Chicago Sports

With the trade deadline fast approaching, and the season looking to be lost, what should the Cubs do with Catcher Willson Contreras?

The entirety of the Cubs 2022 season to this point has done nothing but bring up questions about the direction of the clubs future. With this being the first full year after the departure of key contributors to the 2016 World Series team, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, & Javier Baez after all being traded mid season last year, Willson Contreras was the only who remained.

While the combo of Rizzo, Bryant, & Baez may have been bigger stars during the 2016 season, it was clear that Contreras was the much more valuable asset in 2022 and explains why the Cubs decided to keep him for the remainder of the season and he has become a fan favorite.  With his future in the organization uncertain, Al Yellon from Bleed Cubbie Blue, did a poll asking fans whether or not they wanted to see Contreras extended, or traded.

The overwhelming majority of fans wanted the Cubs to keep Contreras, however that does not mean that he should be considered off limits to other teams. Contreras has stormed out to a sizzling hot start and will have the best first half of his entire career this season thus far.

While Contreras has seen tremendous success the Cubs themselves have been scuffling, coming in to July 6th with a 33-48 record and an almost insurmountable 13 game deficit in the NL Central.

With the place in the standings that the Cubs find themselves in they would be foolish to not trade Willson Contreras.

While some may argue that with some of the young core pieces the Cubs have been developing such as Nico Hoerner, Nick Madrigal, and Christopher Morel, that resigning Contreras would be advantageous, it is still risky.

Willson Contreras has had a history of hamstring issues and his value has never been higher and will more than likely never be as high as it is right now again, and as Andrew Tito described in an article earlier this year “The Cubs will want an arm and a leg.”  He provides well above average offensive production while playing a position that teams could only hope to get any offense from at all. In short you don’t find catchers that can hit like Contreras and teams dream about having a player like him in their lineup behind the plate everyday.

With all of those factors in place teams like the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, or others will be willing to pay top dollar in order to have Contreras on their roster to help make a playoff push, especially with the shallow depth at the catcher position.

If dealt the return for Willson Contreras would be considerable, likely commanding multiple of a teams top prospects which the Cubs would be able to add to their farm system continuing to build for the future.

While it is hard for a team to move on from someone who has been such a key contributor for so many years it is in the best interest of the franchise to move on from Contreras and focus on building the next young core that can hopefully get the Cubs right back into contention.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be mostly cloudy with rain likely and a high near 74 degrees. Clouds will stay on tonight and temperatures are expected to drop to 67. Chicagoans can expect sunny skies on Saturday and Sunday with highs of 76 and 84 respectively.

Top story

Pay up, Cook County orders homeowners after Sun-Times exposed wrongful property tax breaks

A wealthy couple has agreed to repay more than $67,000 in property tax breaks they incorrectly claimed for two years on their 58th-floor Water Tower Place condo.

The daughter of a dead mobster has to repay $16,271 in tax breaks she got after her father’s name was repeatedly signed on applications to lower the property taxes on their Bridgeview home.

And an 89-year-old woman has to repay $90,552 in property tax breaks reserved for homeowners and seniors that she continued to take even after her Pilsen apartment building was signed over to a company controlled by her grandson.

After a series of Chicago Sun-Times reports exposed questionable tax breaks, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s staff has ordered four people to repay a total of $254,298 for years of tax breaks they shouldn’t have gotten.

And, in a rare move for the assessor’s office, the dead mobster’s case has been turned over to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to determine whether any laws were broken in wrongfully claiming the exemptions, which cut the home’s property tax bills.

Other homeowners have seen their property taxes soar after Kaegi’s staff recalculated the exemptions they’d claimed under one of the most lucrative property tax exemptions — the “senior citizen freeze,” which can drastically cut tax bills.

That tax break caps property assessments for people 65 years or older whose household income is under $65,000. The aim of the law creating that exemption was to protect seniors against rising property taxes in booming neighborhoods.

Two years ago, the assessor granted the senior freeze for 144,904 properties, which shifted $250 million in property taxes from them onto Cook County’s other 1.77 million properties. Altogether, taxpayers in Cook County pay $15.5 billion a year in property taxes.

Tim Novak and Lauren FitzPatrick on the impact of the reporting here.

