Cubs | The Baseball Zealot

Cubs outsourcing their publications and graphics dept

After taking care of their publishing needs in-house for over 100 years, the Cubs will now be outsourcing these needs to a Cincinnati firm, EMI Network.

So says Bleed Cubbie Blue:

Now, the Cubs are outsourcing their publications to EMI Network, a Cincinnati-based company that does publications for a number of other pro sports teams and various clients including Elmhurst College, Eastern Illinois University, PNC Bank, various large law firms and US News & World Report.

Under this new arrangement, EMI Network will operate and manage all aspects of the Cubs’ Publications & Creative Services Department, including publication of Vine Line magazine as well as photography, video and graphic services.

For a cynical guy, I can be pretty idealistic too. So for some reason this really bothers. I guess I need to let it roll over me. But maybe I can’t let go of the fact that the Cubs Vineline or the programs that us Cubs fans will buy at the Wrigley Field will be designed and published in the same city whose team has a former Cub manager.

Counterpoint: Was Quade really the right move for the Cubs??

DonS, a long suffering fan of TBZ, emailed me a response to my article in favor of the Cubs hiring Mike Quade. He makes some good points against the hiring I’m posting it tonight. -tbz

I said the following the day Lou left: “Lou leaving in mid-season” is the worst thing that could happen to the Cubs. What if the “Interim Flunky” hits a hot streak? Now you’re stuck with him.

Is that exactly what happened?. Quade went 24-13 (that projects out to 105 wins in a full season). So now the Cubs think this guy is the answer.

The guys on WSCR think this is a great move. But keep in mind: That’s a bunch of White Sox fans who hope the Cubs lose every game. Some endorsement, huh?

Nothing against Quade. But the guy spent 17 years in the Cub minor league system. In that time, I never heard him rumored to be a managerial candidate at the major league level, for the Cubs or for anybody else. Now, based on 37 games, he gets the job?

One More Thing: I said on the day of the hire, “If I am Ryno, I am outta there.” I heard yesterday that Ryno has left the Cub Organ-I-Zation. It sounds like he told Jim Hendry where he could stick his “Go back to Iowa” idea.

Seems obvious to me that the Cubs NEVER intend to hire him to be the manager. It’s not like they bypassed him for a proven manager, like Girardi or Torre. They had told him, “Go to the minor leagues, ride busses, work hard, … ” Something negative to Ryno must have happened in those four years.

Or maybe Jim Hendry is every bit the stumbling dunderhead that his critics think he is.

As the late Mike Royko often said, “I may be wrong, but I doubt it.”

How Cubs fans can spend their hard earned money

What better way to honor your visit to Wrigley Field than to… throw a football??

From mlb.com:

The Friendly Confines will be transformed into a football field for the first time since 1970 when the Northwestern University Wildcats host the University of Illinois Fighting Illini for a special college game in a unique setting. The Cubs are opening the ballpark the following day, Sunday, November 21, for fans to play catch on the football field-all for Chicago Cubs Charities.

I’ll wait till next year’s Dunking Contest at the Friendly Confines.

A better way to spend your money perhaps is the Chicago Cubs Convention. Since the tickets went on sale today for the January 14-16 affair your luck in getting them through the normal channels may be thin. But there’s always Ebay and other popular web auction and reseller sites. I’ve had luck doing that in the past.

Finally, if that money is still burning a hole in your wallet of yours, you could always buy a Cubs cookbook. No, the image to the right is not a joke. I wish it was. At least the proceeds go to a good cause… the Dempster Family Foundation.

I wonder if it includes goat stew… or humble pie.

Weekend roundup

-There is some baseball happening in the south that doesn’t involve the Rangers. The Arizona Fall League season has started.

-Speaking of the Rangers, there’s no doubt they got the most bang for their buck in 2010.

-I guess we aren’t ready to forget the Cubs’ collapse in the 2003 postseason… but our remembrance might be delayed. Steve Bartman: Catching Hell, the documentary on the unfortunate affair, will be postponed till next year. Could they possibly wait till after the Cubs win a World Series (that way, we might not see it)?

-No surprise here: The columnists at the Sun-Times and Tribune respectively have differing opinions on Mike Quade’s hiring. Post-Trib (owned by ST) column headline: “Sandberg got Sandbagged”. The Trib column claims that Quade is a “good fit”.

Old habits die hard.

-Finally, some Chicago tattoo artists apparently aren’t Sox fans.

Sammy’s corked bat up for bid in online auction

If anyone is interested in plopping down $10,000, you could own parts of Sammy Sosa’s corked bat that he used in the game he caught using it. The auction at Schulte Auctions is still going on and the bid at the moment is $9.840. Hurry, Hurry though! The auction ends October 31.

The current owner of the bat? Former reliever from the Cubs (and pretty much every other NL team) Mike Remlinger, who won the game that night against Tampa Bay. He had the foresight to pick up the barrel of the bat (MLB confiscated the rest of the bat.

The Cardboard Connection has a good write-up on the story.

