bukie

2016 Cubs not appearing in this list: Brian Matusz - He was a Cub for a day. Do you remember the day where Matusz outdueled Felix Hernandez? Because that's totally not what happened. His most positive outcome from his day was striking out Cano looking with a runner on 2nd in the first inning, just before giving up a 2-run HR and putting the Cubs in a near insurmountable hole in 3 innings of pure awful, giving up 6 runs. I suppose he did contribute to a posibive Cubs moment in that sense, giving them the opportunity to come back from that hole, since they eventually won the game 7-6. His lone positive highlight: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Joel Peralta - He actually appeared in five games for the Cubs, and his most positive outcome was entering a 2-2 game against the Reds in the 13th with the winning run on 2nd and giving up a rocket to Joey Votto that was caught for a double play. Aside from that all he did was blow a game to the Mets 2 days later that made them think they were in the Cubs' league this year. There isn't a single Joel Peralta video highlight for the Cubs this season. Joe Nathan - He was a Cub for a whole week, and actually picked up the victory July 24 against the Brewers, after striking out the side in the 6th (and giving up a leadoff 3B and walk) down 4-1 just prior to the Cubs coming back in a big way. Never gave up a run with the Cubs, but never provided a whole lot of value in his 3 outings either. Nathan strikes out the side in Cubs debut: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Jake Buchanan - He won a game with the Cubs! Pitched 5 innings, gave up no runs against a Reds team that had basically given up, and provided actual positive value. Beyond that, largely nondescript. His other game he came into the 9th inning of a 7-1 game and finished the game, giving up a run against the Brewers. Buchanan looks good against the Reds: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Neil Ramirez - Poor Neil. Lights out in past years, injuries caught up with him and he didn't have the same stuff as he had in the past. He threw 8 times with the Cubs this season before they put him on waivers, and pitched for both Milwaukee and Minnesota this season. His Cub highlight this season was getting one out in the 13th in a wild game in Milwaukee on May 18 that will show up on the highlight list at some point. Unfortunate, none of Neil's pitching made video this season. Adam Warren - Came over from the Yankees for Starlin Castro. Pitched well initially for the most part, then fell apart in the end of May and June, and was sent to the Yankees as part of the Chapman deal. His biggest contribution came in two consecutive late wins against the Nats in May, where he held them scoreless long enough for the Cubs to pull ahead both times. Warren gets Zimmerman to end the threat in the 10th: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Joe Smith - Joe came over from the Angels at the trade deadline, and immediately did terrible for a month. After contributing nothing positive in 6 August outings, he actually contributed positively in 9 of 10 September outings, but unfortunately the biggest outing of his year, striking out two Giants in the 7th to preserve a 1-run deficit and end up with the win, didn't make it on video. One thing did, though... Smith starts his Cub tenure with an out (barely): [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Jeimer Candelario - Jeimer made his major league debut this season, playing in 5 games. He managed just one hit, however, and that was in a blowout, so his highlight reel is pretty short. He did HR in spring training, though, and may have more of an effect on the team next season. Candelario's first MLB hit: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Tim Federowicz - Tim was brought up for a bit in May when the Cubs needed a second catcher with Montero on the DL. He didn't do a whole lot, really only providing a significant positive WPA in a single game, a 7-1 victory over the Pirates, where he doubled and scored. His only other extra base hit came against the Padres in a game the Cubs gave away late. Federowicz showing that WTP: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo] Munenori Kawasaki - Kawasaki was a fan favorite, and a clubhouse presence, but didn't do a whole lot of note for the team statistically. He provided the most value during a 5-4 Cub victory over the Brewers on September 16, but there wasn't really a moment in there of note. His biggest moment, really, was in the preseason, which doesn't really count towards the season moments, but I almost included it anyway. Kawasaki launches a 3-run HR in Spring Training: [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo]

Inspired by Rany Jazayerli's "Top 216 moments for the 2015 Royals", and because I feel like it, I'm going to post the top 108 moments for the 2016 Cubs season. These moments are ranked by my biases and opinions, which is good enough for me. I'm considering WPA of the moment, along with significance of the game in the season, and also trying to cover moments from as many of the Cub players as possible, as almost everyone on the roster contributed positively to the season in at least some way. Some pre-emptive answers to questions before we get started: Why 108? - Well, now that the 108 year streak is broken, it's one last chance to remember that # before it's gone to history along with the season. How long will this list take? - I'm shooting for one every day, up until it finishes up on opening day. If I can figure out how to embed MLB video, I'll include a video in each post of the moment. But there are only 102 days until opening day! - Well, smart guy, that's not even a question! I'll do the top 5 moments on the last day, since interest in the team is only going to grow until then. I'll toss an extra one in here or there as needed to fill out the list. What do you mean by "momemt"? - A specific play in a game in most cases. Some cases it'll involve an entire game's performance, since starting pitchers rarely have one "moment" in a game where they shine. In some cases, I'll string together a series of plays that play into each other as one moment so I can more easily pare this down to 108, because just off the top of my head I can think of a good 25-30 plays just from game 7 of the World Series. Who died and made your opinions important enough for this post? - Nobody, just thought it'd be fun to do and interesting to follow. I feel like there's a bit of a dearth of good Cub-focused writing, as my favorite Cub blog writer is behind a paywall, and the media is largely made up of meatheads and shock jocks. Heck, I don't care about the Royals and I followed every single one of Rany's 216 moments last year. Tonight I'll start with a quick post about the players on the roster that don't get a moment in the list, and start with #108.

