74 thoughts on “November 3, 2016: Cubs”

      1. I guess if I had to turn into a zombie, I'd be ok if it were just a hunger for hops.

        Of course, one never actually seen anyone behaving the way he describes in a bar setting. (small sample size, though)

        1. If I saw people actually doing that, I guess that:

          a) I'd be a little annoyed at the overthinking of it
          b) people can enjoy the same hobby in a multitude of different ways. That's what makes the human experience kind of amazing and cool.

          Either way, the supposed hipsters are a strawman whether they exist or not, and holding ire towards craft beer drinkers when they don't seem to be actively hassling him seems a really weird complex.

          1. They do seem to be hassling him:

            Bourdain revealed he often receives criticism from viewers about his choice in beer: "I would say that the angriest critiques I get from people about shows are when I'm drinking whatever convenient cold beer is available in a particular place, and not drinking the best beer out there."

            He was also in San Francisco. I can easily see him walking into a bar that caters to tech workers and see this.

            2. He gets hassled by anonymous people on the internet. I meant more that he wasn't getting hassled by the note-taking, snifter-swirling craft beer enthusiasts at the restaurant.

    2. "You know, I haven't made the effort to walk down the street 10 blocks to the microbrewery where they're making some f---ing Mumford and Sons IPA. People get all bent about it."

      Punk rock to the core, that Bourdain.

    3. I feel like those comments are pretty consistent with his shows in general. He likes good food/drink, but he doesn't seem concerned with finding the best food/drink as much as avoiding bad choices. And he seems to be of the "there's a time and place" school for most food and drink. I don't think I'd really be friends with him, but he travels to a lot of cool places.

      1. I get the feeling that he has a fellow craftsman's appreciation for virtuosity (see the episode where Bourdain, Éric Ripert, Michael Ruhlman, & Scott Bryan visit The French Laundry) and doesn't suffer hacks. At the same time, he has no patience for pretension and doesn't like the fetishization of food when it loses the human dimension. I think that's what he's getting at with the note-taking comment in that piece, anyway. I don't think it's beer-specific, either; I can't see Bourdain having any more time for the breathless "notes of tar & singed wildebeest pubes" stuff that passes for wine criticism.

        2. ...breathless "notes of tar & singed wildebeest pubes" stuff that passes for wine criticism.

          I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants!

          1. I was lazily scrolling, and for whatever reason, that was the first phrase I saw in the paragraph. Needless to say, I was wondering how the hell we got there.

  2. My roommate in culinary school announced last night that the Chicago restaurant where he is Chef de Cuisine was awarded a Michelin star. It was clear that he had transcendent talent even then; he was working full-time at Aquavit while we were in school and simply could outcook any of us. When he got a gig working for this chef I knew it was only a matter of time.

  3. I was mostly rooting for the Cubs and then during the game (which I watched on DVR so I couldn't follow along here) I realized I desperately wanted them to win.

    Hearing Rizzo talk to Ross between innings made me fall for him a bit. And while I'm not enamored with Ross, him hitting a homer was practically storybook especially after his Punch and Judy routine behind the plate. Schwarber's story waa incredible too, and that he set up the go ahead run in the 10th is even sweeter. When Raja hit the homer my whole body felt sick.

    Now I'm thrilled the way it went down. I don't like Lester or Chapman, so the fact that they were both responsible for the Indians comeback makes me happy. I'm happy that the focus is on Fowler and Rizzo and Bryant and Zobrist and Almora. Not so happy Maddon over managed everything so I feel a bit sorry for Francona who just ran out of bullets. But Maddon made some good moves too. Not afraid of using his 3rd catcher for instance. And from a non tactical standpoint it sure seemed his team was loose and having fun.

    I'm also thrilled to not have to hear about the curse or the goat or Bartman anymore. And I'm thrilled to not have to wake up to hearing about how the Cubs weren't the best team despite the 3rd best Pythag in the past 30 years.

    I don't know if I'll continue to root for them next year. Maybe I'll fall for the Indians or someone else. But that hit all my fuzzy buttons and supplants the Dbacks/Yanks as my favorite non Twins WS game (though that whole series was probably still better).

