After the San Diego Padres sold off everyone who was good on their 1992-93 teams, they had to do SOMETHING to market the 1994 squad. So they ran ticket sales campaigns that showed two dudes talking about the current team, and basically asking “who are these players we’ve never heard of?”

It was like a family friendly version of the scene in Major League, where the construction workers look at the Cleveland Indians roster as say “heyo, who are dese fucking guys!?” The Padres ad concludes with the sales slogan “hey, it’s baseball.” It was such a refreshingly honest promo that even though I can’t find it anywhere online today, I still remember it nearly three decades later.

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It was Cubs Convention 2020, about a couple months before the world shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts took to the stage, where he was cascaded by a chorus of boos. It was directed at him, sure, but the general vitriol was aimed at the then soon to be launched Marquee Network.

“You won’t be booing in a year,” Ricketts boldly proclaimed. Well, now it’s trade deadline day 2021, and we’re doing a whole lot more than just booing. The MLB Trade Deadline is like the market for a sports guest post, there is a ton of wheeling and dealing going on. And the Cubs were the biggest sellers of all.

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The red, white and blue (literally) Chicago Cubs saw their 2021 season completely turned on its head during the span of time in between two super patriotic American holidays. On Flag Dlay, June 14, they were 38-28 and tied with the Milwaukee Brewers atop the NL Central division.

A 4-11 June swoon, including a sweep at those aforementioned Brewers, now has them riding a six game losing streak and six games out of first place entering Fourth of July weekend. Happy Independence Day Cubs fans! In a span of just over a fortnight, the Cubs have gone from likely buyers at the trading deadline to almost certain sellers.

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Ahead of last night’s 7-1 win at the San Diego Padres, the Chicago Cubs placed starting pitcher Adbert Alzolay on the 10-day injured list (blister on the middle finger on his pitching hand) and recalled right-hander Kohl Stewart from Triple-A Iowa.

They also activated Alec Mills off the 10-day IL, and sent right-handed pitcher Cory Abbott back down to the I-Cubs. Mills saw relief action last night, giving one hit, one run, it was earned, in an inning of relief work. He walked two and struck out two.

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In the preseason, we saw plenty of Chicago Cubs season win projections in the 77-79 range. At the time, those seemed very legit. Then the season started, and the Cubs offense was very late to joining the rest of us here in the 2021 baseball season.

At that point, the Cubs were looking much more like a 70 win or thereabouts kind of team. Then they started winning a few here and there, then they claimed a couple series wins, and the season was unfolding in a manner akin to the plot of the timeless classic sports movie “Major League.”

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Was this brilliance by the Chicago Cubs’ Javy Baez? Maybe, or perhaps it’s just total bone-headedness on the part of the Pittsburgh Pirates. “THERE WERE TWO OUTS!” is a top trending term on Twitter right now, because the social media world of baseball fans just cannot believe what they just watched.

You’ve heard of “manufacturing a run,” well, what El Mago did here is basically “grifting a run” or “conning your opponents out of a run. Watch after the jump:

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It’s the Chicago Cubs at the Cleveland Indians, on a Wednesday, just like one specific game in the annals of baseball history that you might have once heard about. The Cubs have a long list of injury and fitness concerns for this game, but there is some good news, to go along with the bad.

There is a lot to get to, so let’s just dive right in with Javier Baez, who is back in the lineup today at shortsop and hitting fourth. Baez missed the last two games with tightness in his back.

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