Clay Buchholz to the Phillies for a 24yo class A+ 2B, Josh Tobias.

It's his grandfather, don't know what side of his family. Then he's not Puerto Rican. Is this a bit, or ignorance?

This is probably Bryce Harper texting him. Hey, the Cubs could trade a now expendable Hector Rondon for a now expendable Bryce Harper.

The chance that Rodon is just no good, and at least one of Gilotio, Lopez, or Kopech are injured is so high that i'm just planning to delight in their fans' tears. I mean, did we not just go through with this with the Mets?

I see where Joe was coming from on the bunt call, despite Javy striking out just 40% of the time on 3-2 counts instead of 80% like he hyperbolized. Sure, he was 3 for his last 5 in 3-2 counts, but in that situation, if you let him swing away, no matter where that pitch is, he's swinging. If you tell him to bunt, if that pitch is not a strike, he's actually going to take the pitch. If it's a strike, it's a good pitch to bunt. Only way it doesn't work is if he whiffs the bunt, which is what happened.

Still, solid week for Ilinois after last week's preseason NIT debacle.

Bizarre game between Illinois and VCU today, which is being played in American Airlines Arena in Miami for some reason, but not televised, and there are barely 100 fans there.

I mean, it may not work out as well as the last eight million dollar contract the Cubs gave out for an outfielder, but that's a pretty high bar anyway at this point.

First thought is slight disappointment that none of the pen projects really good, but a 3 war minimum team in every position is hilarious.

The oddest thing is, Alabama-OSU-Michigan are still pretty clearly the 3 best teams in the country. Strongest resumes by far, best differentials by far. 4th spot is a tossup between Clemson and Washington, with Oklahoma and Wisconsin close behind. After that, nobody else is close.

Lol I can't see any way 3 big ten teams get in especially when 2 of them didn't even play in the conference title game. I've been seeing Michigan Twitter coming up with scenarios where Michigan gets in but while they seem plausible I'm not going to get my hopes up at all. It's not happening So let's say Florida beats Bama, Ok State beats OU and wins the Big 12, Virginia Tech beats Clemson, Colorado beats Washington and PSU beats Wisconsin. Who are your 4 playoff teams? Gotta figure Bama is still in there, and OSU is an easy pick despite not playing in the conference championship. Do you leap PSU over Michigan and put them 3rd? Does Colorado leap all the way from 9th to 4th over Michigan and Wisconsin? Does Ok State leap like 8 teams into the top 4? I'd say that's a realistic scenario where the top 4 ends up Bama-OSU-Michigan-PSU, and everyone hates everything with PSU being the only conference champion in the mix.

So now Bama is a shoo-in even if they lose. I'm kind of rooting for the doomsday scenario of Bama-Clemson-Washington losses. Do 3 B1G teams get in?

You make it sound like you were Ace Ventura visiting Finkle's parents. "Steve is such a good boy, he did what he was supposed to do. It was all that Moises Alou's fault."

You make it sound like you were Ace Ventura visiting Finkle's parents.

I do get the idea that the USMNT isnt completely screwed because the hex is super forgiving, but aside from being clowned by Mexico and Costa Rica, Panama already has 4 points from drawing Mexico and winning in Honduras, so I am starting to wonder how Uzbekistan is in November.

We now join the Blackhawks season, already in progress. Hawks win their 6th straight, 4-3 over Dallas in OT. Hawks lead the Central by 3 points over St. Louis. Other teams off to good starts include Montreal, Washington, NY Rangers and Edmonton.

Are any sports owners right now more popular than Tom Ricketts? He's like the anti-Loria.

The scene:

He's gone so far as to admit Theo's process resulted in a success.

Fun fact: with the WPA accrued in game 7, along with the WPA Chapman lost in game 7, Montgomery actually was worth more than Chapman as a Cub this season, going by net WPA.

People going to the parade: post your pics in here to cap off the thread.

The logical progression is he wins World Series MVP next year, then.

Hey Steve Bartman, good to see you up and around again.