Pollyellon banned me

[Saul Goodman]

The Giants DFA'd sub-.500 OPS wizard of hitting Jeff Francoeur. RIGHT THAT WRONG!

[BH]

Round 2.

"There's going to be an apology coming up, but first I want to tell you a couple of stories. Please note! This post is going to be quite long. Pull up a chair, if you aren't in one, and settle in for a while. (And please. Please, please. Be respectful and kind in your comments.)"

Good to see Chuck's got an ally.

"They should go after Robinson Cano. "

[Saul Goodman]

Round 2.

"There's going to be an apology coming up, but first I want to tell you a couple of stories. Please note! This post is going to be quite long. Pull up a chair, if you aren't in one, and settle in for a while. (And please. Please, please. Be respectful and kind in your comments.)"

Good to see Chuck's got an ally.

"They should go after Robinson Cano. "

At first I thought this was progress when he said his years of suffering doesn't make his opinion any more valid than mine. But then I quit reading after the fourth time he told me I was wrong (in italics, to make sure it sinks into my dumb losing-loving, prospect-worshipping brain).

Saying he doesn't want the Cubs to waste money like Josh Hamilton but they should sign a 30-year-old for six years is pretty rich. Someone should take away Al's letterhead: No more open letters.

[ChuckD]

We can have both. We should have both. Dallas Green would have done both. Don't consign this team to several more 90-plus loss years, because no one knows when these young players are going to produce winning seasons. Give us some hope at Wrigley Field. Yes, in 2014. Because ... how much longer do they think I can wait?

Jesus, fuck everything about that article, but this was over the top. I'm starting to hope the Cubs do fuck-all for the next 30 years just so Al can a die a lonely death of butt cancer all while his beloved Cubbies stink worse than his skid-mark stained Wranglers.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

We can have both. We should have both. Dallas Green would have done both. Don't consign this team to several more 90-plus loss years, because no one knows when these young players are going to produce winning seasons. Give us some hope at Wrigley Field. Yes, in 2014. Because ... how much longer do they think I can wait?

Jesus, fuck everything about that article, but this was over the top. I'm starting to hope the Cubs do fuck-all for the next 30 years just so Al can a die a lonely death of butt cancer all while his beloved Cubbies stink worse than his skid-mark stained Wranglers.

I'm starting to hope that Al's sudden anxiousness about WINNING NOW means that he was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness.

HOW LONG DO THEY THINK AL CAN WAIT?

HOW MANY MORE TEARS?

[Yeti]

Al should consider retiring from Open Letters

[Eli]

Brilliant plan by Al, wanting to sign Robinson Cano to a five-year deal. I'd be fine with that. I'd also be fine with signing Cano for $800,000 a year. Too bad those things won't happen.

[Quality Start Machine]

Brilliant plan by Al, wanting to sign Robinson Cano to a five-year deal. I'd be fine with that. I'd also be fine with signing Cano for $800,000 a year. Too bad those things won't happen.

Trust me, you don't want to ever get lumped in with anyone who thinks the Cubs could/would/should sign Cano.

[Saul Goodman]

Al should consider retiring from Open Letters

I...agree

[morpheus]

THE STORY THAT NEEDED TO BE TOLD.

[morpheus]

DPD. Gilling the comments:

you're married and have kids,right? what does the real family think of the Bleacher family and are the real fam part of the bleacher family?

[Brownie]

THE STORY THAT NEEDED TO BE TOLD.

DPD. Gilling the comments:

you're married and have kids,right? what does the real family think of the Bleacher family and are the real fam part of the bleacher family?

Morph, the guy had a second question:

second question:

are you all, for lack of a better term, Al's? meaning, do you have a subset like you do on BCB here? one's the smart ass, one's the Minor leaguer, one's the no questions asked pro Cub Homer, one's the statistician one's the no-nonsence cubs suck every year take my season ticket money and just continue to suck guy..?.

Al answers:

I have kids who are now in college.
They are pretty understanding of all of this. They know many of my bleacher friends.

Second — I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I try to be my real self both at BCB, and in real life. There isn't really an "online persona" for me as there is for some others.

If that's not what you meant, can you clarify?

A shot at Internet Chuck/Real Life Chuck?

[Brownie]

DPD. Let's look at Holly Swyers.



No, not literally...

All of this was captured in a book called "Wrigley Regulars", which I reviewed here three years ago. It was written by Holly Swyers, who is an associate professor of anthropology at Lake Forest College. Beyond that, Holly is one of us -- she has been a personal friend of mine for 15 years. The book was written in part to be used as a college classroom text -- Holly often brings her students on field trips to the bleachers (nice way to mix business and pleasure, right?) -- but it's also written in a way that is easily accessible to the non-academic reader.

Where's Joe Ricketts to bemoan the cost of tuition at Lake Forest Fucking College and the professors are taking kids to the Cubs game. Meanwhile the Chinese, Indian, Japanese and European counterparts are learning how to buy and sell us 6 times before lunch.

Holly and I were both interviewed for this 2007 article in Psychology Today. This quote from her in the article sums up the way I feel -- and maybe you do too, regarding the hope that someday, the Cubs will win it all:

"Each year, we all come together and share that hope. And when our hope is lost, as it frequently is, those same people buoy us up. The more you suffer at the hands of the Cubs, the deeper the ties you feel to the people who've suffered with you."

Can we send the Worm back out to North Korea and negotiate with Kim Jong Un to put Al in a prison camp with some of his regulars? The hope of one day getting out, coupled with the unspeakable suffering -- more than 81 times a year -- will provide Al with something that frankly, Theo cannot provide.

[Chuck to Chuck]

A shot at Internet Chuck/Real Life Chuck?

No.  I'm not black or Hispanic.

[Brownie]

A shot at Internet Chuck/Real Life Chuck?

No.  I'm not black or Hispanic.