Monday Morning Cubs Show
A show every Monday morning about the Chicago Cubs from Carl and Mahoney.
Monday Morning Cubs Show
The Cubs Should Go All In For A True Ace
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If you watched the Cubs light up Paul Skenes and thought, “Okay, this is different,” we’re right there with you. That game isn’t just a fun highlight. It’s evidence the Cubs offense can hit elite pitching, which is the whole point of October baseball. So we stop hand-wringing over being seven back and ask the only question that matters with the MLB trade deadline looming: what move actually raises our World Series odds?
We get specific on what has to change in the rotation and what can’t keep happening, including a blunt take on Jamison Taillon’s role in games that matter. Then we lean into the optimism that’s earned, not imagined: Shota Imanaga’s steady run, Matthew Boyd looking locked in, and the real possibility that internal bullpen reinforcements like Ben Brown, Daniel Palencia, and Hunter Harvey can reshape the late innings by September.
From there, it’s deadline strategy with names, priorities, and trade-off debates. We talk Joe Ryan, the temptation of “club control,” and why Tarek Skubal is the kind of pitcher you push chips in for if you want to win a playoff series against the Dodgers, Braves, or Brewers. We also hit the Matt Shaw conversation, why prospect value only matters if it helps you win now, plus a quick Cardinals series look and a nod to James Triantos getting his moment. Subscribe, share the show with a Cubs fan, and leave a review, then tell us: what’s the bold move you want the front office to make?
Thanks for tuning in!
- Carl & Mahoney
Beat Skeens And Buy In
SPEAKER_01And we're clear. Good morning, good afternoon, and evening, Chicago Cubs fans, and welcome back to the Monday morning Cub Show. Today is Monday, July 27th. It is your host, Carl, and I am joined by my close part, Al Mahoney as the Chicago Cubs are seven games back, but like the fifth best team in baseball. Mahoney, it's great to see you.
SPEAKER_02It's great to see you, Carl. It's great to be here with you, maniacs, on this Monday morning, mid-afternoon. And we're ready to get rolling. We're playing the Cardinals tonight. Beat Paul Schiens over the weekend. Carl, I'm feeling pretty good. There's a storm brewing, so we do have a third chair right now, Bebop. If you guys hear a little bit of a cry or so, that's my dog Bebop that's going to be kicking it by my feet. So, other than that, it's going to be me and Carl bringing the heat.
SPEAKER_01Legendary pup, great third chair. Always got a third chair on this show. I think you said the perfect thing in the introduction that I want maniacs to latch onto now and into the trade deadline and for the rest of the season. You said it when we beat Paul Skeens. We didn't beat the Pirates with Paul Skeens. We beat the shit out of Paul Skeens, and it's at that high end where you see how good the Cubs offense is and how complete of a baseball team we are. Where it's like we just need a little starty pitching.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Beating Paul Schienes the way we did on Saturday, Mahoney, is why I'm all in on a trade deadline, giving up whatever we have to get to get the absolute best starting pitching possible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, it's just it's showing how good the bats actually are, and that we are an October ready lineup, and one through nine right now is looking tough. And even when Skeens comes out, he's gonna get 11 strikeouts on a bad day. And we still got to him with 11ks against the board. So that shows me that this team will be ready to compete offensively, and I think that does kind of light that fire on the front office to hey man, we've we've proven ourselves over and over again the time is now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's like we if we can do it against Paul Schienens, who's gonna give me some argument that we can't do it against there's like one other arm where I'm like, yeah, that's actually what Paul Mizorowski is do it against Mizorowski a couple times, and then I'll have a slightly different tune. But like Paul Skins, that's tier one, that's elite. You know, he's in he's at the top of the category below Mizorowski, I think. But this is just the general point. We're gonna get people talk about the trade deadline, the Cubs not being good. We're gonna defate Jameis and Teon. I know from doing this job and from holding this post and doing my and doing podcasts and talking into microphones for a decade about the Chicago Cubs that our fan base loves to be negative and loves to latch on to reasons why things aren't perfect. And I want to use this show to say the way we beat the shit out of Paul Schemes on Saturday should be overwhelming evidence that this club is good enough to buy into an October run. And we need to have that buy-in manifest itself at the trade deadline.
SPEAKER_02And funny enough, it your comment of on Friday's show last week about if you're all on board the PCA train, then like the Cubs need to do everything they can to get around this superstar. And on that day, against Skeens and the Pirates, four for five, another dinger, nine total bases, three RBIs. This is what we build around, and this is what we're driving towards. And that's the why. And I love that it happened again and again and again.
SPEAKER_01A legit MVP candidate, like a legit guy you build around for 10 years. I mean, he's putting up the exact type of progress that the Yankees saw in Aaron Judge when they were like, We're gonna build it, we're gonna build a monster around Aaron Judge and support that. He is so fundamentally better than the next guy on the roster, than the next guy in the league. So, yes, it's it's like you have this guy in his prime. He he's in his prime now, he should be in his prime for a while because typically baseball player like PCA typically shouldn't, if he was like any other average player, he wouldn't hit his prime for another three years, but he's in it now, he's in it now. You have elite defense up the middle. You the bullpen can get short up, but then you start looking at some of the names on the injury list that can come back into the bullpen, and it's like, well, I think Justin Steele might someone was talking about like if maybe Justin Steele's gonna go go sniff the bullpen, and you know, you start going through the list of all the names of the guys that like haven't been at all contributing. Apparently, Palency is throwing the ball well, apparently Hunter Harvey's throwing the ball well. There's a guy named Milner, everybody forgot about Maiton's banged up. Like, if you get the version of Phil Maiton that exists before, so blah blah blah blah blah. You know, I know people are gonna go to the bullpen and say it sucks, but it's just just stay high-level, Mahoney. It's like 30,000 feet slamming paul schemes on a game in a game the pirates want to win. I'm not that that's not old school pirates where they're just fucking giving it up, man. Like that was a it's a competitive team, yes.
Sponsor Break And Weekly Standouts
SPEAKER_01So hey, before we get more into some of the talking points, a little baller strike. Obviously, you get to see a Mahoney, but this show doesn't happen without our great friends in the Thirsty Vaquero, a Mexican-style soda with a signature spicy finish, it's all bite, no rattle. I'm running out of ways to explain how good it is. I'm running out of reasons, uh, you know, to compel maniacs to get a taste. But boy, do you need to get a taste?
SPEAKER_02You have to get a taste, you have to have that all bite, you have to have that no rattle. It is the beverage of the summer, as far as I'm concerned. And it's gonna be the beverage through the trade deadline that's gonna be getting you guys, you know, through everything and any of the stress reading the bottom headlines and you know the ESPN streaming.
SPEAKER_01It's gonna get us, it's gonna, it's gonna be a toll. And I'll say this it plays so well. I I want to be specific here, it plays so well with Mezcal, and that's been hot for a while now. People are really turned on to it, but just that smoky touch, that finish. Don't be bashful, guys. You can go to Amazon, you can get a Thirsty Vacero if you've been listening to this show for a long time. If you haven't participated in our in our title sponsors program here over at Amazon, just go get yourself a sampler platter, a vigilante pack. And as Mahoney and I like to do every week, we put together a sampler platter of Chicago Cubs that kind of match up with the bulk flavors of Thirsty Vacero. This is the first official segment of every show we do now, Mahoney. And so the first flavor, obviously, we talk about the lead flavor, the one everybody reaches for in the fridge first time around. It's a spicy watermelon. Who's your Chicago Cubs spicy watermelon of the week?
SPEAKER_02I mean, one of our Thirsty Vacero vigilantes of the week, Sandia Salvahe, is going to be Pico Armstrong, Carl. Friday, two for five with the dinger, a double, two doubles, three RBIs, three runs on Sunday. We just talked about his stats on Saturday. Nobody wears Silvae like PCA does this week. He's spicy, he hits dingers, he moves on the base path, he's got a sweet swing and a wild finish, and a little bit of that jalapeno on the back end. He's uh he's the wildest vaquero in the whole posse, and it's Picrow Armstrong.
SPEAKER_01He's so good. I mean, he's just so good. And I think if you're doing if you're if you're handing out thirsty vaquero is the first one you give to sit, you're like, you should try the spicy watermelon. Picrow Armstrong's our loot off hitter. Get a taste of him. I have our mango muerte, which is like the one you got to come around on, where you're kind of like, you should be coming around on this a little bit sooner. It's Shota Imanaga. Is that crazy?
SPEAKER_02No, it's not. I'm in front of me right now in my notes, Carl. I have Mango Muerte, Shota Eminaga. Saturday, six in each pitch, zero weren't runs, four strikeouts, got the W, 11-0 shutout. Do you want Muerte? Shota walked into PNC, man, and he just buried the pirates six feet deep. Um, that's that's just a cold-blooded on the bump, baby.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna say, I feel bad for people that skip through that read stuff because they're gonna miss him good. They're good, you're gonna miss some good context here on Shota Ibanaga because he has been set. I you love this word talking about ball players, been sensational since a home start against the athletics in June, which was part of the 22 game in a row, or 20 when I had talked about 22 in a row against teams under 500. And we had the athletics at home, I believe, to kick things off. And we still won this game seven to six, but Showday got absolutely shelled, gave up six earned since then. In I believe 10 or 11 starts, he's pitched to a 2.0 ERA, 41 hits and 45 innings. You know, it's just carried the load left and right to the best that he can. And people obviously it's easy to overlook him because when he has a clunker, it's a big-time clunker, but he's pitched very well uh under the radar. And I would like to just give him some credit. Not that I'm saying we're gonna go start him game one of the playoffs. These are different conversations. I'm talking about finishing out the season as competitively as possible. Shoty Vanaga has stepped up and risen to the challenge.
SPEAKER_02Mango Muerte, the deadliest flavor on the shelf and our deadliest arm right now on the mound.
SPEAKER_01And then just a classic who's who's our Lamon Ladron steady, steady Eddie of the week.
SPEAKER_02Steady Eddie of the week. This might surprise you. I actually have Dansby Swanson, and here's why. So he went one for four with the Ribby on Friday, two for five double RBI, two runs scored on Saturday, and then another two or four, uh, two for four game with another RBI and another run scored. So this past weekend, I'm gonna give it to Dansby. Um, you know, it's it was kind of a quiet bandito for for the the vigilante tail end there, but um he's getting hits, he's still kind of staying consistent. That's what we wanted to see. And you know, I'd be remiss, and again, I have to say our deputy vigilante of the week is gonna be Suzuki. But Dansby's got the Lamon Ladron for me this week, Carl.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, no, you you you depute you don't need to deputize anybody, you don't need to deputize a vigilante, you don't need to throw Suzuki into the mix if he didn't earn it. If it's his job, I mean if it's if it's Swanie's award, it's Swannee's award.
SPEAKER_02It's Swanee's award this week.
SPEAKER_01It's as simple as that. You know, it's a three and three week. A lot of people just kind of salty about that. I I'll get into a little bit more about this. The schedule's tough. We kick it off tonight. You know, I mean, going down to St. Louis is tough. Then you're home against New York, Los Angeles, or some weird makeup game with Toronto. You know, thank goodness we got a stretch there, Kansas City of the Nationals. But let me let me do this
Jamison Taillon Should Be Done
SPEAKER_01first. Let me just baller strike you real quick. Baller strike, Jamison Taon's done.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, strike down the middle. I don't think he should get the ball again in the game that matters this year. Um, I could see him being DFA'd based on this is his contract year. He's gone anyways. He's given up the most or tied for the most home runs given up by a pitcher. Before injury, he wasn't performing for us. So if you look back, even before the all-star break, he was not looking so hot. He's got an ERA, I believe, north of five. Uh, it's unfortunate. I like Jamison Tayan. I know he's a very well-liked guy in the clubhouse. However, now is not the time, and that doesn't matter, and that's not going to get us to where we need to be. So I don't believe Jamison Tayan is going to be a long-term solution over the next couple months. Strike.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, at this point, it's just so non-competitive. And if it's Javier or Sad to replace him, great. If it's somebody at the trade deadline, obviously that's coming too. But he's given up a home run every three innings. So to the people that are saying Jamison can just go to the bullpen or he can just use him in long relief, or he can just be in a merch, like the answer to all of that is no. Because at no point will you put him in any position of leverage at all. It's just at no point here. We are in the calendar looking ahead. There's no considerable feasible place for him to exist. So if it's a DFA, it's a DFA. I he just cannot be on the mound. Period. End of story. Because it's objectively awful, and we're past the point of let me see what this guy's got. The let me see what this guy's got is now in the hands of a Pedro Ramirez and the younger guys that are gonna get a little bit more playing time, or maybe like a Thornton in the bullpen. Like the let me see what he's got needs to be deployed else. It cannot be deployed on Jamison Taz.
SPEAKER_02No, it can't be deployed in a start. You know, if I'm thinking, oh god, he got roughed up in the first, maybe he's gonna get settled in, and then he gets wrapped up again in the third. It's just not the look that we need. Gave up three home runs on Saturday, I believe. Like it's just not pretty, and it's it's not a solution.
