Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Lou Piniella jokingly blames it on Coach Matt Sinatro who was driving. MLB.com’s headline, Never trust online directions, seems to accuse Google Maps (not likely). Either way who look at it, the two of them got lost on their way to Cincinnati for their first game of the series (seems to me Lou spent some time there, didn’t he?). They drove 80-90 miles out of their way.
Get Lou a TomTom, stat.
The Cubs didn’t win the series opener either losing their sixth straight 10-2.
There are obvious perks to being a manager of a Chicago major league team in Chicago. You’re famous and you have the respect and adoration of at least half the town. You get to hang with people like Derrick Lee and umm.. Nick Swisher.
Ozzie gettin’ his groove on for a Chevy dealer
But then there those days where you throw all your self-respect out the window. All for an ad for a two-bit Chevy dealership.
C’mon Lou… was this in your contract or are you really that hard up for money??
I’m back in warm Champaign-Urbana. And by “warm”, I mean it was in the twenties and not in single digits. Practically a heat wave.
Many thanks to my buddy Tyler who I didn’t see all weekend but who lent me his place for the weekend while I attended the Cubs Convention. His place was well within walking distance and had all the amenities I needed (an Internet connection being the primary one).
Sweet Lou getting his photo taken with a fan.
This was my second Cubs Convention and while it doesn’t make me an expert, I did know the ropes a little more and was a little less intimidated by the crowds, lines, and excitement.
Ron Santo during “Storytelling with Cubs Legends”
Last year I spent a good amount of time acquiring autographs. Not this year. I decided to forego this in favor of enjoying the atmosphere, taking in a few talks and hopefully meeting a few people. I didn’t spend a lot of time or money on memorabilia. Just a Divisional Champion ballcap for my son and 3 pins.
These guys were playing all throughout the convention
By the way, something of interest… Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue caught Piniella in a Q&A and Lou responded with a tentative opening day lineup:
Soriano, lf
Theriot, ss
Lee, 1b
Ramirez, 3b
Fukudome, rf
DeRosa, 2b
Soto, c
Pie, cf
Zambrano, p
I don’t hold much in lineups formulated well before Spring Training but it’s something for us to munch on.
Oh, one last thing. the answer to the trivia question that the Baseball Hall of Fame exhibit (at the Convention) asked and had everyone stumped. The question again:
Which player has played the most games for the Yankees?
A. Yogi Berra
B. Lou Gehrig
C. Bernie Williams
D. Mickey Mantle
Many people in the audience either guessed Berra or Gehrig. The answer: Mickey Mantle with 2410 games. Gehrig is second (2164), Williams 3rd (2076) and Berra is fourth (2116).
The convention was fun and now it’s less than a month till pitchers and catchers report.
Go Cubbies!
See all the photos from the convention at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery
Today was the second day of the 2008 Cubs Convention. Brrr, it was below 0 degrees this morning as I walked to the Chicago Hilton for another day of fun. On my way out, I got a text message from my nephew, Joe who was going to meet me later.
Friday night I was looking through all the swag and pamphlets I got on my first day and found my Scratch and Win card. The convention uses these for the high demand celebrities when it comes to autographs.
Well, I scratched my card and it said, “You are a winner!”
On the back it said to redeem it at the registration area and that’s the first thing I did Saturday morning. It turns out I won a Derrek Lee autograph and I was supposed to get in line for it at 2pm.
I wasn’t really collecting autographs this year so I sought out a dad and a kid and gave them the ticket. I told them the kid could have it as long as they didn’t sell it on Ebay. The dad emphatically said no, he wouldn’t.
And speaking of autographs:
Andy Pafko was signing autographs. I think Andy is the oldest former Cub to attend these conventions.
…and so was Jody Davis… always with a smile.
Two different players from different eras. Bill Madlock and Bob Feller.
Rich Hill signing a ball towards the end of the day.
My first talk of the day was “Lou and his Crew”, essentially a Q&A with Piniella and his coaching staff.
The most humorous question was from a seemingly perturbed older lady who asked Piniella why he left his starting pitchers (she mentioned Marquis in particular) in when we were behind by 4 or 5 runs. She explained that sometimes it got her so mad she would throw things at her TV.
Piniella took it all in humor and invited her to sit next to him in the dugout so he could check with her in making decisions. The crowd responded with chants of Looouuu! Louuu!
I stopped by the Tennessee Smokies booth and chatted with a nice woman with a terrific southern drawl. I rifled through the Smokies’ baseball card and found Chris Robinson. “Oh, he’s a great guy. He’s real nahce”, she said. I’m not surprised. Most players at or from Illinois have a good head on their shoulders.
I ended up buying the pack.
WGN’s “Storytelling with Cubs Legends” was my favorite of the day. With Ron Santo, Rick Sutcliffe, Lee Smith and Ernie Banks, it was fun to just listen their stories. As broadcasters, Santo and Sutcliffe were most talkative. That said, Lee Smith may have an intimidating facade while pitching but he’s quite funny behind the mike.
Looks like Sut is hamming it up for the camera.
The hosts of the Cubscast podcast (well, two-thirds of them, Sneetch couldn’t make it to the Convention) had scheduled an informal get together at the hotel bar. I was due for a break by 3pm anyway so I stopped by. Sheps (right) shared photos of his recently passed kidney stone and Lou (left) and I talked a little shop.
Peoria Chiefs broadcaster Nathan Baliva stopped by the Cubscast table too. I had stopped by the Chiefs’ booth earlier in the day and got the above photo. Nathan was nice enough to do an interview on Baseball Zealot Radio last spring so it was good to see him again. It turns out he’s Sneetch’s brother, too Small world.
The last event of Saturday was a pitching clinic put on for the kiddos. This was done with the help of Milt Pappas (left), Steve Trout (right) and Lester Strode. Fortunately, Bruce Froemming was not in attendance.
That’s all for now. Tomorrow is a light day at the convention but I do want to get some shopping done at the souvenir shops.
Many more photos at The Baseball Zealot Photo Gallery