Cubs hot streak down the stretch - is this a good thing?

The Cubs have been playing their best baseball of the season as we wind things down. They basically went on a tear right around the time of the managerial change in August with more quality starts from the pitching staff, better overall hitting and much better timely hitting. But I have been asking myself lately, is this a good thing? The Cubs draft spot for next year has moved down from 6th or 7th to at least 9th and could end up as low as 14th is they continue to win. I'm all for winning and can see the benefits of learning how to win on a young team like the Cubs. But if we could lose just enough to keep us in the top ten of next year's draft, I think that would be a definite benefit.

Just for perspective sake, I looked back at several drafts starting with the 2005 draft (which seems like the latest draft where all players can be effectively graded beyond just potential). These are the 6th & 7th picks vs. the 13th and 14th from those drafts;

2005
6th & 7th - Ricky Romero & Troy Tulowitzki
13th & 14th - Brandon Snyder & Trevor Crowe
No contest in this draft, Tulowitzi is an All Star and Romero may very well be soon. Snyder had a cup of coffee and Crowe is a journeyman.

2004
6th & 7th - Jeremy Sowers & Homer Bailey
13th & 14th - Bill Bray & Billy Butler
This is a much closer race than 2005. Homer Bailey looks like he could be a good major leaguer, as does Billy Butler. Sowers has played in the majors and may still develop a little more. Bray has had little impact in the majors. Very small advantage to the higher draft picks here.

2003
6th & 7th - Ryan Harvey (by the Cubs!) and Nick Markakis
13th & 14th - Aaron Hill & Ryan Wagner
Harvey was a complete bust for the Cubs at #6 in 2003. But Markakis has been a solid major leaguer for the Orioles. Aaron Hill has also been solid for the Blue Jays and has made an all star team. Ryan Wagner also had a short but somewhat eventful career in the majors that was cut short by injury. Small advantage to the lower picks in this draft.

2002
6th & 7th - Zack Greinke & Prince Fielder
13th & 14th - Khalil Greene & Russ Adams
Two superstars vs. a journeyman and a bust. This one is a rout by the higher draftees.

2001
6th & 7th - Josh Karp & Chris Smith
13th & 14th - Casey Kotchman & Jake Gautreau
Blech! Not much to see here. The lower draftees get the better of this one based on the journeyman status of Kotchman, none of the others made any impact in the majors.

2000
6th & 7th - Rocco Baldelli & Matt Harrington
13th & 14th - Shaun Boyd & Beau Hale
Baldelli was on the cusp of stardom, but could never quite get there. He was a decent major leaguer though. For anyone unfamiliar with Matt Harrington's story, you can read about it here. As for #13 & #14, the best thing I can come up with to say about them is, who?

Just based on these six drafts, it seems clear that you can get talent out side the top ten, but your odds go down significantly. And given the Cubs proclivity for making strange picks, I'd rather see them have an obvious pick staring them in the face next June. So I'll be rooting for some losses these last few games. Baseball gods, please forgive me!

Cubs Breakdown - 2010 Topps Triple Threads

2010 Topps Triple Threads
Topps released their latest edition of Triple Threads this week. This is one of their high end offerings and is arguably their most popular yearly issue. I've never really loved this product and this year didn't do anything to change that. But the sheer volume of different cards and parallels available here makes at least for an interesting challenge for a checklister like me.

There really aren't a whole lot of Cubs in this issue given how many total cards there are in it. I would certainly like to have seen a Zambrano or even a Derrek Lee in the base set, and Tyler Colvin in the Rookie Auto subset would have been nice also. Here's the rundown on what is available from a Cubs standpoint.

Base Set - 6 versions plus printing plates - Base (Red) #/1350, Sepia #/525, Emerald #/240, Gold #/99, Sapphire #/25, Platinum 1/1, 4 Colors of Printing Plates
#9 Ryne Sandberg
#58 Alfonso Soriano
#113 Aramis Ramirez
#147 Starlin Castro JERSEY AUTO - 8 versions - Base (Red) #/99, Sepia #/75, Emerald #/50, Gold #/25, Sapphire #/10, Platinum 1/1, White Whale Printing Plates 1/1, Wood 1/1


Relics - 6 versions - Base (Red) #/36, Sepia #/27, Emerald #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3. Platinum 1/1
#70 Ryne Sandberg RYNO
#71 Ryne Sandberg 10 Time All Star
#72 Ryne Sandberg NL MVP 1984


