Random Cubs Musings

[Guest]

How many teams with 4 HOFs didn't make the playoffs? I mean, it really is shocking to me.

 

probably was much more common back then.

[ConstableRabbit]

How many teams with 4 HOFs didn't make the playoffs? I mean, it really is shocking to me.

 

probably was much more common back then.

Yeah I can imagine -- more was asking just to know. Too lazy to do the analysis myself.

[SouthSideRyan]

If Yahoo is to be believed, the 1930, 31, and 33 Yankees had 9 HOFers without making the playoffs(obviously just the WS back then)

[ConstableRabbit]

That's cool..

[Janelle-Alexis]

If you ignore dumb sportswriters and count Sosa as a HOFer, the '92 Cubs had four and finished under .500.

 

If you include Pete Rose, the Reds missed three times in the 70s with four.

[chuckywang]

If you ignore dumb sportswriters and count Sosa as a HOFer, the '92 Cubs had four and finished under .500.

 

If you include Pete Rose, the Reds missed three times in the 70s with four.

 

Yeah, but that an undeveloped Sosa and a past his prime Dawson.

[chuckywang]

Looking at the team stats, it still boggles my mind how this team missed the playoffs:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2004.shtml

[SouthSideRyan]

If you ignore dumb sportswriters and count Sosa as a HOFer, the '92 Cubs had four and finished under .500.

 

If you include Pete Rose, the Reds missed three times in the 70s with four.

 

Yeah, but that an undeveloped Sosa and a past his prime Dawson.

 

Ernie banks was pretty much toast in 69

[champaignchris]

Looking at the team stats, it still boggles my mind how this team missed the playoffs:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2004.shtml

 

Everybody thought that team was going to the Series. At the beginning of the season, the Tribune was running a daily countdown to 100 wins.

 

19-30 in 1-run games. Still won 89 games overall.

 

Gene Wojciechowski's book, "Cubs Nation," gives a near day-by-day recounting of the insanity that was that year. By the end, it seemed like Dusty Baker had completely lost control of the team.

[Guest]

Hoyer to be on with Kap and Haugh at 9:25

[ConstableRabbit]

How many teams with 4 HOFs didn't make the playoffs? I mean, it really is shocking to me.

 

 

Before 1969 there were no playoffs, as for that year it more was the Mets getting really hot more than the Cubs choking.

I'm aware.

[Sammy Sofa]

Hoyer to be on with Kap and Haugh at 9:25

 

Performing his hot new hit!

 

 

 

his one ranks up there with all-time terrible YouTub comments:

 

Great piece of classic music. That was when Americans had to pull through it on their own. No government to bail them out, but they worked hard to make it. All that is lost with this generation.

 

Yes, there was no government intervention with the Great Depression. What the [expletive]?

 

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If/when we miss the playoffs next year, what are some likely reasons?

 

Here's what I've come up with so far:

 

1) Left-handed relief pitching

 

2) Massive turd seasons from guys who need are too upside-heavy to bench: Baez, Bryant, Alcantara, maybe even Olt.

 

3) Jake Arrieta's shoulder

 

4) It's not a better ball tourney, so even if you have like six potentially decent guys for the last two rotation spots, whichever two you are using at any point have a great potential for suckiness.

 

5) LOL bullpen variance and it turns out we suck again at high-leverage situations, especially early in the year.

[jersey cubs fan]

the team performs to expectations and end up with 85 wins which is just short?

[Guest]

Health is a big one. Arrieta going down for a long stretch would be rough even with a fortified rotation. Rizzo missing extended time would be a real killer too. Hopefully with a closer that's both the guy who did it this year and who is less volatile than Marmol we can avoid some of the bullpen freakouts of the last couple Aprils. Somebody like Rivero having an insane spring would help put my mind at ease about middle relief though.

[SouthSideRyan]

We go with internal candidates for 3-4-5 of the rotation.

[rawaction]

I think 2 is the biggest concern. The Cubs will have a ton of players with less than a year of service time being counted on to provide production with the bat and on the mound. Obviously, they can't lose Rizzo or Arrieta any more than they were without both this year. But how the Cubs balance the potential underperformance of Baez, Alcantara, Bryant, and maybe even Castro, Soler, and 3rd OF with having contingency plans ready to play is going to be key. 2015 is probably not going to be the year, but I think this is the key offseason to make sure 2016 is.

[DiamondMind]

I'm just terrified with Baez now. I can easily see a black hole .270 OBP from him.

[KingCubsFan]

It will be #2 and #5.

[Guest]

Patrick Mooney ‏@CSNMooney 1m1 minute ago

Cubs name Doug Dascenzo as new first-base/outfield coach.

 

Chicago Cubs ‏@Cubs 1m1 minute ago

#Cubs announce 2015 coaching staff: John Mallee joins from Houston as the new hitting coach. Eric Hinske shifts to assistant hitting coach.

[Guest]

doug dascenzo is one of those cubs names that i inexplicably know since i didn't really follow baseball until 1995. i can totally picture harry saying his name.

 

i did own some baseball cards when i was younger and maybe i had his and thought it was cool since he was on chicago.

[MSG T]

doug dascenzo is one of those cubs names that i inexplicably know since i didn't really follow baseball until 1995. i can totally picture harry saying his name.

 

i did own some baseball cards when i was younger and maybe i had his and thought it was cool since he was on chicago.

