Rick Klein over at Fuzzy Memories tipped us off to this WMAQ newsclip from 1980. With today's weather warm and breezy, it seemed like a good day for a ball game. Bonus with this clip: a young Linda Yu. more ›

You know how every year they make up championship t-shirts for both teams in the Super Bowl? Except one of those teams has to lose, right, so their championship t-shirts end up being donated to children in third world countries? And those kids are now walking around in "New England Patriots 19-0" shirts? Well, consider this video kind of like that. Courtesy of our hilarious friends at Schadenfreude [who have a new show coming soon we'll be previewing] comes this Walter E Smithe commercial (that will never see the light of day) celebrating a successful Cubs 2008 postseason. Enjoy while you wait to see if Sarah Palin is gonna show up on that SNL special. more ›

Maybe he hasn't made Keith Olbermann's nightly list yet, but Sam Zell is quickly cementing his place among the "Worst People in Chicago" as he continues to antagonize Chicagoans since his takeover of the Tribune Co. more ›

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. more ›

Since 1940, two Major League Baseball teams have been honored each year with an invitation to play in the Hall of Fame Game -- an in-season exhibition game held in Cooperstown, New York. But because of the increasing complexity of fitting the "off day" game into teams' schedules, the 2008 game will be the final one. more ›

It's been quite a week for Bulls rookie Joakim Noah. After a confrontation with Bulls assistant coach Ron Adams, Noah was suspended for a game. Then his teammates voted to suspend him an additional game. more ›

The Mark Prior Era is over in Chicago. The Cubs finally gave up on the one-time budding superstar on Wednesday -- the deadline for offering salary arbitration to eligible players--making Prior officially a free agent. Unable to reach an incentive-laden, one-year contract or to find a trading partner, the Cubs chose to non-tender Prior rather than risk overpaying for an injured pitcher. Are we surprised? Chicagoist did predict back in April that we'd never see... more ›

The Cubs finally traded maligned outfielder Jacque Jones on Monday, sending him along with $2 million to Detroit for utility infielder Omar Infante. A slow start to the 2006 season after signing a 3-year, $16 million deal to join the Cubs caused the fans to sour quickly on Jones. He became the next "Corey Patterson" -- which Chicagoist predicted the day he signed -- and the target for relentless taunting by the fans in the... more ›

Now that baseball fans on both sides of town are officially "waiting until next year," we take great interest in Major League Baseball's tentative 2008 schedule. more ›

Does Starbucks have anything larger than a venti? We're sure that many across Chicago are wondering the same thing if they stayed up to watch the entire Cubs-Diamondbacks game last night. Between the 9:07 p.m. first pitch and a 3-hour, 44-minute game, one was hard pressed to brush their teeth and make it to bed before 1:00 a.m. — enough time for a few hours of shuteye before getting up to trudge into the office. more ›

In Game One of the NLDS, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cubs 3-1, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. The big question is whether Cubs skipper Lou Piniella pulled Carlos Zambrano too soon. The Cubs ace was dealing, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out eight. The Diamondbacks' Brandon Webb matched Zambrano pitch for pitch, resulting in a 1-1 tie after the sixth. Yet Piniella pulled Z after six innings... more ›

Now that the Cubs are in the playoffs, want to convert? Or maybe you've been a Cubs fan but need to brush up on your trivia skills? Tonight, authors Glenn Stout, of the Best American Sports series, and Richard A. Johnson, the curator of the New England Sports Museum, present their latest collaboration, The Cubs: The Complete Story of Chicago Cubs Baseball, at Harold Washington Library. The Cubs details Cubs history covering such items as... more ›

The Cubs have clinched the NL Central crown -- and with two games to spare! Following a three game sweep at the hands of the Florida Marlins, things were looking sketchy, but the Brewers kept on losing, too. When the Cubs returned to the win column in Cincinnati on Friday night, and Milwaukee lost yet again, the final two games were subtracted from the magic number and the Cubs earned a berth in the postseason... more ›

The Cubs couldn't help themselves Wednesday night, as they dropped their second straight game to the lowly Florida Marlins, losing 7-4 in Miami. more ›

It's going to be gorgeous this weekend but might rain tonight, so grab your umbrella before heading out. Just in case. The The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 1 million cribs today after a Trib investigation linked the cribs to the deaths of three children. Congressman Jerry Weller (R-Morris) won't be running for an eighth term because he wants to spend more time with his family. Not because he's been named one of the... more ›

The Cubs aren't the only Chicago franchise fighting for the playoffs; The Chicago Fire are narrowly holding on to a playoff berth. With just six games remaining, the Fire are currently in the 8th and final playoff spot, with Colorado and Columbus hot on their heels. The Fire will continue their hunt for valuable points tonight when they take on FC Dallas on ESPN2 at Pizza Hut Park. The "Big D" has not been friendly... more ›

