The JOBC Contest

Time for this week's JOBC Contest.

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard and a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

Here's the question. Yesterday the Cubs went 20 games under .500 for the first time this season. Of course, they've done this many times before. Fifty years ago (1961), the Cubs also sunk to 20 games under .500. They did it in dramatic fashion; losing in the bottom of the ninth to Milwaukee on a three run homer by a player the Cubs had traded to the Braves earlier that same season. Name the player. (Hint: He has the same first and last name as one of the greatest players in White Sox history)

UPDATE: We have a winner! Kim Otner was the first one to e-mail the name of Frank Thomas, the answer to today's JOBC contest. She gets the program and t-shirt. Another contest next Monday!

We wuz robbed

I was listening to the Cubs game on the radio last night during my twenty hour drive home, and the announcers were saying that the Cubs got robbed on a pickoff play at second base. It cost them the game.

I wanted to see the replay, and when I saw it last night, sure enough--it's true. The Cubs may be twenty games under .500 now, but that one game should come with an asterisk. It sounds like the usual Cubs whining, but in this case you know who agrees with that assessment? The Florida Marlins.

Jeff Garlin

In an interview with Pioneer Press, Jeff Garlin talks about his addiction to sugar, his stage show, his career, and the pathetic team the Cubs are putting on the field this year.

You can read it here.

The 1962 All Star Game

A week from yesterday is this year's All Star Game. We jump the gun a bit at JOBC to talk All-Star games, and go back to the 1962 All Star game, which was played at Wrigley Field.

An unbelievable assortment of Hall of Famers played in that game.

Read all about it here.

Bieber's Cover Bombs

Vanity Fair put Bieber on their February cover, and it was revealed this week that it was one of the three worst selling issues of the magazine in the last twenty years.

I think it's because word got out what baseball team he roots for.

That's my theory.

Prospecting

This is good to see. Instead of spending money on high priced over the hill free agents, the Cubs are starting to spend their money on high priced youngsters with potential.

Here's an example.

Jose Cardenal

Today's Tale from a Bad Century at JOBC is about the wacky hijinks of one of my favorite players when I was a boy: Jose Cardenal.

Read all about him here.

The Cubs have an All-Star!

There's been a lot of speculation this year about which Cub would go to the All-Star game. Let's face it, we don't have a lot of players having all-star worthy seasons. Maybe one or two. Maybe.

But we do know one Cub that is definitely going to the all-star game.

Mike Quade.

The JOBC Contest

Time for this week's JOBC Contest.

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard and a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

Here's the question, and I'll warn you it's a little obscure today: On this day in 1992, the Cubs acquired a gimpy-kneed slugger (a leftfielder) from the Los Angeles Dodgers. He only hit 4 homers for the Cubs the rest of that year and was released when the season was over. Name him.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Lydia Rypcinski knew that Kal Daniels was the slugger the Cubs acquired on this day in 1992. He was only 28 years old, and he had already hit 100 big league homers when the Cubs got him, but Kal was pretty much finished. After his stint with the Cubs he never played in the big leagues again.

Marlon Byrd's new helmet

He's finally coming back to the Cubs after that terrifying pitch to the face in Boston, but he'll be wearing a specially designed helmet instead of the usual Cubs helmet shown here.

ESPN has the details.

Cubs-Sox

I know it's only one game in the midst of a lost season, but let's face it, it's always sweet to beat the White Sox.

The JOBC Contest

Time for this week's JOBC Contest.

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard and a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

Here's the question: On this day in 2003, the Cubs traded an infielder to the Rockies. That infielder would go on to become a key member of the 2004 Red Sox team that finally broke their long World Series curse. He hit 2 HRs against the Yankees in the ALCS, and then another in the World Series against the Cardinals. Name him.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Matt Brown was the first one to e-mail me with the correct answer. Mark Bellhorn was the ex-Cub that forever became a Red Sox hero during the 2004 playoffs.

We'll have another JOBC contest next Monday.

