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The 2008 This Year in Baseball Awards are up at Major League Baseball’s website.  You can vote now for your favorite players, moments, and plays on the year.

There are thirteen categories to vote from.  Many Cubs players have made the list in these categories.  Here is the list followed by the Cubs players that made the nomination ballot:

1- Hitter of the Year
2- Starting Pitcher of the Year (Ryan Dempster + Rich Harden)
3- Rookie of the Year (Geovany Soto)
4- Manager of the Year (Lou Piniella)
5- Closer of the Year (Kerry Wood)
6- Setup Man of the Year (Carlos Marmol)
7- Defensive Player of the Year
8- Performance of the Year (Soriano’s 3HR Game + Zambrano’s No-Hitter)
9- Play of the Year (Edmonds catch in Houston + Johnson’s catch at Washington)
10- Moment of the Year
11- Oddity of the Year (Edmonds finds two balls in the ivy)
12- Executive of the Year (Jim Hendry)
13- Postseason Moment

Voting ends on December 8th, so vote now!

Chicago Cubs sale updated:

The Chicago Cubs are still looking to sell the team and Wrigley Field.  From the looks of it, Mark Cuban is probably out of the running due to the recent scandal that broke with his charge for “insider trading.”  According to an article published by the official Chicago Cubs website, the second round of bidding is under way and it seems like there are four groups that are interested in purchasing the Cubs franchise.  I am not exactly sure who these people are… I’ve read some places that there is a Rickett’s family from Omaha and I read something else about John Canning (who happens to be a White Sox fan).

I hope this whole thing goes down soon and we can just get a new owner already!

Little Cubs Field is located in Freeport, Illinois.  In case you have never heard of this before, it is a miniature replica of Wrigley Field.  There is a little more information here.  The idea was to build an exact replica of Wrigley Field but small enough that could accommodate Little League games.  I have driven past Freeport ’s Little Cubs Field while it was under construction.. from the looks of it, it seemed pretty cool.  The park is completely the same as Wrigley Field in all aspects, except that it is called “Little Cubs Field.”  Apparently, the Cubs didn’t give the naming rights to Freeport to use the name “Wrigley Field” in the name of the park.  I believe they were originally trying to call it, “Little Wrigley Field,” but they had to settle for “Little Cubs Field.”  This park is supposed to be exactly like Wrigley Field from the ivy covered walls, to the green scoreboard, and the flags above the scoreboard, to the red marquee sign, to even a penny pressed into one of the bricks in left field.

If anyone has seen this place, please post your experience or pictures!  I’d be interested to see.

Hey everyone!

I hope that everyone has a nice and happy Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow.  When I look back at the year of 2008— I think of things that I am thankful for.  There are many many things and one of those things is being a Chicago Cubs fan!  I know that sounds kind of lame, but the Cubs have provided me with a lot of great memories and fun moments.  It was a pretty awesome summer getting to hang out around Wrigley Field for half of the home games.  I made some great friends, saw some cool things, and got inside of Wrigley Field for roughly twenty games… for virtually nothing!

It has been a really nice year and I am happy to have had these moments to remember.

According to Major League Baseball , the Chicago Cubs are out of the Jake Peavy sweepstakes.

The Chicago Cubs announced today that they were no longer interested in Jake Peavy.  Instead, the Cubs are looking forward to acquiring a left handed bat.  Lou Piniella was quoted as saying that the Cubs are fine as far as starting pitching goes.  Piniella said that the Cubs have six good starters.  So, it looks like the rotation is going to be something like: Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly, Marquis.  My guess is that the supposed sixth starter is Sean Marshall?  The rotation does look pretty solid and getting Peavy really is not necessary.  I think the Cubs actually got this one right!

Haha, I saw the funniest interview with Lou Piniella last  night.  He was in some Chicago school as part of one of those promotional things for kids.  Anyway, Piniella was interviewed by some reporters by saying things like, “I guess we just really didn’t know about the urgency to play to win.  I mean, it was 100 years, and that is a long time.  I also think there were alot of expectations for us to do well, and that added pressure hurt our chances too.”  You think?  I also find it somewhat comical how Piniella began the season by telling his players to not allow any of the 100 years stuff to get into the players’ heads, and here he is now saying that they should have been thinking about that stuff.  Oh, Sweet Uncle Lou.

