Irrelevant Dude

I feel bad for the individuals losing their jobs, but ESPN as an entity deserves this. I imagine they are going to have some not-so-pleasant negotiations with pay TV providers whenever their existing contacts expire. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

My 3 year old son just asked me if umpires are nice. I told him yes they are nice, except for Joe West. Can't lie to the kid. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

What is Brian Matusz up to these days? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Who would have thought the Bulls would be the team to watch in mid April? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

Why do bad things always happen to... ah screw it, I don't have a bit of sympathy for him. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

This may be the least I have ever looked forward to Opening Day. I know I have seen some people say they are sick of talking about last year and ready to move on, but I'm not even close to being there yet. This season is going to feel different for sure, and I honestly don't know yet what impact that will have on how I watch the games. It still seems like the playoffs were a few weeks ago and I don't know how excited I will be able to get about regular season baseball. Is anyone else feeling the same way or am I the only horsefeathers who isn't counting down the minutes until 7:35pm?

For anyone who doesn't have it yet, the World Series blu-ray is a Lightning Deal on Amazon.com for $15.99, ending in 5 hours. https://www.amazon.com/2016-World-Champions-Chicago-Blu-ray/dp/B01L1SDZ5Q/ref=gbps_tit_s-3_bb19_b3d61ac5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=41fd713f-6bfe-4299-a021-d2b94872bb19&pf_rd_s=slot-3&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=gb_main&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=4VM1ETRG68JRYTJKXDF0

I have always loved the chaos of long extra inning games and would hate any change to the extra innings format. This is a really awful idea, but I don't see it ever getting serious consideration for real games. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I started listening to Boers & Bernstein while painting houses in college in the summer of 2002 and have been a listener ever since. I will be a little sad that the show is off the air, but I'm not sure whether I will really miss it. I don't know whether the quality of the show has gone downhill, or I have just grown tired of their act, or some combination of the two, but I don't listen nearly as often now as I once did. Hopefully the Score will pair Bernstein with someone who will keep him in check and isn't afraid to disagree with him, but more importantly I hope Terry can stick around for awhile and enjoy some time in retirement.

Good for Dex cashing in... but that picture of him in a Cardinals jersey, that just isn't right.

I called this midseason, that the Cardinals would sign Fowler and we'd be stuck with Heyward. This sucks because I can't possibly hate Dex. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I'm in the very front 200s and I struggled to get back face (after fees) for most of the first half of the season. In the second half it picked up and I was profiting nicely on weekend games, at least. Weeknights were still nothing to write home about. Nevermind that the seats are basically the same as the back field boxes. People just don't realize it. If what you're saying here is that your seats are better than joe schmoe thinks they are because of their positioning, I'm riiiiiight there with you. Which is why I want to move to the bleachers. The rubes overpay for those, and when I want to go to a game to actually enjoy it, I'll swap them out for grandstands day of. Yep, I'm with you guys. I have very good 200 level terrace box seats, but people typically won't pay more than they would for terrace reserve 20 rows back. Everyone who we sell tickets to directly seems genuinely surprised when they get to the game and realize how good the seats are. The only thing worse margin-wise is Upper Deck Box. I love upper deck seats, buy I avoided getting Season Tickets there because I know they just don't sell well. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

I think there's some logic there, but to get to that point requires some pessimism about their current level of spending. 2016: 170 million payroll upped to 180 midseason 2017: By adding Davis and subtracting Soler, they're basically at 160 with a full roster only needing a SP to bump Zastryzny off and Montgomery to the bullpen. They also added 300k fans and won a world series 2018: 63 million in FA departures, including 2 SP, Strop, and a bunch of lesser parts(Jay, Duensing, Montero). Bryant and Russell hit arbitration. Otani maybe available but current news says no. 2019: Only Rondon leaves in FA, Schwarber, Baez, and Montgomery hit arbitration, Harper, Machado, maybe Otani available 2020: New TV Deal, Zobrist and Grimm FAs, Otani definitely available In other words, with the world series win and uptick in attendance, there should be some payroll growth that you can probably set aside to make sure the core's pre-FA increases are taken care of. That might get a little tricky in 2019 but that's also 3 years from now, who knows what the roster will look like. If you make that assumption, then you've got lots of cash and basically only 2 rotation spots to fill(and I guess CF if Almora fails), along with ensuring the bullpen is strong. It would be nice to use the current payroll flexibility to extend a few of the young hitters before they hit arbitration, but with Bryant and Russell being Boras clients, and Schwarber coming off an injury, those options may be limited. Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

No, but I don't think there are any other good options.

Yeah, after fees I'm guessing I was around 20% profit on the regular season games I sold on StubHub, and that doesn't factor in the early season games that I sold at or slightly below face value outside of StubHub. I'm certainly not complaining. I went to a bunch of regular season games, 2 NLCS, and a World Series game, and still came out ahead for the year, but there's no way I could come close to 96% above face for the regular season.

The blu-ray release is Tuesday, so I may just wait until then.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-shake-shack-wrigleyville-1129-biz-20161128-story.html I have heard of Shake Shack, but I don't know a thing about it. I keep picturing it as equivalent to Steak & Shake, in which case I don't know why this would be news.

My Chicago Tribune framed mint photo showed up today. It looks nice, but I was expecting it to be a little bigger and I'm thinking maybe I should have just framed the actual front page instead. My fault for not paying enough attention to the measurements. Posting a link to the image since Imgur images don't seem to work here. What am I doing wrong? http://imgur.com/a/Tt5zJ http://imgur.com/a/Tt5zJ They never sent any shipping confirmation and there is still no word on the newspaper reprint I ordered from them.

actually interested in this as well. 10-15 years ago i got one with the 1908 team, thought it'd be kinda cool to have another to match it/hang side-by-side I found what I was looking for here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/232132679635?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

That looks pretty cool. Does anyone have advice for where to find the Cubbie blue matting that doesn't involve me setting foot in a Michael's or Hobby Lobby?

Did anyone ever find an answer to this question? I can't find any mention of the regular World Series video being included in the package with the full games, so my guess is that it isn't, but there is nothing that specifies one way or another.

I received mine (the Locker Room Clubhouse 39THIRTY Flex Hat) but the World Series patch on the side was warped and didn't lay flat. I'm waiting for the replacement and hoping all of them aren't like that, but it appeared to have been ironed or glued on, so not quite the quality I expected.

Did anyone else order a cover from SI? I never received any order confirmation or any indication that my credit card is being charged, so I'm starting to question whether I actually completed the order.

For anyone who is interested, you can also order an 11x14 photo of the SI cover HERE, although I would strongly suggest buying it unframed and then framing it yourself. A $60 surcharge is a little crazy for a $20 frame.

Has anyone seen an "old school" team plaque for sale anywhere? I'm talking about a plaque that shows all the players in a team picture and says "World Series Champions" on it.