Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Season Thread Vol: (17-17)

MLB/ESPN has adjusted our schedule for next year already. Instead of opening on April 3rd, we will now open on April 2nd, at St Louis, as the new Champions.

Home opener is still April 10th vs the Dodgers. I assume ring ceremony will be that night. :pimp:
 
:nthat:
My dude is repping out in the pacific northwest.


CP1708 said:
Maddon finishes 2nd in Manager of the Year. (after winning last year) :smokin
Click to expand...

Not trying to get all Montero in here, but part of me is still pretty upset with Maddon and his insistence of trotting an overused Chap out there. I mean if we would have lost we would had gone to town on him, but ultimately he did all the right moves and substitutions.....but still
 
Last edited:
Trust, I know he would have been COOKED had we not closed. He would have, but.....

Remember Baltimore. They didn't use their best pitcher. Joe was gonna ride his best, no matter what.

Chap hadn't given up a Homer as a Cub. Incredible long odds it happens in game 7. It just did. But ya know, Chap grinded out the 9th without his best stuff, Joe trusted his guys, they picked him up. He had trusted his guys since March when Try Not to Suck began.

We aren't even in game 7 without Joe. Yes, he had a quick hook, both with Kyle, and Jon, but he was brilliant all year.
 
Great news, Tom Verducci will be writing a book on the 2016 Cubs featuring behind the scenes stuff all the way back to 2011. :pimp:

Blu Rays, books, magazines, this is awesome.
 
Finally had my championship gear ship. Wanted to cancel my order cause I could've easily copped in stores but too late.
 
CP1708 said:
Trust, I know he would have been COOKED had we not closed. He would have, but.....

Remember Baltimore. They didn't use their best pitcher. Joe was gonna ride his best, no matter what.

Chap hadn't given up a Homer as a Cub. Incredible long odds it happens in game 7. It just did. But ya know, Chap grinded out the 9th without his best stuff, Joe trusted his guys, they picked him up. He had trusted his guys since March when Try Not to Suck began.

We aren't even in game 7 without Joe. Yes, he had a quick hook, both with Kyle, and Jon, but he was brilliant all year.
Click to expand...

Yup. He overmanaged the World Series, but othewise, Joe killed it this year and last. Should have won the award back-to-back.
 
Christopher Kamka ‏@ckamka 5h5 hours ago

2016 ERA
2.956 Max Scherzer
2.958 Cubs starting pitchers as a TEAM
3.04 Justin Verlander
3.14 Corey Kluber
3.15 Rick Porcello
Click to expand...

:wow: :pimp:
 
CP1708 said:
Maddon finishes 2nd in Manager of the Year. (after winning last year)
smokin.gif
Click to expand...
I am of the opinion that Maddon should not have won it last year, but should have won it this year.  I think the voters got it backwards.
 
Kinda goin thru stuff in my head on Twitter.....

2015, 97 wins, Wild Card win, NLDS win vs Cards at Wrigley. ROY, MOY, Cy Young. Bryant, Russell, Schwarber, Baez, Soler. No hitter

Signing Lackey, Zobrist, Heyward, and last minute Fowler.

2016, 103 wins, NLDS win, NLCS win at Wrigley, World Series win, game 7, 3-1 comeback, extra innings, MVP. Contreras, Almora, Chapman trade, Schwarber comeback. No hitter, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers. Best Defense in history by BABIP.

My God. :wow: :pimp:
 
Ian Happ goes 4-4 with a home run from each side of the plate in the AFL Championship. :lol: :pimp:

He will be the next Cub rookie to come up and contribute.
In 2018, Eloy will be up.

Future Bright. :pimp:
 
The most significant postseason of modern times didn't just crown a champion, bust a curse and leave millions of Americans wondering what they could do to get that "Go Cubs Go" song out of their heads.

More than that, it opened a window -- a window into where the sport of baseball has evolved and where it is going. So if you looked through that window, what did you see?

You saw a sneak preview of the stars of the future on parade, for one thing. If you don't believe that players such as Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Sanchez, Julio Urias, Roberto Osuna and those young Cubs studs are going to leave a major impression on this game, you were clearly paying way too much attention to your fantasy football lineup.

But beyond those bright young faces, there was much more to see through that window. So let's hone in now on two of those sights. One could have a gigantic impact on this sport off the field. The other could signal a profound change on the field. Here's what we mean:

Could the Cubs be the Warriors of baseball?

More than 40 million people watched the baseball game that decided the World Series -- the most in a quarter-century. An estimated 5 million people showed up at the Cubs' World Series parade -- the largest gathering of human beings for any reason in the recorded history of the Western Hemisphere.

So ... get the impression that there's a little interest in this team?

Oh, maybe it will turn out that the Cubs are just trending because they did something that hadn't exactly been the specialty of their house for the previous century. But inside Major League Baseball, it feels like more than that.

This sport has been waiting for years for a team like this to come along. A team that moves the needle in a way that other champs don't. A team that transcends its city, its market or any sort of traditional geographic blip on the radar screen.

Well, if baseball can't turn this team into That Team, then it might be time to conclude it can't be done. Not in this sport, at least.

But all the evidence suggests it can. And it's happening. Right before your eyes.

The data verifies it: ratings, social media traffic, merchandise sales. And every force baseball could ask for to make this sustainable is all lined up to keep this meteor shooting through the American sky.

• Staying power: Is there any reason to think this club isn't built to last? It had seven position players, age 26 or younger, who got more than 250 plate appearances. That's the most by any World Series champion since the 1942 Cardinals, a team that went on to play in three straight World Series and four of five -- and win three of them. Every one of those Cubs players is under control through at least 2020.

