But now to the more important issue.

With some players, the question of what hat to wear in the Hall is a big one. It’s not with Larkin. He played his entire 19-year career with the Cincinnati Reds. However, based on new evidence uncovered today by Reddit (here), I think the Hall of Fame should eschew a baseball cap for Larkin and instead induct him with a full body bronze statue complete with the sublime turtleneck-sweater-overall outfit he is pictured in below.

Image source: Imgur via Reddit

Pretty spectacular right? Also spectacular is that at first glance it looks like the lifetime Red is wearing a Cubs sweatshirt. Sorry to disappoint you Cubs fans, but he’s not. As this Reddit commenter pointed out, it’s a sweatshirt commemorating the 1990 All Star Game that was played at Wrigley.

It’s just a terrific ensemble. Based on the relaxed clothing of Joe White Guy standing next to Larkin, it doesn’t appear to be overly chilly where they are, yet Larkin is three layers deep in quintessential early 90s garb, including and especially the single unstrapped overall.

In conclusion, there may be worthy debate over Barry Larkin’s Baseball Hall of Fame credentials, but just based on this picture alone Larkin is a first ballot 1990s Hall of Famer. Congratulations Barry. Welcome to the club.

(Now excuse me while I go search for an old picture of myself in Jubaz pants to post…)

For example, here is a compilation of 16mm home movies of Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals games from 1929, 10 years before NBC broadcast the first televised NFL game. If the NFL did have a TV deal in 1929, the sparse crowds at Comiskey Park and Wrigley Field in these clips suggest that the games would have been blacked out in the Chicago market.

We all know that the Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series since 1908, but the Cubbies won several National League pennants between 1908 and 1945, the last time they played in the Fall Classic. This video includes footage from two 1929 World Series games between the Cubs and the Philadelphia Athletics. (The segment begins with a 1930 Flag Day ceremony at Wrigley Field.)

Here are 19 seconds from an 8mm film of a 1930s high school basketball game at Newton High School in Massachusetts.

And here are highlights from the first game played at Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse, in 1955.

This YouTube artifact is a newsreel segment about the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix that focuses on British driver Dick Seaman. (Yes, that’s his real name.)

Speaking of newsreels, here is a 1935 newsreel produced by TIME Magazine re-enacting Leadbelly’s release from Angola Prison in Louisiana (featuring Leadbelly as himself).

I’m always amazed by how many antique movies live on YouTube. You can watch Georges Méliès’s classic 1902 sci-fi film Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) in its entirety.

You can also watch all 12:42 of Edison Studios’ 1910 Frankenstein movie.

Finally, here is audio of what is believed to be the oldest recorded sound. It’s Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville’s April 9, 1860 recording of “Au Clair de la Lune.” Scott captured the song on a device he invented called the phonautograph.

Please, whatever you do, do not raise your child as a Chicago Cubs fan.

I was raised a Cubs fan since the day I could watch baseball. Some of my favorite memories are watching the Cubs with my dad in our living room.

I was still young at that point, and I didn’t totally understand how much the Cubs sucked and have sucked for 100+ years now.

Initially, being a Cubs fan brought me joy and a sense of pride; but as I got older, especially after the 2003 playoff debacle, I began to see the Cubs as they truly were and are: losers.

But as true fans do, I stuck with them.

Worst decision of my life.

Since 2003 the Cubs have made the playoffs twice (2007 and 2008), and during those stints they failed to win a single game, allowing themselves to be swept in the first round both years. These losses were worse because just 2-3 years prior the White Sox had won the World Series with virtually a no-name team and one of the craziest managers I’ve seen in my life.

Since then, every time the Cubs, or any other Chicago team, goes on a hot streak or fans become excited and think the team is going to start playing well, I don’t join in on the excitement.

I don’t get excited when Sports Illustrated or ESPN predicts that the Cubs or Bears will have a good season; I laugh because I can’t think of anything more stupid to write or believe.

