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Results tagged ' From the Pages of Vine Line '
From the Pages of Vine Line: Top pick Schwarber impressed in his rookie campaign
(Photo by Aldrin Capulong)
The first thing you notice about Cubs 2014 No. 1 draft pick Kyle Schwarber is that no one will say a bad word about him. And it takes all of about 30 seconds to understand why.
On a rainy July day, Schwarber's Kane County team had just lost a 3-2 affair in gut-wrenching fashion, after Tyler Marincov smashed a two-out, two-run, ninth-inning homer to give visiting Beloit the victory. It was a frustrating day all around, and the fourth-overall selection in this year's draft had probably the worst showing of his nascent professional career, logging an 0-for-4 that included an ugly three-pitch strikeout.
As members of the media entered a quiet clubhouse filled with players licking their wounds, Schwarber stood with a plate of food in his hands. After a few seconds, the newest of the Cubs' elite prospects realized the media scrum was there for him. He politely put down his tray, walked over to the gathering and ushered them into a small storage room outside the clubhouse so as not to disturb his teammates—most of whom he'd known for less than three weeks.
Even though he'd been a pro for only a short time, the Indiana University product was surprisingly poised, professional and conscientious. He has always been comfortable in his own skin, and he just wanted to make sure everyone else was comfortable too.
"It happens—0-fors can happen," Schwarber said, shrugging his large shoulders. "I've got to realize that. You can't be too negative on yourself because that can happen sometimes. … It's a long season. You've just got to keep grinding each and every at-bat."
The next thing you notice about Schwarber is how polished he looks at the plate. The Cubs rated the 21-year-old left-handed slugger as the best hitter in the 2014 draft, and he's more than justified their confidence in him since he made his professional debut with Short-Season A Boise on June 13. In the Northwest League, Schwarber hit .600 with four home runs and 10 RBI in just five games. After that scorching start, he was quickly promoted to Low-A Kane County, where he played another 23 games, compiling a .361/.448/.602 (AVG/OBP/SLG) line with four homers and 15 RBI. In mid-July, he was bumped up to High-A Daytona, where he finished the season hitting .302/.393/.560 with 10 homers.
But when people are asked about Schwarber, the thing they generally rave about is not his powerful bat—it's his selfless team-first attitude and the presence he brings to the clubhouse.
"We're really happy with the quick adjustment he's made to pro ball," said Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein. "The on-field stuff takes care of itself with how he's handled things mentally. He's been through a lot this past month, and he's been consistent, steady, and he's off to a great start."
For former Indiana University coach Tracy Smith, it was virtually love at first sight. After hearing of a hulking catcher from Middletown, Ohio, who was posting huge numbers and consistently making hard contact, Smith figured he'd check it out. Though Schwarber was also recruited on the gridiron as an All-State middle linebacker, his first love was always baseball.
"I went to see a game, and he was facing a high school guy that ended up being drafted that year, a left-handed pitcher," said Smith, who recently accepted the head-coaching job at Arizona State University. "The game I saw him, Schwarber took him out to left field, center field, right field. So that [scholarship] offer came on his way home."
Indiana is generally known as a basketball school, but the baseball program has transformed into a national power in the past three seasons, largely behind the play of Schwarber.
From 2012-14, the catcher and outfielder hit .341/.437/.607 with 238 hits, 40 homers and 41 doubles, all while drawing 116 walks and striking out just 91 times in 180 games. He was named to multiple All-America teams, and Perfect Game, an amateur scouting company that hosts top-level national baseball showcases, named him the best college catcher in the country in 2013 after he bashed a school-record 18 home runs. That same season, Schwarber and his teammates reached baseball's elite eight, advancing Indiana to the College World Series for the first time in program history.
All the while, the Cubs were watching.
At first, all eyes weren't necessarily on Schwarber. The 2012 Indiana roster included eight players who eventually got drafted by major league clubs. But for Cubs scout Stan Zielinski, just knowing that the big catcher was batting second piqued his interest.
"Freshmen aren't supposed to hit at the top of the order of a [Division 1] program. If they're trusting a guy to top an order as a freshman, then they must think he's pretty good," Zielinski said. "Then he's squaring up balls, hitting line drives, just playing with a lot of tenacity and just loving the game."
The longtime scout came away impressed and decided to schedule some time in Bloomington during the ensuing seasons. While there may not have been a signature on-field moment that sold Zielinski on the collegiate star, he said it was a "series of blows" that made him a believer.
After identifying a potential draft pick, the next step the Cubs take is to try to gain a better understanding of that person off the field. Scouts and front office personnel talk to the player, coaches, family and any other influential voices. As Zielinski did his research, it became clear Schwarber's mental toughness was just as potent a tool as his powerful bat.
When it came time for Zielinski to deliver his report, the scout sold the slugger hard to the Cubs front office—and the decision makers listened. Even though most teams had Schwarber as a mid-first-round talent, the Cubs felt strongly enough about him to take him fourth overall.
"He's just a genuine All-American kid," Zielinski said. "To know him is to like him. You can't walk away without liking the kid. He's just a fun-loving kid. If the team is too tight, he tries to loosen them up. If the team is too loose, he tells the guys to get their focus back."
During Zielinski's time on campus, he and the IU coaching staff had numerous conversations, many of them about Schwarber's personality.
"Everybody talks about what a great player he is and all that, but he really is … a better person," Smith said. "I've always thought you don't have a good ballclub unless your best players are the hardest workers, and that's something Kyle brought to the field every day. He'll outwork everybody."
If there's one knock on Schwarber, whether it's justified or not, it's about his ability to stick behind the plate. The Cubs front office admitted they selected the slugger primarily for his advanced bat. Catchers often require more time in the minor leagues to refine their skills, but team representatives said they didn't want Schwarber's defensive development to slow down his offensive process. In other words, if his bat is big league-ready, they might not hold him back waiting for his receiving skills to catch up.
"I love catching, but if they want me to do something else, I'll do something else," Schwarber said.
The one thing that is repeated by everyone you talk to about Schwarber—from Cubs front office personnel to college coaches to scouts—is that he is, first and foremost, a team-oriented guy. As such, he's willing to pass on catching in the long run and make the full-time switch to a corner outfield spot. But that doesn't mean he's ready to hang up his catcher's mitt just yet.
"I want to be able to help the team down the road, when it comes, if that opportunity does come," Schwarber said. "I feel like if I can get better defensively, [catching] could be in the best interest of the team."
The argument, for what it's worth, is that he's relatively new to calling his own games, and his release on throws is a little long. Those who have seen him play on a more consistent basis, however, say much of that criticism is unwarranted. While he might not ever be a top-tier glove man behind the plate, people who know his work ethic believe he could backstop at the major league level.
"As far as pro ball, there are some things he needs to learn, and he's so open to it," said Kane County manager Mark Johnson, who spent parts of eight major league seasons as a catcher. "He wants to learn, he wants to get better, and he busts his butt every day. That's all you can really ask for."
From a scouting standpoint, the pieces are there too. It's evident Schwarber has spent the majority of his life being the field captain. He just needs to hone his game to make it major league-ready.
"Everybody knocks his defense … but everyone is a little afraid to make their own opinion on it," Zielinski said. "I actually think he can catch. I think the ingredients are all there to make the cake. He needs some refinements and coaching."
Schwarber spent most of his time in Daytona manning the outfield and logging a few games each week behind the plate. It remains to be seen where he'll end up defensively, but it will certainly be a topic of discussion this offseason, when it looks like some questions might get answered.
"We're going to sit down at the end of the minor league season and see whether it's an appropriate time to make a call," Epstein said. "That's a good time of the year, because you can decide then that if catching is something we really want to pursue, we can get him a lot of work daily in the instructional league—a lot of focused attention on his defensive fundamentals."
Schwarber admitted the first few months of his professional career have been a whirlwind. Wrapping up a college career, getting drafted, signing a multimillion-dollar contract and jumping through three professional levels would be a lot for anybody to handle. But Schwarber said he appreciates how supportive everyone in the organization has been since he signed, which has helped make the transition from amateur to pro ball as seamless as possible.
"I thought it was going to be a lot different being the new guy, especially being the guy that got picked first by them," Schwarber said. "It's a different story for everyone. But these guys … they brought me in. It's like I haven't missed a beat with these guys."
Based on the stories, getting along with Kyle Schwarber hardly sounds like a difficult task. His natural personality, combined with the effort he gives on the field every day, makes it easy for coaches and peers to call him a good teammate.
The comfort level is already there, and everyone around him can feel it.
—Phil Barnes
From the Pages of Vine Line: Jake Arrieta and the evolution of an ace
(Photo by Stephen Green)
The following can be found in the September issue of Vine Line.
Jake Arrieta has been in this position before. Call it being the ace of a pitching staff. Call it being an Opening Day starter. Call it being a team leader.
He was all that a few years ago with the Baltimore Orioles. And he's all that again now with the Chicago Cubs.
A lot has happened in the intervening years, of course, including a trade from Baltimore to Chicago and some time in the minor leagues, as Arrieta attempted to add a little more polish and command to his outstanding pure stuff. It's all led to a dramatic career renaissance that once again has Arrieta acting as the No. 1 starter on a big league pitching staff.