Relics Autos - 6 versions - Base (Red) #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3, Platinum 1/1, White Whale Printing Plates 1/1, Wood 1/1
#94 Aramis Ramirez 2X SF LDR
#95 Aramis Ramirez 3X 30 100
#96 Aramis Ramirez 119 RBI


#181 Bruce Sutter 1979 NL CYA
#182 Bruce Sutter '79 - '81 SAVE LDR
#183 Bruce Sutter 2.83 CA ERA
#BS Bruce Sutter MLB



#220 Ryne Sandberg RYNO
#221 Ryne Sandberg 1984 MVP
#222 Ryne Sandberg 385 PS AVG


#229 Alfonso Soriano JAPAN
#230 Alfonso Soriano 1st MLB Hit GM Win HR
#231 Alfonso Soriano Leadoff HR Record


#250 Ernie Banks B2B MVP
#251 Ernie Banks 512 HRs
#252 Ernie Banks 2X HR LDR


#262 Ron Santo 9X NL AS
#263 Ron Santo 342 HRS
#264 Ron Santo 5 STRGHT GOLDEN


Legends Relics - 6 versions - Base (Red) #/36, Sepia #/27, Emerald #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3. Platinum 1/1
No Cubs Included

Three Player Combo Relics - 6 versions - Base (Red) #/36, Sepia #/27, Emerald #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3. Platinum 1/1
#9 Chase Utley/Ryne Sandberg/Ian Kinsler
#12 David Wright/Aramis Ramirez/Pablo Sandoval
#15 Ryne Sandberg/Ernie Banks/Andre Dawson


Three Player Combo Relics Autos - 8 versions - Base (Red) #/36, Sepia #/27, Emerald #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3, Platinum 1/1, White Whale Printing Plates 1/1, Wood 1/1
No Cubs Included

Six Player Combo Relics - 6 versions - Base (Red) #/36, Sepia #/27, Emerald #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3. Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets which basically combine two cards designed like the three player versions from above.
No Cubs Included.

Six Player Combo Relics Autos - 2 versions - Base (Red) 3/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets which basically combine two cards designed like the three player versions from above.
#2 Evan Longoria/Ryan Zimmerman/Brooks Robinson/Mike Schmidt/Alex Rodriguez/Aramis Ramirez

XXIV Relics Booklets - 4 versions - Base (Red) #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets that are almost entirely covered by pieces of memorabilia from a single player.
No Cubs Included

XXIV Legends Relics Booklets - All 1/1
These are two card booklets that are almost entirely covered by pieces of memorabilia from a single player.
No Cubs Included

Two Player Booklet Relics Autos - 4 versions - Base (Red) #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets which basically combine two cards designed like the single player relic autos from above.
No Cubs Included

Two Player Rookie Rising Stars Booklet Relics Autos - 4 versions - Base (Red) #/18, Gold #/9, Sapphire #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets which combine two relics cards designed like the single player relic autos from above, only with rookies and rising stars featured.
No Cubs Included

Bat Barrels
These are two card booklets which have the bat barrel on one side and two pieces of memorabilia on the other.
No Cubs Included

Bat Knobs
These are two card booklets which have the bat barrel on one side and two pieces of memorabilia on the other.
No Cubs Included

Cut Above Relic Cut Autos - No Cubs Included
Cut Above Dual Relic Cut Autos - No Cubs Included
Cut Above Presidential Relic Cut Autos - Non baseball subjects, no Cubs included

Jumbo Letter Number & Logo Relics - All 1/1
These are three card booklets that features the the three namesake pieces.
#7 Aramis Ramirez


Three Player Jumbo Patch Combo Relics - All 1/1
These are three card booklets that features jumbo patches for three different players.
#3 Jason Heyward/Austin Jackson/Starlin Castro

Jumbo Plus Relics - 2 versions - Base (Red) #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets that feature a jumbo patch on one side and a pair of memorabilia pieces on the other.