I am not a cynical fan, just one that has become so accustomed to the losing nature of the Cubs that I’ve lost total faith in the franchise.

So parents, please don’t do this your kids.

But if you must, I recommend you sharing this Pearl Jam song to them to calm their inevitable sadness.

I, upon hearing the news, had no real strong opinions. I read both sides of the argument, but I still found myself without a real opinion on the subject. I don’t really care what Epstein did with Boston. I don’t care to hear about his success stories. I don’t even care to hear about his failures in Boston.

All I care about is seeing my Cubs team start winning and becoming a serious threat in the MLB.

I don’t care how it’s done as long as I see some actual progress. I am not expecting a turnaround immediately, but what I do want is a sign of stability and improvement the next few years. I think the majority of Cub fans would agree with me.

For a few years the Cubs did have a strong lineup on paper. But there’s always something prohibiting the Cubs from ever really making that extra step into being a consistent team that can win each season.

I’ll be honest and tell you that I rarely watched a full Cubs’ game last season. There wasn’t much to watch anyway. A team that goes 71-91 this season, hasn’t won a single playoff game in the last two visits to the playoffs, and hasn’t won a World Series since 1908 doesn’t deserve to have 30,000 fans in the stadium or their games shown on TV.

Harsh? Maybe. But there’s really no hiding the embarrassment that you feel once someone asks you who your favorite baseball team, and you answer “the Cubs.” I could stop calling myself a Cubs fan, but I’ve been raised as one since childbirth and no matter if I like it or not, the team will always have a special spot in my heart.

The release of Hendry and signing of Epstein has rekindled interest in this Cubs team.

It could just be false hope, but I do really want to like Epstein. I am hopeful (as all Cub fans are) that a change of face will be good. I know the Cubs have more problems than just the GM position, but I knew the Cubs were never going to win the World Series with Hendry at the reins.

I am not asking for a World Series. All I am asking for is a reason to be proud for being a Cubs fan.

GIF source: Here

Upon seeing this GIF for the first time, I immediately thought of this classic baseball moment:

GIF source: Woosk.com

So just to recap, in this post we have Randy Johnson murdering a living being with the power of a ball tossed from his left hand, and we also have someone associated with the Cubs erring so badly at a simple baseball act that it completely screws over a fan. In other words, while these GIFs are shocking at first glance, they are really exactly what we would expect from both.

Click play on the players below to listen:

As much as we hate to relive the events of October 14, 2003, we harbor no ill will toward Steve Bartman. (Photo: Morry Gash/Associated Press)

Click here to subscribe to Away From the Action on iTunes.

Music notes:

• The opening song is “Smooth Disturbance” by my old band, the National Biscuit Company.
• The closing song is “Numbers” by another of my old bands, Three Hit Combo.
• (I use my own music so that I don’t have to worry about rights and such.)

I figured I might as well do monthly updates on these “predictions,” so as to capriciously praise or condemn myself.

Underrated

Miguel Cabrera

Here is a real superstar. Top 10 in the three major offensive categories, and as a bonus, only 72 strikeouts in 123 games. Cabrera is second in OPS, the most telling category in baseball, and second in On Base Percentage thanks to 80 walks (also 2nd in the AL).

That’s what makes a great ballplayer: consistently good all around. And still, few notice him amongst the Jose Bautistas, Paul Konerkos, Adrian Gonzalezes, Mark Teixeiras, Robinson Canos and Curtis Grandersons of the AL world who garner our attention. Cabrera’s a legit MVP contender again. {Grade so far on my prediction: PASS }

Paul Konerko: 

Pauly continues to be under-appreciated, even in his own city considering Carlos Quentin has reverted back to stellar 2009 form. I will keep praising Paul — even though I despise the ChiSox — because there are people who actually think Ryan Howard is a better player, despite Konerko being better in nearly every category, and by a long shot in most.