SPEAKER_01And with this quality of contact against him, it's not like you can it's not like hey, go go to the bullpen and maybe Jamison Tan can give you like one inning because he can't start, maybe give you he can he doesn't have that stuff. He doesn't, it's he has seven pitches and they're all below average right now. It could be injury, it could be something, you know. That's how bad he is. Like, who knows? But comfortably, no j mo in the same respect, baller
Matt Boyd Looks Playoff Ready
SPEAKER_01strike. Matt Boyd is the biggest trade deadline, is better than anybody will get at the trade deadline. Baller strike.
SPEAKER_02That's a strike right now. He looks so comfortable up there, he looks so focused, he looks so confident. I I wonder if he's on you know some sort of T. Maybe he had some low T when he tore that meniscus and his doctor gave him a prescription for something. Because just everything about his jawline right now speaks to me with the guy that I want on the mount and I want starting a playoff game. And my concern a few weeks ago, well, it really all season was what is the Matthew Boyd that we're going to get when, especially, you know, injured once, Tormeniscus playing with his kids. I did not know how it was going to look and what was going to happen moving forward, but my confidence is fully back in Matthew Boyd. I'm not nervous anymore. I think that he knows his body and he's ready to rock and roll.
SPEAKER_01I think he looks sensational. Chewing the gum hard is what I would say. You talk about that focus on the mound. Like he is absolutely dialed in, which would be one of the knocks you have on that background. He's a Pacific Northwest guy, which is so is John Lester, which kind of made the John Lester prospect story so amazing. Is like you typically don't get guys from that part of the country who are unhinged lunatics competitively. You know, it's just a different place. Now, if if you're from Texas, it's part of who you are. If you're from certain parts of Florida, South Florida, on the on the Atlantic side, it's very geographic dependent, where you're like, you could take a young ball player from there and you're like, I absolutely know this guy's is gonna be a psychopath, gonna have a big ego, carry himself a certain way. A lot of SEC territories breed those type of players, etc. But Matthew Boyd is not. The northwest part of the country does not breed those lunatics. That's why I called out Lester. And that's something with Matt Boyd that you could historically point out and be like, he does have a little bit of this. I don't use the word soft, I would say more pliable, or he doesn't look mean, or he doesn't have that level of fuck you ness to a starting pitcher that in the last six starts, Mahoney, you're right coming back where it's like there's something in the eye, the glimmer, the way he's attacking hitters. I feel so good about how good he looks and the fact that he can actually probably pitch, you know, as a as a game. I mean, he if he's a game three in a playoff series, that's incredible. So can we get going into October? Is there any way we can figure out a rotation where Matt Boyd, this version of Matt Boyd, is starting the third game of the playoff series? Probably not, but no, but I'll I mean I would take it to be honest, if he's our third, or a two with a righty behind him and a great righty in front of him, or depending on the lineups, you know, that we're gonna be going after. So I I just I'm very positive about him.
Bullpen Help From Injured Arms
SPEAKER_01Now the question is like, what about Ben Brown coming back and pitching on the bullpen? Do you like that ball or strike?
SPEAKER_02Strike.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean that's the hope. And what I've read is it sounds like he's progressing well. Started throwing with a weighted ball and playing some catch. So I think that's huge news for the the Ben Brown crowd. We're huge Ben Brown fans, as you know, he turned us completely this year. I just the fact that he's throwing the ball with a neck injury, you got to be obviously extra careful, especially with somebody so young. You don't want to ruin your career. But if he can contribute at the bullpen level and give us some significant talk about the high leverage guy that we wanted him to be, that could be amazing for us come playoff time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm with you 100% on that. And maybe this is a good good time to remind maniacs if we say September, and then I introduce the names Ben Brown and Daniel Palencia and Harner Harvey is three big hard throwing righties that are in the organization and trying to get healthy for an end of the season run here. If one of those three guys were to come back in any kind of form at their high end, the Cubs bowlpen's much better off. If two of those three, if all three come back, you know, that's a it incre it would be incredible, and it would come at the perfect time. It would come with the last three, four weeks of the season, would give council plenty of opportunities to mix and match different stuff. But we have we do have three guys that are currently on rehab programs throwing in some capacity. Ben Brown's weighted ball, Palency, I believe, is on a mound. Hunter Harvey's on a mound.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01So it's we could be four weeks from now going, hey, we just added three guys to the bullpen that are 96 plus.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And those are the sorts of things around the trade deadline, which makes you feel a little bit warm and fuzzy inside because it's like you put blank slate, don't know what the hell is going on, and you just add these guys to the team. Like, I'll take that 10 out of 10 times, Carl.
SPEAKER_01Do you have a couple? Do you have a couple baller strikes on trade deadline or anything you want? I have uh just two general things, but I don't want to, I would rather baller strike it.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna baller strike this one and let's just
Trade Deadline Fits And Priorities
SPEAKER_02do it. Baller strike Carl. Joe Ryan is our single best fit for on the entire market for this team.
SPEAKER_01It depends on what people want in this in this moment because I come back to the reason we're making these trades is or we would be in the trade market aggressively, is to make the most out of the 2026 team. And people come back and then they go, the first consideration they start talking about, guys. And so if you bring up Joe Ryan, then I'll then I'll go ahead and bring up Reed Detmer, product of Springfield, Illinois, went to Louisville, got recruited by my college assistant coach. So obviously I'm partial and biased to Reed Detmer's, and I like this guy a lot. But when you're talking about with both of these players, is people the first thing people say, uh, they have control.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's you literally knew what I that was my point I was gonna make with my follow-up.
SPEAKER_01That's why I like Joe Ryan. I want to trade for Joe Ryan because he's got control. All right, it's like all right, that's a good consideration. That is the second consideration. The first consideration is playoff rotation 2026, September into October 2026. Somebody who's firing on all gears, and I don't necessarily give a shit about the control nearly to the as much as I care about how they fit into our World Series odds.
SPEAKER_02What's happening right now?
SPEAKER_01Uh Joe Ryan does improve our world series odds, which is the funny thing back to you, but he doesn't do it the most. He just gave up a career high six home run so we could buy low. Why would they do that to him before the trade deadline? Why he wasn't he didn't look good. Four innings, 10 hits, eight earned. Why would the twins not be like Haiti?
SPEAKER_02You're screwing yourselves too, like as an organization, like business decision, get him out of there.
SPEAKER_01But if you are gonna be, you know, it's like you could easily go to Joe Ryan's baseball reference page, you'll see a 3.4 something era, and then you'll you'll misjudge the fact that eight of his 43 earned runs surrendered this season, uh, came in one of his 21 starts. So, like he is awesome, the numbers are sensational, he's very good. He's however you want to slice it, he's he's at the top of the group below Terry Scuble.
SPEAKER_02And I bring up Joe Ryan too, because I feel like the Cubs front office typically does try to make those moves where there's some sense of you know control and such. But my other question to you, really, and I don't know if you're gonna know the answer. With a potential work stoppage next year, does that control carry over beyond if they don't be on, not beyond if they don't play. No, so like then that's like that makes me not care as much about club control right now. Yeah, and the other that's like the win it out.