More news you need

Among the harrowing stories emerging in the aftermath of the Highland Park parade shooting are accounts of community members supporting each other amid the violent chaos. Our Brett Chase spoke with two doctors — Dr. Loren Schechter and Dr. David Baum — who went from watching the parade to treating the wounded.Illinois Democrats are working behind the scenes to drum up support to ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines as the fallout of the Highland Park massacre continues. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers are also looking at ways to fix shortcomings in the state’s firearm owner identification card system and pass other gun control measures, our Tina Sfondeles reports.South Side residents will soon have access to an array of new physical and mental health care options with the opening of a new, $43-million health center in Woodlawn. Touted as a one-stop shop for preventive and primary care, Friend Health Woodlawn Center organizers say the center will serve 35,000 patients annually and help counteract decades of disinvestment in the South Side.Putting a dome over Soldier Field, expanding the NFL’s lowest seating capacity, installing synthetic turf and selling naming rights will not keep the Bears in Chicago, sports marketing expert Marc Ganis said. Even if the city could implement every idea in a report by a mayoral panel that studied how to re-imagine Soldier Field and the Museum Campus, the Bears are as good as gone.Mayor Lori Lightfoot has $2.5 million in her campaign war chest — three times the take for her next-highest competitor, except millionaire businessman Willie Wilson — after raising $1.25 million in the second quarter. One day after former CPS CEO Paul Vallas dropped $836,500 into his mayoral campaign fund, Lightfoot yesterday saw Vallas’ opening bid and raised him by $413,500.For its 30th anniversary, Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper looked back on the beloved classic “A League Of Their Own.” The film continues to resonate as a groundbreaking sports film with a woman-led cast and a woman director, Penny Marshall, Roeper writes.

A bright one

In Pilsen, weekly Aztec dance ritual offers joy and a link to tradition

On Thursday evenings, as long as the weather is warm, the playground at Harrison Park in Pilsen becomes a stage for leaping dancers and the age-old sounds of drums.

It’s the rehearsal of a traditional Aztec dance that’s become a beloved gathering for the neighborhood. About 20 dancers, including children, rehearse wearing bandanas around their foreheads and rattles strapped to their ankles.

The dancers practice with a group called Huehuecoyotl, which means “ancient coyote” in Nahuatl, an indigenous language spoken in Mexico. The group started rehearsing at Harrison Park last summer in part because many of its members live around Pilsen.

Huehuecoyotl is one of several Aztec dance groups in the Chicago area. More than being about just entertainment, the group dances to reclaim and preserve the indigenous cultural identity of Mexicans in Chicago.

“The danza Azteca is a Mexican tradition that has been kept alive for hundreds of years,” Ana Pati?o, one of the group’s leaders, said in Spanish. “It creates harmony in the community and with nature. It also teaches you discipline and promotes strength.”

Their dance is a ritual, a ceremony, said Sergio Abrajan Flores, who leads rehearsals. It’s an offering, a prayer in motion used to meditate, heal and connect with nature and everything around.

“La danza is a representation of the universe – a small version of it here on earth,” Flores said.

WBEZ’s Adriana Cardona-Maguigad has more on the communal practices here.

From the press box

Your daily question ?

What makes Chicago different from any other city?

Send us an email at [email protected] and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: What is the greatest Chicago-set movie of all time?

Here’s what some of you said…

“‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ has everything that you would want to see in Chicago — Lakefront, Michigan Avenue, music, excitement, drama, Wrigley Field, the Art Institute and the scene where Ferris’ friend Cameron drives his father’s sports car off the wrong end of the garage. What’s missing?” — Gene Tenner

“The greatest Chicago-set movie of all time is ‘The Blues Brothers.’ This iconic, star-filled movie re-set the world’s perception of Chicago from Al Capone & Gangsters to Jake, Elwood & kick-ass Music and outlandish comedy bits. (Just too many to cite here!) — George Klippel

“‘Adventures in Babysitting’ — because it is wacky and nostalgic” –Greg Kulevich

“‘Cooley High’ has the best-written script that presents three-dimensional characters in believable situations and shows off the streetscape of the city — from Downtown to the neighborhood.” –Jim Rafferty

“There are so many great Chicago set movies. Some of the oft-forgotten that show more of the neighborhoods are ‘Thief,’ ‘Medium Cool,’ and the original ‘Child’s Play.’ –Anthony Imburgia