Howard will never get 2000 hits, and 400 HRs is questionable. Konerko, just three years older than the Philly first baseman, will likely roll past that first milestone this weekend, and the other next month. And unlike Howard and most others, the White Sox first baseman somehow gets better with age.  He’s now top 5 in all major offensive categories, sans average and RBIs, where he’s 6th. {Grade: PASS}

Adam Dunn:

I often compare the media love for Ryan Howard to Adam Dunn, as I feel they’re basically equal players (same age, same style, Howard higher average, Dunn better power numbers, etc), but if I’m to call out Ryan, Adam needs the same treatment.

You can’t spin this anymore now than you could a month ago: he’s been a disaster! 

Adam’s still hitting well under .200; just 11 homers and 40 RBIs in 102 games; leads the league in strikeouts (149), and a startling 3 for 80 versus left-handed pitching. Yes, that’s a .038 clip! {Grade: FAIL}

Ryan Zimmerman and Shin Soo-Choo have missed too much time for evaluation right now. Neither have been extremely productive, though Zimmerman is hitting .300; and Choo, fresh off the DL this week, shall be a necessary contributor if Cleveland wants a shot at the playoffs. He had five hits in three games during the Indians’ just-completed series win in Chicago.

Overrated:

Ryan Howard:

The “centerpiece” of my article was the Phillies’ big first baseman, who’s been at the top of my list (and emails, texts and tweets) of overhyped ballplayers for years. I’ve see absolutely nothing in 2011 to change my mind; in fact, no matter what ESPN or the media says, I’m more confident in my views than ever.

There was a devastating critique of Howard’s absurd $25 million/year salary and declining stats in Yahoo Sports last month. It hit every angle statistically and factually. While some commenters applauded, most called the writer names and used profanity. It was classic to read his backers getting so desperate.

Though his RBI and home run numbers remain relatively high, vital categories (and overall power categories like slugging, OPS and OBP) continue to fall, while his strikeouts remain 2nd in the National League (on pace for over 180 again).

Ryan has TWO homers off a lefty in 143 at bats this season, and no clutch hits that anyone can recall. (I won’t get into past postseason futility since I covered it last fall)

Howard’s OPS — the most relevant category for a power guy — is an abysmal 23rd in the NL. Despite his power numbers, he’s still a distant 20th in Slugging. His On Base Percentage barely cracks the top 50 on the Senior Circuit. Very telling.

Unless you’re looking for a player on the back-end of his career; less durable than in the past; is quite replaceable; who doesn’t get on base enough; whiffs a lot; is slow; suspect with the glove, but will get you 30-35 HRs with 100 RBIs and a .250 average, he’s not your man.

{Grade so far on my prediction that Howard is overrated: PASS}

Carlos Pena:

The Cubs first baseman has 23 bombs, but that’s around his career average. He’s still at his customary .225 and a putrid .141 off lefties; yet this overpaid 33-year old is a lifetime .239 hitter, so what do we expect? Losing player, losing teams. He doesn’t strikeout quite as much as Howard or Dunn, but that proves little. He’s still overrated. {Grade: PASS}

BJ Upton: Upton rightly doesn’t get the love he once received, but still, when you think of the Rays, after Longoria, BJ’s name comes up. Why?  You like .230 hitters who strikeout WAY too much (5th in AL), with mediocre power and bad attitudes? Until his average improves…{Grade: PASS}

Jeff Francoeur:

Has expectedly cooled considerably after a surprisingly hot start. Jeff’s still at .275/15/66, but he’s not an old player; KC expected him to produce, which is why they extended him through 2013 yesterday. That said, I don’t expect him to get hotter as the summer winds down. Twelve of his 15 dingers and 56 of his 66 RBIs were pre All Star Break. {Grade: MIXED}

Mark Reynolds:

His average has dropped back down to .214, which is apparently impressive for a guy coming off a .198 season. “Only” 142 whiffs in 120 games, but Reynolds is technically on pace for close to 40 homers and 100 RBIs. The Orioles aren’t winning at all, so I’m really not sure what he brings to Baltimore, but I could say the same about Pena, Dunn and many others right now. {Grade: PASS}

So I’m looking at decent grades (80% or so)…

Agree/disagree? Bring facts, not conjecture nor ad hominem attacks. Thanks.

Zambrano apparently told club staff that he was retiring after the ejection. Sadly, two hours later, Zambrano’s agent made it clear that his client was not going to retire; instead, the Cubs put Zambrano on the disqualified list for 30 days.

Cubs general manager, Jim Hendry, said that it was the harshest punishment without actually releasing Zambrano. My question is: Why didn’t Hendry release Zambrano?

Zambrano has a history of being a loud-mouth, arrogant, and I’d say a very narcissistic player who has had some good years but who will no doubt be remembered as an overrated baseball player. It’s not that this day comes as a surprise to any Cubs fan. Zambrano had been trekking on a slow but sure mental downfall. It amazes me how an orphan-adopting and church-building person off the field can be become such a menace on the field.

There are a handful of players in every major league sport that act like this, but they still somehow get jobs from teams. The Cubs are one of these teams. In addition to Zambrano, they signed Milton Bradley, a player known to almost always start controversy, after he had a few good years. We all know how that ended.

What these guys (and most players who fall into this category) have in common is talent plus one or a few good seasons, and because of this teams are willing to take the risk.

I always found that to be disgusting.

Does anyone or any team in sports have dignity anymore? I can understand that teams want to win, but thinking these players will change usually causes more problems than anything. Thinking guys like this can help solve the team’s problems long-term is really asinine.

I totally believe in giving people second chances, but there comes a point where you must draw a line.

You would think the Cubs are already embarrassed enough to have not won a World Series in 103 years that they would think twice before signing players who have a knack of embarrassing the teams they play for. While Zambrano started off very strong in his early seasons, he slowly progressed into a completely unstable baseball player. This incident was nothing new. Things like this have been happening for a few years now, and it’s finally coming back to bite the Cubs in the ass.

It’s time release Zambrano and eat his $19 million salary. It could be the beginning of a much-needed clean-up, one that is imperative if the Cubs ever want to win a World Series again.

In Zambrano’s exit, and juxtaposed against the disappointment of the Wood-Prior-Zambrano trio, I find yet another way to appreciate their underappreciated contemporary: Mark Buehrle.

Click play on the player below to listen:

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For those who would rather read than listen, here is the transcript:

As Carlos Zambrano Exits, Ol’ Reliable Mark Buehrle Stands Alone in Chicago

Last night, Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano did something that is starting to become such a Chicago Cubs thing to do: he walked out on his teammates.

Like Sammy Sosa before him, Zambrano has gone from a beloved Cubs superstar to an overpaid, underachieving, volatile pariah. And like Sosa, Big Z hasn’t been able to stand the heat…so he showed himself out of the kitchen.

When I heard about Zambrano’s selfish, impetuous act, two thoughts immediately flashed into my mind:

One, this probably, mercifully, signals the end of one of the most star-crossed and disappointing pitching phenom trios in baseball history.

And two, I somehow found a new way to appreciate Mark Buehrle.

Let’s deal with number one first.

In 2003, the trio of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Zambrano went a combined 45-28 in 94 starts with an average ERA+ of 151.3 and more than a strikeout per inning. They were, simply put, the most fearsome trio of pitchers in Major League Baseball. Prior and Zambrano were both 22. Wood was 26. Finally, there was realistic hope for broken curses on North Side.

I don’t need to rehash the excruciating details of what happened to this trio in the seasons that ensued after Steve Bartman’s unfortunate rise to infamy. Simply put, it would not be an overstatement to call the fall of Wood and Prior one of the more extreme examples of unfulfilled potential in my lifetime as a baseball fan.

Big Z, on the other hand, stayed physically healthy and became the Cubs’ ace. From 2004-2007 he finished in the top 5 of the Cy Young voting three times. He’s won a total of 125 games while never making fewer than 28 starts in a season before last year. He was, I think, one of the 10 or 15 best pitchers of the aughts when you look at his entire body of work.

