Patrick Wisdom is carrying the Cubs with 7 dingers on the season as the Dingers crew breaks down his career and future outlook. Will the Cubs get back on track in San Diego before the Cardinals head in to town? That and a lot more on this week’s episode of the Dingers Podcast.
A 32-year-old man has been charged with a fatal shooting Friday in Austin on the West Side.
Marshawn Pierce has been charged with a felony count of first-degree murder, according to Chicago police.
Michael Cooper was in a backyard about 7:25 p.m. June 4, in the 5200 block of West Le Moyne Street, when someone approached and opened fire, striking him in the head, police said. The 23-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Pierce was arrested about 10:50 p.m. Saturday, after he was identified as the person who allegedly fired the fatal shots, police said.
SAN DIEGO — Shortstop Javy Baez was out of the lineup Monday against the Padres because of a bruised right thumb.
He injured the thumb in his last at-bat -Sunday against the Giants before leaving the game.
“Javy’s getting treatment,” manager David Ross said before the game. “It seems to be just a little bit of a kind of thumb contusion. We’ll have to see how he hits and feels, but I think he’s day-to-day. Obviously, he’s not in the starting lineup, but I anticipate him being available, but we probably won’t know more until he’s out there.”
Outfielder Joc Pederson also was out for a second consecutive day but went through a full pregame routine without any issues and should be back in the starting lineup Tuesday.
Marisnick off injured list
The Cubs are slowly getting healthy. After getting Jason Heyward back Sunday, they activated outfielder Jake Marisnick from the injured list. Marisnick, who had been out since May 11 with a strained right hamstring, started in center field and hit sixth.
He was enjoying a solid start before landing on the IL, slashing .264/.350/.623 with four home runs and a 168 OPS+.
To make room for Marisnick on the active roster, right-hander Kohl Stewart was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. Stewart was 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in two starts for the Cubs.
He wasn’t with the team long, but his two outings made a strong impression on the coaching staff, and he could be a legitimate depth piece moving forward.
“I thought [Stewart] was really good,” Ross said. “He gave us some solid innings, especially in that first start. . . . Very impressed from what we saw in spring training and then him going through a couple of mechanical things he wanted to fix at the back end of spring training and then in the minor leagues to get himself ready to help us out.
“He’s got a really nice way about him, the way he competes and the way he stays focused. It was a really nice pick-me-up for him when Trevor [Williams] went down.”
Wisdom named NL Player of the Week
Rookie sensation Patrick Wisdom has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball and was named National League Player of the Week. Wisdom’s second multihomer game of the season helped lead the Cubs to a 4-3 victory Sunday against the Giants.
Wisdom, 29, hit .435 last week with six home runs, nine RBI and an eye-popping 1.719 OPS.
“He’s come in and filled in really nicely and carried us here for a little while,” Ross said. “He’s kept that lineup turning over there toward the middle of the order on the back side after the big boys in the front.
”Super happy he’s having success for us, and he’s been a really, really big part of our success.”
R. Kelly walks out of the Daley Center after an appearance in child support court in March 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file
But two remaining members of Kelly’s defense team say attorneys Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard were fired by the singer before they asked to withdraw Monday.
Two months before R&B superstar R. Kelly is set to face trial in federal court in Brooklyn, his two leading Chicago-based defense attorneys asked Monday to withdraw from the case.
However, two remaining members of Kelly’s defense team say attorneys Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard were fired by the singer before they made their request.
Greenberg and Leonard have served as the most prominent members of Kelly’s legal team since sex abuse allegations resurfaced against the singer in 2019. Greenberg told the Chicago Sun-Times that prosecutors were told about the withdrawal request Monday morning.
“Our reasons for withdrawal are significant and it is impossible, in our belief, for us to be able to continue to properly represent Mr. Kelly under the current circumstances,” Greenberg wrote in a letter to the judge filed with the court later in the day.
The two men offered to serve as stand-by counsel during Kelly’s Brooklyn trial, set for Aug. 9. They also asked for a hearing to discuss the matter further. A status hearing in the case is already set for Wednesday.
Though their request threatens to again postpone Kelly’s long-awaited trial, the singer has been imprisoned for nearly two years and the judge may be hesitant to delay it much longer.
