Member of the Angels

[Chuck to Chuck]

Don Baylor.

[Quality Start Machine]

Jim Essian outlasts another one.

[Saul Goodman]

Done Baylor.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Grooved.

[Quality Start Machine]

Plunked by the Grim Reaper.

[Brownie]

I found a nice tribute to Baylor from Chuck Wasserstrom, the former Cubs media relations sidekick to Sharon Panozzo. The thing about it is once you're on the site, you'll get Chuck's recollections from the time he was with the Cubs 1986 (as an intern) and then 1988 until August 2012 (when he was fired along with Oneri Flieta in one of those staff purges that all the gladhanders shrieked about until you realized that Wasserstrom was the guy moved to Baseball Operations so he could print out articles from the Internet and distribute in a daily packet around the front office). You'll see interesting anecdotes and then you'll read things that will make you groan about the Grensesko-Frey-Cook-Himes-MacPhail-Lynch-Hendry-McDonough-Kenney Cubs. In fact Wasserstrom is still a little butthurt over his firing.


Then there's this from Baylor's successor, or if you count Bruce Kimm, his successor's successor, or if you count Rene Lachemann, his successor's successor's successor. This has to be the most Dusty thing ever.

"We signed the same time. We were in Double-A against each other, Triple A for two years. I was supposed to be the next Hank Aaron. He was the next Frank Robinson with the Orioles," Baker said, offering no grand assessment of his friend's life, seemingly still sorting through the memories himself.

"We fought for batting titles all the way up. We played in Puerto Rico together. His first wife picked out my first wife's engagement ring. That was the first time I had ever gone to Baltimore, was when I drove up to see Donny."

...

Baylor's wife called Baker on Saturday, and so did Hall of Fame writer Claire Smith. Baker spoke to Baylor then, an opportunity for which he was grateful in emotional retrospect.

"I learned that when somebody says call me back — a couple times someone called me and I was going to wait til tomorrow — but that person died before I called back. So when somebody says call 'em, somebody's not doing well, you better call 'em right then," Baker said. "Because there's nothing worse than somebody calling and saying somebody's not doing well and they've died already."

Baker did get to speak with Baylor before his death. Then, early Monday morning, he woke up to go to the bathroom.

"I knew something was wrong," Baker said. "The last time I had that feeling was when Bobby Welch died [in 2014]."

...

"They say death travels in threes," Baker said. "I just found out [former Phillies pitcher] Darren Daulton left, and [former Giants clubhouse attendant] David Loewenstein, Al Rosen's kid, died last week, and [former big leaguer] Lee May."

Loewenstein, Daulton and Baylor were all younger than Baker when they passed, succumbing to lengthy battles with illness.

"I was just listening to Tupac today, 'Death Around the Corner.' I don't know if you all know that song or not, but indeed, you just don't know how close death is to all of us. Just treat each other right and try to do the right thing ... " Baker said. "I didn't mean to go on that long."

So, according to Dusty, 2 more people have to die, because he named 4 people: Baylor, Daulton, David Lowenstein and Lee May.

Now, as I entered the morass that was the 24-season post-Dallas pre-Theo era (five playoff appearances, seven playoff games won, nine winning seasons), I stumbled across this weird screed by former Cubs farmhand Matt Bruback, who along with Bobby Hill and Jose Hernandez went to the Pirates in July 2003 for E-ramis and Kenny Lofton. Bruback is on the warpath against the Cubs for the crime of paying him $1MM in salary and signing bonus as a 47th round pick in 1997. He does not like Richie Zisk, Oscar Acosta, Jim Hendry, Oneri Flieta, Andy MacPhail, and definitely Lester Strode (who bought him drinks and tried hooking him up with a toothless woman as a 19 year old prospect and later made him drive Juan Cruz from Daytona to MCO upon winning the Florida State League title).

It's all worth it. Yes Carl Edwards is battling with the strike zone and Wade Davis is not the same pitcher as he was in May. But this organization is 180 degrees away from where it was!

And holy crap Matt Bruback is nuts!

[Saul Goodman]

Too long to quote-reply, but did you hear Chuck's "interview" with Bernstein and Goff?

[Brownie]

Too long to quote-reply, but did you hear Chuck's "interview" with Bernstein and Goff?

No, I didn't. What was in it?

According to Verducci's book on the Cubs, when Wasserstrom moved over to baseball ops as "Information Mgr," he was the guy producing the packet of articles off the Internet. (I really wonder if the HJE Union League Club story made it in.) But he did it not once, but twice, a day.

According to his blog, Wasserstrom was responsible for the Reed Johnson signing because he saw the alert on his smartphone at 7:30 a.m. that the Blue Jays released Johnson. He also was the guy responsible for keeping Jim Hendry in Pepcid AC, water and doughnuts while he was having a grabber and negotiating with Ted Lilly.