And Wood and Prior were both considered better than Zambrano. Can you imagine the Cubs’ pitching staff had those two been able to mature into grizzled 200+ inning machines like Zambrano? As a White Sox fan and lifelong Cubs hater, I shudder to think about such a reality.

The problem with Zambrano is that while he stayed physically healthy, his emotional health seemed to deteriorate by the season. Miscast as a #1 starter, the man to whom all pressure goes on a pitching staff, Zambrano routinely melted down. As his meltdowns increased, so too did his ability to confidently and competently take the ball every fifth day for his Cubs.

Zambrano finished fifth in the Cy Young voting in 2007. He made 34 starts. Over the next three seasons Zambrano would start 30, 28, and 20 games. This year he has started 24, but with a career-worst 4.82 ERA. Zambrano has never finished a full season with an ERA over 3.95.

And now, apparently, Zambrano’s career is done. Surely it’s done on the North Side.

With it, gone also are the final vestiges of that once-heralded trio of pitching phenoms that was going to overcome baseball history, billy goats, and Bartman to deliver glory to the partisans of Wrigley. Two thirds of the trio succumbed to injury of the body; one third fell to a failure of the mind.

And then there is Mark Buehrle.

Concurrently with Wood, Zambrano, and Prior pitching their first full seasons in the big leagues (1998, 2002, and 2003, respectively), the team on the south side of the city was breaking in a young, unheralded, soft-tossing lefty who had been a 38^th round draft pick. Mark Buehrle unexpectedly went 16-8 with a 3.29 ERA and a league-leading 1.066 WHIP during his first full season in 2001, but then proceeded to pitch progressively worse in 2002 and 2003.

By the time Buehrle posted an underwhelming 14-14 won-loss record in 2003, with a 4.14 ERA, he had become completely lost in the Chicago pitching shuffle due to the exploits of the aforementioned Wrigleyville Trio.

But just as the tide turned in 2003 for the Cubs’ young pitchers, so too did it turn for Buehrle. He lowered his ERA and went 16-10 in 2004 before having his career year in 2005. Buehrle went 16-8 with a 3.12 ERA while leading the league in innings pitched for the second straight year. It was his lone top-5 finish in the Cy Young voting.

Oh, and powered by pitching, the White Sox won the World Series, the first in the city of Chicago in over 200 combined seasons of baseball.

Since then, Buehrle has just kept on motoring. He had a down year in 2006 while dealing with the fatigue of the deep playoff run, but he has compensated for any inflated ERAs with his reliability. Since 2001 through this season, a span of 11 seasons, Buehrle has never won fewer than 10 games and never pitched fewer than 200 innings, which he is on pace to do again this year. He has pitched a perfect game, a no-hitter, won two gold gloves, set the MLB record for consecutive batters retired at 45, and is currently in the midst of a team-record streak of consecutive starts allowing 3 or fewer earned runs.  He is also the only player in MLB history to start and save consecutive World Series games.

This year, at the age of 32, Buehrle is having one of his best seasons at a time when his team has needed him the most. The White Sox entered this season proclaiming to be all-in. Unfortunately, many of the White Sox high-priced players have floundered. Not Buehrle. His current ERA of 3.06 would be his career best, as would his .667 winning percentage. Because of Mark Buehrle, the White Sox still have life in the AL Central. Without him? I shudder to consider.

I’ve long thought and argued that Mark Buehrle is one of the most underrated and underappreciated baseball players of the current era. Sure, I’m biased, but the list of accomplishments I’ve spouted off during this quickcast speaks for itself.

What’s ironic is that Buehrle has had such a spectacularly steady career on the south side after starting out in the shadows of burgeoning dominance on the north side. But what makes baseball such a great and fascinating game is that in every respect it is a marathon, not a sprint.

At bats can be marathons. Games can be marathons. Series can be marathons. And certainly seasons and careers are marathons. The second you think you have baseball figured out, the game is quick to flip your expectations 180 degrees.