SPEAKER_01The other reason you should give up the club control narrative is we just got done talking about how we're gonna DFA Jamis and Tan. He's done, he's been playing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We pay him like 16 million a year. I mean, just the amount about Matt Boyd, he's he's off contract next year. What's he get? Fit 14.5 million a year. You start adding up the guys that are coming off payroll this year, next year. We have a tremendous amount of flexibility. We've demonstrated the capacity to go over a luxury threshold. I don't know what the CBA looks like as far as contracts and stuff, but the Cubs should be positioned to pay. They have money. They're we're we're back in it. We see
Savannah Bananas And Cubs Money
SPEAKER_01you saw the Savannah bananas this weekend. Like you saw the clips. Don't tell me we don't have money.
SPEAKER_02No, I mean, the what they per they put on there at Wrigley Field was quite spectacle. Carry Wood with the behind the back pitch, little trick pitch right down the middle was fantastic. I know there's a lot of people that don't love the bananas, you know, coming into the sacred grounds of Wrigley. Field, but there's probably there's a lot of events if you dig deep into Wrigley Field that probably aren't great throughout history. But that thing was unbelievable.
SPEAKER_01That guy is that guy's Vince McMahon 2.0. I mean, that that guy puts out a show.
SPEAKER_02If you give me an owner or whatever, the president of the company that's walking around in a yellow top hat, full suit with note cards. I see him walking back and forth talking to his people. He's so involved. Uh what a production. I watched it yesterday on ESPN, and it was just a pleasure.
SPEAKER_01I will guarantee you now again, whether you like the Savannah Bananas or don't, most of the people who don't like the Savannah Bananas are younger than us, but too old to enjoy the Savannah bananas. So you're in that age, you're like between 20 and 30, you don't have kids, or you're not around kids, or you don't kind of like attach yourself to the fact that like it's a fun thing for other people. Like people who don't like baseball would enjoy that, and then baseball fans take that personally, and now you guys make us feel like Greco Roman style wrestlers. And I'm like arguing that Hulkens body slam isn't off. It's like, but it's a no-win argument here, yeah. Right. I mean, the guys selling out stadiums, and I would say this if you put the fucking Marlins for sale and you put the Savannah bananas for sale at the exact same time, I'll absolutely fucking guarantee you the Savannah, the Savannah bananas would take the Marlins to the woodshed in open market price. The Savannah, so the Savannah bananas are probably worth more than the Marlins, Pirates, Rockies, Reds, combine all of those organizations. I can't even say them, Savannah ban there show up in banana games, middle of the day, Sunday, do Sunday, middle of the day. They have no interest in MLB. Obviously, MLB rights different, you gotta pay for that stuff. But no, I'm la I'm just laughing, and I don't want to get into this. I like that, I like them. They pay baseball players well. It's a place for people who like baseball derivatively. There's no way you're gonna get me into shit on this van. Seminaganas, they should remember. So um, yeah, you're going, yeah, just going. I was gonna take this to go back to like the trade deadline stuff and just talk generally and just say, I like control, I think trading for control is smart. It made sense. The Edward Cabrera thing, when you looked at his contract, you're like, this guy's a little rough, rough around the edges. Maybe we can work with him. We have him for time and stuff, and that's great in the offseason. That's great when you're doing the budgeting and the financial and all that shit. But we're like, right now, this trade deadline, like, I need somebody that moves the World Series odds the most. Who is the guy who moves the World Series odds the most? The answer to that question is Tarek School. So the focus or my interest is terrick school, but then that's unrealistic. So of course the conversation has to include who are the other guys. Then when you go, okay, who are the other guys? Now I'm starting. Okay, you can you can introduce team control as an argument if you're gonna make an argument against Joe Ryan versus Freddie Peralta. Freddie Peralta is not a free, you know, or it has no control. So that's my long-winded way to say Joe Ryan's not our number one consideration because he doesn't move our World Series odds the most, it's Tared Scuble. But after Tarek Scuble is when you can start to open up the debate about who the best trade candidate is.
SPEAKER_02Fair ball. And would you say ball or strike, cubs add scoobo, we're the world series favorites.
SPEAKER_01Ooh. If we add Scoobul, World Series favorites, it's a tough probably probably not the favorites. Probably not.
SPEAKER_02But the fact that so that's a ball, but like I had to think of had to go to AB, had to odds move up significantly, and you have to crunch the numbers. It's like maybe not quite the favorite, but we'd be right there. And we had him and one other mini piece, and those Ben Brown, Justin Steel, Daniel Balency come back.
SPEAKER_01Then we're talking. Well, you're through you just threw me a screwball in the seventh inning, and you're like 98th pitch. I haven't, and I'm umpiring. I haven't seen a screwball from you. I've umped you seasons, yeah, so many games I've umpired you, and I've never seen you throw a screwball. So I'm just taking my time as it is a ball, but I'm like, damn, did Mahomie just throw me a screwball here? Like, are we scubble screwball? Little now, what we what we do there is if we get scuba, I mean, we become extremely difficult to beat in a wild card series, right? That would be at home, that's how it sets up, and we've talked about this before on the show. Where if we aren't catching the brewers, and that's hey, if the brewers are gonna beat, they're 39 at 20 at home. They're they have the they have the best pitcher I've seen since Randy Johnson 24 years ago. I don't even know how to compare how good Mizerowski is so much better than anyone that's come since then. I don't even know how to explain it. Like, for all as good as Clayton Kershaw is Clayton Kershaw at his absolute best, never made hitters ever look as bad as Mizerowski does with one pitch, one absurd. So if we're not gonna catch those guys, and the Brewers are gonna be awesome, and they're gonna have they're gonna have the Cy Young winner, and they're and they're gonna lead the league in everything you can't even try to lead the league in, like good base running and fun of the complaint, hitting the cutoff man and never fucking up on the bases. They're gonna be hard to catch. Then our goal is win that wild win the number one wildcard seed so you can host a three-game playoff series.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but
Brewers Gap And October Matchups
SPEAKER_02that was one of my baller strikes, and I'm just gonna cut to the chase was that the NL Central is relatively over. We have seven games against the Brewers with seven games back. We have to hope we win all seven of those games essentially, the way the Brewers have been playing at this clip since last season. Hey, Mike, it's not going away.
SPEAKER_01That's a strike over. It's a strike. You know why that's a strike?
SPEAKER_02Why do we have less than seven games against them now?
