The controversy erupted after Cubs starting pitcher, Ted Lilly, threw several pitches from in front of the rubber.  After the game the Cubs pitcher admitted to cheating, stating “There were a couple times I would get it and throw it. I think I was a little bit ahead of the rubber…. I was just trying to get good footing.”

So there we have it, more disgrace upon Chicago baseball.

Wrigley Field, to many of us, has always been hallowed ground – a place of tradition, inspiration and beer-soaked, sun-drenched joy. Today it stands as a crypt where our crushed hopes and dreams are interred beneath its cold soil. As in past seasons, the outfield ivy will turn red and nobody will be there to see it. Today Wrigley Field stands only to remind us of what has not been for more than a century, what will not be this year, and what will likely continue to be withheld from its hope-filled visitors. Wrigley Field, it seems, is infertile ground whose grounds are incapable of bearing championship fruits.

Year after year, the faithful turn out to fill the stands in the hope that, finally, this is THE YEAR. Each year, however, there comes a point where each fan realizes that THE YEAR belongs to the future. Each year bitterness, disappointment and heartbreak descends one-by-one into the hearts and minds of those faithful dupes who never seem to learn. For some the moment comes in May or June. For the more masochistic among us, we hold on until August or even September where we calculate and recalculate Magic Numbers and watch the Wild Card chase. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, we continue to repose our hope in a team that consistently disappoints us. In psychology they call it codependence.

I sat at a minor league stadium on Tuesday as the Cubs prepared to begin a home series against the worst team in baseball, the Washington Nationals. I remarked to my friend, who had been asking me for weeks if I had given up on the Cubs yet, that they really needed to sweep the Nationals. Throughout the course of the game, I watched the out-of-town scoreboard with growing dismay as the Nationals mounted a huge lead. I began to think, “Well, maybe if they take two out of three…” realizing even then that I was in denial. Wednesday came and the Cubs roundly defeated the Nats. I thought maybe they had turned a corner; maybe the lightbulb had gone on. And then yesterday’s game. Yesterday the Cubs showed the world that they lack the heart of contenders – that they are content with the “Lovable Losers” moniker. They showed the world that this was certainly not THE YEAR.

And so we look forward to football season, putting another baseball season behind us, our dreams unfulfilled. But, this year we would do well to consider whether it is healthy year after year to set ourselves up for yet another disappointment. When April rolls around and we look out at another baseball season, will we be telling one another, “This is THE YEAR?” I hope not. And yet, I know that I will likely be lured into the recurring dream. And all of us know how that dream ends – with bitterness, disappointment and heartbreak. Maybe next year.

2009 CUBS, R.I.P.

Unbelievable. Hall of Fame material in anyone’s reckoning. Show leniency, Commissioner Selig. With DuRocher, Sutton, Ford, Molitor and other cheaters or druggies in the Hall, and then Clemens (you broke my heart), Canseco, McGwire, Bonds, Rodriguez, and the rest of the steroid and HGH crowd not banned, it seems absurd to keep the ban on Rose in place.

However, as time has gone by, the blackout restrictions have become worse. Now ALL televised games are blacked out – not just home games. Furthermore, WGN now has only about a third or less of the televised games. If I lived in Chicago or the surrounding area, I would not have much of a problem with this situation. However, I live in Indianapolis, 180 miles and three and one half hours’ drive away. I hardly live in the local area. Moreover, not only are the Cubs blacked out here, but the White Sox and Reds are as well. In other words, if you live in Indianapolis, you are credited with having THREE home teams, even though there are none in Indy. What’s more is that I cannot even tune in the WGN radio broadcasts and there does not appear to be an Indianapolis radio station that broadcasts Cubs games (Reds, yes; Cubs, no). Supposedly WNDE AM-1260 carries the games, but it seems every time I want to listen to one, they are either not broadcasting it or my reception is terrible (AM radio at night is an iffy proposition).

When I moved up to Ann Arbor, Michigan for law school, I signed up as I always do, but found myself blacked out up there even though the area in which I lived was not a blackout area. MLB explained to me that the applicable blackout area is based upon where the credit card securing the account is billed. In my case, my credit card bills were still being sent home to Indy. I suffered through my first year of law school getting only half the games. During my second year, I changed my billing address to Ann Arbor and enjoyed a summer full of Cubs baseball. However, when I graduated and moved back to Indy, I had to change my billing address and am now stuck with the blackouts. It looks as though this may have changed and is now based on the location of the server from which you are accessing the game. If so, it may be possible to access the game through a proxy. Unfortunately, this seems dishonest to me and it really should not be necessary for someone like me where MLB has denied us a local franchise.