In the case of Prior and Wood, this expectation flip was tragic in the sports sense of the word. In the case of Zambrano, the expectation flip was perhaps inevitable. And in the case of Buehrle, the expectation flip has been relatively anonymous and nondescript.

The best way I can sum it up is this: way back in 2003, Mark Buehrle was unquestionably the tortoise in the race to Windy City pitching immortality. One by one, the much-heralded hares that toed the rubber in Wrigley have fallen by the way side; and just like in the old children’s tale we all know so well, the tortoise has unexpectedly won the race.

I feel bad for Cubs fans today, looking back on what could have been and what ended up being. And such an ugly, ignominious ending; but one that is perhaps appropriate all things considered. As a baseball fan, I would have liked to have seen the greatness that Wood, Prior, and Zambrano would have produced together, even if the Cubs hater in me would have loathed it.

Regardless, I’m just happy that of the four young pitchers who started their big league careers in Chicago back at the turn of the century, the White Sox were the ones who got Mark Buehrle, because he has ended up having the best career of them all. That would have sounded crazy to say at the time, but it’s unquestionable now.

As Rangers manager Ron Washington might say, that’s the way baseball go.

Fellow White Sox fans, today is a good day to stop and appreciate what we’ve had and what we still have in Mark Buehrle. Consistency, reliability, and stability are three of the most underrated traits in a baseball player. Just ask a Cubs fan.

Especially on this day, I’m sure they would agree.

I figured I might as well do occasional updates — especially here at midseason —  on these “predictions,” so as to capriciously praise or condemn myself.

Underrated

Miguel Cabrera:

Top 10 in the three major offensive categories, and as a bonus, only 51 strikeouts. That’s what makes a  great ballplayer. And still, few notice him amongst the Jose Bautistas, Paul Konerkos, Adrian Gonzalezes and Curtis Grandersons of the AL world who garner our attention. Cabrera’s a legit MVP contender again — though right now Bautista is the best hitter on earth. {Grade so far on my prediction: PASS }

Paul Konerko:

After his All-Star snubbing, need I even expound upon how underrated Pauly continues to be? Yes, because there are people who actually think Ryan Howard is a better player, despite Konerko being better in nearly every category, and by a long shot in most. Howard will never get 2000 hits, and 400 HRs is questionable. Konerko, just three years older than Howard, will roll past those milestones later this season. And unlike Howard and most others, the White Sox first baseman somehow gets better with age. {Grade: PASS}

Adam Dunn: 

I often compare the media love for Ryan Howard to Adam Dunn, as I feel they’re basically equal players (same age, same style, Howard higher average, Dunn better power numbers, etc), but if I’m to call out Ryan, Adam needs the same treatment.

You can’t spin this anymore now than you could a month ago: he’s been a disaster!  Another Ken Williams bust (see Rios, Alex too)

Adam’s still hitting well under .200; just nine homers and 34 RBIs in 78 games; leads the league in strikeouts (117), and a startling 2 for 64 versus left-handed pitching. Yes, that’s a .031 clip! {Grade: FAIL}

Ryan Zimmerman and Shin Soo-Choo have missed too much time for evaluation right now. Neither have been extremely productive.

Overrated:

Ryan Howard:

The “centerpiece” of my article, as many expected, was the Phillies’ big first baseman, who’s been at the top of my list (and emails, texts and tweets) of overhyped ballplayers for years. I don’t see anything in 2011 to change my mind; in fact, even if the media still think he’s “having a typically excellent year,” I’m more confident in my views than ever.

Though his RBIs remain relatively high, his homerun numbers (and overall power categories like slugging, OPS and OBP) continue to fall, while his strikeouts remain 3rd in the National League (98, therefore on pace for nearly 200).  He has yet to homer off a lefty in 110 at bats this season. Howard’s OPS — the most relevant category for a power guy — is an abysmal 25th in the NL.