• Star power: Maybe there's no one Cub who is the baseball equivalent of Stephen Curry. But for sheer quantity of transcendent personalities, what team in baseball compares with this one? It employs two of the top four finishers in the MVP voting (Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo). And two of the top three in the Cy Young balloting (Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester), plus last year's Cy Young winner (Jake Arrieta). Not to mention the runner-up for NL Manager of the Year (Joe Maddon). And the World Series MVP (Ben Zobrist). And a whole array of rising stars beyond that group, in Javier Baez, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras. But in a moment, you'll see that this isn't just about their star power as baseball players.

• The power to connect with fans: Face it. One of the biggest problems baseball has had in attracting people outside its core fan base is that way too many franchises and way too many players say no when they should be saying yes -- to stuff that Curry, LeBron James, Peyton Manning and stars in other sports have done for years. But this is a group that gets it. Has there been a single day, since they won the World Series, where you haven't seen a delegation of Cubs showing up in front of somebody's camera with everyone from Jimmy Fallon to Ellen DeGeneres? It doesn't feel like it. And that means more in popular American 21st-century culture than you'd think.

"When you see them dancing on 'Saturday Night Live' and you see them laughing on Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel and 'The Tonight Show,' these are all the things that go with being a crossover team and crossover personalities," one baseball official said. "They've really embraced the moment."

Study after study has shown that what the casual fan wants most from its stars, in this culture, is access. Well, have you checked out your social media streams lately? This team is out there, letting its personality show -- and letting the world in to share their fun.

Anthony Rizzo [emoji]10004[/emoji] @ARizzo44
@D_Ross3 making the daytime television circuit figuring out which shows he will be watching now that he has all that time on his hands
Click to expand...

Anthony Rizzo [emoji]10004[/emoji] @ARizzo44
@DexterFowler @benzobrist18 and I are going head to head with @KrisBryant_23 on @JimmyKimmelLive tonight. Who will be the funnier guests?
Click to expand...

Kris Bryant [emoji]10004[/emoji] @KrisBryant_23
@ARizzo44 @DexterFowler @benzobrist18 @JimmyKimmelLive I voted for myself!
Click to expand...

David Ross [emoji]10004[/emoji] @D_Ross3
@KrisBryant_23 @ARizzo44 @DexterFowler @benzobrist18 @JimmyKimmelLive I'm voting for KB b/c he let me fly on his jet! #Rizzdidn't
Click to expand...

Kris Bryant [emoji]10004[/emoji] @KrisBryant_23
@ARizzo44 @DexterFowler @benzobrist18 @JimmyKimmelLive 3 against one?!
Click to expand...

Anthony Rizzo [emoji]10004[/emoji] @ARizzo44
I hear you thrive when down 3 to 1
Click to expand...

And what has been the upshot of all that Twitter merriment? The Cubs have exploded on social media. That's what. According to statista.com, it took them four years (2011 to 2015) to reach 500,000 Twitter followers. This year, they've gained more than 500,000 just since Opening Day. So they're now up to more than 1.36 million, the third-most followers in baseball (behind the Yankees and Red Sox). That's more than the Royals and Indians combined.

What's the magic formula for any team to reach breakout orbit, the point where it begins turning nonsports fans into sports fans, nonbaseball fans into baseball fans and non-Chicagoans into Cubs fans? I think we're looking at it.

So it turns out the Cubs didn't just leave their mark on this postseason. They appear to have left their mark on future seasons. And if that's how it turns out, their sport will be eternally grateful.
Click to expand...
 
CP1708 said:
A new era is being built. Not even about the 100+ years stuff, just an era of youth, and hope built the right way by a guy with a proven track record.

Your future for the next generation of Cub fans. :pimp:

1B Anthony Rizzo
View media item 793940
IF/OF Javier Baez
View media item 1871015
3B Kris Bryant
View media item 2099845
OF Jorge Soler
View media item 1871008
C/OF Kyle Schwarber
View media item 1871011
SS Addison Russell
View media item 1871013
OF Jason Heyward
View media item 1981242

All under the age of 26. Not even including CJ Edwards, Arodys Vizcaino, Pierce Johnson, Eloy Jimenez, Corey Black, or the #4 pick we have coming up in June. :pimp:


This isn't about winning a World Series this year, or any curses, this is simply a new era for the Cubs, being run properly, building thru the draft, and not having a single 100 million dollar contract on the books.


Soooooon. :pimp:


Let's Play Ball.


Edit 9/2

SP Jake Arrieta
View media item 1162684
SP Kyle Hendricks
View media item 1162686

The Cubs first big Free Agent buy in the Theo era

SP Jon Lester
View media item 1534183
2B Ben Zobrist
View media item 1981243
SP John Lackey
View media item 1999428
CF Dexter Fowler
View media item 1928599
2016 Trade Deadline
RP Aroldis Chapman
View media item 2120852
Edit 7/22/2015
Next wave of prospects

OF Eloy Jimenez
View media item 1640153
OF Albert Almora
View media item 2120856
2B/OF Ian Happ
View media item 1871017
C Willson Contreras
View media item 2120857
OF Eddy Julio Martinez
View media item 2054233

Edit 1/15/2016
The One That Started It All

Starlin Castro
View media item 793932
Thank you 13. :pimp:

And the pieces that brought us Chapman

SS Gleyber Torres
View media item 1640152
OF Billy McKinney
View media item 1163735


Three Years Later:

View media item 2238653
View media item 2238654
View media item 2238649
View media item 2238651
View media item 2238647
Click to expand...

Updated the OP. :pimp:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest News

View All News

Thread Gallery

View Full Gallery

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

Site contents may not be incorporated into AI training data or any other derivative works without prior express written consent.

Links to participating merchants may generate referral or affiliate commissions that help support our community. See our policies for details. NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom