Baseball Crank analyzes the NL Central according to Established Win Share Levels (EWSL). The report is not kind to the Cubs, who are hoping for a number of players to exceed normal expectations. Predicted wins: 78.

Chicago Cubs Opening Day TV Listings
March 31, 2008

WGN Morning News
Plans are for Opening Day coverage even this early.
Note: Not available for those who watch outside of WGN's Chicago area.
You may be able to catch some of those reports here:
http://wgntv.trb.com/news/local/morningnews/

9 WGN
Mon, Mar 31, 5:00a - 9:00a
240 mins

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SportsRISE
037 Comcast Sports Chicago
Mon, Mar 31, 9:00a - 10:00a
Highlights, features and scores as well as a comprehensive look at the national sports scene.
60 mins

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Honoring Ernie
9 WGN (Hopefully available to the cable tv Superstation audience)
Mon, Mar 31, 10:00a - 11:00a
Coverage of the Chicago Cubs' unveiling of a statue honoring Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.
2008 | 60 mins

In the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, its 10th anniversary issue, Gene Wojciechowski revisits Game Six of the 2003 NLCS. In it, he quotes Paul Rathje, stadium operations director at the time, as blaming Moises Alou's jumping up and down for Bartman's infamy: "If [Moises] Alou had just jogged back to his position, Steve Bartman would have sat down and watched the rest of the game. Nobody would have ever known about him."

That is patently untrue.

Bartman, irrespective of Alou's reaction, still interfered with the play, and his interference was caught on national television.

That said, what I wrote initially holds true. Verbally and physically abusing him was much, much worse than anything Bartman did to interfere with the play.

The photo is accompanied by a nice photo showing at least six other fans reaching for the ball, two of them within striking distance over the wall.

Wojciechowski closes with a nice comment from Ryne Sandberg. "I would have liked to have met him [at his 2005 Hall of Fame induction]. I would have shaken his hand and thanked him for being a Cubs fan."

Hello,

I just wanted to let everyone know about a book I've written called THE COMEBACK SEASON. It's intended for young adults, but at its heart, is a story about what it means to be a Cubs fan, and about the way they teach us to hope. I love this site, and would really appreciate any help in spreading the word to everyone out there in Cubdom!

Here's the Amazon link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Comeback-Season-Jennifer-E-Smith/dp/1416938478/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205940925&sr=8-1

Cheers,
Jennifer E. Smith

Hello,

I just wanted to let everyone know about a book I've written called THE COMEBACK SEASON. It's intended for young adults, but at its heart, is a story about what it means to be a Cubs fan, and about the way they teach us to hope. I love this site, and would really appreciate any help in spreading the word to everyone out there in Cubdom!

Here's the Amazon link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Comeback-Season-Jennifer-E-Smith/dp/1416938478/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205940925&sr=8-1

Cheers,
Jennifer E. Smith

Trivia question of the day:

What do the call letters WGN stand for?

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Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals photos, Ryne Sandberg Day pics

Cubs fans TV listings

It's as good of an excuse as any: "Lou Piniella plans to experiment with the Cubs lineup, dropping leadoff man Alfonso Soriano to No. 2 in an attempt to keep him healthy while inserting Kosuke Fukudome fifth," reports MLB.com. Soriano continues to have difficulties with his quadriceps and the move is designed to have him making fewer steal attempts, apparently. Whether that is a valid reason or not, having his free-swinging ways move down in the order is a move in the right direction.

Unfortunately, this now apparently means that the Cubs' worst hitter in the everyday lineup -- Ryan Theriot -- is going to be leading off instead of hitting second.

So who should be in the leadoff spot? Mark DeRosa appears to be the best option, absent doing something radical like putting Derrek Lee there or moving Fukudome to center and placing Matt Murton in right field and the leadoff spot.

All of this is, of course, subject to change, and to change quickly.

And it may change with a trade. As much as the Cubs like Theriot, I believe they would prefer a better hitter in the leadoff spot. Moving Soriano down may make a trade for Brian Roberts or a center fielder even more likely.

Cubs f/x thinks Soriano and Fukudome should switch in Piniella's experimentation. Perhaps. But the idea that Fukudome is an ideal #2 hitter is based on his Japanese numbers. I would like to see a couple of month's worth of performance before handing him the keys to a table-setting position in the order.

If you were ever wondering which Cubs' player has the most career at-bats in a Cubs' uniform without a hit, wonder no more, as Cubnut at The Cub Reporter has your answer.

Call

Us

Baseballs

Screwups

Eating away the innings in baseball's cheap seats

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-03-06-Concessions_N.htm

Would you choose an unlimited food section at the ballpark?

ESPN.com's Rob Neyer provides his list of the top baseball movies, stemming from this list:

1. Bull Durham
2. Eight Men Out
3. The Bad News Bears
4. Fever Pitch
5. The Natural
6. The Sandlot
7. 61*
8. Pride of the Yankees
9. A League of Their Own
10. Babe Ruth

I have not seen 4, 7, 8, or 10, so cannot comment on those. I will merely say that putting Bull Durham No. 1 is "the dumbest, most outrageous thing in the history of [sports movie lists], and ... I will not argue about this." Neyer criticizes Field of Dreams for making Shoeless Joe Jackson into a right-handed hitter, but ignores that Bull Durham features a star pitching prospect who throws like a girl. Bull Durham is not a baseball movie. It's a chick flick that thinks it's a comedy. And a bad one at that.

I have only seen two baseball movies worth seeing again: 1. The Natural (the book is terrible); and 2. Eight Men Out (the book is even better).

Joe Aiello at View from the Bleachers presents some interesting bits of information on the Cubs from Bill James' new book. Specifically, Alfonso Soriano's free-swinging ways and Felix Pie's excellent baserunning.

From the Chicago Tribune: "As recently as Sunday, Stone planned to call just 13 Friday Sox home games, serve as a three-days-a-week baseball analyst for WSCR-AM 670 and perhaps continue his postseason work for TBS. Then Sox vice president Brooks Boyer called to ask if he wanted a roster spot on the Sox broadcast team. Within 36 hours, the one-year contract was done."

(Hat tip: Baseball Primer.)

He's calling games for the wrong Chicago team. How did it come to this? Wrigleyville23 blames Dusty.

Maury Brown and Kurt Hunzeker at The Biz of Baseball write on Sam Zell's exploration of selling the naming rights to Wrigley Field:

Sam Zell has said that he should be able to selling the naming rights to Wrigley for as much as $400 million over $20 years, a deal that would match Citigroup’s deal with the Mets’ new stadium as the largest payout for a naming rights in US pro franchise history.

As a secondary naming-rights deal, it would be unparalleled.

And therein lies the problem.  A $400 million secondary naming-rights deal?

. . . .