Ryan Dempster

Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster got roasted over the weekend...not by the Yankees, but by comedian Jeffrey Ross. (Full story is here)

I have to hand it to him, this line is pretty darn funny. "Ryan, I hope your phone is stuck on vibrate, because you're never going to have a ring."

Painful, but funny.

Bob Kruchten

If you watch the pre-game show for the Cubs-Yankees game on ESPN on Sunday, you'll see my friend Bob Kruchten, along with his father and his son. ESPN contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me if I knew anyone that was a three-generation Cubs family.

My family doesn't qualify (dad didn't care about baseball), but I knew Bob would be perfect, so I recommended him. They interviewed him, and he'll be part of that show. I featured Bob on Just One Bad Century a few years ago telling some of his Cubs stories...

37,500

I just happened to look at the "Count Up Clock" at Just One Bad Century this morning (which is continually ticking), and noticed that we've reached a bit of a milestone today.

Today is the 37,500th day since the Cubs won the World Series.

Thought you'd like to know.

Cubs players address the goat

Yesterday before the game Cubs veterans handed out shirts to their teammates that said "F*** the Goat." It's their way of confronting the ridiculous "curse."

In one way I applaud them for this. But I would be remiss if I didn't point out that it's kind of pointless to address it this season. The curse hasn't even come up because the Cubs haven't even won three games in a row all year.

In Defense of the Cubs Fan

Dave Wischnowsky writes a nice defense of the Cubs fan at the CBS-2 website.

Dave and I share a pet peeve--people who blame Cubs fans for the losing. It's a preposterous and easily disprovable theory that should be put out to pasture for good.

Do some research into the years 1946-1966. The Cubs had twenty consecutive losing seasons despite the fans staying away. It didn't help, and do you know why? Because it's not the fault of the fans. That's why.

I hear this ridiculous "it's the fans fault" argument all the time from White Sox fans and sports talk radio. They point to the White Sox fans as some sort of model for creating a championship. They stayed away, and behold! The White Sox won it all in 2005. Yes they did. After 87 years.

By that logic, let's look at the Red Sox fans. They kept going to the ballpark despite never winning it, and behold! The Red Sox won it after 86 years! That proves that the fans have to keep coming, doesn't it?

Of course not. It's a stupid argument.

It's the fault of the people that put the teams together. Period.

Blaming the fans is like blaming the caregiver for the illness of their patient. The patient was ill before the caregiver even met them. The caregivers are doing the best they can with the situation. The caregivers feel their pain, wish it would go away, and wish they could do something about it.

But they can't.

And you simply can't blame them for that.

The JOBC Contest

Time for this week's JOBC Contest.

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard and a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

Here's the question: On this day in 1984 the Cubs acquired Rick Sutcliffe from the Cleveland Indians (along with Ron Hassey & George Frazier). Name two of the three players the Cubs gave up to get him.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Joe Cleaver was the first one to e-mail me the correct answer. He knew that the Cubs traded Joe Carter, Mel Hall & Don Schulze to get Sutcliffe.

Lots of people entered this week. Thanks for trying. We'll have another contest next Monday.

This week in 1908, 1945

Every weekend JOBC goes back in time to the last year the Cubs won the World Series.

This week in 1908, the Republican convention comes to Chicago and nominates William Howard Taft, while the Cubs play a weekend series at the Polo Grounds in front of record crowds.

This week in 1945, a commission led by Manhattan Project scientists warn President Truman not to use a nuclear bomb against Japan, and the Cubs win 5 out of 6 against the Reds and Cardinals.

Another interesting Cubs draftee

One of the players the Cubs chose in the draft this week is Garrett Schlecht.

The kid is from downstate Illinois (cough, Cardinals fan) and has a scholarship offer to play college ball at Middle Tennessee State, but that's not what caught my attention.

I speak German, and I'd like to provide a translation of what his last name "Schlecht" means in German. Are you ready for this...it means "bad."

That is so Cubs.

(No offense, kid. I'm sure you're a good player. I just had to point that out.)