Circumstances dictated part of his ascendance, to be sure. The Cubs set off some big fireworks this year on the Fourth of July when they traded their top two arms, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, to the Oakland Athletics for three high-ceiling prospects.
But Arrieta's performance had a lot to do with it too. Even if the Cubs had kept Samardzija and Hammel, it's becoming clearer with every outing that Arrieta might still have been the ace.
The 28-year-old hurler began the season on the disabled list with a shoulder ailment that accompanied him to Spring Training. He returned to the active roster in early May and quickly showed he was not only healthy, but that he was also becoming everything the Cubs were hoping for when they acquired him from Baltimore last July.
"I don't really think that the shoulder issue to start the year out has much to do with my change of expectations or things of that nature," Arrieta said. "It's satisfying to be at peace with a team that's going through some changes and [to be] able to have success on a consistent basis. All those things are good. I just want to keep building off every positive, and even the negatives, because there are things that are hard to learn from successes. It's the complete opposite with your failures.
"When Rory [McIlroy] won the [British] Open, he brought that up. The top-echelon guys of every sport, whatever it might be, they have that same type of mindset, and I think it's a good one to have."
The Cubs obtained the fifth-round draft choice out of Texas Christian University on July 2, 2013, along with reliever Pedro Strop, from the Orioles for pitcher Scott Feldman and catcher-infielder Steve Clevenger. In Baltimore, Arrieta was supposed to assume the ace mantle—he was even the O's Opening Day starter in 2012—but, despite top-level stuff, he could never find the consistency to cement a spot in the major league rotation. Over parts of four AL East seasons, the hurler went 20-25 with a 5.46 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) in 69 games, including 63 starts.
After the trade last season, Arrieta was assigned to Triple-A Iowa to sort things out, but when the Cubs needed another starter after dealing Matt Garza to Texas at the deadline, Arrieta got the call to Wrigley Field. He spent one more short stint at Iowa, but finished the season with the Cubs, going 4-2 with a 3.66 ERA in nine promising starts.
At the outset of the 2014 season, it looked like Arrieta would slot in nicely behind Samardzija, Hammel, Travis Wood and Edwin Jackson until the shoulder injury derailed his spring.
But when Arrieta finally did return to action, he did so with gusto, going 8-5 with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Included was some serious flirtation with a no-hitter at Boston's Fenway Park on June 30, when he went 7.2 innings without giving up a hit and earned appreciative applause from the Red Sox faithful when he was lifted for a reliever.
In the start directly before that, Arrieta was perfect through six innings against the Reds at Wrigley Field.
So that run of success naturally raises the question of what has changed. While many athletes deflect those sorts of queries and stubbornly insist they're not doing anything different, Arrieta addressed the subject in his typically candid manner.
"Almost all of it is beyond the physical aspects of this game," he said. "It's more of the mental preparation and just the rearranging of certain thoughts—what's important and what's not. A lot of self-reflecting continuing to come to fruition. Things that you need to reiterate with yourself, positive things, negative things, and [then using] those to your benefit.
"If you can find out how to do that, how to bounce back, how to keep things rolling in a positive direction, regardless of success or failure, that's what it's all about. I think I'm slowly starting to figure it out and continuing to learn every day."
No one knows a pitcher quite like his pitching coach does. Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio cited maturity as a big reason for Arrieta's rapid progress—and he said it's much more than just being a year older and wiser.
"I think it's his routine," Bosio said. "I think he's found it. He understands what he's got working for him on that day in his warm-up. As pitchers, we all tend to force the issue at times. But the awareness that he has—and I think that's what we mean by the maturity as a pitcher moving forward—he knows what his weapons are. He's able to read the hitters now.
"He made the statement to me that he feels stronger than he's ever felt. To me, the biggest thing that really tells you in a nutshell [how someone is doing] is confidence—his confidence in all these things: how he feels, how his pitches are coming out, what he's bringing every fifth day. He's got an excellent workout in between his starts."
At 6 feet 4, 225 pounds, with a blazing fastball, Arrieta is certainly a power pitcher, but not in the traditional sense. He features an interesting and somewhat mysterious repertoire. He has a 94-mph fastball, and a slow 79-mph curveball. But the pitch that's really been turning heads—hitters' heads in disbelief and Cubs' heads in awe and admiration—has been referred to alternately as a slider-cutter or a cutter-slider. Nuance with various pitches comes from grip, finger pressure and the speed at which the pitch is thrown, but no one seems willing to definitively classify Arrieta's out pitch.
According to the website FanGraphs, Arrieta has increased the use of his cutter from 6.1 percent to 28.6 percent and decreased the use of his fastball from 65.1 percent to 46.6 percent from last year to this year.
"He changes pitch to pitch," Bosio said. "That's the one thing that makes him so unpredictable as a power guy. One time, he'll come with one pitch one speed, and it might be 83 or 84 (mph), and the next time he'll throw it at 90 or 92. He keeps you guessing. The biggest thing with pitchers is we don't want to be predictable. Being able to locate on both sides of the plate is pretty unpredictable when you're able to change gears like that."
For his part, Arrieta shrugs off all the fuss surrounding the mysterious pitch. He said it all goes back to that maturity and being able to confidently harness his stuff.
"I've always had it," he said of the slider-cutter. "I've always shown it. I just never really showed command of it. I never showed enough command of my fastball to use that pitch in the situations where I can now use it comfortably in pretty much any count.
"I can change the break. I can change locations. I'm not perfect with it. I'm still working to become better with the pitch just as I am with all my other pitches. But it's something I have a comfort level with. I'm able to trust it and let it go."
It's safe to say Arrieta is one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2014 season—not only for the Cubs, but in all of baseball. Getting over the command issues and recovering from the Spring Training injury both contribute to that, but Arrieta also possesses supreme faith in his stuff, despite his previous failures in Baltimore.
"His stuff is playing very, very well," said Cubs manager Rick Renteria. "I know he's commanding the zone. His ball is showing a lot of life. He's able to control the movement, basically where he wants it to be. I think those are things that are starting to come to him more comfortably just because of his experience.
"Every year, your hope is that a player is able to take away something good from failure, so to speak, but continue to grind out and learn and just basically execute, and that's what he's been doing."
One person not entirely surprised by Arrieta's newfound success is Strop, who has watched his teammate grow as a pitcher in two separate organizations.
"I just think he's been more consistent with the strike zone, with his command, because stuff-wise, he always had good stuff," Strop said. "He's using more of his cutter now than before, and I think that's been a huge key in the difference. I always thought he could be a No. 1 starter on any team because of the stuff he has. Sometimes he'll come out for an outing unhittable. It was something that was obvious. You could see that he could be that kind of pitcher in the future. He can be a leader of this rotation and this team. He's a great kid and a hard worker."
So what's different for Arrieta? For the second time, he is getting a chance to be the ace on an up-and-coming team, but this time, he believes he has the skills to turn that opportunity into a consistently winning hand.
"It's a situation, it's a position that I've become comfortable with," he said. "I haven't been in this situation in a couple of years, but I know what it feels like. I know what it means. I know the importance of it to my teammates, the other guys in this clubhouse, to be a leader by action and also by demonstrating the will to help your teammates get better on and off the field. Those are all important aspects of being a leader based on performance and by being a guy in the clubhouse guys can go to."
Arrieta once again finds himself at the top of a major league rotation, and he has no plans to relinquish that spot any time soon.
—Bruce Miles, Daily Herald
From the Pages of Vine Line: The Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field
The following can be found in the August issue of Vine Line.
Playing football at Wrigley Field always presented its fair share of challenges. First, there were the shorter-than-regulation end zones and the wooden boards covering the Cubs' dugout entrances. Add in the tilted field, mercilessly beaten-up turf, tiny locker rooms and other quirks, and the gameday experience was far from perfect.
But that didn't stop the Chicago Bears, one of the most storied franchises in football history, from calling the Friendly Confines home for a half century. Legendary players, from Dick Butkus to Mike Ditka to Gale Sayers, all graced the field, and the Bears brought the beloved stadium its most recent championship in 1963. If anything, the now-100-year-old ballpark's quirks only added to the lore.
Of course, the substandard field conditions didn't faze Butkus. The rough and rugged Hall of Fame linebacker said he enjoyed playing at Wrigley Field more than at Soldier Field, where the Bears moved on a permanent basis in 1971, during the latter stages of his career.
The Bears legend recalled an episode during his rookie season in which he was sitting in the crowded clubhouse awaiting instructions on the next day's opponent, but couldn't hear a word coach George Halas was saying.
"I don't know what the deal was, but all the veterans would bring their dogs to practice and have them in the room there," Butkus said. "The old man's trying to talk, and the dogs are barking, and I'm thinking, 'Jesus.' One had a pit bull. [Ed O'Bradovich] had a Great Dane. But to me, that was the pros."
Welcome to football at Wrigley Field. It might not have been the ideal situation, but it was never dull.
