Snobs vs. Slobs

Being a White Sox fan in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area isn’t exactly great times—despite the first fan. The Sox are 700 miles away and everyone—and I mean everyone—assumes I root for the Cubs because I grew up in Cook County.

A note: Taft and I had a ban on steroid talk on the site, but I’m lifting this now.

Blaming Alex Rodriguez (or Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens or Raffy Palmeiro or Jose Canseco or whoever) for steroid use is all good and well, but here remains the question: Who didn’t take PEDs during this period? The list with A-Rod’s name on it was supposed to be destroyed by the MLBPA and the did a crappy job of protecting the players. The list has 100+ players and none of those guys are being outed today, because A-Rod is the big fish. (more…)

(Photo from The Boston Globe)

It was picture perfect, save for one thing. Keep up your Internet-injury ways. You remain a favorite of Cub and non-Cub fans alike. To quote a great man:

Carlos Zambrano reminds us all that baseball is meant to be fun, and that it’s most fun to watch players who love to play the game as much as we fans love to watch it.

Henry Abbott, in a recent post on the wonderful TrueHoop, wrote something about what makes a quality blog. All of his points are excellent, but I wanted to point out one that’s especially prescient: (more…)

Man, that was an exciting marathon All Star game last night. The AL won in 15 innings, 4-3, but that is besides the point. The game was exciting from the get go, with some great pitching from starters Lee and Sheets, great pitching from the next pitchers, and well, great pitching throughout. Of course, sometimes great pitching is not enough and mistakes happen, and so we were treated to bonus baseball. (more…)

I know we have a readership of, like, 10 people, but in case anyone reading this doesn’t know me, let me put forward a few things before a stranger reads this and thinks me something I’m not: (more…)

The White Sox have taken two in a row at The Joan from the Cubs. If my calculations are correct, for Ross to win the bet the Sox must win today by 4 runs. If the Cubs win or lose by 3 or less than I tie or win. This is when sports gets real interesting, when the point spread becomes a factor.

I am not worried. I feel good about the Cubs chances today. That is not based on anything in particular, just a good feeling.

In other news, what type of Sox hat and shirt should I buy if things don’t go my way today? I am thinking of the ‘70s White Sox logo, but I really want a RoboSox Logo from the ‘80s. Or even better, I will buy this baby that the Sox are selling. For the infertile fan that has everything, your very own White Sox baby.

You may or may not know who Yosh Kawano is, and that is a shame. Yosh Kawano was the long time Cubs equipment manager, working for the team from 1943 to early 2008, when he was “retired” by the organization.

Now, I say it is a shame that you may or may not know Yosh because Yosh is a Cub institution. He has a banner hanging in the concourse and the Cubs dugout is named after him. I mean, Yosh actually was the equipment manager for the last time the Cubs made the World Series. That’s pretty crazy. How in the world is he not plastered everywhere by the Cubs as a living emblem of Cubs history. This man has met every great Cub of the last 60 years, which is almost enough players to field an entire team. Hell, he has met every not great Cub, and I bet their stories are really compelling as well. His memoirs have to be incredibly interesting, even if they are not filled with boozing and drug use like the most memorable of baseball memoirs. And yet, tomorrow is Yosh Kawano Day at Wrigley and there have been no announcements about it.

Why isn’t Yosh Kawano Day being promoted by the Cubs? Why does Yosh only get to throw out the first pitch and sing the 7th inning stretch? Why is he only getting the same treatment as any common celebrity that is coming through town on a press junket? No Yosh bobbleheads, no Yosh t-shirts, no nothing. Why aren’t the Cubs promoting this as a link to the past or as some sort of tidbit, instead of not even issuing a press release? I only about Yosh Kawano day because a friend of mine is good friends with Yosh and has been telling us, otherwise I would have no idea.

I guess I shouldn’t be too upset about this. All this does is remind me that the Tribune Company does not, in fact, care about the Cubs winning; they only care about the Cubs making them money. I should just be glad that winning has become profitable for the Cubs corporate overlord, and sad that keeping a living legend of the game on the payroll is not. And that is what it comes down to. The Cubs have decided there is no way to make a profit off of Yosh, so he is no longer needed. I don’t really have any evidence for that, and it could just be that the Cubs organization is run by petty jerks instead of petty bureaucrats (or both).

Regardless, everyone enjoy Yosh Kawano Day at Wrigley tomorrow. Think of the Yosh Kawano clubhouse while you still can, before it becomes the “Chevrolet, Proud to Be an American” Clubhouse. I’ll be wearing my Yosh Kawano for President t-shirt, which I always get compliments on from people in the know. Enjoy your day Yosh, you’ve earned it and so much more.

After a one-year hiatus, the Handsome Man Team is coming back. I will be coordinating the team over the next few weeks and the full piece will be posted sometime after the All-Star break.

In preparation, please send me any nominations for the Alex Taft Memorial Handsome Man Team. The only requirement is that the player is currently on a major league roster or disabled list.

It wouldn’t be the beginning of the baseball season without picks. I’m extremely pressed for time due to graduate school, but so tied to the tradition of making the picks that I simply must do it. Picks are a silly practice for the most part. I know Ross is far less tied to doing it than I am, and I can see why. There are so many surprises over the course of the season, and there’s absolutely no way of telling what will happen over the course of a 30 team, 162 game schedule (particularly in the commie-like parity of the National League). In fact, your best best of knowing that is probably to look at Baseball Prospectus’ Depth Charts, which feature team record projections.

But it’s still fun. And that’s why I do it. (more…)