Jumbo Plus Relics Autos - 2 versions - Base (Red) #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets that feature a jumbo patch on one side and a pair of memorabilia pieces plus the autograph on the other.
No Cubs Included

Jumbo Plus Letter Relics - 2 versions - Base (Red) #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets that feature a letter on one side and a pair of memorabilia pieces on the other.
#6 Starlin Castro


Jumbo Plus Letter Relics Autos - 2 versions - Base (Red) #/3, Platinum 1/1
These are two card booklets that feature a letter on one side and a pair of memorabilia pieces plus the autograph on the other.
No Cubs Included

All Star Jumbo Patches - 6 versions - Base (Red) #/9, Platinum 1/1, Sleeve Patch 1/1, Team Patch 1/1, Laundry Tag 1/1, Logoman 1/1
The base and Platinum versions are typical one sided triple patch cards. The Sleeve Patch is a triple card booklet with the All Star Logo patch split into three sections. The Team Patch is a dual booklet card that has the team patch from the sleeve on one side and two smaller patches on the other. The Laundry Tag version is also a dual booklet card featuring the laundry tag on one side and a pair of smaller random patches on the other.
#38 Ted Lilly


MLB Logoman Continuity Program - No Cubs Included

Carlos Marmol Update

Since I mentioned Carlos Marmol and his chasing the record for highest K/9 innings rate for a single season in major league history a few weeks back, he has continued on his torrid pace and it now looks inevitable that he will break the record. The record stands at 14.98 strikeouts per 9 innings, set by Eric Gagne in 2003. Carlos has come down to 15.85 strikeouts per 9 innings in the last three weeks. But with only 11 games left on the schedule, it will be hard for him to fall down below Gagne's number. If he were to pitch six innings the remainder of the season, he would only need to strikeout three guys to hold on to the record! Even if he pitches 11 innings, he would only need 11 strikeouts to hold on. If he were to pitch six innings and manages to strikeout 12 guys in that time, he would actually finish above 16! What a season he has had! I predicted some injury problems at the beginning of the season for him because it seems like everyone who throws the hard sweeping slider ends up with arm problems. And that may still happen for Little Carlos. But by avoiding any problems this year, he has accomplished something amazing. Way to go, Carlos!

2010 Jewish Major Leaguers

2010 Jewish Major Leaguers
The American Jewish Historical Society has been issuing cards of Jewish Major Leaguers on an occasional basis for quite a while now and this is their latest offering. The set is a 50 card set that has the title 'Deck of the Decade 2000-2009'. It features all of the Jewish players who played in the majors during the first decade of this century. The set has decent quality and a decent design (I believe the cards are actually produced by Topps, although that is not stated anywhere on the cards themselves). It features three Cubs;


#21 John Grabow
#24 Adam Greenberg
#30 Sam Fuld

Prankster takes aim at Jim Hendry

The Cubs closed out their series in Milwaukee with a loss on Sunday, but the item making the most news from this game comes from off the field. Apparently, someone snuck some additional materials into the press box, specifically a flyer promoting a book titled "How to Finish Near Last Place With the Highest Payroll In The League", purportedly written by Cubs GM Jim Hendry. The books included chapters such as;

• "Why I signed Milton Bradley!"
• "Why I hired former Pittsburgh general manager Dave Littlefield, the man who helped make the Pirates what they are today, as my special assistant!"
• "How I botched the recall of Micah Hoffpauir from our minor league team in Iowa by losing track of the number of days that he was in the minors!"
• "Why I sign players to long-term contracts with limited trade options!"
• "Why I released Casey McGehee only to see him hit 20 home runs and drive in nearly 100 runs for a division rival!"

It remains unclear who did it or how they got the flyers into the press box to put with the rest of the materials that are laid out for reporters on a daily basis. But the Brewers staff was definitely not amused as they quickly confiscated the flyers. However, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune was able to snap a pic of the press sheet before it was removed.


Pretty funny stuff! Yahoo Sports actually took it a step further in their Big League Stew blog story and posted a full mock up of a cover for a Hendry book titled 'Building a 90 Loss Team for Dummies".


These made me laugh, I definitely appreciate a well done prank and a good parody. Bravo to whoever managed to pull it off!

2010 Cactus League History Set

2010 Cactus League History Set
Sponsored by the Arizona Museum for Youth, this set showcases several players who appeared in the Cactus League in the vintage era. I am still doing some research on this set, and I'm not entirely sure whether this falls under a legitimate licensing agreement or if it is more of a 'Broder' type issue. But the players I have seen so far include Ted Williams, Gaylord Perry, and Ernie Banks. FYI, the Banks card shows him in front of the outfield wall at the Cubs spring training home park in Mesa, Arizona, which had the Cubs spring schedule painted on it.

Cubs pitchers give up five runs. Three times in the same game!

