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Here’s What Kyle Schwarber’s Going To Do If White Sox Fans Throw Beer At Him Again

By
Aldo Soto
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Back in 2015, Kyle Schwarber was getting his first taste of the White Sox-Cubs rivalry and he got a first-hand experience of how intense fans can be. He got beer thrown at him, but even then he wasn’t mad about it and had a perfect response before the series-opener Friday at Wrigley Field.

Here’s what Schwarber said back in 2015 after the incident.

“A TALLBOY, ” SCHWARBER SAID, LAUGHING AFTERWARDS. “AND IT WASN’T EVEN DRUNK ALL THE WAY.

“I GUESS THAT’S WHAT THE SERIES IS ALL ABOUT.”

At the time, David Ross gave him this advice.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE SHOTGUNNED IT AND THEN WENT OVER THERE AND FOUND HIM. I TELL YOU WHAT, I’D HATE TO TRY TO WRAP UP WITH KYLE SCHWARBER.” – ROSS

Well, Schwarber isn’t going to go after a White Sox fan if it happens again, but he might be considering the first part.

Here’s what Schwarber said on Friday.

Just make it a beer league this weekend. Get some extra juice in this series.

The Crosstown Cup Series Is Here

By
Patrick Mooney
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The 22nd annual crosstown series kicks off today with a three-game set on the north side. Unlike the last two seasons, the teams will play two sets of three-game series instead of a single four-game set split in Wrigley and Guaranteed Rate.

As popular as this series is among fans, it’s just another series against a non-divisional opponent for the players. If both teams were competitive maybe that would be different. Unfortunately, both the Cubs and Sox have made the playoffs in the same season just once since the series started in 1997, and the 9-25 White Sox won’t help change that trend this season.

Still, strangely, the lack of competitive-on-paper matchups seem to make fans even more interested. The fans of the underdog hope their team can play the role of spoiler, while fans of the favorite desperately want to avoid having their family and friends heckle them because the Cubs lost to an inferior Sox team, or vice versa.

Frankly, and I say this as a guy that comes from a split fandom family, I detest the series and don’t get why more fans don’t feel the same way. The games bring out the worst in people on both sides and no matter what the result of the 4-6 games, no one ends up satisfied because the teams typically play each other so evenly.

From the Cubs perspective, they need to carry the momentum from their sweep of Miami into the weekend. Taking advantage of this soft spot in the schedule would certainly give them some cushion from the .500 mark.

From the White Sox perspective, it doesn’t matter. They’re 9-25. They can get hyped to play spoiler when the teams meet again in September, but right now it just doesn’t matter.

PROBABLE STARTERS

  • Carson Fulmer vs Tyler Chatwood
  • James Shields vs Jon Lester
  • Lucas Giolito vs Kyle Hendricks

LINEUPS

These should differ day by day, but they should look relatively similar to this:

White Sox:

  • Leury Garcia/Yolmer Sanchez 2B
  • Jose Abreu 1B
  • Nicky Delmonico LF
  • Wellington Castillo C
  • Daniel Palka RF
  • Matt Davidson 3B
  • Tim Anderson SS
  • Trayce Thompson/Adam Engel CF

Cubs

  • Ben Zobrist RF
  • Kris Bryant 3B
  • Anthony Rizzo 1B
  • Wilson Contreras C
  • Kyle Schwarber LF
  • Javier Baez 2B
  • Addison Russell SS
  • Ian Happ/Albert Almora CF

Both teams have regular starters on the DL, which could make for some pretty interesting lineup shuffling over the weekend. Given the way these meetings typically unfold, expect Omar Narvaez or Mark Zagunis to deliver in the clutch at some point.

We’ll have baseball in just a few hours, weather permitting. If you’re like me today is just another Cubs (or Sox) game on the schedule. If you’re a fan that gets really into this, then enjoy yourself and good luck to you.

Uness you’re a Sox fan.

Joe Maddon Might Be Making Cubs Fans Angry Soon

By
Aldo Soto
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Oh yeah, we’re talking about the leadoff spot for the Chicago Cubs and you bet your ass it’s about Kyle Schwarber.

*ducks for cover*

Quick question, I’m going off the assumption from last season, when Schwarber was terrible leading off and fans got pissed, but would you still be mad now if Joe Maddon put him back at the leadoff position?

Well, if that’s something that would irritate you, then you might want to brace yourself because Maddon might be going back to Schwarber batting leadoff.

Via the Chicago Sun-Times.

Don’t look now, but the Cubs’ 18-month search for a leadoff man might take them right back to where they started.

Will Kyle Schwarber be back at the top of the lineup?

