A look at some of the top prospects in the Cubs’ low minors.

Look, when I die, there’s just one kind of favor I’ll ask of you: you can see that my grave is kept clean. Other people require more complicated things: Two years ago, when Dennis Mascari went to visit his father at a cemetery, he came up with an idea: Build an area for deceased Cubs […]

They’re too experienced and professional to actually get into a proper pissing match, but I kinda wish this little nothing of an exchange would turn into one. For one thing, it would make the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry even more interesting. For another, it would make me like Lou Piniella even more than I do. I think […]

It has nothing much to do with the article in which it’s found, but this kind of quote, about the challenges of facing the Cubs, always makes me smile: “It’s big, especially with a team as quality as they are,” Wainwright said. “They’re going to be there at the end battling you. Anytime you can […]

A PITCHf/x profile of two Rule 5 picks—Donald Veal and David Patton.

OK, longtime ShysterBall reader Melody (full name: Melody Blass Fisher) would probably smack me for calling her a “girl,” but since the purpose of this post is to promote her most excellent Baseball Chronicle essay, here’s hoping she cuts me some slack. As for the story, if any of you have either (a) been ripped […]

After the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, it became apparent that there was a serious schism in Red Sox Nation, with old timers who were around — or who at least claimed to be around — back in the bad old days and who wore their suffering on their sleeve on the […]

Given how the John Moores was able to sell a huge stake in the Padres to Jeff Moorad almost overnight, one wonders why it has taken Sam Zell so long to sell the Cubs. Well, besides the fact that unlike the Padres’ deal, the Cubs sale wasn’t an exercise in Kabuki theater designed to help […]

Who’s No. 1? It’s Strange.

I’m not a big eater at ballgames. I almost always eat something elsewhere before going into the ballpark, so if I do get something during the game it’s usually a hot dog just for the hell of it or some peanuts to munch on or, if it’s really hot, maybe a small dish of ice […]