The local Philly media naturally lauds Howard for “ceding the limelight,” but to me, unless you’re looking for a player on the back-end of his career, who doesn’t get on base much, whiffs a lot, is slow, suspect with the glove, but will get you 30 HRs with 100 RBIs and a .255 average, he’s not your man. I’m just stating obvious facts. His backers are getting desperate.

{Grade so far on my prediction that Howard is overrated: PASS}

Carlos Pena:  

The Cubs first baseman has 19 bombs, but he’s still at his customary .225 and a putrid .110 off lefties; yet this overpaid 33-year old is a lifetime .240 hitter, so what do we expect? He doesn’t strikeout quite as much as Howard or Dunn, but that proves little. He’s still overrated. I hope the Pirates don’t trade for him. {Grade: PASS}

BJ Upton: Upton rightly doesn’t get the love he once received, but still, when you think of the Rays, after Longoria, BJ’s name comes up. Why?  You like .239 hitters who strikeout too much, with mediocre power and bad attitudes? Until his average improves…{Grade: PASS}

Jeff Francoeur:

Has expectedly cooled considerably after a surprisingly hot start. Jeff’s still at .265/12/56, but he’s around .235 since April ended. I don’t expect him to get hotter as the summer approaches either. {Grade: MIXED}

Mark Reynolds:

His average has risen all the way to .227, which is apparently impressive for a guy coming off a .198 season. “Only” 96 whiffs in 87 games, but Reynolds is on pace for close to 40 homers and 100 RBIs. The Orioles aren’t winning, so I’m really not sure what he brings to Baltimore, but I could say the same about Pena, Dunn and many others right now. {Grade: PASS}

So I’m looking at decent grades (75-80% or so)…

Agree/disagree? Bring facts, not conjecture nor ad hominem attacks. Thanks.

The Cubs are the second Major League team (after the San Francisco Giants) to do so. (From MLB.com.)

I don’t know if any of you have watched the Cubs lately, but if you have, it’s hard not to agree with Zambrano’s assessment.

The Cubs will most likely suspend Zambrano, but I don’t see anything wrong with Zambrano’s words. If anything, his words are the truth, and being a good teammate is like being a good friend: telling the truth, though it may induce anger and defensiveness at first, will prove helpful in the long run.

Zambrano hasn’t exactly been a ‘lights-out’ pitcher in his career in Chicago, and he isn’t really the sanest man or perhaps even the right person to be calling out his team when he’s part of the problem as well, but at least he’s onto something.

Despite the dead-on assessment by Zambrano, I highly doubt the ownership and management of the Cubs will do anything. In fact, Tom Ricketts still has his head in the clouds. When asked what was wrong with his team last weekend, Ricketts answered “Nothing. Just a lot of injuries.”

Really? Just injuries? Claiming that injuries is the reason your team has sucked is a major cop-out in any sport. The problem with Jim Hendry’s and Tom Rickett’s team isn’t the injuries, but that the injuries have shown the blatant problems with the Cubs: their minor league teams. Good teams scout and develop players who can become every day starters and fill injury voids while developing, but Hendry has failed to grasp this concept.

Almost every player brought up could be summed up in one word: inadequate.

But Hendry and Ricketts are still acting like crazed, balls-to-the-wall fanboys. Ricketts is playing the fans as fools, and for once in my short life Cubs fans seem to be having enough.

The Cubs have been averaging around 40,000 people per game since 2006, but this season’s average has dipped to 34,818, 10th in the MLB. Cubs fans are finally asking for a winning team, or at least some sign of progress before they pay for overpriced tickets to see a losing team that 11 games out of first place.

My dad always told me that if the Cubs fans stopped going to the games and demanded a better team, maybe management would get off their butts and do something; but apparently even when the fans stop showing up the organization still lives in denial.

Mark my words: as long as Jim Hendry and the delusional management of the Cubs still have their jobs, the Cubs will never win a World Series.