I shouldn't be so hard on him. His blog is kind of interesting and fun. But the glimpses into the Cubs front office are harrowing. And I get the idea that he pines for the Cubs of old.

I did enjoy his Baylor recollection.

[Saul Goodman]

Too long to quote-reply, but did you hear Chuck's "interview" with Bernstein and Goff?

No, I didn't. What was in it?

Not much, it turns out.

[Brownie]

Too long to quote-reply, but did you hear Chuck's "interview" with Bernstein and Goff?

No, I didn't. What was in it?

Not much, it turns out.

Holy cap. He sounded frightened Sharon Panozzo was going to reprimand him.

The dysfunction of the organization is mind boggling. John McDonough had a function and he was very successful at it. But how could Philadelphia keep Andy MacPhail, under whose watch this dysfunction occurred, employed?

[SKO]

Too long to quote-reply, but did you hear Chuck's "interview" with Bernstein and Goff?

No, I didn't. What was in it?

Not much, it turns out.

Holy cap. He sounded frightened Sharon Panozzo was going to reprimand him.

The dysfunction of the organization is mind boggling. John McDonough had a function and he was very successful at it. But how could Philadelphia keep Andy MacPhail, under whose watch this dysfunction occurred, employed?

From what I gather Andy MacPhail had one mandate and that was to save costs wherever possible, except when the Trib realized fan interest was waning enough they had to make the occasional big signing. The story about him being so cheap he ordered the weights moved from Wrigley to Arizona and back every spring said a lot, especially since you'd have to think after only a couple of years of that you have spent more on moving costs than a f--kin weight room would cost.

Jim Hendry strikes me as an overworked, under-equipped middle manager type who was both more competent than he got credit for but also nowhere near innovative or driven enough to really address the issues in the organization.

Wasserstrom just seems like a weird sycophant whose only real opinion on any of this is "X Player/GM/Manager was nice to me, so he was right and the Cubs wronged him"

[PenFoe]

Too long to quote-reply, but did you hear Chuck's "interview" with Bernstein and Goff?

No, I didn't. What was in it?

Not much, it turns out.

Holy cap. He sounded frightened Sharon Panozzo was going to reprimand him.

The dysfunction of the organization is mind boggling. John McDonough had a function and he was very successful at it. But how could Philadelphia keep Andy MacPhail, under whose watch this dysfunction occurred, employed?

That interview is hilarious.

[Saul Goodman]

Also, now that I've caught up with those links, congratulations to Matt "Money" Bruback, former shit baseball pitcher, on being named chief sports editor at InfoWars.

(How is it tampering to merely offer an amateur a pro contract? Accept it, you're a pro now; decline it, you're still an amateur. Isn't that what happens to every non-senior who gets drafted? What am I missing? If he's telling us it violates an actual rule, then, I don't know, maybe quote the rule so we all know what the hell you're talking about?)

[Quality Start Machine]

Also, now that I've caught up with those links, congratulations to Matt "Money" Bruback, former shit baseball pitcher, on being named chief sports editor at InfoWars.

(How is it tampering to merely offer an amateur a pro contract? Accept it, you're a pro now; decline it, you're still an amateur. Isn't that what happens to every non-senior who gets drafted? What am I missing? If he's telling us it violates an actual rule, then, I don't know, maybe quote the rule so we all know what the hell you're talking about?)

If I'm not mistaken, it's a no-no to offer a player a contract while his season is in progress.

True story - in 1965 or so, the Braves signed Tom Seaver to a $50K bonus, but USC had already played an exhibition game, so MLB ruled his contract was null and void. However, since he signed a contract the NCAA ruled him ineligible. So what MLB Commissioner Eckert decided was that any team other than the Braves that wanted to match the offer would get their name put into a hat and whoever got drawn got Seaver - the Mets won. I do not believe the Cubs were in the hat.

[Brownie]

Also, now that I've caught up with those links, congratulations to Matt "Money" Bruback, former shit baseball pitcher, on being named chief sports editor at InfoWars.

(How is it tampering to merely offer an amateur a pro contract? Accept it, you're a pro now; decline it, you're still an amateur. Isn't that what happens to every non-senior who gets drafted? What am I missing? If he's telling us it violates an actual rule, then, I don't know, maybe quote the rule so we all know what the hell you're talking about?)

If I'm not mistaken, it's a no-no to offer a player a contract while his season is in progress.

True story - in 1965 or so, the Braves signed Tom Seaver to a $50K bonus, but USC had already played an exhibition game, so MLB ruled his contract was null and void. However, since he signed a contract the NCAA ruled him ineligible. So what MLB Commissioner Eckert decided was that any team other than the Braves that wanted to match the offer would get their name put into a hat and whoever got drawn got Seaver - the Mets won. I do not believe the Cubs were in the hat.

The Phillies and Indians were the other two teams.