Cubs Seek First Playoff Berth Since 2020
PLUS: SHOULD BALLPAK DIMENSIONS BE IDENTICAL?
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
After some 50 Los Angeles community and religious leaders asked Dodgers owner Mark Walter to take a stand against the federal immigration raids in the city, the team donated $1 million to needy immigrant families . . .
Who would have bet that baseball’s home run leaders on June 22 would be Cal Raleigh (Mariners) and Eugenio Suarez (Diamondbacks)? . . .
Raleigh has the most first-half home runs (before the All-Star Game) of any catcher since Hall of Famer Johnny Bench . . .
Speaking of catchers, hard to believe the Mets sent erstwhile blue-chip prospect Francisco Alvarez back to the minors after he hit a home run in Philadelphia . . .
Also surprised to see ex-Met James McCann snatched from Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett by the Arizona Diamondbacks . . .
Ronald Acuña, Jr. has a better batting average, higher slugging percentage, and better OPS than any other player since he returned from a year on the shelf after surgery to repair a torn ACL . . .
In his first eight starts after a Yankees loss this season, Max Fried went 7-0 with a 0.83 ERA . . .
The Yankees also got a lift from Gioncarlo Stanton, who went 2-for-4 after missing 70 games because of double tennis elbow.
Leading Off
Cubs Come Back To Life In Counsell’s Second Season
By Dan Schlossberg
After the Chicago Cubs finally won a world championship, ending a 108-year drought, Wrigleyville fans expected a perennial repeat performance.
But hey, it’s not so simple to erase an ingrained image as lovable losers.
The Cubs have not only missed the playoffs every year since the pandemic-shortened season of 2020 but have not even won a post-season game since 2017. Plus this is the ninth year since they beat the Cleveland Guardians (nee Indians).
Could another long wait be in the works?
The evidence indicates this young Cubs team is serious — not only about winning a title in the weak National League Central but also is playing deep into October.
The team has lots to brag about: Pete Crow-Armstrong has finally blossomed, Seiya Suzuki could join him on the All-Star team, and newly-acquired slugger Kyle Tucker has delivered as advertised, giving the Cubs the league’s best outfield. Versatile Ian Happ, often used as the leadoff man, fits into that equation too.
Happ and infielder Nico Hoerner are the only remaining players from Joe Maddon’s team.
Gone are Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez, all shipped out at the 2021 trade deadline by anxious-to-rebuild general manager Jed Hoyer, but fans have embraced their replacements.
If not for simultaneous injuries to starting pitchers Shōta Imanaga and Justin Steele, the Cubs would probably have the best record in the NL. As it is, they’re close anyway, thanks to a blend of good situation hitting, great base-running, and spectacular relief pitching.
Smooth-fielding shortstop Dansby Swanson, a smart free-agent sign by the Hoyer and board chairman Tom Ricketts, is the glue that holds the infield together. He delivers surprising pop too.
Through 72 games, Crow-Armstrong was on pace for 41 home runs, Suzuki for 38, and both Tucker and Michael Busch 25.
In his second year at the helm, former infielder Craig Counsell is balancing kids and veterans while considering both analytics and hunches in planning the club’s future.
He even had Crow-Armstrong take grounders at third base, where the last lefty thrower to start a major-league game was Don Mattingly in 1986.
“You never know,” the manager told reporters who witnessed the practice session.
PCA, who struggled at the plate last year, has power, speed, and strong defensive skills. He might even challenge Michael Harris II as the best center-fielder in the NL.
The unsung heroes of the Chicago surge reside in the Cubs bullpen. For the first half of this month, its composite ERA was 0.98 — as opposed to a 3.19 mark by the starters (minus Imanaga).
Counsell, the highest-paid pilot at $8 million per year, led the Milwaukee Brewers to 707 wins from 2015-23. But he shies away from talk about The Good Old Days.
Facing his old team last year, Counsell went 5-8 (3-3 at Wrigley). He hopes for better results by the time the 2025 campaign ends.
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ writes baseball for forbes.com, Memories & Dreams, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, and many other outlets. He’s also the author of 43 books. Email Dan via ballauthor@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Should Ballpark Dimensions Be Uniform?
