Marriage may be til death do us part, but apparently allegiances to one's baseball team last even longer. Which, we guess makes sense—how often does one hear of anybody abandoning their team for another? Even those Cubs fans who've lived close to a century without ever seeing a World Series title on the north side of town remain loyal forever to their Cubbies. So perhaps we shouldn't find it so surprising that some have decided......

Nick Swisher: "Ozzie and Juan Uribe got me out of a slump by talking to my bat. 'We need you to be a better friend,' they told it. 'We need you to help Swish.' Hey, it worked." That and 101 other kinda fun facts in this article from ESPN Magazine. Thanks, Padre!......

Hurricane Ike isn't the only thing heading to Houston this weekend: The Cubs are supposed to, too, for a three-game series against the Astros, with night games scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday and an afternoon game on Sunday. Major League Baseball hasn't announced a change in the schedule, even though residents of areas around Houston are evacuating. [Houston Chronicle, Trib]......

While the Cubs have raced through the 2008 season atop the NL Central, often with the best record in all of the majors, Cubs fans can't help but feel some sense of dread over the past week. Or its eerie similarities to the Cubs' infamous swoon of '69... Superstitious or not, exactly 39 years ago today, a black cat circled Ron Santo while in the on-deck circle at Shea Stadium, then proceeded past manager Leo......

An MRI confirmed today that Carlos Zambrano has inflammation and right rotator cuff tendonitis, but he's not seriously injured. GM Jim Hendry says Zambrano will start throwing again September 10 or so and should be back in the pitching rotation for the series against Houston, which starts September 12. [AP]......

Starting Thursday, Major League Baseball will begin using instant replay for some home run calls. For now, video will be used only on so-called "boundary calls," such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs. The crew chief decides when to use the replay, when to reverse a call, and where to place runners. Lou, Ozzie,......

In the heat of a division race, with a pitching staff that's seen its ERA climb in each of the past four months, the last thing the White Sox needed was to lose a part of their starting rotation. In fact, the Sox were hoping to get back a key component of their rotation when Jose Contreras, who'd been out since July 13 because of elbow tendinitis, pitched Saturday night. Instead, they lost Contreras to......

According to a new analysis from Forbes magazine, Cubs fans are the fourth most loyal in baseball, behind the Rangers, Red Sox and Braves. Loyalty here is measured as the relationship between winning percentage and attendance since 1991: "The faster that fans boosted attendance and the more hastily they abandoned poor performance indicated fans who were less loyal." Baseball's least-loyal? Angels fan. [Forbes]......

When Wrigley Field joined the 20th century and added lights to the stadium in 1988, part of the team's agreement with the city banned night games on Fridays or Saturdays. Now the Cubs want that ban lifted. The Cubs and the city originally agreed to 18 night games per season at the Friendly Confines. Later amendments have increased that total to 30, but the weekend ban remains in place. The Cubs claim that their desire......

We know plenty of people whose devotion to the Cubs borders on the religious. So maybe it's not that surprising that there's a new way to show fandom: being interred in a Cubs mausoleum. Beyond the Vines, a Cubs-themed final resting place to be constructed in Bohemian National Cemetery, will include a stained-glass replica of the Wrigley scoreboard and is the first sports-devoted tomb in the United States. There are only 280 urn-spots available though,......

Carlos Zambrano remained in demigod form in Wednesday's 5-1 whipping of the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley. Zambrano, who has a 0.64 ERA in his last two outings, allowed one hit, one run and no walks in eight innings to earn his 10th win of the season. That's 10 wins before the All-Star break, not to mention (though we're mentioning it) a stint on the DL that caused him to miss a few starts. With the......

This afternoon, the Cubs and San Diego Padres face off in the final Hall of Fame Game -- an exhibition held annually since 1940 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York. MLB President and Chief Operating Officer Bob DuPuy explained the reason for ending the game: Given the complexities of the Major League schedule and all its inherent challenges, it has become increasingly difficult in recent years to find a suitable date and make the......

Alfonso Soriano's roller coaster season took another plunge on yesterday when Atlanta Brave Jeff Bennett's 0-2 pitch hit the Cubs outfielder in the hand, breaking it. Soriano left the game and was taken to Northwestern Hospital, where x-rays revealed a "minimally displaced fracture of the left fourth metacarpal." [Ed note: Metacarpals are the bones that make up your palm. The...non-finger portion of your hand.] At the time of the injury, Soriano was leading the team......

Photo by Joshua Mellin Wrigley Field is in better condition than everyone thought. Now that the state buying the stadium is off the table, other possible buyers have been sent documents about the property. From the Trib: Sources indicated the books make no specific representation as to the condition of Wrigley Field and the work that needs to be done, even though the urgency of major capital expenditures on repairs and improvements was front......

In honor of this year's All-Star game in Yankee Stadium, Major League Baseball is releasing a series of city-specific, unbelievably ugly Statues of Liberty. (Statue of Liberties?) Wow. The Pirates one is arguably worse, but the Chicago ones are pretty rough. There are much, much better ways to spend $24.99. [MLB]......