* * * *
Back when football was first played at Weeghman Park—as the stadium on Clark and Addison was known at the time—it wasn't really done with the fans in mind. Getting spectators into the stadium was obviously a priority, but the new sport was primarily concerned with finding its footing in the muddy ground of expansionism. Football games were played at Weeghman simply because teams needed a venue, and the park's owners felt it would be a good way to make a little extra cash. The stadium was sitting dormant for half the year anyway.
But the baseball-first facility presented a number of challenges when it came to laying out a 100-yard football pitch without risking player safety—especially after the renovation that added an outfield wall and reshaped the bleachers in 1937.
The field ran north and south from left field to behind home plate. The north end zone ended just 18 inches in front of the solid brick left-field wall, while the southeast corner of the south end zone extended into the first-base dugout. To even out the surface, the grounds crew filled the dugout steps with sand. This also meant that corner of the end zone was smaller than the regulation 10 yards.
These hazards might sound ridiculous given the way the modern game is played, but according to Cubs historian Ed Hartig, there were hardly gifted wide receivers, let alone fade routes leading players into the corners of the end zones, during that era.
"Back then, it was supposed to be a running game," Hartig said. "You didn't run to the back of the end zone to make a catch. This is a time when the goalposts were still on the goal line."
* * * *
In the ballpark's early football days, it mainly drew high school, military and semipro squads. Sometimes as many as four games per day were scheduled on the field. Starting in 1919, independent teams like the Hammond All-Star Football Club, which signed a six-game lease, wanted to test the sport's popularity in the city.
With a roster that included players like Olympic great Jim Thorpe and Northwestern standout Paddy Driscoll, the Hammond squad managed to draw upward of 10,000 fans at some games that season. The potential of the new sport sparked the interest of a few more Chicago-based teams and quickly led the Decatur Staleys to the city's North Side.
In 1920, former University of Illinois standout George Halas was put in charge of a company football team funded by food starch conglomerate owner A.E. Staley. In his inaugural season at the helm, Halas came up from Decatur to play a few neutral-site games and then led his Staleys to a de facto championship game at Cubs Park, where the team battled the Akron Steel to a 0-0 tie in front of 12,000 fans.
Halas believed the game might have an audience in Chicago, and, coincidentally, Staley was looking for an out.
"After a couple years, Mr. Staley said, 'We're a starch company. We're not a sports team,'" Hartig said. "'I can't keep supporting [the team]. I will for one more year, if you can get an opportunity to find your own supporters.'"
With the temporary backing of Staley, Halas took the team from central Illinois to the big city in 1921 and quickly found a home—albeit one with a field that fell a few yards shy of regulation. Halas reached out to Cubs President and Treasurer Bill Veeck Sr. about using Cubs Park.
The two sides reached a handshake one-year agreement in just minutes. The Cubs received 15 percent of the gate (20 percent when the receipts exceeded $10,000) and the concessions, while the Staleys retained all rights to the game programs. According to the coach's autobiography, Halas by Halas, the deal would remain unchanged for the remainder of the partnership.
"The deal they got at Wrigley in terms of concessions and that type of stuff was very, very favorable to the team," Hartig said. "The Wrigleys weren't looking to make a big amount of money off the Bears."
In conjunction with the move, the team was renamed the Chicago Staleys. One year later, with the contractual obligation completed between Staley and Halas, the new owner changed the moniker to the Chicago Bears, noting that his football players were larger than the Cubs baseball players with whom they shared the stadium.
The Bears would call Wrigley Field home for the next 50 years, enjoying seven NFL titles, franchise-defining superstars and incredible individual performances. The field conditions were rarely pristine due to the team's heavy practice load—the grass was usually gone so the team would paint the playing surface green—but some former players wouldn't have had it any other way.
"Even though it was a baseball field, I just felt it was great playing there because that was the essence of being a pro," said Butkus, who called Wrigley home from 1965-70. "A pro should be able to play at a prairie on the South Side if need be."
Off the field, the locker rooms were also far from ideal. The Cubs clubhouse back then was a smaller version of the cramped quarters the North Siders call home today. But imagine that room with more people, bigger pads and larger human beings. Butkus joked the rooms were probably too small for a basketball team. Still, he believed it was a better situation than what the visiting teams had to deal with.
"I don't think they were too happy with the field when they played here," Butkus said. "I really don't think the opposing team liked walking down from their locker room, with those screens there [and] with everybody yelling and throwing [stuff] at them."
That's home-field advantage at its Chicago best.
* * * *
Despite the stadium's shortcomings, there was no shortage of great play on the field. One of the best individual performances in NFL history occurred at the Friendly Confines on Dec. 12, 1965, when Bears Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers tied an NFL record with six touchdowns in a single game. All day long, he wove in and out of a hapless 49ers defense that had a difficult time keeping its footing in the heavy mud.
"It was my game, it's as simple as that," Sayers said. "I've always said, and I'll continue to say, 'God gave me a gift to go out there and run with the football,' and that's what I did. I probably could have scored 10 touchdowns that day, but, hey, the time ran out. It's just a day that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Another notable performance on the Wrigley Field turf occurred in December 1963, when the Bears—led by quarterback Billy Wade and standout tight end Mike Ditka—wrapped up the NFL championship with a 14-10 win over the Giants. It marked the last time a Chicago team claimed a title at Wrigley Field.
Eventually, as the game grew, football became too big for the cozy confines of a baseball stadium. Attendance continued to soar, and the small ballpark was unable to expand to meet demand. In 1970, it was announced that the next fall's season would be the last at the facility. While Wrigley Field generally held slightly less than 37,000 fans for baseball, the Bears drew at least 40,000 to each of their final 56 games there, a stretch that began on Dec. 16, 1962.
"There are a couple of reasons why they left," Hartig explained. "The NFL wanted bigger stadiums, and the park just couldn't do it. In addition, the NFL … got more into television coverage. They wanted cameras in the end zone, and there wasn't really room for it [at Wrigley Field]. And the end zone was dangerous."
On May 13, 1971, the Bears announced Soldier Field would become the organization's new home. The bigger stadium held 52,000 fans—8,000 more than Wrigley held at capacity—and was much more prepared for the NFL's massive growth. Despite the new venue, it wasn't a hit with all the players.
"I really enjoyed playing [at Wrigley Field]. I thought it was better than going to Soldier Field the first couple years," said Butkus, who spent three seasons at the Bears' current home. "They put in the damn Astroturf, and in the locker room over there, you can see the beams holding up the stadium. It was ready to cave in at any moment, it looked like."
The Bears have long had a reputation as a gritty, smashmouth football team. And while Soldier Field is packed with its own history, much of the dirt and grit that defined the organization's early years first manifested at the corner of Clark and Addison.
"I enjoyed playing here at Wrigley Field," Sayers said. "I've always said it was 50 yards wide and 100 yards long, and that's all I needed."
From the Pages of Vine Line: Cubs Rizzo showing power and patience
(Photo by Stephen Green)
The following story can be found in the August issue of Vine Line.
Of course Anthony Rizzo has seen the video. Like so many others who saw it happen live or viewed the highlight replay with mouths agape, Rizzo has watched the home run he hit off the Reds' Alfredo Simon on June 23.
The blast (pictured on our August cover) was ridiculous—and nearly impossible. Simon threw Rizzo a high, hanging breaking ball that was so far off the plate the Cubs' first baseman almost needed the proverbial 10-foot pole to reach it. But he did more than just reach it. He hit it well out over the left-field wall at Wrigley Field.
If Rizzo was impressed with himself, it wasn't for the reasons you might think. Sure, it was a home run, but more important for the slugger, it was a piece of hitting that summed up how things have been going for him this season.
"The biggest thing is if I was trying to hit a home run there, I would have rolled over to the second baseman," he said. "I just saw the pitch and went with it. That's really all I need to do is just put a good swing on the ball. Good things have been happening. Fortunately enough, it was lifted in the air.
"I saw the ball well. I saw it up, out."
At this point, bells should go off, heads should nod, and hallelujahs should be sung to the rafters, for therein lies the key to Rizzo's success. Despite the fact that he is one of the Cubs' veteran players, he just turned 25 years old this month, which means he's still learning to be a major league hitter. And this season, it seems like he's taken a big developmental step forward. Though he hasn't necessarily altered his approach, the results have changed dramatically for the better.
As Monday's 4-1 win over the Mets—one where he ripped a go-ahead home run—Rizzo's on-base percentage was nearly 40 points above his career norm. His .376 OBP ranks ninth in the NL.
Through his first 122 games, Rizzo had a hitting line of .276/.376/.507 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 28 home runs, 67 RBI, 64 walks and 100 strikeouts. If you extrapolate those numbers over an entire season, they're pretty darn good, which is why some are now grouping the 2014 All-Star in with the elite first basemen in the game.
But before you start talking about him having a bounceback season after "struggling" in 2013, know this: Anthony Rizzo carries a quiet defiance about the kind of season he had last year, when he hit .233/.323/.419 with 23 home runs and 80 RBI.