“I have thought about it,” manager Joe Maddon said. “It came up a couple times recently.”

“Listen, I’m not running to get there yet, but I’m not running away from it either,” Maddon said. “If it all makes sense, you’ll see him back up there, and he’ll embrace it.”

In 2017, Schwarber started as the leadoff hitter 36 times and only went 5-for-31, with four walks. Overall, Schwarber only batted .191 while in the leadoff spot and after getting moved down in the order he was sent down to the minors for two weeks.

Schwarber pretty much put up his rookie numbers during the second half of 2017, and heading into 2018 Maddon was still considering him to bat first. In spring training, Ian Happ won the game and after a few weeks into the regular season he lost it.

Right now the Cubs rank 24th in MLB with a .308 OBP from the leadoff hitter. Maddon has been using Albert Almora Jr. vs. lefties and Ben Zobrist vs. righties, but a change could be coming. The biggest problem for the Cubs as a whole has been the decrease in walks, but Schwarber has been one of the few Cubs who has actually excelled in that area.

In 29 games, Schwarber has walked 16 times, which is good for a 14.2% walk rate. He has a .268 batting average, but a .372 OBP. Ding! Ding! Ding!

I personally don’t hate the idea and it’s pretty obvious that whatever was wrong with Schwarber in the first half of 2017 is way behind him.

Maddon said he is not letting anything in the past influence what he does with Schwarber and the leadoff spot moving forward.

“I agree,” said Schwarber, who has crept toward the top with three recent appearances at No. 2, including Tuesday. “My swing was just messed up last year. I was messed up. I was in a bad place. [Leadoff] had nothing to do with it.”

“If he feels he wants me to do that, I’m up for it,” said Schwarber, who looks more calm and comfortable at the plate than at almost any time last year. “I’m just trying to stay simple, confident, be me and go from there.”

So, don’t be surprised if you see Schwarber at the top of the order, as he’s already been starting a few times in the two-hole.

Number one job of a leadoff hitter is to get on base and Schwarber has been great at it so far this season. Why not put him in there with no one really taking over the position this year.

Manny Machado Still Killing It As Theo Epstein Discusses Possible Trades

By
Aldo Soto
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The Chicago Cubs reportedly had interest in Manny Machado during the offseason and with the Baltimore Orioles already way outside of the playoff picture they’re expected to make their star infielder available in the trade market soon. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs will call.

Yet, as much as it’s been fun to kick around the idea of having Machado join the Cubs infield that already has Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo, if the asking price is high will the front office be aggressive as it was in 2016?

Remember, Machado is a free agent after this season and is projected to get a $300 million contract. Right now the Cubs aren’t desperate for his bat and by the sound of it the front office isn’t too eager to trade away several young assets for a rental.

Theo Epstein was on 670 The Score Thursday and told the Bernstein And McKnight Show that the Cubs are sticking to their philosophy of not trading premium talent for half-season rentals. He specifically brought up the Aroldis Chapman trade in 2016, saying that was a special circumstance.

Via 670 The Score.

“Look, we’ve only paid a real premium for a rental one time, and that was when we traded Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman (in 2016),” Epstein said. “And that was a sort of special circumstance in our mind. We felt we had a team that was an extraordinarily strong contender for the World Series, but there were some things going on in our bullpen that led us to conclude there was going to be a real need down the stretch and especially in October, and if we didn’t do something, we weren’t going to win the World Series.”

Machado, 25, is currently having an amazing season with the woeful Orioles, slashing .345/.432/.626, hitting his 10th home run of the season Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals.

There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s a clear upgrade over Addison Russell, but is Machado really worth trading away a 24-year-old shortstop that plays elite defense at a premium position at the minimum and may have to also trade away more players for 4.5 months of games? Plus, just because Machado gets to spend time in Chicago and with the team doesn’t guarantee he’ll want to re-sign in the offseason. It’s going to come down to the money.

So no, don’t expect another blockbuster deal for a rental player this July from the Cubs.

“As a rule, we will not be paying premiums for rentals,” Epstein said. “We just won’t. It’s hard to build an organization that way. Let’s be honest: We’ve poured a lot of resources into this team and this group, a lot of crazy dollars and a lot of trade resources. We’ve made a number of trades over the last few years. If we play ourselves into a position where we can benefit from some improvement and we’re a legitimate championship contender, absolutely we will be pushing the envelope to try to get better. But that will probably not include paying a significant premium of future assets for a rental, because we have to build this organization and keep our focus on this group and this year’s team and the immediate future in the next couple years but also keep an eye on what’s going to happen after 2021. We can’t be sacrificing all of our future assets in drafting guys exclusively to trade them. We can’t do that. We have to build farm system. It’s been used quite a bit to support this group, and we need to start growing the farm back as well.”