Astoundingly, it is even worse at my father’s home in Spencer, Iowa. In Spencer, they are blacked out from the Twins (221 miles), White Sox (495 miles), Cardinals (534 miles), Royals (353 miles), Cubs (495 miles) and Brewers (453 miles)! How in the world does that make sense? If every one of those teams were broadcast on local television stations, I could understand that. But, in fact, the only “local” team (in that their games are regularly broadcast) is the Twins from what I can tell when I visit. It is as though MLB is intentionally going out of its way to make sure nobody ever purchases their product! Of course, I probably shouldn’t be surprised by the idiocy of an organization that would hire Keith Olbermann.

I am inclined to tell MLB to get bent altogether. In fact, if I could get English broadcasts of Japanese games, I’d probably just become a Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters fan and abandon MLB entirely. But, if MLB were involved in the enterprise, we would probably find that anyone who did not already have a Japanese franchise in their city would be blacked out of most of the broadcasts!

What I find completely ridiculous, as I mentioned, is that in no rational sense can I be said to be living in the local Cubs viewing area (or the Reds for that matter – it is no hardship to be blacked out of the White Sox games). Furthermore, the annual cost for MLB.TV is $109.95 so it is not exactly like I am trying to avoid paying for the product I wish to receive.

What I am saying is that I will not be signing up for another year of MLB.TV again unless they change the breadth of the areas caught up in the local blackout areas. I urge anyone considering spending money on MLB’s product to think carefully about it. If you are a Cubs fan that lives in Los Angeles and don’t care about watching Dodgers or Angels games, then you’ll be fine. But, if not, you may find yourself being screwed on the very games you most want to see.

Dusty Baker

If you are Edison Volquez or Johnny Cueto, are you watching the calendar for the first day you are eligible to demand a trade? With Dusty’s reputation for destroying young guns’ arms, I have to think these guys are counting the days until free agency.

On the same topic, a friend recently sent the following question: “do you think Dusty favors black players?” I had to think about this for a minute. I know that Dusty has a tendency to favor players, usually for inexplicable reasons. (Can anyone give me a justification for the amount of PT Neifi Perez had under Baker?) The list of players that come to mind does nothing to dispell the question: Neifi Perez, Jose Macias, Corey Patterson, etc. Now he is all gigged about the prospect of bringing Sheffield to Cincinnati. Is there anything to this?

The Federal Reserve

The seed for a post has been floating around my head for a few days, but doesn’t seem to be developing into anything worthwhile. The seed is this: Conservatives tend to look askance at the Fed as an unaccountable (sometimes sinister) organization with an inordinate amount of power. Any number of conspiracy theories center on the Fed’s dealings and potential to make mischief. But, what is the alternative? Giving the power to regulate money to Congress? Thinking about that prospect makes my knees weak and causes me to break out in a cold sweat. Can anyone think of any organization that Congress runs well? Hell, it can’t even manage its own cafeterias profitably. Or maybe we should just kill it altogether.

Last weekend Timothy Geithner appeared on Meet the Press and George Stephanopoulos’ shows. Steph asked him if he was worried about inflation. Geithner quickly answered, “That will never happen.” He went on to add that the Federal Reserve would never allow it. That seems to me to be too glib by half. Paul Craig Roberts has a piece (not all of which I agree with) that spells out the peril that we face due to all of Obama’s (and Bush’s before him) spending. I recently finished rereading Milton and Rose Friedman’s Free to Choose, and I have to agree with Roberts that inflation is a looming spectre (although I do not share his prescription for raising tariffs) that is going to be painful to combat. Of course, that pain will occur after Obama is a mere footnote.

On a similar note, I thought George’s interview was much better than David Gregory’s. Boy, do I miss Russert.

Barack Obama and Foreign Policy

Is he really as bad or worse than Bill Clinton was? The Obama administration is now calling for “global oversight” or corporate regulation, so as to end corporate regulatory arbitrage. Does he mean that Brussels bureaucrats should have control (or even just a say) over how “American” corporations are run or how the U.S. government intends to regulate them? Yikes.

And, did Barack Obama really just supplicate to the Saudi king?

Answering my own question

It looks like the answer is that we have not yet hit the bottom. Today, the unemployment numbers jumped again to 8.5%. Do we start printing the “Obama Lied” bumper stickers yet?

Iowa? Really, Iowa?

It appears that the justices in Iowa have legislated gay marriage for Iowans, making them the third state to do so. So much for separation of powers in the Heartland. Coming to a state near you…

Does anyone remember an event like this?  A complete collapse of skill and drive?  Does anyone recall a player simply being released after one year in spite of earning a franchise record salary?  Does anyone else think it suspicious that soon after baseball banned “performance enhancing drugs” that Jones could not hit, run or stay in shape?

I say good riddance, Mr. Jones, and stay out of California.

This is the strongest argument yet that Barack Obama is dangerous for America.

In the spirit of brotherly love I say Congrats Philly, you deserve it.  You have my support in the Fall Classic.  Beat the tar out of the American League!

UPDATE: 2 Hours!