Here's an update and video in regards to the WGN telecast which is rewinding back to 1948 today. It's been a fun couple of innings with only a few camera angles and everyone seems to be playing along. Bob Brenly has already complained about the heat in his "burlap suit" and they even have a typewriter that someone has been hammering away on.

Here's the opening of the telecast and the first pitch....

It really is awkward to watch a game without multiple camera angles. I think my mind is so trained to be focusing on multiple images that I noticed my A.D.D. kicking in halfway through that first inning. Good stuff though WGN.

Update: I stopped back in during the top of the ninth inning and Len Kasper was talking about the old "Hey Hey" graphic that WGN had back when the late Jack Brickhouse was the announcer. Kasper said they were waiting to use it during a Cubbies homerun in an homage to Brickhouse, but they hadn't hit one. Bob Brenly said that they should wait until the bottom of the ninth and that you never know what could happen. Well they did and this happened....

How awesome was that? And the Cubs even went on to win in the eleventh, 3-2.

Turn Back The Clock Broadcast Today On WGN (Awful Announcing)

I'm a huge fan of ideas like this and I'm going to try and get video for you, but the Cubs are turning back the clock to mark the 60th anniversary of Cubs baseball on WGN. The game will start out black and white and will slowly add more elements to the broadcast as the game goes on.....

When you turn on the Cubs and Braves game Thursday, don't panic. There's nothing wrong with your TV set.

The teams will turn back the clock in honor of the 60th anniversary of Cubs baseball on WGN in the first throwback game at Wrigley Field. The plan is to begin the television broadcast in black-and-white, not color.

The game should be a treat for TV viewers, who can watch the first two innings in black and white with fewer camera angles. The telecast will try to go without a center-field camera and use basic graphics at the start, and then add a camera or another technical advancement as the game progresses. Commentators Len Kasper and Bob Brenly will don appropriate 1948 garb in the booth.

Sounds like a blast. Wrigley will even have drinks in the stands for only $.75. Unfortunately that will only be for the first hour after the gates open and will not include beer. The game is at 1:20pm today and I'll try to add some video or screenshots if I can get them.

Cubs to turn back the clock at Wrigley (MLB)

Rick Sutcliffe is back in full swing as an announcer and every paper out there is trying to get an interview with him following his bout with Cancer. I'm pretty sure the ones that follow the one in the KC Star won't be able to top this tidbit that the paper got when asking Sut about his friendship with Bill Murray....

Sitting in the booth, [Steve] Stone and [Bill] Murray had to stall while a new pitcher warmed up. Murray looked at Stone and said, “I betcha a case of beer Sutcliffe steals second.”

Stone laughed and pointed out Sutcliffe had never even attempted to steal a base. He pointed out Sutcliffe had a bad hamstring. He pointed out Sutcliffe was not exactly the world’s fastest human being.

“But,” Sutcliffe remembered Stone saying, “I’ll take the bet because I’d like to win a case of beer from you.”

The pitcher was still warming up when word spreads and a fan yelled, “Hey Sut, Murray just bet Steve Stone a case of beer you’ll steal second!”

Standing on first base, Sutcliffe decided: Screw it. I’m going.

“All of a sudden the pitcher comes down and I tell my mind to go but my body won’t move and I literally almost fell down,” he said.

Then Expos manager Buck Rodgers yelled to first baseman Andres Galarraga, ‘Play behind him, he ain’t frickin’ going anywhere!’ ”

Sutcliffe took off running. All 6-7 of the Red Baron hauling ass for second base just to mess with Cubs announcer Steve Stone.

“I am gone,” Sutcliffe said. “He comes down and looks over. Well I’m halfway to second. I’m going, ‘Ah, he got me.’ Well the dummy goes to home so now I’ve got to get going again. But there’s still a play. That’s how slow I am.”

The throw. The slide. He’s safe.

“I look up into the booth and Murray’s going crazy and I kind of gave him a little whatever,” Sutcliffe said, reenacting a manly head bob. “I throw a shutout, I steal a base, and we were locked for life.”