Quade- the right answer for the Cubs

What to think about the hiring of Mike Quade?? Well, let’s start with the details… He’s getting a two-year contract from the Cubs with an option for 2013. At this point, no money considerations have been discussed.

I like the deal. I’ve been struggling to evaluate the move on its merits alone. As a natural born cynic, I’ve tried to distance myself from my perceptions of the Cubs’ potential motives of hiring Ryne Sandberg (should they have done so). Let’s face it, Ryno has proven himself as manager in minors the last few years. Hiring him would have been more than just a public relations move as I’ve insinuated to my friends. Honestly, Sandberg wouldn’t have been a bad choice at all.

But when it came down to it, I favored hiring Mike Quade as manager of the Cubs and now that the deal is done, I still like it. Forget the 24-13 record he posted at the end of 2010, the 53-year old Evanston, IL native has the goods without it. Quade has experience. He’s managed a prolific 2,378 games in the minors. But more importantly, he has a reputation of possessing strong leadership skills and being a good on-the-field manager, all which comes with experience.

Earlier, I said forget Quade’s 24-13 run with the Cubs in 2010. But maybe don’t dismiss it completely. The Cub players responded quite well to Quade’s leadership and even said so to the press. The cynics among us have said that perhaps it was more the lack of Piniella that players were responding to and that is a point well taken. Yet, no one can dismiss the support that he got both implicitly and explicitly.

What does Cub Nation think about the Quade hiring?? If you take Bleed Cubbie Blue’s vast readership as any indication, you can check out its poll on the hiring of Quade. BCB readers support it… kinda. A whopping 38% supported the hiring of Quade while 19% didn’t (41% didn’t really have an opinion. An indecisive bunch, these Cub fans).

A few questions remain:

How much of a leash does Quade have with a rebuilding 2011 Cubs team?
For that matter (and this is relevant, of course), what of Jim Hendry? Is he on the hot seat?
Will Cub fans learn to embrace Mike Quade when he won’t be able to replicate his 24-13 success in 2011 (let’s face it, the biggest Quade fans out there know he can’t do that)?
What happens to Ryne Sandberg? There have been rumors you might see him on the coaching staff of the Cubs.

At any rate, I wish Mike Quade well. He’s (officially) stepping into some big shoes and doesn’t have an easy row to hoe in 2011.

What ever happened to Matt Murton?

He’s breaking records in Japan, that’s what

On Tuesday, former Cub outfielder Matt Murton broke the Japanese professional baseball record for most hits in a single season. That record had formerly been held by none other than Ichiro Suzuki.

Murton got his 211th hit for the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday. Ichiro’s former record of 210 hits was accomplished in 1994.

One monkey wrench thrown into the whole record business… Japanese baseball has extended the season 14 games since 1994. Ichiro got his 210 hits in only 130 games while Murton hit his record-breaker in his 142nd game. I don’t know if Japanese baseball culture is hung up on that kind of thing like we were here in America ala “the asterisk”.

Humble Matt gave credit to Ichiro:

"1994 and 2010 are two different seasons. He did it in 130 games. It is what it is, it’s a great honor. In terms of Ichiro, this doesn’t change anything. He’s one of the best players in baseball."

142 games or not, I’ll bet the Cubs would like to have some of that hitting action.

Like we need to re-live THAT

This was passed on to me and I got a good chuckle out of it

From the warped minds at The Heckler:

heh, “epic journey to fifth place”.

Saturday night tidbits

Seamheads breaks down the AL MVP candidates
Bye bye Joe Torre.
Not only is Cubs manager Mike Quade 24-12 as manager but with tonight’s win, Carlos Zambrano is 8-0 in his last 10 starts. I haven’t gotten the memo yet. Are we supposed to start liking him again?
I know the media is drooling over the idea of a “wacky” three-way tie but let’s keep it simple. Maybe the Giants will win on Sunday.
oh and bye bye Mike Lowell, too.

Cubs’ Quade gets support

I was asked by a fellow Cub fan what I thought of interim manager Mike Quade. I honestly told him I didn’t know a whole lot about him but I sure was impressed by his performance so far. His 21-11 record is a long time coming.

Now I find out that at least a couple of the Cubs are coming to the plate for him too. Pitcher Ryan Dempster and outfielder Marlon Byrd both have expressed support for him.

So says Dempster:

"He’s been very upfront, very honest with all of us. He’s been tremendously supportive, he’s given us a lot of confidence to go out there. What he’s done for the bullpen- those guys have really stepped up and he’s believed in them.”

Pretty strong words. As for Byrd:

"The record speaks for itself. The way we’re playing, the way we’re executing, just all-around."

I won’t speculate if they’re just simply backing up their manager or making a statement on who they want for their next permanent manager but those statements (especially Dempster’s) are pretty telling.

That said. the Cubs could have gone 32-0 under Mike Quade and that won’t change the fact that a certain former Cub second baseman has more star power than a ex-Carolina League/current Coach with a funny name. Like it not, the Cubs organization knows that and they’ll have tough decision to make.

Or not.