By Dan Schlossberg
Part of the fun of baseball is the size, shape, and design of ballparks.
Like snowflakes, each of them are different.
And that difference is what separates baseball from the other spectator sports.
Critics insist that mandating uniform dimensions throughout baseball would make it easier to identify the top stars of the game. They say athletes playing in ballparks of the same size would no longer be helped or hindered by their home fields.
But say it ain’t so, Joe.
Even if we suddenly ditched the Green Monster in Boston or the Crawford Boxes in Houston, other factors help or hurt players in different locales.
Altitude, especially in The Mile High City, is a major influence on the game. Pitchers wear out more quickly in Denver and hitters invariably thrive. History shows a long list of batting champions who wore the uniform of the Colorado Rockies.
In fact, “the Coors Field Factor” nearly derailed Larry Walker’s candidacy for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Even Arizona, with the second-highest altitude, and Atlanta, which ranks third, harbor atmospheric conditions more conducive to home runs.
Great American Ballpark, the Cincinnati bandbox, and Citizens Bank Park, where the Mets hit seven solo home runs last Saturday, also favor long-ball hitters.
In San Francisco, however, the opposite is true — explaining why the Giants have not had a 30-homer man since Barry Bonds in 2004.
Speaking of wind, Chicago is called “the Windy City” with good reason. Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, who started and ended his career with the Cubs, once said the wind from nearby Lake Michigan didn’t help him or hurt him. “When it was blowing in,” he said, “it helped me. When it was blowing out, it hurt me. So I probably broke even.”
New York ballparks were notorious for their short right fields, favoring Duke Snider in Brooklyn, Willie Mays at the Polo Grounds, and Aaron Judge at Yankee Stadium. But Mays lost so many home runs to the swirling winds of San Francisco’s Bay Area that he never reached 700 home runs.
For years, fans wondered whether the Yankees should trade Joe DiMaggio for Boston’s Ted Williams, thereby putting both players in more favorable home parks.
Too many DiMaggio drives died in the cavernous left-center field of Yankee Stadium, while Williams was a left-handed hitter who had to hit the ball further to right than to left, where The Green Monster lurked.
Speaking of the Short Porch in New York, Babe Ruth, a left-handed hitter, had a built-in advantage over Hank Aaron, who batted right-handed but played more home games in Milwaukee than he did in Atlanta. Although Aaron thrived at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, his power wasn’t as obvious in cool, damp Milwaukee County Stadium.
Perhaps the extreme example of a ballpark helping a hitter was Mel Ott, who hit 323 home runs for the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds and 188 on the road. That short right field at the Polo Grounds purred like a kitten when the high-kicking, lefty-hitting Ott was at the plate.
If every park had the same dimensions, such quirks of the game would be lost to history.
And that’s what makes the game fun.
As Yogi Berra once said in French class, “Vive la difference!”
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg is the author of 43 baseball books, including Hank Aaron biographies penned 50 years apart. He’s national baseball writer for forbes.com and columnist for Sports Collectors Digest, among other gigs. E.mail him at ballauthor@gmail.com.
Extra Innings: Wander Franco’s Conviction
At 24, Wander Franco’s baseball future could be over in the wake of his conviction for sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl . . .
The one-time wunderkind of the Tampa Bay Rays, an All-Star in 2023, may be banned from returning the U.S. unless his conviction is overturned on appeal . . .
The shortstop had an 11-year, $182 million contract, signed in November 2021, that had a club option for 2033 . . .
Franco hit .282 with 30 homers and 130 runs batted in during a three-year career ended abruptly when accusations first appeared on social media in August 2023 . . .
He has been on the MLB restricted list since charges were filed in July 2024 . . .
Major League Baseball could impose further punishment after its investigation is completed . . .
Franco’s conviction by the three-judge panel in the Dominican Republic was unanimous . . .
The mother of the 14-year-old victim was also convicted for allegedly trafficking her daughter. She was accused of taking gifts from Franco as “hush money” for allowing the affair to continue.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Advance metrics rank Brenton Doyle and Jacob Young as PCA's peers, ahead of Harris. Just sayin'