Greenberg’s letter didn’t go into further detail about the reason for the request, but he and Leonard shared statements with the Sun-Times suggesting a dispute over trial responsibilities prompted the move.
Kelly, 54, is also represented in the case by attorneys Douglas Anton of New Jersey, Thomas Farinella of New York, and Nicole Becker of Michigan. Greenberg told the Sun-Times that Farinella and Becker had been seeking greater roles in Kelly’s trial.
“Ultimately, as trial lawyers and in the interests of the client, we weren’t comfortable professionally with allowing lawyers who have never tried federal criminal cases to have significant trial responsibilities,” Greenberg said in a statement. “That approach was not to everyone’s liking.”
Greenberg later added, “we wish (Kelly) the best and we’re rooting for him.”
Leonard wrote that, “ultimately, as trial lawyers and in the interests of the client, we were only comfortable professionally with giving significant trial responsibilities to those who have substantial federal criminal jury trial experience. We wish Mr. Kelly nothing but the greatest success.”
Farinella and Becker later released statements saying Kelly fired Greenberg and Leonard before their letter to the judge was filed. Farinella and Becker declined to comment further, as did Anton.
Kelly is charged in Brooklyn with racketeering. His indictment there alleges he led an “enterprise” made up of his managers, bodyguards, drivers and other employees who helped him recruit women and girls for sex.
A separate indictment in Chicago charges Kelly with child pornography and obstruction of justice. It alleges he thwarted his 2008 prosecution in Cook County with threats, gifts and six-figure payoffs.
A man was shot and carjacked June 7, 2021, in East Garfield Park. | Adobe Stock Photo
The man was in his car in the 200 block of South Central Park Boulevard when three people pulled up alongside and told him to exit the vehicle, Chicago police said.
A 26-year-old was shot and carjacked Monday night in East Garfield Park.
About 6:20 p.m., the man was inside a Pontiac in the 200 block of South Central Park Boulevard when two males and a female pulled up alongside in a Cadillac and told him to exit his car, Chicago police said.
The man complied, then one of the males punched him in the face and the female fired shots, according to police.
He was struck in the buttocks and eventually brought to Stroger Hospital in good condition, police said,
The males and the female fled in his vehicle, according to police.
Entering Monday, Bryant was batting .309 this season with 13 homers and 38 RBI in 55 games. At that rate, he’d finish with 38 homers and 111 RBI, the most he has had by far in a season in either category. | Joe Sargent/Getty Images
Bryant is foiling the Cubs’ plan to rebuild with a resurgent season, forcing them to decide whether to stay the course or go all in.
It’s funny how good things can have ragged edges.
I’m thinking here of Kris Bryant, the Cubs’ multitalented, good-guy, seven-year veteran who is tearing up the league these days.
The problem for the Cubs is they had a rebuilding plan wherein Bryant would be a dud this season. You know, a reverse spin on former manager Joe Madden’s mantra, “Try Not to Suck.” If there were a current management T-shirt, it would say, “Kris, Buddy, Could You Please Try to Suck?”
The reason is the Cubs were ready to start dumping their high-priced players, cultivate kids, lose games, do the farm system-and-draft thing and re-emerge in a few years as contenders.
It’s the way they got good back in 2016. It’s cheesy and devious as a plan — Moneyball for uncreative folks — but it often works. Ask the 2015 Royals, or the 2017 Astros. Or the 2018 Marlins. (Oops, didn’t work for them.) Or . . . OK, let’s be honest, lots of recent teams.
Sports Illustrated writer Jack Dickey accurately called the 2017 World Series champion Astros “a major-market team that opted for a shameless tanking strategy.” He wonderfully described the technique as “terribleness weaponized.”
Call it aggressive non-winning.
If fans will tolerate it, which they stupidly do, then clear the decks and savage the payroll. It’s a plan!
The trouble for the Cubs is they’re contenders now, and that plan won’t sail.
And Bryant is one of the biggest reasons. You can’t dump an MVP candidate — which he is — especially a beloved one. So what a mess.
Last season, Bryant was not very good. He batted .206 with just four home runs and 11 RBI.
The Cubs expected more of the same this year. It even seemed a dubious move when they signed him for this season at $19.5 million.
And the question was: Who was going to take this guy at a big price — a 29-year-old who was on his way down, nagged by injuries, fading from the stardom he displayed when the Cubs won their first and only World Series in the last 113 years?