"I think last year was a good year," he said. "I drove in a lot of runs. I walked a good amount (76 times). I had a lot of doubles (40). But the average obviously wasn't there, and some people look at average. Some people don't. In my opinion, it wasn't a bad year. It wasn't a great year, but it was kind of a baseline year."
That said, this year has felt completely different from last year for both Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro. Right or wrong, fair or unfair, the spotlight has been laser focused on the Cubs' young cornerstone players. If the team plans to contend soon, it needs both—each signed to team-friendly, long-term contracts—to show better than what they did last year.
To help that along, President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer hired new manager Rick Renteria to surround the Cubs' young players with an aura of positivity and encouragement. Along with the new manager came a new hitting coach in Bill Mueller. While Renteria and Mueller knew all about Rizzo, they arrived with fresh perspectives and no preconceived notions.
"Coming in, you just go on what you've seen from video watching or from when they came in and played the Dodgers, seeing a glimpse," said Mueller, who was with Los Angeles' front office last year. "So there was nothing I had really built up until getting here and getting to know the guys personally and then seeing them before that relationship [started] to grow.
"He's a very talented player, first off. I think with the new breath of fresh air with Ricky and the staff, that's been a nice complement to come into the season. The whole staff has handled this group in a very positive way. That type of atmosphere has led some of these guys to have good starts."
Renteria said he noticed the positive vibes emanating from Rizzo from the beginning of Spring Training. The new skipper also had time to visit with his first baseman during the Cubs Caravan and the Cubs Convention in January.
"He came into this season—to the spring, actually—with an idea that he wanted to improve on using a little bit more of the field, having better at-bats, not chasing pitches in off the plate," Renteria said. "He's done a really nice job of adjusting to doing that. I think he made a very big, conscious effort of working on his approach.
"When you have guys that are learning how to hit and have power, I think your approaches can pay big dividends because when you start squaring up the ball, the strength, in and of itself, gives you an opportunity to drive the ball out of the ballpark. That's been really, really good. We're really happy with the way he's progressing, and hopefully it continues."
Unlike the Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto—a player many compare Rizzo's abilities to—who is willing to talk swing mechanics and hitting all day long, Rizzo is generally content to let others analyze his approach. In fact, he doesn't really appear to like talking about himself when it comes to hitting.
"I kind of have the same mindset every year," Rizzo said. "I work pretty hard in the offseason with my trainer. Really, it was no different this past year. [It was] the same things we've done the last five or six years in the offseason. It was getting ready for the season. At the same time, I didn't hit more or less. I just stayed with it. I came to spring and wanted to get confident again."
The comparisons between Rizzo's combination of power and patience and Votto's might be more apt than people realize. This winter, Rizzo was able to spend some quality batting-cage time with the 2010 NL MVP while the pair, along with Padres pitcher Casey Kelly, worked out together in Florida.
Like Rizzo, the Reds' standout is a left-handed batter—and if there's anyone a young player should want to emulate, it's stat geek darling Votto, who gets on base at a dizzying rate. Given Major League Baseball's grinding schedule and a rash of injuries, Votto hasn't been able to watch much of Rizzo in 2014, but he likes what he has seen.
"I haven't been able to see him enough, but I definitely see improvement in performance—more home runs, obviously, and a guy who seems to be walking a little bit more," Votto said. "He's a cool guy. He's a nice guy. He's a very, very easy guy to get along with. I can see why he's having the type of success he's having. He's very talented."
It can be difficult at times for left-handed hitters to hit left-handed pitchers, but that's been another marked improvement for Rizzo this year. After going .189/.282/.342 with just seven of his 23 homers against left-handed pitchers a year ago, Rizzo put up a .302/.407/.516 with eight homers against lefties.
"For me, it's just seeing the ball," he said. "It's never comfortable facing left-handers, especially the relievers who are just nasty. I just focus on seeing the ball. I feel if I see it, my hands will be good enough to put the bat on it."
Generally, when left-handed hitters have success against left-handed pitchers, it's because they try to go with the pitch, and by doing so, they "see" it longer on its path to the plate. But for a hitter as naturally gifted as Rizzo, it also has a lot to do with confidence.
"The general key might be that you have a lot of confidence in yourself right against left, and when you have things in your mind that you can attach your confidence to when you get in that box, those things sometimes translate," Mueller said. "I think that's what's happening to Riz. He's very confident in spots, and those translations are happening whether it's a lefty or a righty, whether it's a starter or a reliever. He's putting together some really good approaches and some good at-bats. Sometimes when things are really starting off on the right foot, that carries over a little bit. You can gain some momentum with that."
Given the preponderance of advanced stats and information available these days to even the casual fan, it's easy to analyze—and overanalyze—a player's performance. Whether or not you think Rizzo had a down year last year, whether or not you think his new approach is here to stay, whether or not you think he's on pace to become a perennial All-Star, it's important to remember failure is a big part of the sport, and the best players are able to learn from their struggles. Ultimately, baseball is a game, and it should be fun.
"I always tell myself, even now when I struggle, that it's a process," Rizzo said. "You look at guys throughout the year who have progressed every year and have gotten better, and that's all you really want to do is just get better every year. The more at-bats you get, the more you feel like you're going to learn in this league. It's just a process.
"It was fun last year. It was. What's fun about it is you put all this work in and when you do get results, it's nice and rewarding. But it's still fun. It sounds weird, but when you struggle, you appreciate the game too because it's so hard. You have to have fun here. It's too long of a season not to have fun whether you're going good or bad. It's about staying even-keeled whether you're going good or bad. You have to come in and be the same person."
—Bruce Miles, Daily Herald
From the Pages of Vine Line: Don Zimmer lived a baseball life
(Getty Images)
For the August issue of Vine Line, we took a look back at the inimitable career of former Cubs player, coach and manager Don Zimmer.
On July 17, 1990, manager Don Zimmer's struggling Cubs squad was in the midst of a modest three-game winning streak. But what the team really needed was to get its slumping ace, Greg Maddux, back on track. Following a comfortable 7-2 win over the Padres, Zimmer was asked about the next day's game and was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying:
"Hopefully, tomorrow, [Maddux] can go out and pitch well enough to get a W. If he does, who knows? He might win four, five, six games."
And then the coup de grâce.
"I'd swim Lake Michigan if Maddux could win tomorrow."
Though, at first glance, it would seem like a bad idea to bet against a future Hall of Famer and eventual 355-game winner, Maddux was in the midst of a rare rough patch. He had gone 0-8 in his last 13 starts with a 6.15 ERA and hadn't won since May 5. He was also just 24 years old, and his shelves were not yet lined with Cy Young Awards, so a successful rebound wasn't a certainty.
Apparently just as eager to see Zimmer jump in a lake as the press corps, The Professor responded by twirling seven solid innings in a Cubs 4-2 win and picking up his 50th career victory to propel the team to a three-game sweep of the Friars.
Following the game, Zimmer showed up at his press conference wearing sunglasses, an orange life jacket and an inflatable inner tube around his rather sizable waist. As for the 60-mile swim, the fun-loving Zim demurred, saying he swam "like a rock."
"Sometimes you make statements," he explained. "I just wanted the kid to win a ballgame."
And that, in essence, was former Cubs player, coach and manager Don Zimmer, who died on June 4 in Dunedin, Florida, at the age of 83. He was passionate, comical and, above all, a dedicated baseball man who would do anything to motivate his players and pick up a win. Zimmer spent his life learning and trying to understand baseball, and he had a special gift for passing on his acquired knowledge in a friendly, accessible way.
"He was like a psychologist," said Cubs Hall of Famer and former teammate Ernie Banks. "He understood things real well. A lot of people look at the world as backward. But he did not. He looked at [baseball] as a business you could learn. You can learn playing this game. You can learn how to play it. You can learn how to manage it."
Over six professional decades, Zimmer made All-Star teams as a player and coach, collected six World Series rings, won a Manager of the Year Award and left an indelible mark on the game by influencing generations of players, from Cubs greats Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace to modern superstars like Evan Longoria and Derek Jeter (who used to rub Zim's head for luck before at-bats).
"[He was] iconic, jolly," said Cubs outfielder Justin Ruggiano, who was with Tampa Bay when Zimmer was a senior advisor there. "He was a voice of influence—a man with so much history in the game you couldn't help but engage with him in conversation about baseball, stories about baseball, advice about things you could do differently to help improve your game."
During his years on the diamond, the jowly, ebullient baseball lifer earned a reputation as a character. He was a phenomenal storyteller who was quick with a joke—especially if it was directed at himself.
Modern fans probably best remember Zimmer as the bench coach for Joe Torre's championship New York Yankees teams, on which he collected four World Series rings between 1996-2003. In classic Zimmer style, he liked to downplay his impact on those dominant Yankees squads—even though Torre was always quick to admit he ran everything by his second in command, who managed more than 1,700 of his own major league games.
"People say, 'What is the job of a bench coach?'" said Zimmer in a 2001 interview with Esquire. "Very simple—I sit next to Torre on the bench. When he plays hit-and-run that works, I say, 'Nice goin', Skipper,' and if it doesn't work, I go down to the other end of the bench, get a drink and get out of his way. We only got one manager. I don't want no credit for doin' anything."