“‘The Untouchables!’ It will always be a classic, with the cinematography of our city in the prohibition era!” –Voni Lacey

“‘The Fugitive,’ because is, was filmed mostly in my old elementary school on 46th in greenwood. ‘The Blues Brothers’ because the scene with Ray Charles was filmed on 47th one block from the El. ‘Ferris Bueller’ because I was downtown watching them film the Twist and Shout scene — and finally ‘Adventures in Babysitting’ because after the movie wrapped, I got a job in that building, It’s so many more to list!” –Camille Austin

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Read More

MONTREAL — After a wild Thursday of trades at the NHL draft, the Blackhawks quietly spent Friday adding much-needed depth to their prospect pool.

They picked eight players during the second through seventh rounds, and all eight were forwards — addressing that weakness in their preexisting pool.

That came after the Hawks surprisingly chose two defensemen among their three first-round picks Friday: Kevin Korchinski (seventh overall pick) and Sam Rinzel (25th) joined forward Frank Nazar (13th).

Two centers picked in the second round –Paul Ludwinski (39th) and Ryan Greene (57th) –headlined the Friday picks.

The Hawks added wingers Gavin Hayes (66th) and Samuel Savoie (81st) and center Aidan Thompson (90th) in the third round. After a break in picks, the Hawks then added center Dominic James (173rd) and winger Nils Juntorp (188th) in the sixth round and center Riku Tohila (199th) in the seventh.

The Hawks were part of three minor trades. They dealt the 94th pick of the third round to the Coyotes for the Stars’ 2023 third-round pick, then acquired the 188th pick used on Juntorp from the Hurricanes in exchange for their 2023 sixth-round pick.

They traded the 167th pick to the Penguins for the rights to 22-year-old prospect forward Liam Gorman, an unsigned former sixth-round pick currently playing for Princeton.

This story will be updated.

Read More

There’s a lot to live up to for anyone producing August Wilson’s Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Fences.” The sixth play in Wilson’s vaunted 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle is a towering emotional epic that’s comparableto Greek tragedy in its elemental depiction of troubled father-son and husband-wife relationships.

In director Monty Cole’s staging for American Blues Theater, Wilson’s 1950s-set drama swings for the fences with mixed results. Despite strong leading performances and an ensemble that doesn’t flinch from going big with the rawest of emotions, the staging is hampered by sluggish pacing and tentative moments when Wilson’s rich, rhythmic dialogue becomes more laborious than lyrical. The brilliance of the words glimmers through in shards rather than full light, resulting in a tantalizing but frustrating production.

The plot follows 53-year-old city garbage collector Troy Maxon (Kamal Angelo Bolden), once a Negro League baseball phenom with stats rivaled only by the likes of Babe Ruth. He had more than enough talent to be a star in the Major Leagues, but by the time Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, Troy was well past his prime. As his skills and prospects diminished, his bitterness grew.

Troy’s youngest son Cory (Ajax Dontavius) is also a gifted athlete, a high school football star with a college scholarship within his reach. But as Troy’s wife Rose (Shanesia Davis) celebrates that news, she’s met with virulent hostility from her husband. Disillusioned by his own treatment at the hands of professional sports and deeply conflicted that his son could succeed where he did not, Troy is not afraid to actively sabotage his son’s career to make a point.

Wilson makes that father/son conflict roil with heat and profundity, elevating a classic man vs. man trope into high drama as elemental as a hurricane. Rose, meanwhile, is the backbone of the family, her generosity and matter-of-fact authority serving as an uneasy bridge over the troubled waters raging between Troy and Cory.

There are no wasted words in Wilson’s dense, winding dialogue. Even the most seemingly offhand conversation or quasi-drunken aside in “Fences” is layered, as Wilson tackles everything from the inflated prices the only local store charges for produce to the institutional racism that cost Troy his baseball career and kept him on the back of the garbage truck — never in the driver’s seat –for years. It also tackles the fallout from Troy’s swaggering machismo, which manifests in his bouts of raging, barely controlled violence.