So he was dangled, and the biggest fish could get him. And the fish were out there. According to USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale, even a fading Bryant was coveted by the Giants, Rangers, Mariners, Mets, Phillies, Red Sox and Nationals.
But last season was a joke. Remember the depths of COVID-19? The disorientation? The empty stands? The fear everywhere?
Bryant only played in 34 games in 2020, and it was simply a year to forget, one symbolized not by a baseball but a round ball called a coronavirus.
Entering Monday, Bryant was batting .309 this season with 13 homers and 38 RBI in 55 games. At that rate, he’d finish with 38 homers and 111 RBI, the latter being the most he has had in a season.
Moreover, he’s displaying amazing versatility by playing all over the field on defense. He has started more than six games each at third and first base and in right, left and center field.
On Sunday in San Francisco, his leaping catch above the wall in left field in the ninth inning against the Giants helped preserve an eventual 4-3 win and stop a three-game skid. Remember, the guy is 6-5, with long arms, and who knows how many other fielders could have made that catch.
Former team president Theo Epstein left the Cubs last year, with the seeming finality meaning the Cubs were ready to go to the bottom and dig out again, as they did en route to that 2016 championship.
Dumping ace big-salaried pitcher Yu Darvish set the tone. They would have just enough talent to be apparently competitive, and then every veteran — Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras, even Javy Baez — would be up for sale.
Winning can screw you up when it arrives when you least expect it.
Back in 2013, Epstein said, “Our record is a function of our long-term building plan.” And their record was terrible — an amazing 377 losses from 2011 to 2014.
But the destruction led, undeniably, to that World Series crown, setting a path for other teams to follow.
Now general manager Jed Hoyer — who likes to win, by the way — has to decide whether to go all-in and possibly buy players this season or stick with a plan to, quite honestly, suck.
SAN DIEGO – The world has changed significantly over the past 12 months and baseball was no exception as last year’s global pandemic sent shockwaves to players, coaches, media and fans alike.
Empty ballparks with no fans, zoom press conferences with the media and heightened health and safety protocols were just some of the dramatic changes seen last season.
On Monday, the Cubs played in their 60th game of the season, a benchmark that meant something completely different in 2020. During the shortened season, the Cubs’ 60th game was their last before entering the postseason.
Following last year’s chaotic sprint, the Cubs reflected on just how dramatic a difference this season has been, compared to last year’s unusual, but historic one.
“Well, I hope we have to worry about going to the postseason, but just not today,” manager David Ross joked on Monday. “It hit me probably a little more than a month ago, I was still in kind of sprint mode. … The last year for me has been a lot. I think for the world, right? For everybody, it’s been a lot. But, we’re starting to see some really light at the end of the tunnel.”
With a schedule spanning eight months and a 162-game in addition to spring training and the postseason, baseball’s grind is unlike any other sport.
Last season’s schedule was a fraction of it’s normal length, but with the mental, physical and emotional toll of an abbreviated season combined with a global pandemic and social justice movements around the country made simply playing baseball a challenge with much of the focus, and rightfully so, in other places.
“I was looking back on it a week after the season ended and was like, ‘That’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,'” right fielder Jason Heyward told the Sun-Times. “Baseball-wise, being a human being. seeing everyone with their families. It felt like the first time everyone in society was like, ‘We’re being hurt by this no matter how you look at.’ That was tough, man. I think there’s still some residual effects for all of us.”
As the mentality off the field has begun to change with vaccinations rolling out and COVID-19 positivity rates dropping beginning to be seen in all aspects of life, players have also had to recalibrate on the field. After being asked to push through a 60-game season, realizing the playoffs don’t begin in what would normally be the middle of the season is still a shock to the system of players.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks had 12 starts during the shortened season and was one of the best pitchers in the game, going 6-5 with a 2.88 ERA. Through 12 starts this season, he’s 7-4 with a 4.59 ERA and even after doing well under the stress of 2020, he still can’t believe what players put their bodies through to try to compete.
“It’s just a wild thought, man,” Hendricks said. “I’m not in the same spot I was last year. Not even close. So feeling like my next start would be in the postseason that’d be a tough spot to be in right now.