    2. They kept it interesting all the way through last night. Somebody had to lose, but everybody got their money's worth.

      I was happy the Cubs won, even in spite of Chapman's presence. Mrs. Hayes' Cubano grandfather got to see his adopted team win the World Series. Bryant & Rizzo have a little Gaetti & Hrbek resonance about them. I can't wait to see where Javier Baez's tools take him next as he plays all around the diamond. Dexter Fowler made the absolute best out of a miserable offseason situation. Heyward will be able to look back on a frustrating year with a smile. I look forward to interesting debates about Maddon's HoF merit some day. Randy Bush is a world champion for the third time! About the only two people I'm sad for are Ernie Banks and Ron Santo.

      Oh, and

      WAHOO KARMA!

  4. I found myself rooting for the Clevelanders, even though a Cubs win meant that I crushed the Playoff Prediction contest. But mostly I was happy that it was a fun, drama-filled game that gave us managers-from-the-couch plenty of stuff to second guess.

    1. An almost perfect bracket too. I forgot to update it last night so tonight you'll get to see your resounding victory.

  7. Well, Trey officially made his Junior High baseball team yesterday as a sixth grader, so the craziness begins now for us. It will actually be better this winter than the last 3 because he was playing intramural softball in elementary school at the same time Junior was playing Junior High baseball. Junior will just be helping out at Junior High practices with an occasional workout with the high school players. When high school baseball season starts is when it gets crazy as then they'll both be playing a sport. Their school is small enough that I'm assuming that Junior will make the high school team as a freshman since he was the junior high team's best pitcher last year. We were expecting Trey to be playing Little League in the spring, but now it sounds like he wants to try out for the junior high basketball team. I'm fine with that. I just don't want him to sit around for 9 months and expect to be ready to go for junior high baseball next winter.

  8. Fun game last night. I feel like this is a really good time for baseball where players are both expected to execute stuff like bunts and baserunning, but not strictly for the sake of small ball, as most successful managers now know that for the most part, you don't want to give away outs.

    I thought it would have been poetic if the game was postponed after being tied through 9--two franchises that weren't able to win the WS not able to win even after 6 games and 9 innings. I suppose that was true anyway.

    1. I was looking at run expectancy after the Cubs, I think, bunted a runner to third. What surprised me is that run expectancy is actually better with a runner at 3rd and 1 out as opposed to a runner at 2nd and no outs. It's not huge but it is better.

      2. isn't it that you increase the odds of getting 1 run across, but decrease your odds of getting 2 or more runs?

    1. This makes me happy:

      Levine, who will turn 45 on Nov. 12, had been with the Rangers since the 2005 season. His responsibilities in Texas included assisting GM Jon Daniels with player acquisition, roster composition, contract negotiations and statistical/financial analysis. He also oversaw the team’s international scouting operations. The veteran baseball executive also previously served as the senior director of baseball operations with the Rockies. He’ll bring to the Twins an executive with a long background in player development but also one who is quite familiar with more modern trends in statistical analysis.

    2. LEN3 was saying to expect the Twins to be really active over the next couple weeks as they play catch-up now that they have their head baseball guy in the fold.

  10. Last night's game had over 40 million viewers, the most in the last 25 years for a baseball game.

    The only two games to surpass it are Games 6 and 7 of the 1991 World Series, which was between the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins. Game 6 of that series pulled in 40.8 million viewers, and Game 7 had 50.3 million, and that last number seems insane. Though to be honest, 40 million is pretty insane.

  11. File under getting older sucks: Doc says, "huh, this is interesting... ... ... yeah, I'm going to refer this one..."

    Blarf.

    2. Also, how about just online systems, if anyone has used one? I'm arranging a tournament for a wide variety of players with different levels of technology experience.

      1. Once upon a time I played at Yahoo, and it seemed like a pretty decent operation. We're talking fifteen years, though, and I'm not sure they still have it.

          1. You kids and your new technology!
            Those games would be over in hours.
            Cribbage-by-mail takes years. Makes you really appreciate each 15-2. You may not peg again for weeks!

            1. I had a neighbor friend who was carrying on a chess match by mail when we were kids in the 1970s. That match may still be going on.

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