The Cubs now have fewer than ten games remaining on their schedule, and after Wednesday night's 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, they sit alone atop the NL Central — the Brewers lost to the Astros in extra innings. Lou Piniella's short-rest experiment worked Wednesday night, as Ted Lilly looked sharp, pitching seven innings while allowing two runs and striking out eight. While he didn't earn the victory, he kept the Cubs close enough that... more ›

With barely two weeks to go in the regular season, the Cubs remain in the thick of the playoff hunt and regained sole possession of first place on Thursday by beating the Houston Astros 6-2 on the strength of a four run first inning and four total home runs. The victory gives them a half game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, who were idle on Thursday. more ›

It took a four-run seventh-inning rally, but the Cubs took the first game of a critical three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers by winning 5-3 at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Jacque Jones, whom Cubs fans couldn't wait to unload earlier this season, drove in two of the runs with a key double during the seventh. With Alfonso Soriano on the DL and Derrek Lee's power missing, it's been Jones who has been the key to... more ›

After helping the Cubs climb back into the NL Central race by going 9-3 with a 1.98 ERA through June and July, Carlos Zambrano looks like a different pitcher in August. more ›

When the Cubs hit rock bottom on June 2, they had just lost their sixth game in a row -- Lou Piniella had just thrown his on-field tantrum, and only a day earlier Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett went at it in both the dugout and the clubhouse. The Cubs sat at 22-31, nine games below .500 and 7 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central standings. Their dramatic 5-4 win over... more ›

While our White Sox managed to tie the KC Royals in the AL Central basement earlier this week, the Cubs are quickly closing in on the other end of the standings. Ted Lilly had another strong outing for the Cubs, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Wednesday night. With the win -- combined with the Milwaukee Brewers' loss -- moved the Cubs to within just two games of first in the NL Central. The... more ›

On this -- officially the slowest sports day of the year -- we will take the opportunity to look back at the first half (or so) of the season for the Cubs and Sox. Fans of both teams entered the season with high expectations. Has either team lived up to those expectations? Cubs After spending a ton of money on free agents during the off season, the Cubs sit in second place in the NL... more ›

The Cubs held the White Sox to just two runs over three games, as they swept this weekend's series and ended up winning five of six overall in the crosstown showdown. Carlos Zambrano out dueled Mark Buehrle in Friday's game, limiting the Sox to one run and three hits as the Cubs won 5-1. The Sox bullpen let any chance for a comeback slip away by letting up three ninth inning runs. On Saturday, the... more ›

In a trade that was surprising in its swiftness, the Cubs traded embattled catcher and "good guy" Michael Barrett (or "number 8" for those of you who don't visit Wrigley Field for the baseball) and cash to the San Diego Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league prospect Kyler Burke. The trade closes the book on Barrett's three-plus years as a Cub, a time marked by emotional outbursts, an uncontrollable temper, suspect defensive... more ›

This week, the Cubs announced plans to build a statue of Ernie Banks outside Wrigley Field, honoring Mr. Cub himself. The new statue will be in place before the 2008 season. While discussions about erecting a statue honoring perhaps the greatest Cubs player ever had been going on for a while, Jess Jackson recently got the ball rolling with a public petition, appearances on the Mike North morning show, and a publicized meetings with Tribune... more ›

In light of the death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, who was driving drunk at the time of his fatal accident, many baseball teams have re-addressed their alcohol policies for players. The Cards were the first team to ban alcohol from their clubhouse in the wake of this tragedy, with the Nationals following suit. The Yankees, who already banned alcohol in the home locker room, have now banned it in the visitors' locker... more ›

2006's baseball season brought disappointment to both sides of Chicago. Coming off their 2005 World Series title, the White Sox won 90 games but missed the playoffs — in spite of a number of roster upgrades during the offseason. Did Kenny Williams tinker too much with the chemistry that won them a title in '05? Last year's team never seemed to find its rhythm. On the North Side, the Cubs climbed ever closer to that... more ›

Chicagoist remembers writing nearly the same post about a year ago — sadly it looks like once again the Cubs will open the season without Kerry Wood. The oft-injured pitcher landed on the disabled list on Monday, meaning that once again he will not break camp with the Cubs. Wood begins the season where he ended last year, with a torn rotator cuff. Opting against surgery, Wood hoped off-season rehab, losing 30 pounds and making... more ›

The Cubs and White Sox have been getting in baseball shape down in Arizona for the past couple weeks, and for the most part it's been a pretty quiet Spring Training for both clubs. Other than Kerry Wood's hot tub incident, and Ozzie's recent war of words with former pitcher Brandon McCarthy, the spring has been pretty quiet. Really quiet, actually. Sunday, however, things got a little more raucous as the White Sox and Cubs... more ›