But it gets better.  The best part had to be when Lou fielded questions from the kids.  One kid asked, “Do you plan on moving Soriano out of the lead off spot?” and Piniella laughed and replied, “You’ve been hanging around them Chicago media people, haven’t you?”  It was pretty funny.

Apparently, the Mark Teahen chatter continues…

According to Major League Baseball, the Cubs are interested in Kansas City Royals outfielder, Mark Teahen.  The Royals are interested in adding a left handed bat and some pitching, as both Mike Fontenot and Sean Marshalls’ names are being tossed around amongst these rumors.

Mark Teahen had a down year last year as he hit only .255.  Teahen is a career .268 hitter, but he hit .290 and .285 in the two seasons prior to 2008.  I would think that Teahen would most likely play at center field since it does not look like Jim Edmonds will be returning.  Although, who knows what will happen with Kosuke Fukudome and Reed Johnson.

The news is so slow that I thought I’d tell the story of my first time ever going to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

I was in second grade and it was Opening Day of 1993.  My mom was going to take me to my first Cubs game.  I didn’t know what to expect but I thought it was going to be cool.

In addition to it being my first Cubs game, it was also the very first funeral I ever went to.  I think it might have been my Great Aunt who had passed away.  Either way, I did not know her, and I did not know why everyone was crying and throwing themselves on the coffin.  That’s right, I come from a very large, melodramatic, Italian family.

Anyhow, we left the funeral and headed on our way to Wrigley Field.  I remember exiting from the Kennedy onto Addison Street.  I remember feeling overwhelmed by the sight of so many cars and people walking the streets.  My mom pulled up into the McDonalds and parked.  I thought it was the coolest thing that there was a McDonalds by Wrigley Field.  My mom and I went in and got some soup because it was so cold outside.

We finally went inside took our seats.  I remember thinking that Wrigley Field was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.  I could feel all of the excitment and energy coming from the fans and the media.  Seeing as it was Opening Day, there was a lot of high optimism and excitement for the season.

I don’t remember much of the actual game.  I remember it being so cold.  My mom and I were sitting right by the press box in the upper deck.  While I don’t remember the actual game or the outcome (I feel like the Cubs lost though), I do remember the great time I had with my mom.  She talked to me about all sorts of things: her passion for baseball, eating peanuts, being a Cubs fan, and various stories about how she used to skip school and come out to Wrigley Field.  I thought it was so cool to relate with my mom on the same level.

In the end, it was a day I will never forget.

Just a friendly reminder, the Chicago Blackhawks will be hosting the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings on January 1st at Wrigley Field.   There have been all sorts of events in the ninety-four years that Wrigley Field has existed.  From baseball to football to concerts… Wrigley has seen it all… except for a hockey game.  This will be the very first ever hockey game at Wrigley Field and it should be a great event as the Hawks and Wings are both having good seasons thusfar.  It should be neat to see how the rink is constructed to accomodate for Wrigley Field.  It should be a really cool sight with the “bleacher bums,” the green scoreboard with the Hawks as the home team, the rooftops, the red marquee sign all lit up, the retro jerseys, snow falling and the wind howling.

Winter Classic logo borrowed from wikipedia.com

The MVP awards have been announced and here are the results:

National League Most Valuable Player = Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals)
American League Most Valuable Player = Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox)

My first thoughts are that it’s hilarious that Pujols won it.  I say this because of this article that was published in 2006.  Basically, Pujols was whining that Ryan Howard, of the Philadelphia Phillies, did not deserve the award because his team did not make the playoffs.  As you all know, the Cardinals won it all in 2006.  This time, the tables are turned with Pujols’ team out of the playoffs and the Phillies winning the World Series, thanks in large part to Ryan Howard’s bat.  I think it’s hilarious how Pujols is now suddenly retracting his statement :  “I think the writers made the right choice in 2006,” Pujols said. “[Howard] did deserve it. He had a great year just like I had. That’s how it is.”

As far as the AL MVP goes… I still think it’s kind of a joke that someone like Dustin Pedroia won the award.  But then again, there really was no clear favorite in the American League.  I mean, come on, K-Rod finished sixth in the voting?