SPEAKER_01No, no, no, no, no. I'm saying that that's a strike because I love your word choice there. And as we talked about the last show, is how literal I can get in these baller strikes, and literal I can get in real what you said there is perfectly. Is this is it over? No, no, no, no, no, no. If you said it's over, that's a ball. You said it's relatively over. Like relatively speaking, if we're gonna be, you know, if we're gonna get consider history and the dynamics and with the what are what's the real chance? Now, the other thing is the Brewers are are very good. It's not like we're seven games behind the Reds who have outperformed. You could argue the Brewers have outperformed, but they're very, very good.
SPEAKER_02So remember last year when they won whatever 20 something, it felt like they weren't gonna lose. And I'm like, that there's no way this is sustainable. It's just a good baseball program, folks. It's been sustainable, and then it is they unleashed this Pokemon card who's like the Chai Rizard on fire, literally has thrown more pitches over 103 than anybody since oh the he eclipsed Chapman in the number of 103 mile an hour fastballs thrown over X amount of games, and he's done it already.
SPEAKER_01He has no muscle on his frame, can grow, no facial hair, and wears size 19 spikes. So what do you let me tell you this too? Because I go back to Randy Johnson. When Randy Johnson was Jacob Mizarowski's age, he couldn't get on the mount in the big leagues, he couldn't, he couldn't do shit without him completely and utterly embarrassing himself because he couldn't throw a strike, couldn't throw a breaking ball, had absolutely no idea where the hell it was going. So if we're gonna make this comparison, I'm gonna say he Jacob Mizorowski is as dominant as anybody I've seen since Randy Johnson was roided out with the diamondbacks and won four straight side yarns or whatever. That's what I look at Jacob Mizarowski. I can't my mouth is on the floor, and it's like you would get that from you got that from Lindsay Cum for a little bit. I mean, there's so many good pitchers that have come and gone, but when you look at Mizorowski pitching the way I shouldn't just say necessarily look at a pitch, look at the way the hitters react to him pitching. You could easily make an argument that we're literally watching the very beginning of one of the greatest of all time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and even just the step he took from his rookie year, like the control stuff. Insane. And it's it's insane. He got it under control.
SPEAKER_01So now here's the thing though, is like I as I'm saying he's this and that. Like Scoobyl is this would be the second best pitcher, you know, like I would say I would say comfortably. Is this is the second best pitcher. If we get Scoobyl, you know, then that matchup with the Brewers, we're probably a better, we're probably better with Scuba on the mound against the Brewers than the Brewers are with Ms. Rowski on the mound against us. Like I would take the Cubs in that matchup.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think I would too.
SPEAKER_01I think that's how crazy, even though, but that's when we're talking about why the high end in the trade deadline, it's like you have to visualize these October matchups. They're sending the number one to the mound. Like, you go play the Dodgers, you're gonna get their number one. You go play the Braves, you're gonna get their number one. You go, whoever, like that's why we need a number one. We don't Matt Boyd, great the last six starts. That's awesome. Love what showed has done the last 45. Like, we went through this last year against Freddie Perlton Brewers. So if we don't recorrect it this year with a significantly better team after you spent 35 million on Alex Bregman, we got Savannah Bananas cutting fucking checks left and right. Yeah, maybe. Did I tie all the heck together?
SPEAKER_02That was perfect, perfect loop uh bring it back all together. Absolutely. You tied it off nicely. One note, my brother-in-law was at the game, and directly in front of him, George McCaskey was the line umpire. Where and no fanfare, no nothing. No one even knew he was at the game, and he was just chilling, calling it straight. My brother-in-law sends me my dad. He was like right in front of him. He's like, Yo, George McCaskey's calling the game right now, and I don't think anyone knows that it's him, and people did catch on later, but you know, he's a he's an umpire, he does a bunch of little league games out into planes, so yeah, sick of them.
SPEAKER_01He's a love of the game, yeah. He's in it. He he's in the the little league scene quite a bit. I do love that man so much. He's grown on me, man. He really has. Uh, yeah, you'll see him walk on the waldron deck in like a bear starter jacket from like 1994. No joke, just classic vintage McCaskey. Now, I'm a little disappointed. Um I didn't see that online. Were people saying that online? Was McCaskey online this week?
SPEAKER_02I I don't think that I should have tweeted this out, but no, it could be out there. This was just straight from the source.
SPEAKER_01You got to lose in the front row because he I don't know if he would go to a Cubs game, but the fact he would put himself on the field in front of 50,000 screaming Savannah Banana fans is just a testament to how much the guy loves the game, loves the people. He really does love the people. I don't think that is uh is as well known as it should be, or as is obvious as it should be that he is a he is a very fan first, family first man, and would fucking cut off his left arm for a season ticket holder in the 300s.
SPEAKER_02100 think about this, and I'm being George McCaskey tangent right here, but just folks, oh my type of ownership. Anybody who has even a somewhat of a percentage in a team would literally just walk around with regular Joes all the time, and he does it not just in Bears games, not just at a Savannah bananas, you know, calling the game, he'll do this at like like local events and puts himself out there during the height, like the most heightened times when he's being criticized. He'll literally lean in and be like, What do you want to talk about? So I respect that a lot.
SPEAKER_01I mean, in the meantime, you got other guys walking around 10 security guard details, just being real pulse smokers. But the the argument then is that well, McCaskey doesn't have real wealth, and McAveske, you know, it's just the family owns the thing. He is he is more of a regular Joe than some like you know, the guy who owns the Carolina Panthers who's got that hedge fund who's got like $25 billion or so, you know, like the richest owner in sports or whatever, crazy shit. McCaskey's like over here making like $250 grand as a salary. Good for him.
SPEAKER_02And honestly, I what am I talking about? Like Rick Tom, literally the owner of the Cubs, the show, which it's the Monday morning cub show, he walks around a lot too with the fans and stuff. So he puts himself out there. That's a little bit, but it is performative, though. It's it there's probably a detail, you know, with your comparison.
SPEAKER_01Tommy walking around in the Usher uniform makes me sick. Like if McCaskey did that, I would be I would be a little put off. Tom in the Usher uniform when he walks around the concourse and he shakes hands and takes pictures with people. Um, you know what? That's probably nice though, because there's 81 games a year, national international fan base. Imagine if you and Mahoney, imagine if you lived in New Mexico, you're in Santa Fe, but because of WGN, you know, your dad's there watching games, you make a pilgrimage, you bring their kids, or you bring your kids, and like you walk in, you're on a concourse waiting for a hot dog, and there's Tom Ricketts. That's gotta be that's gotta be that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02There's the owner of the Cubs.
SPEAKER_01I'm doing a 180 on Tom.