In addition to Rose and Cory, the frequent targets of Troy’s temper include his brother Gabriel (Manny Buckley), a veteran who guards against phantom “hellhounds” only he can see and speaks of conversing with Saint Peter at the gates of Heaven.Troy also has an older son, Lyons (William Anthony Sebastian Rose II) who is determined (much to Troy’s disgust) to be a musician. Finally, there’s Troy’s best friend Jim Bono (Martel Manning). Both are garbage men, emptying the bins into the truck’s gaping maw, living for the moments when they can kick back with a flask and dream of better things.

Bolden’s mercurial Troy and Davis’ regally authoritative, deeply compassionate Rose anchor “Fences.” Bolden has an unmistakable charisma even when Troy is inflicting ruthless cruelties on his loved ones. Davis brings a formidable light and steely-spined dignity to Rose. This is a woman who knows precisely how and when to wield unquestioning authority.

Wilson’s dialogue is filled with nods toward powers beyond the pale of the earth’s parameters. Buckley’s angelic Gabriel carries a horn, the better to alert St. Peter to open the pearly gates. Troy challenges both the Devil and Death to battle.

That unearthly aspect of “Fences” is emphasized in Yeaji Kim’s scenic design, which has the set enclosed on two sides by the audience and the other two by the titular fence, an edifice that almost dwarfs the cast as it vaults above them. A bench flush against one side of the wall allows Cole to keep most of the cast on stage at all times, watching and reacting to the action in the manner of a Greek chorus. Lighting designer Jared Gooding periodically bathes the stage and its players in red, as sound designer Rick Sims’ subtly discordant audio creates an uneasy, otherworldly effect. The ethereal lighting and soundscape are initially effective but ultimately repetitive and cumbersome enough to contribute to the pacing issue that hampers “Fences” throughout.

American Blues Theater’s staging gives the show’s complicated metaphors and characters traction. Tighten up the pacing and lose the tentativeness that sadly defines some of the dialogue, and this production of “Fences” could truly resonate.

Read More

After a loss to the Angels on June 29, the White Sox’ sixth defeat in an eight-game span, pitcher Michael Kopech delivered a message to anyone who cared to listen. He wanted people to know that, despite the team’s exasperating mediocrity in the first three months of the season, freakouts were nonexistent in the clubhouse.

“Nobody is panicking,” he said.

My immediate thought then was the same as it is now: No, please, start panicking. Panic like a cornered dog. Panic like someone who forgot about an exam that starts in two hours. Activate the fight-or-flight response and, while you’re at it, forget about the flight part of the equation.

Panic would suggest a racing heart rate, which would suggest concern, which would suggest that the players and the manager are worried about losing their jobs, which would suggest they might want to, you know, do something!

Nothing else has worked for the Sox. One guy plays well. Five other guys don’t. Players get injured. Players return from injury. Six victories in seven games are followed by eight straight losses. Up and down. Down and up. It’s almost as if .500 has a magnetic pull for this team. The Sox have been in third place in the American League Central for more than a month, and they’ve mostly been four to six games out of first place since May 21. This is baseball being played on a hamster wheel.

Half a season would seem to be a decent sample size. The sample says the White Sox are so-so, a major disappointment because they were supposed to be so good. Despite being down a few players due to injury, they still have talent, which is why Kopech was preaching calm after that late-June loss in Anaheim.

“We know we are a good team and we can turn it around tomorrow if things go well,” he said. “It’s frustrating, yeah, but I think we know what we are capable of.

“We keep getting asked about how we feel about it. Look, nobody wants to lose, and the guys that are on the field every night, I promise they want to win more than anybody else that’s thinking about the team. So, yeah, we are not happy that we are not winning.”

The time for that kind of thoughtful analysis is over. It hasn’t led to consistent winning. Knowing what you’re capable of and being what you’re capable of are two different things, and it’s clear the Sox have no idea how to make the transition.

I’m not suggesting that someone on the team should recreate Chris Sale’s infamous Edward Scissorhands meltdown … wait, maybe I am. Remember? The former Sox pitcher taking a pair of scissors to throwback jerseys in the clubhouse in 2016 because he thought they were ugly and because he thought the club was putting a promotional campaign ahead of winning? It was a blowup of massive proportions. Sale, now with the Red Sox, had another eruption the other day after a rehab start didn’t go the way he wanted. Video captured him tearing up a runway to the dugout of Boston’s Triple-A team.

