As Fans Gather Again, We Salute Memories From Previous Cubs Conventions
PLUS: FIVE CLUBS STILL WAITING FOR FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
IBWAA members love to write about baseball. So much so, we've decided to create our own newsletter about it! Subscribe to Here's the Pitch to expand your love of baseball, discover new voices, and support independent writing. Original content six days a week, straight to your inbox and straight from the hearts of baseball fans.
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Even if Luis Severino and Sean Manaea rebound with the Mets, the team from Flushing still needs solid starters after six men made at least 16 starts last season but two were traded, one had surgery, and one became a free agent . . .
All-Star starters eligible for free agency after this season include Max Fried (Braves), Zack Wheeler (Phillies), and Corbin Burnes (Brewers) . . .
San Francisco sought southpaw Robbie Ray, acquired from Seattle, even though he missed almost all of 2023 after elbow surgery . . .
Returning Giants starter Alex Cobb will miss the start of 2024 while he recovers from hip surgery . . .
Despite a 26-homer performance in Seattle, outfielder Teoscar Hernández saw his slugging percentage slip for the third straight season. He still got a one-year deal from the Dodgers for $23 million . . .
Sarah Langs of MLB.com points out that Cooperstown contender Andruw Jones had a 24.4 defensive WAR, per Baseball Reference — more than any outfielder in MLB history by 5.6 . . .
During his full seasons in Atlanta from 1997-2007, Jones had a 26.7 defensive WAR, 10.2 more than any other defender at any position in that span (Ivan Rodriguez). The difference between first and second on the list was the same as the difference between Nos. 2 and 56 on the list. That’s a hefty lead, and again -- among all defenders.
Leading Off
Four Memorable Moments in Recent Cubs Convention History
By Paul M. Banks
Tonight commences the 37th annual Cubs Convention, which is basically a baseball version of a sci-fi con. It's an annual opportunity to brave the cold, snow and ice, and be reminded, inside a hotel ballroom, that summer and going to Wrigley Field are concepts that still exist!
Having covered six Cubs Cons, I've found the overall general vibe is set by how the off-season is going. Up until Tuesday, when news of the Shota Imagana signing broke, the Cubs stove was colder than this weekend's weather forecast. Jed Hoyer, up until a couple days ago, seemed to be approaching the free agent market like Ned Flanders' parents view the idea of discipline: "We tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas!"
This Cubs Con should rival the 2014 edition, when the only off-season addition to discuss was Clark, then the newly-introduced mascot. In other words, this won't be sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. It may not provide a moment that's anywhere near as memorable as these four:
2020 — Tom Ricketts: "You won't be booing in a year"
Staged just a few weeks before the entire world shut down, due to the first major outbreak of Covid-19, one has to wonder what was recirculating in that large indoor crowd air. The 2020 convention will always be remembered for the backlash against Marquee Sports Network. The mere mention of Marquee led to vociferous booing, to which Ricketts (himself booed boisterously every time he appeared) infamously told the crowd they wouldn't "be booing in a year."
Didn't quite work out that way, Tom!
Marquee has had a lot of problems, starting with the fact that they don't (nor could they actually do, because of contractual obligations) deliver on their marketing slogan/promise of "we get all of it."
Marquee doesn't have the rights to every Cubs game due to MLB's long pre-standing television partnerships. Also, one must consume Marquee with the mindset that you are watching state television. There is no reporting/journalism here, it is simply a promotional vehicle, a la Big Ten Network or SEC Network.
The best thing that Marquee has done, in its short lifespan, is launch a stand-alone streaming service, although they were substantially late to the party on that. Regardless of what you think of the network, its pluses and minuses (no one seems to be watching anything other than the live programming on that network, so we'll put their pre-taped content as a "minus"), this truth holds dear: anytime people have to start paying for something they used to get for free, they'll be upset. Those boos were absolutely justified.
2019 — #CubsCon? No,"Cubs' Con" Via Empty Champagne Bottles
My Instagram post on this obvious swindle got picked up by the local ESPN Radio station in Chicago, and that's a great thing for the cause of exposing malfeasance. The Cubs, at their annual convention garage sale, literally put a sign up that said these champagne bottles may or may not have been drank by the Cubs players during one of their post-season victory celebrations.
It even included the phrase "not authenticated," and came with a price tag of $100 per bottle. You could get a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and Moet Chandon Imperial for that price!
Maybe I should put a sign like this above my garbage and recycling whenever I take it out. Maybe not, because who would anyone actually be stupid enough to fall for this scam? By the way, half the bottles are Korbel, which is basically the Natural Light of "champagne." Seriously doubt these dudes making tens of millions of dollars a year are celebrating major career milestones with sugary swill that costs 8.99 a bottle!
2018 — Wrigleyville Becoming SoDoSoPa Video
Whenever Cubs President Crane Kenney takes the stage at the annual fan gathering, it's usually the most informative session of the whole weekend. And it's way more interesting than the title "Business Operations Update" sounds.
The Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville renovation and reinvestment initiatives were branded the "1060 Project" with the small communal space adjacent to the ballpark named "The Park at Wrigley" (It's now called "Gallagher Way.") And "The Park at Wrigley" certainly reminds any South Park fan of "SoDoSoPa," the re-occurring bit from season 19. There is a reason many television critics consider this season the greatest in the long-running animated series' history.
They spent the entire season spoofing the concepts of gentrification and extremist political correctness, fusing the two ideas as the end. The promo video shown for "The Park" at Cubs Con was strikingly similar to the SoDoSoPa "commercial."
This was unintentionally hilarious, and extremely prescient, but what followed just wasn't funny at all. The Cubs clearly catered to the upper middle class and upper class demographics when they renovated the park and immediate surrounding neighborhood. Wrigleyville became a real life SoDoSoPa, just like all the other real- life SoDoSoPas that exist all across America.
2015: Ryan Dempster Makes Randy Johnson Penis Jokes
Former Cubs pitcher and current television talking head Ryan Dempster is just as quirky at home as he is in his media persona. A close friend of mine lives next door to Dempster, and I've had the pleasure of attending their block's annual summer party twice. I once even helped Dempster disassemble a patio umbrella, shortly after watching him do a live band karaoke version of Sinatra's "My Way."
Dempster emceed Day One of the 2015 Chicago Cubs Convention, which consisted of the opening ceremonies and "Late Night with Ryan Dempster." The Canadian modeled his show after the old "Late Night with David Letterman" (more Letterman's NBC days than during his CBS tenure) franchise, and it showed.
He even made a phallic joke about Randy Johnson, which was very edgy for an MLB fan fest, as children comprise a high percentage of the audience. Dempster seems like a good dude, but comedically he's (to borrow a metaphor from a different sport) a "volume scorer."
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.” Check out https://www.thesportsbank.net/
Cleaning Up
Quintet of Clubs Still Seek World Series Title
By Dan Schlossberg
Now that the Texas Rangers (nee Washington Senators) have finally won a World Series title, just five of the 30 existing clubs remain on the outside, looking in.
The Seattle Mariners are the only one of those that has never won a pennant.
Seattle, a 1977 expansion franchise, reached the American League Championship Series three times under manager Lou Piniella but lost that round to Cleveland in 1995 and the Yankees in both 2000 and 2001. Since that time, the M’s have made it to the playoffs only once — in 2022.
The other four teams devoid of a championship are also expansion teams: the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres (both 1969), Colorado Rockies (1993), and Tampa Bay Rays (1998).
The Brewers, who began life as the ill-fated Seattle Pilots, moved to Milwaukee in 1970 but reached the World Series only once, in 1982. They lost in seven against the St. Louis Cardinals (“Whitey Ball” beat “Harvey’s Wallbangers”).
San Diego lost a pair of World Series — to the Detroit Tigers in 1984 and to the New York Yankees 14 years later. Both Padres opponents had more than 100 wins.
Another NL West entry, the Rockies were red-hot before meeting the Boston Red Sox in the snow-interrupted 2007 World Series but lost four straight games and never got that far again. Colorado did claw its way back to postseason play three other times but has been an also-ran in recent seasons.
Can’t say the same for Tampa Bay, which went worst-to-first in 2008 and reached the Fall Classic again in 2020. But they couldn’t beat the Philadelphia Phillies or Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively.
Blake Snell is still smarting from the decision of usually-reliable manager Kevin Cash to relieve him with one out in the six inning against the Dodgers. Snell had been pitching well but Tampa Bay’s bullpen collapsed the minute it got into the game.
At least it’s okay to cross Texas off this ignominious list. The second-edition Washington Senators from 1961-71, this team qualified for the World Series in back-to-back seasons, 2010-2011, but even the magic of manager Ron Washington wasn’t enough.
The San Francisco Giants, then managed by Bruce Bochy, beat the Rangers in 2010 and Tony La Russa’s St. Louis Cardinals topped Texas a year later.
Although the Rangers reached the playoffs in three of the next five years, they never reached the final round again before 2023. Then they went 11-0 in road games — a playoffs record — to win in the most difficult possible way.
With the Padres and Brewers obviously cutting payroll, the Rays playing their usual penny-pinching games, and the Rockies always reluctant to spend on free agents, it’s not likely any of the also-rans will rise to the occasion this season.
Only Texas, which spent some $500 million to land double-play partners Marcus Semien and Cory Seager as free agents, can be ranked as contender on the eve of spring training.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for Here’s The Pitch, forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, and Memories & Dreams, among other outlets. His Hank Aaron biography comes out in April. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
“We weren’t able to go to the game because of death threats. So we watched the game from my grandmother’s house in Jacksonville. We were able to call him on the phone and talk to him right after he broke the record.”
— Hank Aaron’s son Lary explaining why the Aaron children were not present when he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in Atlanta on April 8, 1974
Lary Aaron’s playing career ended when his father, then farm director of the Braves, told him he had no future as a ballplayer . . .
He later taught school in Milwaukee for 12 years and scout 23 years for the Brewers . . .
Lary Aaron had a hand in the development of 2022 NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II, giving the future Atlanta center-fielder hitting lessons . . .
The eldest Aaron sibling, Lary attended the 1982 Hall of Fame induction of his famous father.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.