Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Week 19—Bears wrap-up, Cubs on the road, Sox playing on Field of Dreams, and Andy Benoit
Photo: Mark Black, AP
Welcome back Chicago sports fans. And to our new subscribers, we’re happy as hell to make you a part of this growing community. As you older readers can probably tell, the format is a lot different. That’s because I changed the distributor. Substack is a lot cleaner from the editorial side and I think you’ll notice some significant improvements. One reason I changed is for the comments. I thought you were all going to be able to comment on the newsletter now and engage with each other, but that’s apparently only for paying subscribers. And I’m obviously not charging anything for the newsletter, so you won’t get that feature. But there is still a comment-related perk. You can comment on the newsletter now and it will send it directly to my inbox. I can also start threads where we can all chat about certain questions I’ve posed. Long story short, things should get better and better from here on out. Also, for now on, if you have friends you’d like to send the newsletter to, they can subscribe by simply hitting the button below and entering their e-mail. Thanks to all of you guys who did your assignment last week and got one more subscriber to sign up. I really appreciate it.
This week in Chicago:
Cubs: Tuesday 6:05, Wednesday 6:05, Thursday 6:05 at Philly; Friday 6:05, Saturday 12:35, Sunday 6:10 (ESPN) at Pittsburgh
Sox: Monday 7:10, Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 1:10 vs. Houston; Thursday 9:07, Friday 9:07, Saturday 8:07, Sunday 3:07 at Angels
Bears: Friday 6:30 at New York Giants, NFL Network
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Audio portion:
This week’s audio portion is with Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated, one of the best football writers out there. As you probably remember, a few weeks back I linked to his Bears preview article, one in which he predicted the Bears would experience a setback in Year Two under Matt Nagy. You should read that article (four minute read) before you listen to the audio portion. We had an awesome conversation about the 2019 Bears, Mitch Trubisky, his worries about the schematic differences between a Vic Fangio and Chuck Pagano defense, and the rest of the NFC North. Also, a surprise guest appearance from my father at the beginning.
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Trivia: In which seasons have the Cubs won 90+ games since 2000? Answer at end of the Cubs section.
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Intro:
Let’s go! The River Forest 12Us had a hell of a run in the regionals. Not ashamed to say I made some good money off these guys over the last week. Underdog city. Money Line central. If you remember, last week I mentioned Spike Gall on this very newsletter (his Dad, Chris, is a subscriber). A lot to go over here. First of all, nothing like a simple GO BEARS rally cry. Sends shivers down the spine.
Secondly, Gall was an undrafted full back who attended Oak Park and River Forest High School and Indiana. We cheer for those guys no matter where they end up. Also, his kids are Bears fans. So no damage done there. You may go to Green Bay to do a Lambeau Leap at some point in your career but the good guys know—STILL GOTTA COME THROUGH CHICAGO. Chris and Spike know.
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Second Intro:
So apparently this kid got out of a drinking ticket by doing 50 push-ups for the cops. Is this a goddamn joke? I talked last week about how I wanted to punch myself in my face for some of the lollapalooza outfits I sported back in the day. But this kid is wearing a LeBron James Lakers jersey. If you’re going to come through Chicago wearing a Lakers jersey, you better have your act together. A LeBron James Laker jersey? Arrest him for jaywalking for god’s sake. You’re going to let a misguided kid that thinks he’s muscular enough to be wearing a cutoff in the first place hit some god awful pushups and get out of a drinking ticket? I would’ve thrown this punk in Cook County. I don’t even know this kid and can tell you with certainty that he was spraying the remnants of the leftover, warm vodka in the plastic bottle he snuck in all over everyone in front of him at every dubstep concert this weekend. I know this guy’s twitter timeline is riddled with meaningless, cumulative LeBron James statistics and that he yells drunkingly at his friends at house parties that “MIcHaEl neVeR woN AnYthInG wIthOuT sCoTTiE!”