For Alfonso Soriano, the past few days had pretty much sucked. After his ninth inning drop of a routine fly ball on Saturday led to a 6-5 loss in extra innings, he's been the target of scorn by Cubs fans and sports media alike. With everybody in town ripping on Soriano's poor glove, what's a guy to do to redeem himself? Fortunately for the Cubs and their fans, manager Lou Piniella didn't heed the advice......

For the second time this week, the White Sox pulled out their brooms. With last night's 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, the Sox swept the series, after sweeping the Giants earlier in the week. The Sox have now won eight straight games and 11 of their last 14. At 26-20, the currently hold a 3 1/2 game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. But can they keep up their winning ways?......

In need of left-handed hitting in their lineup, the Cubs signed Jim Edmonds on Wednesday after the 38-year old outfielder cleared waivers. Edmonds had been released by the San Diego Padres last week after getting off to a slow start this season, in part due to a calf injury from spring training. The Cubs are hoping that the former All-Star can contribute by sharing duties in center field and providing his lefty bat a couple......

Oh, the ambiance of the Friendly Confines ... the ivy, the manual scoreboard, the giant columns blocking half the field for some seats. Well, that last one kind of sucks, actually. Like many ballparks built in the days before architects learned to cantilever the upper decks, Wrigley Field's lower level is rife with giant I-beams that can obstruct the view of the field. And who wants to get stuck behind on of those? Sure, there......

The White Sox head to Toronto for a four-game series with the Blue Jays tomorrow, minus one if their players. Because of visa issues, they left Cuban national Alexei Ramirez behind in Chicago. Ramirez defected to the Dominican Republic eight months ago, before signing with the Sox. While team officials were working on getting his paperwork in order, the early trip north of the border worked against them as they were unable to get him......

As the Cubs enter their century of suckiness, there has been plenty of time for fans to find countless villains and curses to blame for the Cubs misery -- spurned goats, Leon Durham, Steve Bartman, etc. Now a bombshell suggests that the true curse could be something way more sinister. The Cubs could be doomed to eternal failure because they were actually the city's trend setters in throwing World Series. The accusations that members......

Racism and baseball have a long and entwined history, and this season there's a new chapter thanks to some Kosuke Fukudome t-shirts. On the front of the shirt is the traditional Cubs cartoon bear face but with slanted eyes and wearing oversized Harry Caray-style glasses. It's accompanied by the words ''Horry Kow,'' scrawled in cartoonish ''Japanese'' script. Fukudome's name and number are on the back. Fukudome said through an interpreter that "if I make a......

Maybe Chicagoist needs to rethink our less-than-optimistic opinion of the White Sox's prospects for putting together a decent season. Following a weekend series sweep of the Detroit Tigers -- who many experts predict to win the World Series -- the Sox return to Chicago for Monday's home opener with a 4-2 record. By crushing the Tigers 13-2 on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, the Pale Hose have now scored 38 runs in six games and carry......

With the Cubs winning their first game of the season on Thursday, newly anointed closer Kerry Wood came into the 6-3 game, allowed one hit, struck out two, and with no runs scored notched first save. But more importantly to Chicagoist, we wanted to know what his theme music would be. No, he didn't enter to "Born to Lose" or "Broken Wings." The music playing as Woods entered the game was AC/DC's "Dynamite." "Not my......

It's only one day into the season, and already we've ridden a rollercoaster of emotions -- no matter which of Chicago's baseball teams we pledge our allegiance to. The Cubs and White Sox both opened up their 2008 seasons on Monday, and both teams rallied late before coming up short. The White Sox opened up against the Cleveland Indians on the road, with Mark Buehrle facing off against C.C. Sabathia -- who has owned the......

Yesterday morning, WSCR 670 AM reported that free swinging White Sox infielder Juan Uribe has been placed on waivers by the team. Uribe had been competing for the second base position since he was relieved of his position as shortstop when the Sox traded for Orlando Cabrera from the L.A. Angels over the winter, and by most accounts he was performing well. When a player is waived, the team has the option to trade him......

Cubs third baseman Aramis Remirez finally arrived at Spring Training on Tuesday, but when asked by reporters what he did on his winter vacation, he refused to answer. In fact, he wouldn't even allow for the reporter to finish asking the question. Of course, we all know what he was up to back home this off-season. Last week, the New York Times profiled cockfighting and its popularity in a land known for its prolific export......

Sure, it's still damn cold out. And the snow keeps coming. And coming. But spring is just around the corner. How do we know? Because Spring Training is finally upon us. The Cubs' pitchers and catchers reported to Mesa on Wednesday and begin practice today, while the White Sox pitchers and catchers are set to arrive in Tuscon on Saturday. Why the Sox waiting another couple days when clearly they're a team that needs all......

While the Cubs and their fans held their annual love-in last weekend, this past weekend the rest of us gathered at the Palmer House Hilton to celebrate and commiserate with fellow White Sox fans. Given the airing of grievances by fans and feats of strength by team management, it could very well have been renamed SoxFestivus. The Friday night session -- open only to those who ponied up for the hotel package in addition to......

It's not just your suburban-bound friend's condo that's taking longer to sell -- the Cubs sale is proceeding slower than Sam Zell predicted due to real estate uncertainties as well. During this past weekend's annual Cubs Convention at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, management addressed the biggest concerns for fans this year. Among those was the sale of the team and the future of Wrigley Field. A seminar with Cubs management was standing-room-only as Cubs......