When most fans picture Zimmer, they probably see him wearing a green army helmet emblazoned with the Yankees logo one day after being struck on the side of his face by a foul ball during a 1999 playoff game against Texas. Or charging at, and being thrown to the ground by, then-Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez in the 2003 ALCS at 72 years old.
But lost in these remembrances is what a dedicated, intelligent, forward-thinking baseball man he actually was. Truly, there's almost nothing Zimmer didn't do in his years on a baseball field.
He married his high school sweetheart, Jean (nicknamed Soot), at home plate in Class-A Elmira, New York, in 1951, with his teammates holding a canopy of bats over their heads; he met Babe Ruth; he played alongside Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers; he helped move baseball westward on the inaugural Los Angeles Dodgers team; he was an original New York Met; he played in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Japan; he coached, he managed, he advised; he won World Series championships as a player and coach; and he taught legions of players what it means to be a major leaguer.
But Zimmer was also a survivor. He was fired from four managerial jobs; he was Boston's manager when Bucky (Effin') Dent hit his fateful, wind-aided home run over the Green Monster in the 1978 AL East tiebreaker game; and he had more than his fair share of run-ins with management.
But that was hardly the worst of it. During his playing career, he fought his way back from two near-fatal beanings—the first in 1953 and the second in '56. The initial one, which happened when he was still in Triple-A, fractured his skull and left him unconscious for almost two weeks, requiring doctors to drill four holes in his head to relieve the pressure and swelling. The second, a fastball from Reds pitcher Hal Jeff-coat, crushed his cheekbone and almost cost him an eye. Though he was never really the same player after that, he still found ways to contribute to the game he loved and hung on to play until 1965.
"What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110 percent all the time," Zimmer once told the Chicago Tribune.
Through it all, he never lost his passion for the game and never once considered any other career.
"I can't say it enough about how much he still loved the game," said former Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel, who met Zimmer during his time with the Rays. "To be in something for 60-plus years, you've got to really have a passion for it."
Despite his success in New York, perhaps no stretch in Zimmer's career was as wild and as colorful as his time with the Cubs. The squat, muscular infielder—his forearms were so large, Dodgers teammate Roy Campanella nicknamed him Popeye—made the lone All-Star appearance of his 12-year playing career as a Cubs second baseman in 1961. That season, he hit .252/.291/.403 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 13 home runs in 128 games.
Zimmer began his big league baseball career in 1954 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he won a World Series title as a reserve infielder in 1955 and then made the move westward to Los Angeles in 1958. In April 1960, with Maury Wills ready to take over the Dodgers shortstop job, Zimmer was traded to the Cubs for Ron Perranoski, Johnny Goryl, Lee Handley and $25,000.
But Zimmer's first go-round in Chicago would be short-lived. In 1961, he played for the Cubs during the initial season of the College of Coaches. With the team forgoing a single manager and constantly changing leadership, owner Philip K. Wrigley and General Manager John Holland named Zim captain, calling upon his "veteran presence."
But he ruffled a few feathers when WGN Radio broadcaster Lou Boudreau interviewed him midseason about the coaching experiment. Zimmer, as usual, spoke his mind and told the listening audience about the system's faults—coaches playing favorites, guys not knowing who would be starting, one coach wanting things one way while another wanted things a different way, etc. The coaches had the radio on in the clubhouse and heard the interview. Afterward, one of them told Zimmer he wouldn't have to worry about it for too much longer because he'd be gone before the start of the next season.
And the coaches were true to their word. On Oct. 10, 1961, Zimmer was selected by the New York Mets from the Cubs in the expansion draft. After that, he spent brief stints with the Reds, Dodgers and Senators, where he played his final major league game in 1965. He toiled one last year in Japan in 1966 and then moved into coaching, eventually becoming the manager of the San Diego Padres (1972-73), Boston Red Sox (1976-80) and Texas Rangers (1981-82).
He wouldn't rejoin the Cubs until 1984, as the team's third base coach under longtime friend and manager Jim Frey. Though that 1984 Cubs team ultimately won the NL East title, both Zimmer and Frey would lose their jobs in June 1986, with the club languishing 16.5 games out of first.
He spent the intervening years with the Yankees and Giants, but rejoined the North Siders as manager in 1988, when Frey was hired as GM following Dallas Green's resignation.
After a below-.500 season in 1988, Zimmer had the finest managerial campaign of his career in 1989, when he led the "Boys of Zimmer" to a surprising NL East crown. His popularity on the North Side skyrocketed, as he used aggressive strategies no one had ever seen before—or since—to help Sandberg, Grace, Maddux, Andre Dawson, Rick Sutcliffe, Mitch Williams and the rest win 93 games.
"This guy was an amazing person," Banks said. "He was like a genius to me. He could do things that were so special in this game. It was like the game was built for him. When he came in to manage the Cubs, the things that he was doing, nobody could understand it. Bases loaded—a bunt. You'd say, 'Why is he doing that?' He knew everything there is. He was one of the smartest guys I ever met in the game.
"He understood the fans here. He understood the players here. He understood everything about the park. The wind blowing out to right, the wind blowing to left field, the foul lines. I mean, he just knew everything about this park that I don't think anybody knew about. He had great instincts for the game."
Zimmer's colorful personality and wild strategies grabbed the attention of the baseball world. Though the Cubs ultimately fell to the Giants in five games in the NLCS, he was awarded Manager of the Year for his efforts—and a permanent place in the hearts of Cubs fans everywhere.
"I've been in a lot of great cities and known a lot of great fans, but I've never seen so many fans of one team in so many different places," Zimmer said during that 1989 season. "I was with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and there were a lot of Brooklyn fans everywhere, but I've never seen as many fans around the country as Cub fans."
In his last professional stop, Zimmer joined the Rays as a senior advisor in 2004 and remained there until his death. With Tampa Bay, the man who gave his life to the game was able to spend his later years dispensing knowledge and helping younger players develop.
"I always loved to go to the clubhouse early for lunch and just sit down, and he'd be in there, and he'd just be telling stories," Ruggiano said of his days with the Rays. "I just feel like, as a player, you get a real feel for the history of baseball from older veteran guys' stories, and he was one of the best at it. He could tell story after story. I didn't want to leave, but I had to go work."
Hammel, who was with the Rays during their shocking 2008 run to the World Series, credits Zim with helping turn that moribund franchise around after a decade in the AL East cellar.
"For him to come over and all of a sudden completely change the dynamic that he was surrounded with—[the Yankees had] a lot of veterans and a team that knew only winning," Hammel said. "Then to come to Tampa, and it's just a bunch of young guys who didn't know winning. I really do believe he was part of the turnaround there."
I guess, after 66 years on a baseball diamond, you learn a thing or two.
"The guy went through everything," Ruggiano said. "You can imagine in 60 years of baseball, he'd been through everything that any player nowadays who plays the game for five or 10 years can go through. And then all the different things he did in the game—coaching, managing, playing. He had seen it all. He had so much information for younger guys that helped us all out."
Zimmer is survived by his wife of 62 years; his son, Thomas; his daughter, Donna; and four grandchildren. He also leaves behind an unmatched baseball legacy and an unforgettable mark on Cubs history.
—Gary Cohen
10 Decades, 10 Legends: 2000s—Carlos Zambrano
(Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images)
For our annual July All-Star issue, Vine Line set out to find the most valuable player from each 10-year span in Wrigley Field's history to create a Cubs All-Star team for the ages. There are hundreds of ways to go about this, so we simplified things by using the baseball statistics website Fangraphs to find the player with the highest Wins Above Replacement total for each decade.
Wins Above Replacement, better known as WAR, takes all of a player's statistics—both offensive and defensive—and outputs them into a single number designed to quantify that player's total contributions to his team (though for pitchers, we used only their mound efforts and excluded offensive stats). For our purposes, a player received credit only for the numbers he posted in each individual decade and only for the years he was a member of the Cubs.
In the final installment of our 10 Decades, 10 Legends series, we look at the eccentric and exciting Carlos Zambrano. Though it might come as a surprise to some to see Big Z on the list, he had very solid numbers throughout the 2000s.
Previous Decades:
1910s – Hippo Vaughn
1920s – Grover Cleveland Alexander
1930s – Billy Herman
1940s – Bill Nicholson
1950 – Ernie Banks
1960s – Ron Santo
1970s – Rick Reuschel
1980s – Ryne Sandberg
1990s – Mark Grace
2000s – Carlos Zambrano, 26.5 WAR
Seasons: 2001-09
Say what you will about Carlos Zambrano's time on the North Side. Sure, some of his most memorable moments in a Cubs uniform occurred inside the dugout, including a scuffle with teammate Michael Barrett in 2007 and a few notable run-ins with the beleaguered Gatorade dispenser.
But at the beginning of Big Z's career, he was an animal on the bump as well. The hard-throwing Venezuelan made his debut in August 2001 and became a workhorse soon after, logging five consecutive seasons with 200-plus innings from 2003-07. During that time, he made three All-Star teams, finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three times, led the NL in wins in 2006 and earned MVP votes in 2004.