SPEAKER_02You want to talk to all about just state-sponsored media. So I'm not gonna go into the whole details, but that tour I went on at Wrigley Field for the work event last week, those tour guides, man, they will not defer from that that narrative, the path, talking about the rooftops, how they got acquired, and everything, and this that they are God's gift to Cubs fans. And you can't ask a question without them having like four different outs on like what what we're supposed to be talking about, and then they'll pivot to the pennants, you know, be like, actually, Mr. Wrigley was a huge sailor, and like, yeah, but you can't ask a question. I'm like, how did those rooftops actually get acquired by the family over the course of time? And they're like, he gave them a deal that they couldn't refuse, made these guys richer beyond their wildest streets, and like I look at my boss, I'm like, it was a hostile takeover.
SPEAKER_01I was like, If you are you familiar with the term extortion, uh yeah, and that's when the the when the Cubs were doing that, they this is a dovetail. We'll get back to trade deadline, but they had they had intentionally hired Julian Green. And this is an interesting little political thing because people when the Ricketts family acquired the Cubs, obviously, one of the big complaints against him is that you know Papa Joe is a bleeding heart Republican, the son is the governor or whatever of Nebraska, these are extremely conservative values, etc. And this isn't gonna mesh well because Ram Emanuel's the mayor, or mayor Daly was the mayor at the time, and Ram Emanuel was in some special runoff because he wasn't a resident of Chicago or some crazy bullshit. And so when the Rickets acquired him and Daly stepping out of office, and Ram Emanuel's coming into office, they hired Julian Green to be the head of their communications and all this stuff. And Julian Green was a political operative in the Obama camp, was like a political campaign runner or whatever. So the Cubs brought him in and they basically like tapped into used him to tap into the Chicago Power Network on the Democratic side to be like, How do we get how do we turn this? How do we turn Wrigleyville and everything that we own that it is now without ruffling as many feathers as possible? And so then that's when you the rooftop owners and how they acquired all that shit and how they set up all the legality and we're gonna block the net or we're gonna use the nets and how they got around the noise ordinances and influenced all the aldermen. There you go, Julian Green. So you got to give the Rickets some credit because they play, they do know how to play ball. And through, and I want to say, through that, they got into bed with the Pritzkers, and now they are in real estate development projects with the Pritzker family, who's on in the Obama camp, which is uh just a remarkable turn of the events from when the Rickets originally purchased the Cubs, and people were like, they're not gonna fit in town at all. It's like, uh, watch them cut the fucking checks, watch them bend the knee to the Pritzkers, watch them come in here and do all that swear, swear their banner and alliance to all the Rama Manual shit that was going on at the time.
SPEAKER_02So, oh yeah, they threw her sister into all kinds of like the democratic leadership committees and boards and all of that to be like, actually, we do both.
SPEAKER_01Yep, and she buy she's gonna buy the red stars or whoever they are, and we're gonna we're gonna take the most active whatever you guys want from us. We'll build the real estate. So that's why I'm comfortable coming back to this trade deadline stuff. And we go, don't talk to me about control when I know the payroll is opening up, I know the type of money these people, I know it's lurking now, it's growing. The cash is there now, you know, wasn't for a while, wasn't during COVID. I think they have reorganized, and I would be comfortable then saying if you don't trade for Tarek Scuble and you don't prioritize the players that most increase your World Series odds this year. I don't give a fuck about control next year. Don't tell me that we have this guy, and he and it's even happens when we talk about Scoobol. People are like, Oh, he would love to stay in Chicago long term, it'd be great to have long term. Shut the fuck up about long term. We just smashed Paul Schienes on Saturday. We're getting into August. We got the trade deadline. Like Mahoney, I want to win the World Series.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the time is nigh, Carl. It I don't care who what it costs. Now we have to get Scoobyl for this team for this year. You have to play in the now with baseball. There might not be a season next year. Give everybody away. Get Tarek Scuba on the north side, get him dealing significant innings, have him our game one starter, and we'll be feared again.
Matt Shaw Value And Going Big
SPEAKER_02People fear our offense, best in the league, but they'll fear our whole team if we got a Scuble leading the charge.
SPEAKER_01And from a capital standpoint, if that means giving up Mad Shaw, which I don't want to do at all in the least bit, you know, I would make that for Scuba. I would do that. If they gave up Matt Shaw for Reed Detmers, who has, you know, whatever, three years of control and 136 strikeouts and 100 something innings and is awesome. Thank you. You know, then then then you're a little like, uh so Carl Ball. You wouldn't have had Shaw the same time as Detmers, and you could you could you could go sign a guy who would give you what Deters gives you. What Scuobel gives you, you can't sign. You can't, it just it's like he's worth like 60 million a year.
SPEAKER_02I can't even put it into words how good he is. So baller strike, Matt Shaw, he should be off limits in every conversation aside from with Derek Scuble.
SPEAKER_01He should be off, he should strike, he should be off limits. Will he be?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I don't think so, only because I just don't see that the fit. They clearly haven't used him. I know he's hurt, but it's just a strange year for Matt Shaw.
SPEAKER_01They could definitely trade him for a guy like Debmers, where you're coming and you're saying, Hey, we have maximum control. Then there's a guy like Joe Ryan who has 27 control, just like the next year control. So, like, I wouldn't Matt Shaw, I wouldn't give up for just one year Joe Ryan. You gotta think Matt Shaw's under contract, easily controllable for the next four years, right for an extension. Probably one of the easiest guys you could ever extend. Crazy to me, the Cubs just didn't go to Matt Shaw and were like, here's your million. I was gonna say 40. He would take six years and 40. You could give him one of the Rizzo deals because he's just walks to play ball. He doesn't, he's no ego at all. But but but that's what makes him valuable in the trade market. He's by far a number one trade chip. I don't care what anybody says. Somebody to say Jackson Wiggins is a better trade prospect. Any baseball president in Major League Baseball is gonna look at the Cubs roster and go, the matchup, we want that guy first. Anybody who knows their shit, I should say, which doesn't mean everybody in baseball, but anybody who knows a damn thing about the game.
SPEAKER_02Well, between the T leaves, everything I've reading is that's who any team brings up when they're talking to Chicago in the front office.
SPEAKER_01And the fact that we brought in Bragman for third, whatever, and now you're seeing Pedro Amiz is hitting over 300 on almost his first hundred plate appearances, and then you start doing the math in your head. We're like, well, we have to like really be creative to get Matt Shaw 450 plate appearances if he's healthy. He's not really a right fielder in the first place. We haven't even given him a position. Well, who knows? Who knows where the organization even sees him fit? So, but then maybe that entices opposing teams to look at Matt Shaw and say, hey, what's going on with this guy? We really like this guy. And the Cubs are like, Well, you like him enough for Chair Scuble?
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Maybe you can make an argument more for Reed Detmers and Matt Shaw because of Detmers, he has so much control. I'm gonna go back to control, either so much of it. That's where then it it becomes a much more important thing. But if you're just gonna tell me he's got a year of control in 27, like that just falls right in the middle where I don't really care.
