minutes ago
#NLDS Game 1

National anthem: Wayne Messmer
First pitch: Billy Williams
Play ball: Mike Ditka
7th inning stretch: Ryan Dempster, Kerry Wood

Ugh, Ditka. Go away you ####### #######.

The waiting is very difficult today.

It's the hardest part, according to Tom Petty.

Can't wait. Took the next two days off for the games. Tried to take Monday off but corporate is coming in

Ugh, Ditka. Go away you ####### #######.

This.

Re-posting from the last one -

This will kill 90 seconds of the wait -- Vin Scully's 1989 NLCS intro/Ode to Wrigley...

Was that a radio intro, cause the video part isn't from 89.

Also, that wasn't Vin Scully.

Not sure - every place I had heard it said it was from NBC's game 1 NLCS intro... perhaps it was one of those "here's a minute of what's coming up then more commercials" intros/not really intos?

They have clips of Billy Williams with his statue, and a shot of the foul pole with 10&31; retired. Things that did not exist in 89.

Sure sounds like Vin to me.

Cubs' self-produced hype video, using only Cubs/Giants clips from this year. They found a way to make Heyward seem important (and a week grounder and blooper seem impressive) and have the best slo-mo of Lackey mouth-breathing I've ever seen.

It's still only 2:30. Ahhhhhhhhhhh

Sure sounds like Vin to me.

It was a joke. I didn't even watch the video.

Cubs' self-produced hype video, using only Cubs/Giants clips from this year. They found a way to make Heyward seem important (and a week grounder and blooper seem impressive) and have the best slo-mo of Lackey mouth-breathing I've ever seen.

I give them kudos for not resorting to photoshopped Braves/Cardinals era Heyward.

Jayson Stark ‏@jaysonst 1m1 minute ago
MLB announces rest of NLDS game times. Cubs-SF Games 3 & 4 start at 6:38 PT/8:38 CT/9:38 ET. Game 5 is 7:40 CT/8:40 ET/5:40 PT

My 5 year old is obsessed with baseball, and the Cubs. Thank goodness he has next Monday and Tuesday off so he can watch.

(####, I'm one of those old people now complaining about start times and won't anyone think of the children, aren't I?)

...still more than 5 hours until gametime.

Chicago Cubs ‏@Cubs 1m1 minute ago
#NLDS game times (CDT):
G3: 10/10–8:38 p.m.
G4: 10/11–7:40 p.m.*
G5: 10/13–7:40 p.m.*
*If necessary (or 7:08 p.m. if only one NLDS game)

Looks like Stark got game 4 wrong.

I can't do this anymore.

I am logging off work, opening a beer, and seeing what games I have on my DVR.

I recommend watching highlights of last years WC and NLDS. Those are fun.

But also bittersweet, because of the Schwarbs.

I used to watch my 1984 Cubs Win! VHS in preparation... but sadly, no more VCR. I should probably google around for that, I have to imagine it's online somewhere.

...or maybe not, considering it hasn't exactly proven to be a good luck charm.

Christopher Kamka ‏@ckamka 53s53 seconds ago
David Ross 2016 at Wrigley Field (105 PA): .265/.379/.554, .933 OPS, 7 HR #Cubs

I don't exactly put a lot of weight into that, but I didn't realize he hit that well here this year.

Just gotta go .500 the rest of this series.

But also bittersweet, because of the Schwarbs.

Yeah, the wind was blowing fairly well last night toward RF. I kept thinking what would happen if someone got one up in the air to RF, which made me think about Schwarber.

At the WC game last year, I was sitting down the RF line, and it seemed like Schwarber's HR went straight over my head. I thought it would be foul. Similarly, last night Baez's HR was hit right toward where I was sitting in the back row of the bleachers. It went from looking like a sure HR to maybe not so much, and then it dropped without falling into the crowd. I thought it had been caught, but despair turned quickly into elation.

Had a great time meeting up with Charles S before the game and meeting his wonderful wife. They reported that the people sitting in front of them in the upper deck were sloppy drunk and obnoxious, but Charles' better half has some negotiation and persuasion skills.

I'm thinking I might plop down at Butcher's Tap on Southport around 4 or 5 to do some light pregaming -- feel free to Primer mail me.