I'd rather be sitting in a ballpark.

One would think I would have posted immediately about my one-day adventure in South Bend, but I had to figure what positives I could bring to what was a rather long slog of a game. Spoiler alert, what started out to be a close game never really resembled a good game, but I still had…

I know the White Sox swept the Rays over the weekend and are now 6-22 and that the Cubs lost a series in Boston and the Brewers lost 2/3 to the Yankees at home, but I’m focusing on my trip to South Bend. Sometime tomorrow, I’ll post about the game between the Cubs and Quad…

Stadium naming rights are both confusing and experience altering at the minor league level. Some fans and player only know the names of ballparks and stadiums by their contemporary corporate names. Since the Cubs have played in South Bend (2015), the ballpark has been known as Four Winds Field (a casino), but in small print,…

Amazingly, the Cubs made a number of big roster moves before the Astros came to Wrigley. While Kyle Hendricks’ future as a member of the 2024 Cubs, he was placed on the IL (along with Drew Smyly). I think Smyly’s “hip impingement” might be more legit than Hendricks’ lower back issues. Everyone was wondering what…

Due to the mechanics of the blog, I can’t always address and respond to each new subscriber. That isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate you’re jumping on board. Thank you very much and as you’ll notice, I tend to post more during the season when I can actually attend games. I’ve always welcomed and…

Word has it that Southpaw wants out and has phoned Ribbie and Roobarb in witness protection and is seeking mascot asylum. The 2024 White Sox are far worse than their 3-17 indicates, and three local sportswriters have taken to finally talking about it. The guy charged with covering the team on a daily basis wrote…

Without wallowing in melancholy, I like to look back at milestone anniversaries and add a little of my own context. Fifty years ago, the Cubs abandoned the old and trotted out a bunch of relative nobodies. At the time, we didn’t realize that the advent of free agency would transform professional sports and how we…

I guess most fans would say that teams don’t owe their fans anything more than putting a quality product on the field. But we all know professional teams do more than the bare minimum to entertain and reward their fans. Some might suggest there is a minimum standard. Other than changing their bag policy with…

Each ML organization approaches the need/mix of development and winning differently. It’s dang near impossible to discern what your favorite team’s m.o on any given day. Managers are forced to make pitching decisions that on the surface make no sense. At some point in the season, relievers are going to be inserted in games that…

Years ago, when Oakland called Kane County home, their low-A entry in the MWL had an identity-for most of manager, Aaron Nieckula’s tenure, the team played an aggressive brand of ball-especially on the basepaths. It’s hard to figure what the franchise’s identity is today-other than lousy. While it’s very early in the season, it’s also…