The right-hander was the only NL pitcher to win 13 or more games each year from 2003-08, and he served as the Cubs' Opening Day starter from 2005-10.
Zambrano's finest effort in a Cubs uniform came on Sept. 14, 2008, when he tossed the club's first no-hitter in 36 years, striking out 10 batters and walking one in 110 pitches against the Astros. By the end of the 2000s, his numbers had slipped dramatically, and he was out of the game at age 31.
10 Decades, 10 Legends: 1990s—Mark Grace
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
For our annual July All-Star issue, Vine Line set out to find the most valuable player from each 10-year span in Wrigley Field's history to create a Cubs All-Star team for the ages. There are hundreds of ways to go about this, so we simplified things by using the baseball statistics website Fangraphs to find the player with the highest Wins Above Replacement total for each decade.
Wins Above Replacement, better known as WAR, takes all of a player's statistics—both offensive and defensive—and outputs them into a single number designed to quantify that player's total contributions to his team (though for pitchers, we used only their mound efforts and excluded offensive stats). For our purposes, a player received credit only for the numbers he posted in each individual decade and only for the years he was a member of the Cubs.
In the ninth installment of our 10 Decades, 10 Legends series, we look at first baseman Mark Grace, one of the biggest fan favorites ever to play on the North Side. He's also grossly underrated and essentially dominated the 1990s.
Previous Decades:
1910s – Hippo Vaughn
1920s – Grover Cleveland Alexander
1930s – Billy Herman
1940s – Bill Nicholson
1950 – Ernie Banks
1960s – Ron Santo
1970s – Rick Reuschel
1980s – Ryne Sandberg
1990s—Mark Grace, 36.2 WAR
Seasons: 1990-99
Given Mark Grace's enduring popularity on the North Side, it's hard to believe how much the beloved first baseman flew under the radar on a national scale.
Throughout the 1990s, Grace's WAR total ranks eighth of all NL position players. It's also a well-known fact that he and Pete Rose are the only two players in major league history to lead the league in hits for a decade without being elected to the Hall of Fame. While those chances quickly faded—Grace received just 4.1 percent of the vote on his first Hall of Fame ballot in 2009, removing his name from future consideration—there's a good reason Gracie has always been a fan favorite.
He had a solid debut in 1988, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting, before becoming a legitimate star in the 1990s. Not only did he lead the decade in hits, he also had the most doubles, went to three All-Star Games (1993, 1995 and 1997), and helped the Cubs to a postseason berth in 1998. For the decade, he hit .310/.385/.449 with 711 walks versus 448 strikeouts.
Grace was also one of the better defensive first basemen of his era, picking up four Gold Gloves, all in the 1990s. He would go on to win a World Series title with the Diamondbacks in 2001.
10 Decades, 10 Legends: 1980s—Ryne Sandberg
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
For our annual July All-Star issue, Vine Line set out to find the most valuable player from each 10-year span in Wrigley Field's history to create a Cubs All-Star team for the ages. There are hundreds of ways to go about this, so we simplified things by using the baseball statistics website Fangraphs to find the player with the highest Wins Above Replacement total for each decade.
Wins Above Replacement, better known as WAR, takes all of a player's statistics—both offensive and defensive—and outputs them into a single number designed to quantify that player's total contributions to his team (though for pitchers, we used only their mound efforts and excluded offensive stats). For our purposes, a player received credit only for the numbers he posted in each individual decade and only for the years he was a member of the Cubs.
In the eighth installment of our 10 Decades, 10 Legends series, we look at second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who was not only the best Cubs player of the 1980s, but also one of the best in the game.
Previous Decades:
1910s – Hippo Vaughn
1920s – Grover Cleveland Alexander
1930s – Billy Herman
1940s – Bill Nicholson
1950 – Ernie Banks
1960s – Ron Santo
1970s – Rick Reuschel
1980s – Ryne Sandberg, 33.7 WAR
Seasons: 1982-89
In January 1982, the Phillies were interested in acquiring the services of Cubs shortstop Ivan De Jesus. In exchange, Philly shipped the aging Larry Bowa to the North Side, along with a lightly regarded infield prospect named Ryne Sandberg. Little did the Philadelphia organization know it had just given up the most productive second baseman of the 1980s.
Sandberg went on to a remarkable 16-year career in Chicago and quickly became the face of the franchise. From his start with the Cubs in 1982 through the end of the decade, he won an MVP Award (1984), six Silver Slugger Awards and seven Gold Gloves. He also went to six All-Star Games.
While 1984's "Sandberg Game"—a nationally televised affair in which he hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning off Bruce Sutter and then another off the Hall of Famer in the 10th—was likely his most memorable performance, he also managed to lead his club to two postseason berths. In 10 playoff games, Ryno hit .385/.457/.641 with five doubles and six RBI.
He continued to produce at a high level into the early 1990s and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005.
10 Decades, 10 Legends: 1970s—Rick Reuschel
For our annual July All-Star issue, Vine Line set out to find the most valuable player from each 10-year span in Wrigley Field's history to create a Cubs All-Star team for the ages. There are hundreds of ways to go about this, so we simplified things by using the baseball statistics website Fangraphs to find the player with the highest Wins Above Replacement total for each decade.
Wins Above Replacement, better known as WAR, takes all of a player's statistics—both offensive and defensive—and outputs them into a single number designed to quantify that player's total contributions to his team (though for pitchers, we used only their mound efforts and excluded offensive stats). For our purposes, a player received credit only for the numbers he posted in each individual decade and only for the years he was a member of the Cubs.
In the seventh installment of our 10 Decades, 10 Legends series, we look at towering right-hander Rick Reuschel, who was a consistent workhorse throughout the 1970s.
Previous Decades:
1910s – Hippo Vaughn
1920s – Grover Cleveland Alexander
1930s – Billy Herman
1940s – Bill Nicholson
1950 – Ernie Banks
1960s – Ron Santo
1970s – Rick Reuschel, 41.3 WAR
Seasons: 1972-79
Unlike some of the other players on this list, Rick Reuschel's numbers don't jump off the page. He even led the league in losses in 1975 with 17, albeit with a 3.73 ERA. But while he didn't earn a lot of attention for his efforts, Reuschel was definitely the standout performer for the Cubs during a down decade—a stretch that saw the team win between 75 and 85 games nine times.
The right-hander's lofty WAR total can largely be attributed to a clean bill of health and a high level of consistency. He won at least 10 games from his big league debut in 1972 through the end of the decade. He also pitched no fewer than 234 innings a season from 1973-79, making at least 35 starts in each of those years. As a result, his WAR total ranks fifth among all pitchers in the 1970s.
The 1977 All-Star wasn't one to strike out a ton of hitters—he averaged 5.1 K/9 for his career—but he used deception and a wide arsenal of pitches to get hitters out.
Big Daddy's finest season came in 1977, when he went 20-10 with a 2.79 ERA, made his lone Cubs All-Star appearance and finished third in the Cy Young race. He ultimately pitched for 19 seasons and earned 214 major league victories.
10 Decades, 10 Legends: 1960s—Ron Santo
For our annual July All-Star issue, Vine Line set out to find the most valuable player from each 10-year span in Wrigley Field's history to create a Cubs All-Star team for the ages. There are hundreds of ways to go about this, so we simplified things by using the baseball statistics website Fangraphs to find the player with the highest Wins Above Replacement total for each decade.
Wins Above Replacement, better known as WAR, takes all of a player's statistics—both offensive and defensive—and outputs them into a single number designed to quantify that player's total contributions to his team (though for pitchers, we used only their mound efforts and excluded offensive stats). For our purposes, a player received credit only for the numbers he posted in each individual decade and only for the years he was a member of the Cubs.
In the sixth installment of our 10 Decades, 10 Legends series, we look at No. 10, who dominated the 1960s. Hall of Famer Ron Santo was one of the greatest, and most well-liked, Cubs of all time.
Previous Decades:
1910s – Hippo Vaughn
1920s – Grover Cleveland Alexander
1930s – Billy Herman
1940s – Bill Nicholson
1950 – Ernie Banks
1960s – Ron Santo, 56.3 WAR
Seasons: 1960-69
Let's not beat around the bush—Ron Santo was Cubs baseball in the 1960s. There were other greats, including Billy Williams and Banks, but for most of the decade, the North Side was Ronnie's World.
The only players who had a higher WAR total in Major League Baseball during the 10-year span were fellow Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson and Roberto Clemente.
Offensively, Santo always found a way to reach base. During the 1960s, he led the league in bases on balls four times and finished with 86 walks or more seven times. It's no surprise he led the league in on-base percentage twice.
Santo went to six All-Star Games in the decade and was a starter three times. He also received MVP votes seven times, including a fourth-place finish in 1967. Though his decade slash line of .281/.366/.478 isn't historically impressive, from 1963-67, he was a .301 hitter, averaging 30 homers and 27 doubles. Always slick with the glove, Santo got it done on defense as well, claiming five straight Gold Glove awards from 1964-68.
After a long wait, Santo was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2012.