How awesome is that? What happened to the days in Baseball when there was drinking and betting in the booth??? I would certainly poke fun at it, but I'd rather have those type of play-by-players over people who don't care about their job as an announcer. Good times.

As Rick Sutcliffe fights cancer, he treasures the connection with his hometown the most (KC Star)

(posted by One More Dying Quail)

Joe and Tim had a discussion last inning on the Alfonso Soriano and the problems created by his return from a recent calf injury. Somehow, they got around to talking about Soriano's place in the batting order - should he stay at the top or should Piniella drop him lower was pretty much the dilemma they were considering.

McCarver's thoughts? "Soriano should stay in the leadoff spot because that's what he's always done and if you drop him below the fifth spot in the order, you lose his speed."

Oh, Tim. Tim. Tim. Speed is nice to have at the top of the lineup, I'll grant you that. If you have somebody who is fast and can steal bases and "make things happen", that's good. But you also want someone who can get on base with some consistency, which Soriano has a tough time doing (career OBP: .325; 2008 OBP: .211). Everyone is the same speed in the dugout.

And as for utilizing someone with speed lower in the lineup...I realize it's the American League, which has the designated hitter to screw everything up, but Julio Lugo is one of the fastest players on the Red Sox and he's hit ninth in the majority of the games he's played this season.

Personally, I'd consider using Fukudome in the leadoff spot. He's an on-base machine. But that's just me.

(I'm not going to devote an entire post to this at this point, but possibly the most ironic moment of the 2008 season just occurred: Tim McCarver saying, "Can't a guy just be in a slump? Why does everything have to be a curse?" while they were talking about the various Cubs curses and the SI cover jinx. This from the same network that mentioned Babe Ruth in every other breath in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs.)

(Ha. "The one thing pitchers love to do is hit in consecutive innings. They know something good happened for their offense if that happens." They won't notice otherwise?)

I still think there are dumb and drunk fans in every stadium, but this video might put the Cubs fans a little bit ahead of every other team. From the "throwing the balls" series in which Brennaman flipped out, comes this clip of a hot dog eating contest in the stands.

It's never good when you A) Lose to a woman in an eating contest and/or B) Almost dying and needing the Heimlich Maneuver. Via Frog Soda....

I love how it's a Reds fan that saves the guy. See you CAN get along with fans from other teams at the stadium! If you're reading Marty Brennaman....you're welcome.

Hot Dog Choke (Frog Soda)

All of Chicago is cursing the name Brennaman these days, but Marty has a message for you Chicagoans.....he doesn't care. Late Friday MB was on WMVP-AM 1000 and wasn't taking ANY of his comments back....

"If they can't understand what happened Wednesday night was completely over the top, then I'm sorry," Brennaman said. "I said how tough it is to root for the Cubs. I think a lot of people feel the same way I do, but they won't articulate it. I'm not afraid to say what I think."

Later on, Brennaman said, "[Compared to Cubs fans] Cardinals fans are hands down the best in baseball. They respect the game. They don't go to the game to do stupid stuff.

"The Cubs have some great baseball fans. But the ones who act like idiots (ruin) it for people like me."

The thing I don't understand is that there are drunk asses in every single stadium. I don't know how you could single out Cubs' fans as the worst, especially when the crime was throwing batting practice baseballs on the field.

Oh and I also heard a rumor that Brennamania cursed at Jeff Brantley on-air this past Saturday, but can't find it anywhere. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

Brennaman maintains criticism of Cubs fans (Chicago Tribune)
Get Off Marty Brennaman's Lawn You Cubs Fans! (Awful Announcing)

(posted by One More Dying Quail)

Yesterday, PostmanE of We Are The Postmen fame pointed to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times that shined a light on offensive Kosuke Fukudome shirts being sold outside Wrigley Field. Today, the team issued a swift response - buh-bye, T-shirt.

The Cubs halted the production and sale of a Kosuke Fukudome T-shirt hours after a report by a Chicago newspaper that the shirt contained an offensive image.