The phrase “There’s always next year” is part of Cubbie-blue language. It’s a part of Cubs Culture. Disappointment is our watch word, a blue sports T-shirt bearing a big red “C” is our uniform, and past victories are our memories.

And unfortunately, 2011 is shaping up like so many seasons Cubs fans have suffered through in the past.

When the Ricketts took over the Cubs, we the fans stood silently and awaited the next moves that the franchise would make. They did indeed make decisions and created change. Sweet Lou Piniella stepped down and other doors would begin to open. All seemed smooth. Not great by any means, but forward movement was better than no movement at all. Any improvement to the Cubs as a team is welcomed by Cubs fans.

During an interview today with Tom Ricketts, someone asked him, “What was wrong with the Cubs?” In response, he simply said, “Nothing, just a lot of injuries.” To a certain extent, this may be true, though he probably failed to take into account the previous week’s losses that the Cubs have experienced.

The Cubs’ inconsistency (which manager Mike Quade has cited multiple times) has been the biggest culprit for the Cubs poor record this year. New players and more players on the DL are sure to continue to make things really tough as the 2011 season progresses.

Also coming into question is the current atmosphere in the Clubhouse. The latestest Zambrano meltdown could be a barometer indicating problems between players and management.

The 2011 Cubs are most definitely at a crossroads. It’s time for the front office to make some serious decisions if they intend to see the Cubs become contender.

Mike Quade also said that he wasn’t even sure who the team currently was. Quade needs to take command and make the Cubs a team of winners. It is the job of leadership to make the team what they want it to be, not the other way around.  If there are players who do not share the vision, then action needs to be taken to either get them on board or eventually trade them to other teams. The Cubs need to make a serious effort now to save any part of 2011 and build towards 2012.

It’s this logo, located in the tunnel connecting the Cubs dugout to the clubhouse.

Image source: Paul Sullivan via Chicago Tribune

I also love how “LOLCubs” is the sports equivalent of “LOLCats”, at least in Deadspin’s world. That makes me ROTFLMAO.

But for seriously, how does something like this happen in a non-remote part of Wrigley Field? Because it’s Wrigley Field and they are the Cubs, that’s why.

SMH.

S.M.H.

That’s how long it has been since the Cubs last won the World Series back in 1908.

Sure, you might say that the 103rd season hasn’t even started yet and that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I say it looks like Cubs fans – at least one steaming Wrigley turd in particular – have already given up on 2011.

How else do you explain this?

Image courtesy of Matt Sebek of Joe Sports Fan (with a hat tip to today’s Hot Clicks), one of the best St. Louis sports fan sites out there. (I also got to know Matt a bit in New York for the Blogger Fantasy Football League draft and he’s a good dude. Follow him on Twitter.)

The picture above is from Opening Day in St. Louis where, ironically, the Cardinals weren’t even playing the Cubs. Yet for whatever reason the guy above decided to be a jackwagon and wear an Albert Pujols Cubs jersey.

This is wrong and pathetic on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin.

First of all, despite whatever premature whispers were uttered during Spring Training about Pujols testing the free agent market and the Cubs planning to bid for his services, there is still a whole season between now and then. The guy isn’t even a free agent yet. In fact, Pujols is still supposedly your arch enemy if you’re a Cubs fan.

So a) Pujols isn’t even eligible yet to be thought of in another team’s colors; and b) how can you put the best player from your arch rival on your team’s jersey? That’s sacrilege. It’s also the mentality of a pathetic loser.

Which brings me to my next obvious point about the Cubs and their fans.

Clearly, Joe Jorts Fans in the picture above has already given up on 2011. What other explanation is there for going to your rival’s park on opening day while wearing a jersey of your team with their best player on it? If that’s not a white flag screaming “My team sucks and I know it” then I’m not quite sure what is.

But look, who can blame this guy or any Cubs fan for having a pessimistic mindset heading into another long summer? You can’t. I’d just at least think he and the other bums could wait until their team is officially out of it, sometime around mid-June most likely, before turning their attention towards next year. Guess not.

Here, this sums it up:

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