text:
May 31, 2013, 11:32 AM
Say I want to ship a pistol to a friend. Or to myself for that matter. Say from Colorado to Alaska. What single part of that pistol is consider the gun by the ATF or the USPS. I can ship the magazine without using an FFL dealer. I can sip the trigger group without using an FFL dealer. I would think that some part like the barrel would be illegal to send without sending it threw an FFL dealer. Just curious. What's to stop a person from mailing an entire gun in separate peaces. Thus avoiding shipping a pistol and the FFL dealer? That would be to easy.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Holiday Inn Express & Suites Edmonton-At The Mall
Smart Card
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Edmonton-At The Mall
10017 179a Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5S 2L4
Check In: 4:00 PM
Check Out: 11:00 AM
Check-in Age: 18
More Details
- Complimentary Self Parking Available
- Public Entrance
- Guest Rooms
- Elevators
- Public Restrooms
Accessible Hotel Areas
- Closed Caption TVs
- Telephone with TDD
- Visual Alarm/Alert in Public Spaces
Provided by Hotel
- Smoke-Free Facility
- Number of Floors: 4
- Total Number of Rooms: 102
- Number of Suites: 34
- Number of Non-Smoking Rooms: 102
- Number of Accessible Rooms: 2
- Current Renovation: 10-April-2014 To 28-April-2014
- Swimming Pool
- Public Spaces Renovated in: 2014
- Guest Rooms Renovated in: 2011
- English
- Greek
- Hindi
- Punjabi
Credit Cards
- American Express
- Visa
- MasterCard
- Diners Club
- Carte Blanche
- Discover
- Kids ages 19 and under stay for free when sharing their parents' room.*
*View Term & Conditions for Details.
- Children's Activities Available
About Our Hotel
Welcome to our Alberta Hotel near West Edmonton Mall
Enjoy a comfortable stay at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel Edmonton - At the Mall, located just 10 minutes from downtown. Unlike other Edmonton hotels, we provide convenient access to major area attractions, excellent Alberta restaurants and important local businesses.
While lodging with us, you will find plenty to do near our Alberta hotel. Just a minute away, West Edmonton Mall can satisfy all of your shopping and entertainment needs, with more than 800 stores, countless restaurants and a wave pool. Also close by, Edmonton Valley Zoo. For sports fans, Edmonton's beloved Oilers of the NHL are also in town.
In addition to being a great place for families, this Holiday Inn Express is also ideal for guests on business in Alberta. Our hotel offers six meeting rooms and a business centre and features amenities aimed at the smart business traveler who is looking for a comfortable stay at an unbeatable rate. We set you up for success with a hearty meal each morning. Other Edmonton hotels can't compete with our quality corporate services and amenities.
You simply will not find another Alberta hotel near West Edmonton Mall that gives you the comfort, convenience and great location we provide at the Holiday Inn Express. Check us out and make your reservation today.
- Black-out Shades
- Rollaway Bed/Cot Available
- Iron/Ironing Board
- Separate Hanging Closet
- In-Room Heating and A/C Controls
- Extra Bedding Available
- Sofa Bed/Sleeper Couch
Bathroom/Personal Care
- Private Bathroom
- Hair Dryer
- Bathtub
- Separate/Walk-in Shower
- Separate Vanity Area
In-Room Features
- Mini Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Coffee Maker
- Flat-screen TV
- Work Desk with Lamp
- Desk-level Electrical Outlet
- Cable/Satellite
- Pay-per-view Available
- Video Games Available
- Stereo/Radio
- Direct-dial Phone
- Two-line Phone
- Phone with Voicemail
- In-room Fax
- Complimentary Morning Newspaper
- Windows Open by Guest
Added Value
- Separate Living Room
- Oversized Bath Towels
- Complimentary Coffee/Tea Supplies
- Complimentary Bottled Water
Complimentary Full Breakfast
Complimentary Breakfast Buffet
Complimentary Continental Breakfast
Complimentary Coffee in Lobby
Off-site Restaurant Delivery Available
Business Services
- 4 Meeting Room(s) Available
- On-Site Business Center
- Copier
- Scanner
- Office supplies available
Internet Access
- Free High-Speed Internet in all Rooms
- Wireless Internet service is free for all IHG® Rewards Club members
Entertainment & Recreation
- Indoor Pool
- Heated Indoor Pool
- Indoor Whirlpool
- Indoor Pool Hours of Operation: 5:30 AM - 10:30 PM
- Outdoor Whirlpool
Indoor pool and whirlpool
Health & Fitness
Complimentary Fitness Center
Treadmill, universal gym, exercise bike, and eliptical trainer. Free weights.
Hours of Operation: 6:00 AM to 11:00 PM
- Rower
- Treadmill
- Elliptical Machines
- Free Weights
- Stationary Bicycle
Last Renovation of Fitness Center Equipment: 2014
Housekeeping & Laundry
- Daily Housekeeping
- On-site Guest Self-Laundry Facilities
- Hours of Operation: 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM
Added Value
- Wake Up Calls
- ATM/Cash Machine
- Ice Machine


text:
Spherical Linear Interpolation
af Eibro 4. oktober 2003
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?
Top Definition
to drool in your sleep; to generate exceptionally long drops of spit connecting the corner of your mouth with the puddle around your pillow
Look, he's slerping again!
af slerper 8. november 2010


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All hotels in Kanchanaburi, Thailand
1 room, 2 adults
443 Mae Nam Kwai Road, Kanchanaburi, Kanchanaburi, 71000, Thailand, 1-877-214-4288
U Inchantree Kanchanaburi - Kanchanaburi
Lowest price$54
available on 09/28/16
Looking for 3.5-star hotels in Kanchanaburi? Consider U Inchantree Kanchanaburi located 1.5 mi (2.4 km) from Thailand-Burma Railway Centre and 2.7 mi (4.3 km) from Bridge Over the River Kwai. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and Jeath War Museum are also within 3 mi (5 km).
This hotel has its own restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner where you'll find a selection of items to try. Go for a dip in the outdoor pool during your stay.
This hotel has its own restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner where you'll find a selection of items to try. Go for a dip in the outdoor pool during your stay.
Leisure facilities on offer include a fitness center. Guests can make use of the free WiFi.
See all 141 Venere.com reviews
Tasty breakfast
Fantastic service
Great amenities
More comfort would be nice
TripAdvisor Traveller Rating: 4.5
From 825 reviews
U Inchantree Kanchanaburi - Kanchanaburi
Hotel Info: 1-877-214-4288from $54
- Superior Room
- Suite
- Deluxe Room
Also popular with travelers from the USA
At a glance
Key facts
Hotel size
- This hotel has 50 rooms
- This hotel is arranged over 2 floors
- 24-hour check-in
- Check-out time is noon
Required at check in
- Credit card or cash deposit required
- Government-issued photo ID required
- Minimum check-in age is 15
Travelling with others
- Children (11 years old and younger) stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding
- No cribs (infant beds)
- No pets or service animals allowed
- Free WiFi in public areas
- Free WiFi in rooms
- Free self parking
In the hotel
Food and drink
- Breakfast (surcharge)
- Restaurant
- Snack bar/deli
- Room service (during limited hours)
Things to do
- Outdoor pool
- Fitness facilities
- Bicycle rentals on site
- Yoga classes/instruction on site
- Golfing nearby
Working away
- One meeting room
- 24-hour front desk
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Number of buildings/towers - 2
- Year Built 2010
- Rooftop terrace
- Garden
- Library
In the room
Home comforts
- Air conditioning
- Minibar
- Coffee/tea maker
- Bathrobes
- Iron/ironing board (on request)
Sleep well
- Pillow menu
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Premium bedding
Things to enjoy
- Balcony
Freshen up
- Private bathroom
- Shower only
- Hair dryer
Be entertained
- 40-inch LCD TV
- Premium TV channels
- IPod docking station
Stay connected
- Desk
- Free WiFi
- Phone
Food and drink
- Refrigerator
- Daily housekeeping
- In-room safe
Special features
DiningPeppers - Overlooking the pool and garden, this restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
U Inchantree Kanchanaburi - Kanchanaburi's small print
Also known as
- Inchantree
- Kanchanaburi U Inchantree
- U Inchantree
- U Inchantree Hotel
- U Inchantree Hotel Kanchanaburi
- U Inchantree Kanchanaburi
- u Inchantree Kanchanaburi Hotel Kanchanaburi
Children under 12 years old are not allowed in the swimming pool without adult supervision.
This property does not have elevators.
Mandatory fees
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at check in or check out:
- New Year's Eve (31 December) Gala Dinner per adult: THB 1200
- New Year's Eve (31 December) Gala Dinner per child: THB 1200 (up to 12 years old)
- New Year's Day (1 January) Gala Dinner per adult: THB 1200
- New Year's Day (1 January) Gala Dinner per child: THB 1200 (up to 12 years old)
We have included all charges provided to us by this hotel. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.