In addition to the Cubs Classic Moment turned in by Starlin Castro, the Cubs accomplished a rare feat even for them on Sunday afternoon. They managed to allow the Mets to score five runs in an inning in three separate innings in the game. How rare is this? That is the first time the Mets have done that from an offensive standpoint in their entire history (since 1962). And it the first time since 1967 that the Cubs have given up five (or more) runs in three different innings. I looked back at the boxscore from that game in 1967 and noticed a parallel between that game and Sunday's game. Both games were started by decent middle of the rotation starters (Ryan Dempster & Ray Culp), saw a decent reliever appear late in the game (Sean Marshall & Bill Hands), and otherwise included a slew of unproven rookies and has beens throughout the rest of the game (Scott Maine, Marcus Mateo, Scott Russell, Thomas Diamond in 2010 - John Upham, Bob Hendley, Dick Radatz, Joe Niekro in 1967). The starters were responsible for their share of runs in both games (3 ER in both games for the starters), but the rest of the runs in both games were given up by pitchers that probably had no business taking the hill in a major league game. That probably shouldn't come as a surprise though!




In looking back through history, the Cubs were actually on the good side of it the last time this event happened in baseball. They scored 6 runs in the 1st, 5 in the 4th, and 6 in the 8th in a 19-6 victory over the Brewers on April 30, 2008.

Cubs Classic Moment - Castro picked off?

Another Cubs Classic Moment occurred in the game on Sunday. We were driving home from our cabin and had stopped for dinner and I was scrolling through the play by play for Sunday's game when I came across this entry on Yahoo Sports;

- S. Castro grounded into fielder's choice, B. DeWitt out at second, S. Castro picked off at second, shortstop to first

Oh boy, I thought to myself, I'll definitely have to catch a highlight for this one. I was actually thinking this was maybe a hidden ball trick since it wrapped a pickoff into the same play as the groundout. Seems like that is how they would score it if the ball never went back to the pitcher after the play. That may be true, but that is not what happened! In the eighth inning with one out (note - ONE out) and a runner on first, Starlin Castro hit a groundball to the first baseman who fielded it and threw to second for the force out there on the lead runner. This was all they were going to get as Castro easily got to first base in time. Except for one thing. After passing first, Castro turned to run to the dugout, apparently thinking there were two outs when the play started. The first baseman proceeded to tag him out to end the inning. And Castro officially joined Cubs lore with his own version of a Cubs Classic Moment!

2007 Monopoly Fantasy Baseball Edition Player Clings

In 2007, a new version of the classic game of Monopoly was introduced titled the My Fantasy Baseball Players Edition Monopoly.


This game used the well known Monopoly board and rules, but with a few notable changes. First and foremost among the changes was that instead of the traditional property names in the game, the properties instead would be named after MLB players. And each game would be different because the people playing the game would get to choose which players would go on which property. In order to facilitate this ability to customize the game, a set of 105 different different player 'clings' was included with the game. These 'clings' are basically small (roughly 1.5" square) pieces of mylar that stick to flat surfaces but can be removed and restuck over and over again. Like a very small Fathead or like some people put in the windows of their cars as a form of a bumper sticker. Within the game, the clings were stuck to the board on the properties that the players were representing. Given that the player is actually pictured and named on the clings, these also make good collectibles. The game is not hard to find these days, but it is typically pricey ($20-$40 for the game online), and you really don't see the individual clings pop up too often in the collectibles area. There are four Cubs included in the set;



Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Zambrano

Cubs Breakdown - 2010 Razor Rookie Retro

2010 Razor Rookie Retro
This is probably the most talked about issue of the entire year so far. Razor purchased several thousand graded rookie cards from baseball and other sports and has packed them out as a new issue. Sort of like the ultimate grab bag. The buyback rookies themselves are not a new issue as they have no identifying mark to say they came out of one of these packs. However, each pack also contains a Razor rookie auto and these are brand new. There are two different kinds of new rookie card autos, a totally new set and colored prismatic versions of some of the 2008 Razor Signature Metal cards. There were no Cubs in the original Metal set, so there are none in the colored version either. There are Cubs cards in the new rookie auto set, though. Chris Carpenter represents the Cubs and he has five different cards in the set. Considering that there are likely less than 5,000 packs available, it seems like the new rookie autos may be relatively tough to find. But you never know with Razor whether they will issue these in another product in the future.

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