Some of you will say that grown men having temper tantrums is more of an embarrassment than an answer. I would agree in almost every case. But this is the case of a team that can’t seem to find itself, possibly because it can’t find its heartbeat.

It starts at the top. The criticism of Tony La Russa is that, at 77, he’s lost touch. I wonder if we’ve cowed him into being something he shouldn’t be: passive. He came to town carrying an olive branch. Is it possible he’s gone too far out of his way to play nice with everyone, players and media alike, to show that he’s not the ornery cuss he used to be? Is he better when he’s fiery?

Perhaps the players are following his subdued lead. Perhaps it’s time for some emotional dudes. Zeal and ferocity don’t always do for a baseball player what they do for a football player. But nothing else has worked.

I’m just spitballing here. By the way, if spitballing were a sport, the Sox would be .500 at that, too.

Fury. Anger. Panic. They’re all cut from the same emotional cloth. Whatever the Sox are wearing at the moment, it’s not made of that fabric.

“It’s tough right now,” Kopech said after giving up four home runs in a loss to the Twins on Tuesday.

He’s getting closer to a possible answer.

Read More

Owen Caissie Celebrates his birthday with a walk-off grand slam for the South bend Cubs

Caissie decided to start celebrating his birthday a little early this year. Just two hours before his 20th birthday, hitting with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Owen Caissie slugged a walk-off grand slam that gave the South Bend Cubs an 8-6 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

Owen Caissie, the young Canadian firecracker, moved from Low-A Myrtle Beach to High-A South Bend Cubs after playing just 22 games at Low-A. A move that surprised some fans and players. Their concerns grew louder when Caissie failed to deliver at the beginning of the season.

After going hitless in his first four games with the South Bend Cubs and batting .138 with no home runs in the first few months of the season, Caissie needed to come back with a bang. On May 8th, he went yard for the first time and is now batting .325 with seven home runs and 11 doubles. And has since continued his climb.

This most recent grand slam isn’t just an early birthday present or an ordinary win, it puts the South Bend Cubs in first place in the West Division. A narrow victory over Wisconsin who were just one game short of taking first. Caissie figures that this will be a night he won’t forget soon.

In an interview with Luis Verdugo, Caissie was quoted saying: “It’s the last hit I’ll ever have as a teenager, so I’ll never forget it.”

Young all-star players like Owen Caissie, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Brennen Davis, and Cristian Hernandez are sure to light a spark in the Cubs’ upcoming season that won’t be easily put out.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More

MONTREAL — Duncan Keith is hanging up his skates after 17 years in the NHL.

The grizzled defenseman reportedly decided Friday to retire with one year remaining on his contract, bringing to a close a legendary career that featured three Stanley Cups, two Norris Trophies and one Conn Smythe Trophy with the Blackhawks. He’ll turn 39 later this month.

But his earlier-than-expected retirement unfortunately also inflicts on the Hawks a massive salary cap recapture penalty. They’ll lose just over $5.5 million in cap space in 2022-23 and another $1.9 million in 2023-24.

Keith spent 16 of his 17 seasons in Chicago, skating –unfazed by all sorts of injuries and adversity as a stalwart of the Hawks’ vaunted blue line –in 1,192 regular-season games and another 135 postseason games.

After his trade to the Oilers last summer, bringing him closer to his son Colton (who lives in British Columbia), Keith willed one more solid season out of his aging body. He averaged 19:44 of ice time in 60 regular-season appearances and helped the Oilers make a run to the Western Conference Final.

“The Chicago Blackhawks are always going to be in my heart,” Keith said last summer. “It’s a great organization, and we were always treated first-class as players. [I] was really part of a transformation of that team, and I just feel grateful to have been a part of it.”

For the Hawks, the cap penalty is unfortunate but hardly devastating.

General manager Kyle Davidson has emphasized the value of financial flexibility during the rebuild and likely wasn’t planning to venture anywhere near the $82.5 million cap ceiling this coming season anyway, especially after trading Alex DeBrincat. By the time the Hawks try to spend heavily to contend again, Keith’s contract will be long gone.

But the cap penalties do temporarily reduce the amount of space the Hawks could theoretically weaponize to take on other team’s regrettable contracts with sweeteners attached, like Davidson did Thursday with Petr Mrazek and the Maple Leafs.