 

I was at this game and hung around to watch Dascenzo throw the 9th for the Cubs.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN199107020.shtml

[Vinestal]

doug dascenzo is one of those cubs names that i inexplicably know since i didn't really follow baseball until 1995. i can totally picture harry saying his name.

 

i did own some baseball cards when i was younger and maybe i had his and thought it was cool since he was on chicago.

 

I was at this game and hung around to watch Dascenzo throw the 9th for the Cubs.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN199107020.shtml

He actually pitched a couple of times and the season after this he showed up to pitchers meetings at spring training.

[Vinestal]

Nice article on Mallee's work with Altuve http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/96369240/jose-altuves-outstanding-season-a-product-of-yearlong-adjustments

[Guest]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141001/BLOGS04/141009987/athletico-ends-cubs-sponsorship

 

One of the most prevalent Chicago sports sponsors is departing Wrigley Field.

 

Oak Brook-based Athletico Ltd. ended its official sponsorship of the Chicago Cubs after seven years as the team's official physical therapy provider.

 

Athletico, the third-largest locally based physical therapy chain, also sponsors the Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox, Fire and the Big Ten Conference. The firm twice renewed its deal with the Cubs but this year declined to extend past its expiration date of Sept. 30.

 

The Cubs "had put together a proposal that we took a long hard look at for several months," said Athletico President and Founder Mark Kaufman. "It didn't make sense based on the economics or what we're trying to accomplish with our sports marketing dollars."

 

The Cubs declined to comment on the company's departure but said the team would seek to fill the void with another physical therapy provider.

 

The timing of a longstanding partner splitting from the Cubs is intriguing given the barrage of new sponsorship assets the team is looking to sell at a renovated Wrigley Field and its momentum in building one of baseball's top farm systems.

 

The Cubs' sponsorship sales team and marketing agency W Partners have been looking to strike new deals to help fill more than 18,000 new square feet of signage in and around Wrigley Field that will be added during the ballpark renovation. The stadium currently has less than 7,800 square feet of signage.

 

Among the new assets the team is shopping are outfield signs, features on the park's planned new video boards, naming rights to each stadium entrance and a new plaza that will be built in the triangle property adjacent to the park.

 

 

Danny Ecker @DannyEcker · 4h 4 hours ago

Cubs also just announced new sponsorship deal with ATI Physical Therapy. Replaces Athletico, which bolted this year after 7-yr partnership

 

Danny Ecker @DannyEcker · 4h 4 hours ago

Worth noting re: new Cubs-ATI deal -- ATI becomes team's 4th top-line sponsor. On par with A-B InBev, Under Armour & Starwood Hotels.

 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141010/BLOGS04/141019985/cubs-add-4th-top-tier-sponsor-in-ati-physical-therapy

 

But unlike the Cubs' previous deal with Athletico, the new pact has raised the physical therapy sector to one of the team's top-tier sponsorship categories.

 

ATI Holdings LLC becomes the Cubs' fourth "Legacy Partner" — its highest sponsorship level — on par with the team's contracts with Starwood Hotels, Under Armour and Anheuser Busch InBev. Financial terms of the ATI deal were not disclosed, though its length is said to be similar to other Legacy Partners, which are around 10-year commitments.

 

"An affiliation with the Cubs has been in our sight for some time," said ATI CEO Dylan Bates in a statement. "The future and direction of the Cubs, as well as the development project around Wrigley Field, makes this an extremely exciting time to form this Legacy Partnership."

 

Under the new deal, ATI takes over many of Athletico's previous roles, including providing athletic training assistance to the Cubs' medical staff and sponsoring the Race To Wrigley 5K run. But it will be much farther-reaching and include exclusive category rights to signage at Wrigley Field and Cubs Park, the team's Spring Training facility in Mesa, Arizona.

 

Separately from its contract with the team, ATI has also signed a deal with Hickory Street Capital LLC, a venture of the Ricketts family, which owns the team. That agreement is for signage outside of the ballpark, which is independent of Major League Baseball revenue sharing rules.

 

Similar to Hickory Street Capital's deals with Anheuser Busch and Starwood Hotels, ATI's deal may include advertising in the team's planned triangle plaza adjacent to the park.

 

In addition, ATI is slated to open a new retail location in the Cubs' Wrigleyville development, likely on the street level of the new Sheraton Hotel the team will build with Starwood Hotels across the street from the park.

 

Raising the physical therapy sponsorship category to one of the team's premier may shed a little light on why Athletico — which sponsors all the other major pro sports teams in town — departed and said the team's renewal proposal didn't make economic sense.

 

"We had always anticipated that (the physical therapy) category was one that we could have a potential Legacy Partner in, and obviously ATI stepped up in a big way," said Cubs Vice President of Sales and Partnership Colin Faulkner.

 

I wonder how much money

 

MORE LEGACY PARTNERS

 

The Cubs restructured the team's sponsorship program over the past three years to sign fewer partners at higher rates and create a the Legacy Partner level of exclusivity for its largest sponsorship investors.

 

Mr. Faulkner said he envisions a total of "10 to 12" such partners, many of which will be buying the major assets at a renovated Wrigley Field. Those may include naming rights to all of the stadium's entrances as well as five outfield ad signs that it is aiming to erect this off-season.

 

The Cubs will likely unveil a couple more Legacy Partners in the months ahead, hoping to capitalize on recent optimism surrounding the team's baseball operation.

 

"What you're seeing now — like you're seeing with our season ticket holders and our fans — you're seeing some momentum and some positivity toward the future," said Mr. Faulkner. "It signifies that our partners are optimistic about what's going to happen in the future."