SPEAKER_02So, do you know what? The last couple years, while just on the deadline, I feel like I've put way too much thought and effort into like what's going to happen and nothing. It's been very, you know, they whoyer tends to play it safe, it seems like. But for some reason, man, I have a feeling something big's gonna happen between now and next Monday. It's like we've been kind of waiting in the wings. Let's make a splash.
SPEAKER_01They're so much better than they were last year at this point. I know, yeah. And they have a much better core of guys and group of guys. They were better you know, and then there's other years before it's like we should why didn't we go all in here? Why didn't we trade for more ear? You know, those are moments where you're like, it'd be nice to get into the playoffs. You know, teams that have these conversations out trade deadlines you can make the playoffs, you're kind of still stuck in the format where there was only one wildcard team. Where, like, yeah, now you're in it. Now it's just a five-game, seven-game, you could be in the World Series. So the dynamic of like making the trade to get to the playoffs, I think is significantly less valuable than a lot of maniacs have been conditioned in our lives if you grew up in a four wildcard format. 100% four-team playoff format. So now that now, now I think the dynamic has shifted. If you're making these trades, it has to be what drastically moves us ahead to get into the World Series versus what drastically moves us ahead to get into the playoffs. Now, if we do that, what gets us into the playoffs? It's like, yeah, fucking go, yeah, go trade for you know, it's okay if we don't get scoo ball. That's where the mindset shifts. If you say we're just trying to make the playoffs, okay, well, we don't need to get scoo-bull. We can just get yeah, we just need someone better than Jamison. It's like, buddy, fuck off. Nope.
SPEAKER_02This trade is to win in the playoffs. We're making trades to win in the playoffs, not get there, not to get the catch the brewers, okay? It's just to win in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_01Love you. Could not have said that any better. You couldn't, you literally could not have said that any better.
Cardinals Predictions And Triantos Moment
SPEAKER_01So uh, do you want to just do quick schedule look at four at St. Louis? Do you have any predictions here?
SPEAKER_02Um, I I think we're gonna sweep St. Louis, baby. I'm feeling rolling rolling into St. Louis, pissing on that arch and getting the hell out of there with a sweep.
SPEAKER_01We see McGreevy tonight. I think he's pitched well against just before Dustin May tomorrow. No, we see Liber Libertor, Liberatory or whatever, former top prospect. He's I mean, just call him average it. It's like him versus David Peterson, a battle of below average lefties with underwhelming stuff. Love us in that matchup, you know. Colin Ray versus Mike McGreavy, love Colin Ray there. Matthew Boyd versus Dustin May, love him, and then uh Showder versus Paette and the getaway day. That should be an awesome game. That fourth game should probably be the best game in the series. The 115 Thursday should be electric theater.
SPEAKER_02And you know, one fun note that we did not bring up, it was great to see James Triantos come up looking the park, looking around, being like, hell yeah, I'm here. Always cool to see a dude come up and get his you know taste of the big leagues, gets a hit at his first at bat. So that was a fun watch. And I also will say, Carl, we had I had sources coming in. I knew he was getting called up two days before, and I can't bring you know reveal anybody, but just so you guys know, we had the news.
SPEAKER_01Moni's gonna break it next time.
SPEAKER_02Don't I think I'm a little scared though about past instances, perhaps, Carl, that we just talked about and you dark, etc. But that's not quite as big. I think it could have flubbed a Dre James Trianto's call up and no one would have batted an eye.
SPEAKER_01I think you're right on that.
SPEAKER_02I get calls from Hoyer. Hey man, you just ruined everything.
SPEAKER_01Mahoney, dude. Now we're not gonna let now Trianto's can't come in as a late instrument once we're up to 15. You know, the scoop game, Mahoney. I would rather have you come to me and be like, I just got I'm getting big in a Facebook marketplace buy and resale.
SPEAKER_02So like so and the real mouse table saw, dude. I'm gonna refurbish this thing and sell it back on Facebook Marketplace.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'd have more confidence if you came to me and you had that idea at the top of mind. Um, I've enjoyed I've enjoyed today's show. I think we're prepped for what should be on at the very least on Friday. I will get into the rumors that are adding up because the trade deadline is August 3rd.
SPEAKER_02And it'll be closer than it would have been a purely speculative episode today, based on the notes and players that I had. I've gone down that rabbit hole in the past, and it's it's not a fun, dark place to be.
SPEAKER_01Well, we've laid the foundation for what we think should be happening, which is targeting starting pitching that moves the World Series odds. Not the playoff odds, not the division odds, it's just pure World Series odds is the primary consideration.
Deadline Wish List Beyond Starters
SPEAKER_01One, two, I'll introduce this. If we get a right-handed bat with power that can pinch hit with power off the bench, I would very much like to see that. I feel like we've used a lot of right-handed you know, bench spots or we haven't taken advantage of a right-handed platoon bench spot for a guy who could hit for power. And then you go back to Tyler Austin or Tyler Well, the guy we signed this offseason from the Korean League or Japanese League that never that just hasn't played, fucked his knee up. Yeah, he was supposed to be the righty platoon off the bench with power guy. That's that should be easier to get dude. Yeah, it should be easier to get maybe it, and so that would be like a move that happens that nobody sees or really cares about, but ends up being like significant in September and October, if you could get a platoon guy righty with power, and then the other thing, obviously, bullpen, but I'm less the foundation for bullpen is keep in mind internally, we do have a lot, a lot of talented arms that are all trying to get back for the run. So it's like I don't need all five of them, but if one or two of these guys show up, huge, it's just as good as getting a trade. So, one, the starting pitching, you know, two, if you want to mix in a position player, I guess the the other big consideration, you know, be comfortable if we end up moving everybody. You know, if you just see prospect after prospect get traded, like whatever, don't be a white socks fan. We're sitting around coveting players who are years away from Major League Baseball. Like, don't do that to yourself, it's not worth it.
SPEAKER_02It really isn't, guys. We got the Cardinals for four games in a row. We got we're playing baseball all week here. Cardinals for three, four, and then the Yankees are coming to town. So seven baseball games this week.
SPEAKER_01Let's go five and two, and then a cool six in a row, dude, at Wrigley. Three Yankee, three Dodger. That's gotta be really cool. Wrigley, yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's gonna be a fun one. You know, it's been a really good time around Wrigley Field lately. Last week with the championship, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Let's
Wrigley Tour Tales And Day Games
SPEAKER_01do this. I want to talk to you about this. I'm sorry to interrupt you. Uh, you went to Wrigley. We were gonna do this on the last time you came on, so give it to me.