The penalties themselves might be the last of their kind, too.

Recapture penalties were introduced during the 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement to disincentivize teams from front-loading long contracts to reduce the overall cap hit (which is calculated based on the annual average value), then retroactively applied to at-the-time fully legal contracts signed before 2013.

Keith’s 13-year, $72 million contract, signed in 2010, fit that description because it paid him $8 million each of its first three seasons but just $2.1 and $1.5 million in its last two.

But with Keith retiring, only two NHL players are still on contracts signed before 2013 –Sidney Crosby and Shea Weber –and Weber has already de-facto retired due to injuries. Crosby is still going strong for the Penguins with three contract years left.

Read More

We take a look at some Chicago Cubs prospects that climbed and fell the latest MLB prospects list

As a new MLB 100 prospect rankings list is released, four Cubs prospects are on the move, with one new name cracking the ranks. The Chicago Cubs are having an as-expected season so this year with a record of 34-48, sitting 3rd in the division, while 12,0 games back of the division-leading, Milwaukee Brewers. That being said, the future is looking a little brighter with some potential stars playing at Wrigley in the coming years.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way. The Cubs most MLB-ready prospect, OF Brennen Davis, moves back 15 spots (currently ranked 29). Here is Sam Dykstra of MLB.com reasons for his current ranking.

“Davis got off to a rough start with a .195 average and .585 OPS in 22 games at Triple-A Iowa and then underwent back surgery, hurting his stock further.”

The 22-year-old underwent back surgery in early June, cutting his season short and of course, pushing back his MLB debut at least another year. Davis slashed .260/.375/.494 with 19 home runs in the 2021 season, giving Cubs fans a reason to believe he may be a part of the franchise’s future success.

The second highest-rated prospect on the list is 18-year-old, right-handed batting shortstop, Cristian Hernandez (currently ranked 68, previously ranked 75). Only being 18, his MLB ETA is not until 2025, but that is no reason to not be excited for a guy, according to MLB.com has

“physical comparisons to a young Alex Rodriguez and Manny Machado as an amateur in the Dominican Republic, and some scouts considered him the best prospect in the 2020 international class”

There is a reason a guy like Hernandez is ranked and spoken so highly of at his age, and that is because of his five-tool potential. In the 2021 season, Hernandez slashed .285/.398/.424 with 21 stolen bases and 5 home runs with a beautiful swing, in 47 games in the Dominican Summer League. He also stands at 6’2″/175 which leads to think his strength is only going to improve along with his power as time goes on. So far in 2022, Hernandez is slashing .292/.365/.385 with only 1 stolen base and 2 home runs through 18 games. As a Cubs fan, this is absolutely a player I cannot wait to see once he’s called up.

The second most MLB-ready Cubs prospect and the third highest-ranked player is the left-handed-hitting outfielder, Pete Crow-Armstrong (currently ranked 79, previously ranked 86). Armstrong, originally drafted by the Mets 19th overall, in the 2020 draft was traded to the Cubs in 2021, included in the Javier Báez trade. Armstrong is a tremendous defensive outfielder with a quick bat and full of offensive potential, MLB.com calls him

“The top outfield defender in the 2020 Draft, Crow-Armstrong is a no-doubt center fielder with Gold Glove potential. He covers tremendous ground with his quickness and instincts, and he also possesses solid arm strength”

Armstrong is currently playing in the A+ level at age 20 with an MLB ETA of 2024. He stands at 6’0″/184 and is currently slashing .315/.382/.523 with 9 home runs and 14 stolen bases through 56 games this season. Another guy to keep a close eye on as he quickly climbs the ranks at a young age.

The final Cubs prospect to reach the MLB top 100 list is a new face, Kevin Alcantara (currently ranked 98). The right-handed-hitting outfielder stands at a whopping 6’6″/188 and is currently 19 years old, playing at A level. Alcantara currently has a slash line of .270/.362/.475 along with 10 home runs, 8 stolen bases, and 54 RBIs through 69 games so far this year. Along with Alcantara’s height, comes his speed, making him an even more impactful defensive outfielder and baserunner. MLB.com also praises his bat speed along with his raw power, and exit velocity, all combined with a high baseball IQ.

“With his bat speed, projectable strength and the leverage in his long frame, he creates well-above-average raw power and exit velocities.”