Well, “probably not,” anyway.

Plus, it’s always made more sense to hold on to Russell this season, go after Machado and Bryce Harper in the offseason and if the Cubs sign one of the two then they can re-evaluate what they have in Russell and potentially trade him elsewhere for any other help the team needs.

This is all a moot point because c’mon, they’re signing Bryce.

Danica Patrick’s Dad Almost Went Urlacher on Aaron Rodgers

By
Erik Lambert
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aaron rodgers

Danica Patrick is the new beau of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This is not recent news. What many might not know is that Patrick grew up a Chicago Bears fan. So this naturally complicates matters with her family. None more so than her father, T.J. He’s been a Bears fan for over 50 years. While he respects his daughter’s choice in boyfriend, it’s in no way going to change his team loyalties.

One can understand. He’s had to endure some rough times in Chicago at the hands of Rodgers, who has lost just one game to the Bears since 2011 in which he started and finished. That is not something a man forgets. In fact, it could lead him down the wrong path. According to Autoweek, Daddy Patrick almost went to the dark side in his first meeting with Rodgers.

Like any daughter, Danica wanted Rodgers to meet her parents once she was sure the relationship had gotten serious. She couldn’t have known what her father had in mind.

T.J. Patrick planned to tackle Aaron Rodgers in Urlacher jersey

When Danica brought Rodgers over to meet her parents, TJ had a ploy in mind.

“Actually, the first time we met him I told the kids I was going to wear my Brian Urlacher jersey and tackle him,” TJ recalled to Autoweek, referring to the Bears linebacker who was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection. “I couldn’t find it. He walked in and asked, ‘Where is your jersey?’ I told him I couldn’t find it. He said, ‘I would respect you a lot more if you had it on.’

It’s rather fitting that the first thing out of Rodgers’ mouth was where #54 was. He spent the early part of his career worrying about that every time he stepped on the field against Chicago. That jersey is burned into his memory. The man has admitted multiple times that there is no player he enjoyed playing against or respected more than Urlacher.

Seems T.J. learned that if you plan to tackle Rodgers, you better do it. Otherwise, he’s going to make you pay for it. One would think after 10 years the veteran Bears fan would know this.

Lions Failed to Notice Sexual Assault Case Against New Head Coach

By
Erik Lambert
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detroit lions

Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia has barely been in charge for a few months and is already dealing with a massive controversy. The former New England Patriots defensive coordinator had to know this was coming. Either that or it was a gross oversight on the part of both him and the Lions organization. Especially given the potent climate around sexual and domestic crimes these days.

It seems that Patricia was hiding a rather questionable part of his background. Either that or he informed Detroit during their interviews together and they saw it as a non-issue. Either way, it’s a big problem because it turns out 22 years ago in 1996, Patricia was indicted for aggravated sexual assault according to The Detroit News.

“On the evening of March 15, 1996, the woman told police that two men burst into the upscale hotel room where she was sleeping and took turns violently sexually assaulting her, according to court records and a news account at the time. They were arrested, charged and later indicted by a grand jury on one count of aggravated sexual assault — but they never stood trial and were not convicted.

One of the indicted men was 21-year-old Matt Patricia, who was hired as the head coach of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions in February. The other, his friend and captain of RPI’s football team, Greg Dietrich, 22.”

Detroit Lions horribly mismanaged the Patricia hire from the start

Apparently, the Lions had no idea about the charges. Their background check only involved criminal convictions, which is a gross miscalculation that is now coming back to haunt them. This, in turn, begs an interesting question that fellow SM columnist Dhruv Koul brought up.

“Maybe Bears did? Perhaps why they never interviewed him.”

GM Ryan Pace is notorious for having a deep attention to detail. He talked to 25-30 references for every potential head coach he planned to interview back in January. It was interesting that Patricia, given all his success in New England, didn’t even make the list. This revelation would explain so much.

Patricia has since come out stating that the incident was quickly dismissed. He was falsely accused and remains innocent.

Patricia shouldn’t blame the media for this. It was only a matter of time before this surfaced. Such things happen when men step to the forefront of an organization. It’s the same for head coaches and quarterbacks in the NFL. Blame instead falls on the Lions. The fact they didn’t know about it in the first place is a testament to how bad their interview process was. Also, it speaks to their inability to get out in front of a potentially damaging situation.

The fact it took Deadspin less than a minute to find this doesn’t reflect well on the organization. It also brings a sense of satisfaction that an almighty Patriots guy was running this entire show and it basically blew up in his face. A firm reminder that the aura tends to wear off when it’s not under the Belichick umbrella.