Deluged with e-mails from fans, Cubs officials discovered the unlicensed product contained a trademarked Cubs logo and confronted the vendor, who complied with the team's demand to pull the shirt, the Sun-Times reported.

"Clearly, the shirt was in poor taste and the Cubs are pleased to know that it will no longer be produced or sold," Cubs spokesman Peter Chase told the paper.

E mentioned in his post that he and his friends had been discussing this all season ("too quietly", he admits). I find it interesting, then, that it took an article in the Sun-Times and tons of emails from fans before the team "discovered" the product. You'd think somebody from the front office would've stumbled past it on the street or something at some point, but I guess not.

The reaction of Fukudome when shown a shirt was encouraging - you can't get everything from reading words on a screen, but he appeared to clearly express his displeasure. More disturbing is this:

Mark Kolbusz, who runs the souvenir stand that sold the shirt, said it was his top-selling shirt.

You mean there are racists outside of Boston? Who knew?

I'm still trying to figure what was happening during this audio clip, but apparently some Cubs fans are throwing multiple balls onto the field and Marty Brennaman is none to happy with them.....

Man that escalated quickly didn't it? It's okay to say the fans are annoying at times, but saying that's why you "hope they lose" on-air is a bit unprofessional. Brennamania baby! It's sweeping the nation.....one homertastic clip at a time.

(Thanks to AK for the clip)

Marty Brennaman Hates Cubs Fans (Deuce of Davenport)

So how about this for an American debut. 3-3, Double, BB, 3 RBIs oh and this....

"A star is born in the teeth of the Lake Michigan wind."- Brent Musburger

Kerry Wood had tried to blow the game for the Cubs followed in turn by Eric Gagne doing the same for the Brewers. Fun game....well fun from the 9th inning on and Brent Musburger wasn't that bad.

The Cubs also lost the game in the tenth. Ah Baseball....it's good to have you back.

Unbelievable maybe, but it could quite possibly happen. The Chicago Sun-Times conducted an interview with Joel Murray recently and Bill's brother had some interesting things to say about the actor and Cubs fan. Via SBB....

Joel's big brother, frequent Wrigley visitor Bill Murray, was not available to comment on the subject. ''He's in Spain working on a film,'' said the sibling. But Joel did remember a recent chat they had about the team.

''We were in the car and Bill suddenly said, 'I think being an announcer for the Cubs would be a cool retirement job -- after acting.'''

I don't know how Cubs fans would feel about this, but I'm all for it. It would be like Harry Caray all over again. I can imagine Bill chugging a Budweiser just like Harry, and become just as intelligible in blowout games. The possibilities are endless!


Murray: Cub Broadcast Gig “Cool Retirement Job” (Sports by Brooks)
Not out of left field (Chicago Sun-Times)

I missed this item when it came out on Friday, but if you're in the Chicagoland area and you're near a TV....turn it to Comcast. Today is the 10th Anniversary of Harry Caray's passing and while it's sad to think that the loveable announcer is still gone, it's a great move by Comcast to air an entire day of programming on him...

To honor Harry Caray 10 years after his passing, Comcast SportsNet will be devoting nearly 12 hours of programming to the legendary baseball broadcaster Monday.

Starting at 11 a.m. with the 2007 documentary "Hello Again, Everybody: The Harry Caray Story," the daylong tribute will include rebroadcasts of three classic Cubs games and other highlights of his career.

At 7 p.m., an all-new special, "Holy Cow: Remembering Harry," will premiere. Some live programming will originate from Harry Caray's Restaurant, 33 W. Kinzie.

I wish it was on WGN so I could check it out, but alas...no such luck. I spent countless days of my youth watching the Cubs getting blown out just to hear what Harry was going to say next. In memory of Mr. Caray this is my personal favorite YouTube clip from him....damn Crackerjacks and their gimmicks!


"That's the most asinine marketing I've ever heard of." - HC

Wild about Harry (Chicago Sun-Times)