“Not only is he physically gifted, but he’s also an intelligent player with a strong work ethic.”

As I stated earlier, we may not see these players make their MLB debuts for possibly a couple more years, but it’s hard not to get excited for the potential future stars of the franchise, and see them contribute to another world championship.

For More Great Chicago Sports Content

Follow us on Twitter at @chicitysports23 for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE

Read More

It all started because Rockford Peaches right fielder Evelyn Gardner didn’t hit the cutoff infielder and thus allowed the South Bend Blue Sox to put the tying run on second base. After the Blue Sox did indeed knot the game, Peaches manager Jimmy Dugan stopped Evelyn before she could reach the dugout.

“Say Evelyn,” Dugan said in a quiet, low-key manner. “Can I ask you a question, you got a moment? Which team do you play for?”

“Well, I’m a Peach,” comes the confused reply.

And that’s when Dugan went off: “Well I was just wondering, cuz I couldn’t figure out why you would throw home when we’ve got a two-run lead! You let the tying run get on second and we lost the lead because of you! Now you start using your head. That’s that lump that’s three feet above your ass!”

When Dugan sees Evelyn is tearing up, he’s flabbergasted.

“Are you crying? Are you crying? Are you crying? There’s no crying. There’s no crying in baseball!”

That, of course, is THE iconic moment from “A League Of Their Own,” which was released 30 years ago this month and continues to resonate as a beloved, groundbreaking sports film with a female-led cast and a female director, with “There’s no crying in baseball!” ranked by the American Film Institute as the 54th most memorable line in movie history (a few notches below Hanks’ “Houston, we have a problem” from “Apollo 13”).

Inspired by a 1990 documentary of the same name about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s and 1950s and directed by Penny Marshall, “A League of Their Own” became a surprise breakout hit in the summer of 1992, led to a short-lived sitcom in 1993 and will be re-imagined for a Prime Video series next month that covers the same story but with all-new characters. But the original feature film remains, well, in a league of its own as a classic baseball tale, a wonderful reminder of a special time in history, and just a damn fine, funny and warmhearted story.

As is the case with many a hit motion picture, there were some starts and stops in casting. At one point, Jim Belushi was set to play Jimmy Dugan, and he probably would have been pretty good, but Hanks is Hanks. Debra Winger had spent months prepping to play the lead character of Dottie but dropped out in large part because Madonna was a late addition to the cast, and Winger felt that would turn the project into “an Elvis movie,” with Madonna’s global superstardom superseding the entire production.

Madonna wasn’t shy about voicing her snooty opinions of the Midwest shooting locations — a bit hypocritical, given she’s from Bay City, Michigan. In an interview with TV Guide, she said of Evansville, “I might as well be living in Prague,” and in a letter to her photographer friend Steven Meisel, she wrote, “I cannot suffer any more than I have in the past month … learning how to play baseball with a bunch of girls (yuk) in Chicago (double yuk).”

To be fair, cast mates have talked about how hard Madonna worked — and she delivers arguably the best performance of her film career as Mae Mordabito, from her comedic rapport with Rosie O’Donnell to the show-stopping dance number at the Suds Bucket (actually FitzGerald’s in Berwyn) where she cuts the rug with a dashing soldier played by none other than Eddie Mekka, aka Carmine from Marshall’s sitcom “Laverne & Shirley.” (She also cast another “Laverne & Shirley” regular, David L. Lander aka “Squiggy,” as the announcer at Racine Field.)

In another bit of perfect casting, Jon Lovitz owns the first few scenes of the film as the blunt scout Ernie Capadino, who has a run-in with chickens on the Oregon farm where Dottie (Geena Davis) and her sister Kit (Lori Petty) live, exclaiming, “Get these wild animals away from me! Haven’t you ever heard of a leash!” and reacts to Dottie’s last-minute decision to hop on the train to Chicago by saying, “Did you promise the cows you’d write?” Once Dottie and Kit arrive at Harvey Field (you might know it as Wrigley Field) for tryouts, Ernie cracks, “Hey cowgirls, see the grass? Don’t eat it.”