Patrick Kane Embraces Captain America Role For Team USA

By
Tony Gianares
-

Every four years brings hockey fans across the world bonus hockey, the Winter Olympics. With the way that the 2017-18 season went for the Blackhawks, the fans desperately needed something to help them fill a void in their lives as there is no playoff hockey in Chicago this year. Team USA has selected Patrick Kane to be Captain America for the 2018 Men’s Olympic hockey team.

He is not the only Blackhawks player on the USA roster this year. In addition to Kane, fans can also find many current and former Blackhawks players on the 2018 Men’s roster such as Alex DeBrincat, Scott Darling, Jordan Oesterle and Connor Murphy who is an Alternate Captain (A) this year. Captain duties are not to be taken lightly, especially in an International setting, and Kane took the ‘C’ and has not looked back since.

Kane and Co. Are Rolling

After being named the team captain, Patrick Kane has gotten to work and has not let up one bit. Through the first three preliminary games of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Men’s World Championship, he has led Team USA to a very impressive 3-0 record which includes defeating Canada in a shootout that ended 5-4, Denmark in a 4-0 shutout, and Germany 3-0 in another shutout. Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat are firing on all cylinders, as they both filled up the stat sheet against Germany.

Beating Canada in International play is a huge deal because there is a very tangible rivalry between the two countries on the ice. Canada defeated the U.S. Men’s team in the Gold medal game back in 2010 and they are known for being a perennial powerhouse in Men’s Olympic hockey.

This year, Kane seems to have rediscovered the beautiful form that won him the Hart Trophy back in 2016. In the last game against Germany, he played alongside fellow Blackhawks’ winger Alex DeBrincat on the same line, and the chemistry was obvious to everyone. Their chemistry can be seen here in this play that developed behind the net, as Kane scooped up the puck and dished a perfectly placed pass that resulted in a pretty top-shelf goal by DeBrincat:

Teasers for the Blackhawks 2018-19 Season

Hey Coach Q, maybe you should unleash this dynamic duo next year. As seen in the video above, a line with DeBrincat and Kane out on the wings in open space is very, very scary for the rest of the competition. Seeing both of these guys work their magic in the 2018 IIHF Men’s Championship tournament reminds me of the electric line combination of Panarin-Anisimov-Kane in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons — just mentioning that line brings a tear to my eye right now. Speaking of Anisimov, has anybody seen him? I am wondering if I should put out an Amber Alert for him because he did not show up at all last season for the Blackhawks.

In addition, if I was in charge of creating Blackhawks lines, I would maybe throw in somebody like Nick Schmaltz at the center position to play alongside DeBrincat and Kane, because he would be able to keep up with their tempo and plays well on both ends of the ice. Will Hawks coach Joel Quenneville actually give this proposed line a shot though? He would be absolutely crazy not to at least consider it, and here are a few reasons why he should:

In the NHL, it has been proven that speed kills and a potential line of DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Kane would have more than enough speed and precision to alter gameplans and cause some serious problems for opponents next season.

Upcoming Games

Team USA has four more games left in the Preliminary round of the IIHF Men’s World Championship:

  • Latvia, May 10th
  • Korea, May 11th
  • Norway, May 13th
  • Finland, May 15th

If you are wondering where you can watch Patrick Kane fulfill his duties as Captain America and lead Team USA to victory, the NHL Network is broadcasting all of the games live, so check your local cable provider for more info. Team USA looks like the real deal so far. Let’s see if they can keep their momentum going and bring home the gold.

Even Sean Payton Thinks Zach Miller Caught It

By
Erik Lambert
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zach miller

While it didn’t garner the same controversy as Calvin Johnson or Dez Bryant, Chicago Bears fans remain obsessed over the Zach Miller non-touchdown call last season. Everybody has the image burned into their heads by this point. It was the game before the bye weeks. The Bears had won two-straight and had a chance to build some serious momentum if they could find a way to knock off the red-hot Saints down in New Orleans.

With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, the Bears were behind 14-3. Mitch Trubisy led them on a drive that got them to the Saints 25-yard line. On first down, he dropped back and lofted a gorgeous pass to Miller towards the corner of the end zone. Battling the defensive back all the way, the tight end seemed to corral the ball with one hand as he went to the ground for what should’ve been a touchdown.

That play instead became one of the great tragedies of the 2017 season. Not only did Miller horribly injure his knee to the point where it was almost amputated, official review ended up overturning the call on the field. Replays showed every conceivable angle and there was no definitive evidence that Miller lost control of the ball. Yet that was the call. Chicago ended up losing 20-12.