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In The News: 9-13-2013 Google Introduces Chrome Apps That Work Offline, Amazon shows off improved Paperwhite and Android 4.4 gets a sweet name. Continue reading
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Windows 8 features two versions of Internet Explorer. I'll explain why and look at some differences between the two. Continue reading
Meditation can be great for our health. Calm.com is a handy site that helps you get started. Continue reading


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- Google Switzerland GmbHProgram Manager, Google Calendar, 2015 - present
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- Google India Private LimitedStrategist, 2009 - 2011
- Google India Private LimitedAssociate, 2008 - 2009
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Buff up your body with this Spa bathing tower which includes a body scrub, bath salts and a body lotion.
Use the body scrub in the shower to exfoliate and renew your skin. If you decide to have a bath, apply the bath salts for a calm exfoliating experience. Once you've towel dried, apply the body lotion for skin that's as smooth as silk.
Neatly held together by a bow, the Spa bathing tower makes a great gift for that special someone. The set is suitable for all skin types.


text:
Regular Office Hours
VCA All Pets Animal Hospital has a doctor on duty from 7am to 10 pm seven days a week, excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas.
In an Emergency
In case of emergency, please call us immediately.
WE ARE OPEN from 7am to 10pm 7 days a week. Excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas.
In case of an emergency we are here to help.
At VCA All Pets We Care About You and Your Furry Friend.
If you have an emergeny after 10pm - Please call Boulder Emergency Pet Clinic 303-440-7722. They are located at 1658 30th St. Boulder, CO.
Preventive Care Clinic Hours
Sunday 7:00AM-10:00PM
Boarding Drop Off Hours
We are available from 7am to 10pm for pick up and drop off for your boarding pets.
Grooming Drop Off Hours
Please call for an appointment with our groomer Chantal.


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Paul SillifantShared publicly -
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Advertising Sales Representative
We're looking for an exceptional Advertising Sales Account Executive with a true passion for both digital and print media to join our sales team and help us achieve our aggressive plans for growth. This is a highly visible role within our Ad Sales Team.At SpaceNews we have assembled the world's largest audience of space and satellite professionals and offer our advertising partners access to this highly diverse global audience across multiple platforms. While many media companies are still trying to decide whether to have mobile and tablet offerings we are already there with a respected any platform solution the customer wants including our weekly print newspaper, trade show dailies and advertorials. Exceptional content has always been the key to our success; as a consequence we produce award winning content that is both highly respected and highly valued within our community.The ability to hit the ground running and work collaboratively across disciplines is critical. This role will develop customized client proposals and presentations so that they are aligned with the company's sales and business strategies.Responsibilities - Generate sales revenue by developing relationships with agencies and clients- Manage and maintain an assigned account list and evangelize SpaceNews within ad community- Aggressively develop and manage a pipeline of prospects to achieve target revenue goals- Develop a deep understanding of client business combined with a thorough knowledge of agency campaign success metrics- Develop and give presentations to key decision makers (value of our products, proper positioning against the competition while maintaining pricing integrity)- Positively interacting and collaborate with other groups and departments- Know current market intel, trends, client/agency needs- Develop and leverage strong relationships with senior level decision makers and influencers to open doors and drive business- Complete requested reports in a thorough and timely mannerRequired Skills •Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal)•Must be print and internet-savvy with knowledge of online and print media/advertising/consultative selling•Strong knowledge of PowerPoint, Excel with ability to gather data from reports quickly•High attention to detail and solution-oriented strong problem solving skills•Self-motivated, strong sense of urgency and ability to meet deadlinesRequired Experience - Bachelor's Degree - 1-3 years selling digital and print advertising/media experience- Ability to maintain and manage and client relationship- Experience managing/driving complex sales cycles to close and track record of driving revenue results- Proven ability to execute on long-term sales strategy- Strong presentation and communication skills- Strong knowledge of PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Internet- Self-motivated and a strong sense of urgency- Organized with strong attention to detail- Team player who effectively works with others- Strategic thinker and quick learner who can grasp technical issues and their impact on sales opportunities- Ability to thrive in a fast paced environment and adapt to changing priorities or a changing market- Knowledge of pace, satellite, aerospace or defense markets a plus**NO PHONE CALLS**


text:
Shop the Look
full size
Product Details
Summer calls for coconut water and fresh fruit. Or at least a fun watermelon T-shirt. This one features watermelon-shaped sequins that have been finished with hand-beaded details—because we're all about those extra-special touches.
Size & Fit Details
Beaded watermelon T-shirt
Rated 4.2 out of 5 by 11 reviewers.
Rated 3 out of 5 by aTallDrinkofWater cute concept, flimsy knit I tried this on in-store in one size down from my regular alpha size (M instead of L). That was the right choice as L would've been huge. The knit is off-white and slightly sheer. Armholes are slightly large, even after sizing down. The top is HAND WASH according to the tag, not machine wash as in the online description. The beaded watermelons are super cute and seem to be well-constructed. My biggest issue with the top is that the slight shirt-tail hem was off center, and the side seams were twisted, although the watermelons were properly aligned. I have had this similar experience with many J.Crew knits over the past several seasons - very disappointing. I would have really loved this top on a heavier knit that was pure white. June 21, 2016
Rated 5 out of 5 by VNLO Perfect for summer This top is my spirit animal--watermelons and daytime sequins! I wore this top for the first time today, and I've already gotten four compliments--it's only 9:30 am. Material is very soft, and I love that it's machine washable. The one thing I would mention is that the shirt is thin so wear nude undergarments unless you're going for the visible bra look. June 29, 2016
Rated 5 out of 5 by vaness13181 Super Cute! When I first saw this online, I thought it was cute but didn't think I would like it enough in person to purchase. Well, I tried it on and took one home last night. The cut of the tank is nice (sort of like a muscle tank), and the watermelons are sewn on pretty well so I don't think I need to worry about the sequins/beading coming off. The watermelons are a little more neon in person than they look online. As other reviewers mentioned, it does run on the large side (I vary between XS and S, and I went with the former). The material is soft and thin. Color is definitely off-white. June 24, 2016
Rated 5 out of 5 by Puglove Sweet summer top I tried this on at the store and I really like it. I'll wait for a sale to purchase it but I feel that it runs a little big like other J Crew tanks. I wear a S or XS in J Crew and I'll get the XS. It is not a pure white. More of an off white and the fabric is kind of thin but you can wear it alone. June 19, 2016
Rated 5 out of 5 by Mar1 Absolutely stunnig tee This tee is stunning in person and runs large. I first wore them with a pair of Zara ripped blue jeans. The beaded watermelons with light red/green is playful and it is well made. Size down as it may stretch. Just outfit planned to wear it with J Crew chambray seaside pants and the gingham tie slingback. J crew is doing a fantastic job this spring/summer. June 19, 2016


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This is the latest alpha release of the OOMMF micromagnetic software. Be advised that this is a development release, and is likely to have more bugs and deficiencies that the stable releases (which are themselves designed to be research code).
We are maintaining a bibliography of papers using OOMMF. If you publish results using this software, we would appreciate an email with the citation, so we can include it in our list.
Be sure to retain the directory structure when unpacking. Then check the README file in the oommf subdirectory, and the online documentation and quickstart pages. If you have questions, please contact email@example.com.
This code requires Tcl/Tk. We recommend the latest stable (i.e., not alpha or beta) release of Tcl and Tk concurrent with your release of OOMMF (except as noted). OOMMF software does not support any alpha or beta releases of Tcl/Tk, and each release of OOMMF may not work with later releases of Tcl/Tk. Check the release dates of both OOMMF and Tcl/Tk to ensure compatibility. Releases 8.6.2, 8.6.3, 8.5.16, and 8.5.17 of Tcl/Tk should not be used with OOMMF. More recent, corrected releases are recommended.
Important note 1: If you are using one of the pre-compiled binary releases, then the version of Tcl/Tk on your system must match the Tcl/Tk version against which the OOMMF binaries were built. For example, if you have Tcl/Tk 8.6.1 installed, then you should download the build of OOMMF for Tcl/Tk 8.6.x.
Important note 2: The 32-bit Windows binaries will run on 64-bit Windows, but each individual 32-bit OOMMF process will not be able to access more than 2 GB of memory.
Important note 3: The input file format for the 3D solver, MIF 2.0, is not compatible (backwards or otherwise) with the MIF 1.1 format used by the 2D solver. Included in the 1.2 releases is a command line utility, mifconvert, that may be used as a conversion aid.
Important note 4: Extensions on the Oxs Extension Modules page that are included inside an OOMMF release are current at the date of release, but check the links on the extension page for documentation, news, and more recent updates to the extensions.
Threaded Tcl/Tk note: Many of the older legacy releases of OOMMF listed above did not support multi-threaded operations. However, the latest releases do support and benefit from multi-threaded implementations. Most Tcl/Tk installations are also now thread-enabled. OOMMF installation instructions go over how to verify this.
OOMMF is an experimental system. NIST assumes no responsibility whatsoever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic.
We would appreciate acknowledgment if the software is used.
Back to software front page, or
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department.
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Date created: April 1, 2004 | Last updated: Oct 13, 2015 Contact: Webmaster