CPD, I understand you can’t be giving tickets out to each and every person acting disorderly downtown every weekend. But if we had any pride as a city we’d be profiling and targeting every kid with this outfit on.
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Bears:
We’re shaking things up and kicking off the newsletter with football this week. I hope you all got off your texts to your friends on Thursday— “Montgomery is a beast” and “Damn, we need a kicker”.
On the topic of kicking, I think it’s time to let the whole Cody Parkey 43-yarder thing go. I mean, I was as devastated as anyone after that. My buddies and I legit didn’t say a word for 8 minutes. I was face down on the carpet for six minutes. Heard some sniffles in the room and no judgements were made. But how long are we going to harp on the failures of last season? Elliot Fry made a nearly-identical 43-yarder in the North end zone against the Panthers on Thursday. Let that be the last time we talk about last year’s missed field goal. It’s tainting our fandom and our focus on this season, which is all that matters.
And by the way, just because a Bears kicker misses a field goal now and again doesn’t mean it is a sign that the Bears kickers are going to suck. When Pineiro missed a 48-yarder earlier in the game, he was met with a slew of Boos. Kickers made 48-yarders just 60 percent of the time last year. Missed field goals happen. We don’t need to rehash last year’s playoff loss every time it happens to us.
Also, quick shoutout to Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera for helping the Bears out and calling a timeout before Fry’s kick to ice him. Apparently Matt Nagy asked him if he would do that. Rivera was obviously a part of the ‘85 Bears team and was the defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl run. He’s a #Bearforlife. He also knows that you Still Gotta Come Through Chicago.
In terms of the kicking race, it seems like Fry took a slight lead after Thursday. Going into the night Pineiro probably had the edge. Fry is a tad more accurate but Pineiro has the bigger leg. The rest of the preseason will dictate who wins out between the two of them. As for guys on other teams who could end up on the Bears, we saw one on Thursday in Joey Slye, who is currently the second kicker on the Panthers roster. He was good from 55 and 42 and there’s a non-zero chance he ends up on the Bears if Ryan Pace doesn’t feel comfortable enough with Fry or Pineiro. The other guy that would’ve been in the running was Kaare Vedvik, but he was just traded from the Ravens to the Vikings for a fifth rounder.
As for the the guys that played Thursday that will definitely be involved in regular season games, there was last year’s first round pick Roquan Smith:
And 2019 3rd round pick David Montgomery:
Is it crazy to think that Roquan Smith taking a step forward this year will be enough to thwart any real regression from last year’s defense? Maybe. But I’m sort of starting to bank on it.
Montgomery had six touches—three on the ground for 16 yards and three catches for 30 yards. We don’t disparage former beloved Bears on this newsletter, but man, Montgomery looks like a significant upgrade to Jordan Howard. It is just the preseason. But he looks versatile, quick and powerful.
“Ummm… Yes.” —Matt Nagy on if he is comfortable with Mitch Trubisky’s next in-game pass coming in September.
Maybe we’ll see a little more from the Bears game-changers this week against the Giants. Maybe we won’t. I’m fine with Nagy’s relaxed and sheltered approach towards the preseason. We don’t need a Khalil Mack or Akiem Hicks getting hurt before September 5th.
Center James Daniels looked good in the little time he played. He officially switched over to center from guard this year, moving permanently back to the position he played in college.
Anthony Miller got hurt in practice, but it apparently is just a sprained ankle. He tweeted “I’m good!” afterward, and then deleted it. Probably because it’s against the Bears policy to tweet during practice or something.
The Bears have discussed an extension with Eddie Jackson already. His rookie deal ends after next year. Jackson was ranked 30th by NFL players in the NFL’s 100 best players list two weeks ago.