They never seemed to recover from that.

Sean Payton admits Zach Miller deserved a touchdown

One would think the man least likely to over an honest opinion of that play would be the coach of the opposing team. Yet Sean Payton has always had a reputation for being a straight shooter. Appearing on the Pardon My Take podcast, he openly admitted that the Miller catch looked like a touchdown to him.

“It was a touchdown. And it was terrible, the injury he had. He spent the better part of a week here. … It was crazy.”

No room for speculation there. Payton made it clear. However, more than anything he felt bad for Miller. The coach visited the tight end in the hospital after the game where he learned the true extent of the injury. One that likely ended his career.

“Listen, he’s a great guy. I had never met him until he was in the hospital. So I went in and saw him that next week. We were bringing him some meals. It was real serious with the injury. … And the non-touchdown. … He did more than break his leg.”

Kudos to Payton for being honest. It’s not like anything will change. His team still won the game and went to the playoffs. The least he could do was be upfront about what he saw, which is the same thing everyone else in the stadium and at home saw. All except the officials, of course.

White Sox Weekly Mailbag

By
Emmet McClain
-

Welcome to our first edition of the weekly White Sox mailbag! Thanks to all who submitted questions!

Last season, Zach Burdi was maybe a week away from joining the White Sox before he required season-ending Tommy John surgery. Since then, things have been pretty quiet regarding any news of how he’s doing. At least from a social media aspect that is. Fortunately, I happened to be sitting right behind Zach’s mom and aunt while attending this past SoxFest. Before a panel in which he was featured on began, I overheard them talking to each other saying how Zach was 2 months ahead of his rehab schedule. Now that was back in February and the timeline could have changed drastically by then, so take it with a grain of salt. I think the absolute best case scenario would to have him start a throwing program by late July and then have him receive a late September call up, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest and it’s much more realistic to see the White Sox play it safe with him and just wait it out until 2019. If that is the case, then he should play in the Arizona Fall League and would have a good chance of breaking camp with the White Sox out of Spring Training next year.

MLB Pipeline lists Blake’s ETA to The Show as 2020. To me, this sounds like a solid timeline. While he is currently raking for the Dash (.330/.354/.472) I don’t think we will see him in Double-A this year unless there is an abundance of promotions from Birmingham to Charlotte. I think Luis Basabe will be the first outfield prospect on the Dash to be promoted to Double-A to open up a spot for Luis Robert. But there is no reason to rush Blake. He turned 21 a week ago today and still needs to find a more consistent power stroke. That will come as he learns which pitches he can drive and when he gets better at working the count in his favor. The plan is for these White Sox prospects to arrive in 3 waves. With Blake being so young, he falls into that 3rd wave, so for now, 2020 seems like a good bet.

Personally, I don’t think the White Sox are even going to entertain this idea. Lucas has all the talent in the world, he just needs to learn how to overcome his mental lapses that he seems to get. That can only be done at the major league level. We know he can be really good, as evidenced by his 2.38 ERA in 7 games last season. The biggest obstacle he is facing this year is his walk rate. Last year it was a measly 2.38/9 innings. So far this year? 6.25/9. That is a great way to lose baseball games. In my honest opinion, if the front office sent Giolito down, it could mentally derail him for good. Let’s let him tough this stretch out first with Don Cooper at his side. Remember that he only has 14 career starts on the White Sox. Let’s give him the entire season before people hit the panic button on him.

 

Thanks for all of your questions! We’ll do it again same time next week.

 

 

Here’s The Most Obvious Example Of An Umpire Calling Balls As Strikes To End A Game Early

By
Aldo Soto
-

The Chicago Cubs called up right-handed pitcher Justin Hancock before Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins. During the blowout, Hancock made his MLB debut, recording his first career strikeout in the big leagues. He also got his first RBI…well he did but the home plate umpire blatantly robbed him.

Hancock was up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Cubs were leading 12-3 and yes it’s not out of the ordinary to see umpires expand the strike zone late in blowout games, but this was way too obvious.

I mean, look at this garbage call. It is nowhere near the outside edge.

So, let the record show this was Hancock’s first career RBI and fuck Ted Barrett, who apparently made some early dinner reservations.

By the way, that brutal strike call wasn’t even the worst one of the inning. Look at the two strike calls to Javier Baez.

Garbage umpiring.

And I know, it’s a long damn game and it’s a blowout, but then what’s the point of even playing if this type of shit is going to happen. Call the game the right way, or make up a dumb mercy rule like it’s little league if you’re too damn lazy to properly umpire a game.

Just pathetic from Ted Barrett.

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