SPEAKER_02Well, I went to Wrigley on the tour, it was for work, right? Where I, you know, invited some folks all within the industry, and it was an unbelievable experience, one that I wish every Cubs fan or sports fan even could go through once in their life if they're lucky enough, like I have been. And you know, you meet at the gate, it was a game day, walking through the stadium. The the tour guide, like I said, state sponsored, but so enthusiastic and so good at his job. His name was John. Awesome, John. If you're listening to this, and you know, we went, we go in and we're sitting next to, I mean, next to the batting cage. Dansby's right there, you know, El Contero is still up. You're just seeing these dudes in person, and when you're just that up close, it it there's an aura about big leaguers, man. And I'm telling you, if you get a little closer than even first row, you could you feel it now. From my perspective, because we were hosting, I had never seen people happier. There was diehards that came that probably wouldn't get the opportunity to do this sort of thing, and they did. So seeing the joy on other people's faces while we were going through this whole rigor, and then you go up to a suite afterwards, air conditioned. It was a hotter day. You know, we've talked about the suite. Plenty of you guys know it's for you know, food, drinks, all that. But um, Sean Dunstan visited my suite. I got an autographed Sean Dunstan ball. He's the first person I see because it was this all that they had did the all-star announcement that night. So they had like all kinds of big leaguers walking around. You know, he was like at third, he put the third base down with whoever else. Um it was an awesome experience. And then, like I said, like there were some things where we were trying to dig into the rooftops where they like just pivoted every time, which of course that's what they're gonna do. I wouldn't expect anything else. And then one thing he had mentioned, which I did a little digging, and I don't know if I don't think it's accurate, but the dude told me that the pennant race came from Wrigley because of the way that they changed the flags on the pole. And then when I looked it up, it's like the term pennant race, because they handed out pennants to the winners, has been around since like 1890. So this guy was kind of embellishing some stories, I think, to make it a bit cool. It's one of those like legends that I think just grew and somebody kept telling that same story. But the experience itself was unreal, dude. I was standing next to Craig. Carl, if I was with you, you would have looked, you would have probably been on the field with one of the microphones that you'd smuggled in, giving him an interview. But like I was with workers, dude. Miguel Maya saw us over there. He throwed baseball, so signing autographs for people, they're thrilled to be there. This one one girl we had, she had like a Sea Suzuki, the Japanese jersey from his Japanese team, not just like a Cubs one. So these were like legit die hard fans, an unbelievable experience. Um, I'll kind of leave it at that. It was just something to be a part of, and I'll never forget it. It was awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the tour, the tour I have never done at Wrigley Field. I've had access to the field, I've pitched on the field and have taken BP and fucked around there. And I've done a lot of cool stuff, you know, when it's been closed for charity events or whatever. I have never gotten the full dog and pony tour from an expert, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that they're you know, let me tell you about the pennants and how the Cubs made the pennants. Did they get into how they bought the real estate and what it used to look like in the old seminary and all that stuff? Or was it just like, welcome to Wrigley Field, it's been Wrigley Field. They talk about weak material.
SPEAKER_02He got well, they got into that in the beginning, and then it was mostly about the Wrigley family and how what they wanted to do with the ballpark, you know, even before they had owned the place and everything, or and when the the naming rights got put on and how they're gonna keep his name up there forever. Um, there was a lot to it, but like I said, I was also taken in the sights of the sound, so I probably checked out a couple times when he was given the spiels.
SPEAKER_01I'm digging right now and have for months. I've told you this behind the scenes, but there is there's gotta be a story there because when Bill Wrigley sold it or died and his son took over, and before the Wrigley sold the Tribune, they did they just refused to put the lights in. And the old story is that they had the lights, they were gonna install the lights, and then the war department during World War II is like, Hey, we need all the steel and metal and scrap we can get. So they took the order of the lights and then repurposed it for World War II equipment or something that's the story that, like, instead of installing the lights in, and then in the 50s and the 60s and the 70s, while the Wrigley family is like second generation or third generation, they just refuse to put in the lights, and I do think there is ready. I think there's a conspiracy there. I think there's a reason, maybe not a conspiracy, but there's a business reason. There's something there the Cubs held on to that 120 day game when everybody else was going the night.
SPEAKER_02Sadly, I'll have to look this up. I swear the dude touched on that thing that exactly because he went into them when the lights were installed and how they didn't work, you know, one like the first day or two, and um it's very interesting stuff.
SPEAKER_01Um, when the tribune company bought the cubs in like 8081 or whatever, they still didn't put the lights in for like eight or nine years, and that's because the tribune company owned WGN, and the Cubs 128 vote. I mean, it's so much more valuable than Maury Povich or Jesse Jones or whatever they're running at, you know, noon to 4 p.m. on WGN. So there's some there's some story there about not putting in the lights, the Tribune didn't put in the lights, the business, the super station, the cable. And it all comes back to this without him refusing to put in the lights for 30 years until he sells it to the Tribune, the Cubs never become the daytime sensation that they are nationally, because when they broad started broadcasting their games and stealing the catalyte sablet uh signals in '78, and it became a super station. The only reason people were tuning into the Cubs is because they were on during the day. And if the second Wrigley guy puts in the lights, the Cubs are not on during the day. This the super station doesn't really ever take its full strength and form, and we don't have Cubs fans all over the world, so that when we go to Colorado, there's 30,000 Cubs fans, etc.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, it's it's it's an amazing piece of history.
SPEAKER_01Um it is. We should be tour guides together, we should apply for that job, like later in life, obviously.
SPEAKER_02They did talk about the shipping club that Wilmington Transport and how they had boats ferrying players to spring training on Catalina Island, and that's how they'd have a W flag flying. And it sounds like a nightmare to live during that time because if you're a baseball player, you gotta hop on the ferry.
SPEAKER_01I know players there are such pussies. Oh man. This PCA guy, you don't know what it was like, dude, to play the dysentery.
Final Thoughts And Sign Off
SPEAKER_01Um, this is the Monday morning cub show. I'll be back later in the week. We'll be more specific about here's some names and responding more to some of the speculation. You're seeing speculation now come up. Again, I just reframe it like we do need guys that increase our World Series odds more than anything else, more than control, more than contract friendliness. I don't care about a lockout next year, blah, blah, blah. I'll also say this about the lockout. Wrigley Field is set to host the all-star game next year. If you think that Major League Baseball is gonna put itself in a position where they're gonna compromise Wrigley Field getting the all-star game, or where you're gonna there's a world where baseball isn't being played, or we're not in a position next summer to enjoy a midsummer classic at Wrigley Field. There's no way Major League Baseball is gonna do that. I think season starts on schedule. I'm not worried about any of that work stoppage stuff. I could care less as it pertains to the trade deadline. Final team.
SPEAKER_02Same. And I mean, yeah, we got a season to play here. Let's think about next year. Next year.
SPEAKER_01Guys, get a chance, review the show, share the show. Love you guys tuning in. Thank you guys, Maniacs. We'll be back next time. Until then, take care of it.