But even with Lovitz’s killer cameo and Hanks in a brilliant supporting turn (Jimmy Dugan doesn’t make an appearance until 30 minutes into the film), “A League of Their Own” is always about the women and the many indelible characters, from Dottie and Kit to Mae and Doris, not to mention Tracy Reiner’s Betty “Spaghetti” Horn and Megan Cavanagh’s Marla Hooch and Bitty Schram as the aforementioned Evelyn Gardner, among others. Re-watching the film, I was struck by how much baseball is played — certainly more than we see in “Field of Dreams,” at least as much as in “Bull Durham.” These actors created memorable characters, but they could also really play the game, which adds so much to the verisimilitude of the story.

Also: Jimmy Dugan was wrong. There IS crying in baseball, or at least there are multiple moments in “A League of Their Own” when one can’t help but tear up. My top three:

When Ernie rejects Marla after a tryout in Colorado despite her considerable talents because she doesn’t have certain physical attributes, Marla’s widowed father (the late great character actor Eddie Jones) approaches Ernie and says, “Hey Mister. I know my girl ain’t so pretty as these girls. That’s my fault. I raised her like I would a boy, I didn’t know any better. She loves to play. Don’t make my little girl suffer because I messed up raising her. Please.”At the tryouts in Chicago, left fielder Shirley Baker (Ann Cusack, sister of Joan and John) stands helpless in front of the lists of the players who have made the cut. She’s told to either find her name on the list or go home, but she can’t. Anne Ramsay’s Helen Haley grasps the situation, comes jogging up and says, “Hi. Can you read, honey?” Shirley shakes her head and says no. Helen finds her name and says, “This is you. You’re with us, you’re a Rockford Peach.” The crusty coach (Don S. Davis) conducting the tryouts says in a kind voice, “Go join your team,” and the other players break out in applause.The Rockford Peaches are in the locker room before a big game when a telegram arrives from the War Dept. The postman fumbles about until Jimmy Dugan kicks him out and opens the telegram, and slowly makes his way over to Betty, saying simply, “I’m sorry, Betty.” Cut to Dottie, weeping uncontrollably in her hotel room — when who should arrive but her husband Bob (Bill Pullman), who got shot in the foot by a sniper overseas and has been sent home.

And that’s even before the flash-forward to the reunion at Cooperstown. No crying in baseball? Come on Jimmy, there’s no game in the world that elicits more tears, whether it’s from joy, sorrow or triumph, and “A League of Their Own” captured that in magnificent fashion.

Read More

Would a dome addition keep the Bears in the city of Chicago?

Soldier Field has not only served  as the Chicago Bears home for over 50 years but also as an iconic feature of the Chicago landscape and an important aspect of the popular Museum Campus. Despite renovations to the original stadium, Soldier Field has maintained an open-air environment with natural grass since the Bears began playing there in 1971.

However, in an effort to prevent the Bears’ rumored move to Arlington Heights, which appears to be nearly a done deal, the city’s mayoral committee plans to recommend a stadium renovation, highlighted by the addition of a dome, that could cost over $400 million in taxpayer money.

A Chicago mayoral committee is set to recommend putting a dome on Soldier Field in an effort to keep the Bears from moving out of the area.

h/t @CrainsChicago pic.twitter.com/XKjFIMmEY3

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) July 6, 2022

This effort to keep the franchise in the heart of the city may be too little too late, as the organization signed a purchase agreement in Arlington Heights and Churchill Downs Inc. in September of 2021. The Bears will likely submit their redevelopment plans for the park to Arlington Heights later this fall, with action coming early 2023 at the earliest.

Nonetheless, the move to Arlington Heights is far from a done deal, as many factors and negotiation pieces could fall out between either the team or the city. It is also not rare for sports teams to threaten leaving the city in order to force upgrades and renovations to the stadium. This negotiation tactic doesn’t always work for the team, however, famously including Jim Irsay’s failed negotiations with the city of Baltimore, forcing him to move the Colts to Indianapolis in 1984.

It’s unlikely that the Bears will have to move overnight due to the city of Chicago putting their foot down on a Soldier Field renovation, but nonetheless, a move to the suburbs may be inevitable, no matter what the city does to improve the stadium in the near future.

Would you rather the Bears stay in Chicago with a domed stadium or move to the suburbs but keep the open-air, natural grass environment? Either way, it appears that the game-day experience and tradition surrounding Bears home games will change greatly in the near future.

Read More