Tight end Trey Burton is slowly working his way back from a sports hernia surgery and won’t play in the preseason. The position has been one of uncertainty leading up to the 2019 season, and Adam Shaheen apparently had one of his best practices on Saturday. He’s also been hurt. Hinsdale Central product (yuck) Ian Bunting had a big catch against the Panthers and may have a shot at a roster spot. Bradley Sowell moved from O-Line to tight end this offseason as well. He’s lost a lot of weight, and the Bears are happy to use him as a tight end, but also as an emergency decoy on the O-Line.
The Bears are unveiling statues of Walter Payton and George Halas at Solider Field before the opener.
Former Bears’ wide receivers coach Darryl Drake passed away yesterday. He was on the Bears staff from 2004-2012 and was beloved by all of the players—offensive and defensive. The players who posted tributes to him on Sunday included Spice Adams, Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, Earl Bennett, and Charles Tillman. Put your Bears flags on half-mast today.
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Cubs:
At this point, splitting a four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds on the road is an accomplishment not quite as high as a world series victory, but definitely not any lower than an NLDS one.
The Cubs’ struggles on the road continue to perplex. Here is the starting pitcher’s splits, home and away:
Kyle Hendricks: Home—1.98 ERA, .849 WHIP, .241 Opponent Batting Average; Away—5.16 ERA, 1.508 WHIP, .303 Opponent Batting Average
Cole Hamels: Home—2.35 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .219 Opponent Batting Average; Away—3.93 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, .268 Opponent Batting Average
Jon Lester: Home—4.02 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, .301 Opponent Batting Average; Away—4.81 ERA, 1.397 WHIP, .271 Opponent Batting Average. Lester’s splits are a little skewed based on his last home start, in which he allowed 9 ER in four innings.
Yu Darvish: Home—4.73 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, .309 Opponent Batting Average; Away—4.14 ERA, 1.129 WHIP, .294 Opponent Batting Average.
Jose Quintana: Home—4.15 ERA, 1.2 WHIP, .269 Opponent Batting Average; Away—4.34 ERA, 1.4 WHIP, .275 Opponent Batting Average.
Darvish is the only starter with better numbers on the road than at home.
The Phillies are a slightly above average baseball team and the Pirates are a bad one. Still, I’d be happy to go .500 this week, considering that all of those games are on the road.
On a lighter note, how about Nick Castellanos? I haven’t seen a Cubs player endear himself to the fanbase this quickly since Kosuke Fukudome went deep against the Brewers in the snow on Opening Day in ‘08.
Castellanos since coming to Chicago: .357/.400/.786, 4 home runs and 6 RBIs
“Incredible. Incredible. The more I talk about it is going to do it injustice, so I’ll just leave it at that, incredible.”—Castellanos on his first few games at Wrigley Field with the Cubs.
Castellanos knows. And my god, does he bring a swagger that the Cubs seemed to be missing. He’s got the chest hair showing, the chain hanging out and brings a Javy Baez-like attitude to the plate. Who cares who’s pitching, or what their strategy is, I’m going to hit a ball 110 mph.
And how about Ian Happ?
Happ since being called up from AAA Iowa: .300/.391/.650, 4 home runs and 11 RBIs
It looks like Theo Epstein knew what he was doing when he sent Happ down in spring training. For a guy that I think a lot of Cubs fans gave up on earlier this year (including me), his resurgence has been more than a pleasant surprise.
Ben Zobrist hit two homers for Single A Myrtle Beach this past week. Having a guy that can put the bat on the ball when you desperately need it will be another great addition come September.
Also, Jonathon Lucroy, who the Cubs picked up due to Willson Contereras’ injury, had three hits in his first game with the team. Lucroy has had a rough year, which included a stint on the IL due to a concussion, but looks like he’ll be a serviceable back-up while Willy is out of the line up.