“It really did feel so fast last year, but you really didn’t realize how fast it was going in the moment. I don’t think you realize it until you get back into a normal season like this. I mean, we’re really just finding our rhythm and our groove. I feel really good where I’m at, but I’m definitely glad that I get about 20 more starts, for sure.”
A Red Line train derailed June 7, 2021, on the North Side. | Sun-Times file photo
No injuries were reported, according to Chicagofire officials.
Red Line services on the North Side have been temporarily suspended Monday evening following a train derailment near Bryn Mawr Avenue.
A southbound train derailed near the station at 1119 W. Bryn Mawr Ave after 6 p.m., with one wheel coming off the tracks, according to Chicago fire officials.
There were 24 passengers on board the train but no injuries were reported, fire officials said.
CTA Red Lines were only operating between 95th Street and Belmont Avenue, as of about 6:20 p.m.
There were shuttle buses offered for passengers between the Belmont Avenue and Howard Street stops.
Purple Line Express service was also temporarily suspended.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
Tom Thibodeau also was coach of the year in 2011, his first season with the Bulls. | Elsa/Getty Images
The former Bulls coach got the Knicks back to the playoffs, guiding them to their second-best record in 20 years
NEW YORK — Tom Thibodeau got the New York Knicks back to the playoffs, guiding the team to its second-best record in 20 years.
And in the eyes of the voters, that coaching job was the best in the NBA.
Thibodeau was revealed Monday as the NBA’s Coach of the Year for 2020-21, as determined by a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league. The Knicks went 41-31 this season, then fell to Atlanta in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
It was the closest balloting since this version of voting was introduced 19 years ago. Thibodeau got 43 first-place votes and finished with 351 total points, while Phoenix’s Monty Williams actually got more first-place votes — he got 45 — but finished with 340 points.
“Anytime you get an award like this, I’m obviously honored,” Thibodeau said on the telecast announcing the results. “But it’s more a reflection of our group and our organization.”
It was Thibodeau’s second time winning the award; he also got it in 2011, his first season with the Chicago Bulls. And another first-year turnaround in New York merited him the trophy for a second time.
Utah’s Quin Snyder was third and got 10 of the remaining 12 first-place votes. Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers was fourth, getting the other two first-place votes. Atlanta’s Nate McMillan was fifth, Brooklyn’s Steve Nash was sixth and Denver’s Michael Malone was seventh.
The Knicks were 41-31 this season, and that winning percentage of .569 is the eighth-lowest for any coach of the year winner since the award was first given out in 1963. But the job Thibodeau did in his first New York season was outstanding by any measure, guiding the Knicks to their first playoff berth since 2013 and their second-best record in the last 20 years.
On the TNT broadcast announcing the award, Thibodeau spoke of how he grew up a fan of the Knicks in the era that included Willis Reed and Walt Frazier, how his coaching style was influenced in part by others with deep ties to the Knicks — like Rivers and Jeff Van Gundy — and how the players on this New York team like Derrick Rose merited much credit as well. Rose was with Thibodeau when he won the award in Chicago a decade ago.
“There were so many people that helped me along the way,” Thibodeau said. “I’ve probably been the luckiest guy in the world.”
It’s the second major award for the Knicks this season, after Julius Randle won most improved player. Also previously announced was Utah’s Jordan Clarkson winning sixth man of the year.
The MVP, defensive player of the year and rookie of the year awards are yet to be announced.
The defensive player of the year finalists are Utah’s Rudy Gobert, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons. The MVP finalists are finalists Nikola Jokic of Denver, Stephen Curry of Golden State and Joel Embiid of Philadelphia. And the rookie of the year finalists are LaMelo Ball of Charlotte, Anthony Edwards of Minnesota and Tyrese Haliburton of Sacramento.
Thibodeau’s win continues a bit of an odd trend. Out of the last 49 seasons, there have been only three instances of the coach of the year also winning the NBA title that same season — Phil Jackson did it with Chicago in 1996, and Gregg Popovich did it with San Antonio in 2003 and 2014.
Thibodeau is the third coach to win the award as coach of the Knicks, joining Red Holzman in 1970 and Pat Riley in 1993. He’s the 10th to win the award multiple times and the eighth to win with multiple franchises.
Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. Thibodeau got 42 second-place votes and 10 third-place votes; Williams got 32 second-place votes and 19 third-place votes. Williams was left off four ballots, Thibodeau was left off five.