The Cubs bullpen is a mess right now. Steve Cishek went on the IL with hip inflammation. In some ways, this is encouraging. Cishek was a go-to guy for the Cubs and was really getting knocked around recently. Hopefully a healed hip will change that. Craig Kimbrel is on the IL with a knee issue, but said he wouldn’t have gone on the IL if this were later in the year or in the postseason. Kyle Ryan, the Cubs best arm out of the ‘pen this year, has been away from the team due to his grandmother passing away. Brandon Kintzler is also on the IL with pec inflammation.
But Pedro Strop is back from the IL and threw a good inning on Sunday to record a save. I was happy to see that because of my love for Strop as a guy, but still wouldn’t count on him to pitch well in meaningful moments moving forward. Rowan Wick, on the other hand, has been an absolute godsend. He has a sub-2 ERA in 15 IP this year and has given the Cubs a powerful option to go to in the 7th and 8th.
Lastly, Javy hitting lefty better than most left-handed major leaguers:
Trivia answer: 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. Interesting, huh? Also, don’t ever criticize Theo Epstein without acknowledging that he’s responsible for the great majority of the Cubs 90-win seasons in the last 50 years.
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Sox:
Tim Anderson is back and now on a ten-game hitting streak. I love watching the guy play. If he can ever figure out how to take more walks (OBP is only 20ish points above his stellar average), he can be one of the better shortstops in baseball.
Don’t look now, but the Sox starting pitching has actually been respectable of late.
Lucas Giolito has thrown three quality starts in a row
Ivan Nova’s ERA in his last six starts is 2.79
Reynaldo Lopez’s ERA in his last five starts is 2.56
The Sox also have had a great week off the field. On August 16th, Bill Walton is calling the Sox-Angels game with Jason Benetti. If you’ve listened to them call a college basketball game, or just ever heard Bill Walton speak, you know this is going to be a wild nine innings. I’m not even sure if Bill Walton realized when he accepted this that it was a baseball game. He just shows up where he’s told and talks about whatever for a few hours. And then the doozy, that the Sox will be playing the Yankees at the Field of Dreams in Iowa next year. They’re building an 8,000-seat stadium directly next to the original field.
A lot of Sox fans have been taking this news as a signal that the Sox will absolutely be going for it next year and won’t have any minor league talent getting ABs for them when under the national spotlight. I’ve also heard people say that this means the MLB knows the Sox will be good next year. Perhaps that’s true. But given the context and history of the movie, it makes sense to do it between the Sox and Yankees. I think that has more to do with it than the Sox 2020 team, but that definitely didn’t hurt.
Regardless, this is going to be awesome:
It’ll also just be fun to see the Sox on a national televised game that will have a ton of eyeballs on it. The Sox are young and fun and only getting better. Maybe on August 13, 2020 they’ll be in a pennant race.
Zack Collins, who was up in the majors for a short stint this season and got almost no playing time for no real reason, is tearing up AAA Charlotte. He’s slashing .322/.446/.525 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs since he went down. There’s no reason he shouldn’t get another shot in the big leagues in the near future.
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Bulls:
Thaddeus Young got cut from Team USA. Absolutely devastating news for Bulls fans looking to cheer on one of their own in the FIBA world championship.
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Blackhawks:
The Blackhawks are slotted for a league-high 12 nationally televised games this year on NBC. This is a tribute to how reliable of a fan base the Hawks have in terms of T.V. ratings, and hopefully will give the same ostensible push to the Hawks organization that the Field of Dreams news will to the Sox. Make sure your team is good, in other words.
The Hawks will be on locally at NBC Sports Chicago for a record of 70 games this season as well.
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In lieu of the history section this week, a video from Jomboy on Twitter, who does great MLB breakdowns, usually regarding bench-clearing brawls. This time, it’s for the Athletics outfielder Nick Martini, who is from Crystal Lake and grew up a Cubs fan. I’ll let you watch the rest.
What do we say around here? Still Gotta Come Through Chicago!
As always, thank you for reading. As always, next week’s newsletter should be the best on yet. Don’t stop telling your friends and family to subscribe. I sincerely appreciate it.