Andre's an Expo

I find it difficult to quibble with the reasoning behind the announcement that Andre Dawson will enter the Hall of Fame as an Expo.

We loved him in Chicago too, but let's face it, he played in Montreal for ten years and those really were his best years (despite the MVP with the Cubs.)

The full story is here.

The throw in

On this date in 1982 the Cubs made one of the best trades in their history. They swapped shortstops...Ivan DeJesus of the Cubs went to Philadelphia in exchange for Phillies starting shortstop Larry Bowa.

Oh, and the Phillies threw in a minor league second baseman too. (Photo)

He became a Hall of Famer.

Lew Fonseca

Lew Fonseca was a big-league player that played for, among other teams, the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox between 1921-1933. Fonseca was born on this day in 1899.

He never played for the Cubs, but he did become one of their very first radio announcers.

He is part of this audio montage of early Cubs announcers.

1910, 1935

One hundred years ago this week, the Cubs are preparing for yet another NL Pennant winning season. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the world's first Aviation Meet is held.


Seventy five years ago this week, the Cubs are preparing for yet another NL Pennant winning season. Meanwhile, the FBI corners and kills the Barker Gang, including Ma Barker and her son Freddie.

The First Lady

Michelle Obama celebrated her birthday over the weekend. The First Lady of our country is (gulp) 46. Yes, that's right, she's my age.

While the First Lady may not be a Cubs fan, the Cubs have always been very good to the Ladies. In fact, they invented something called "Ladies Day."

Read all about that tradition here.

Trachsel's take on McGwire

Steve Trachsel was the pitcher that served up #62 to McGwire in 1998.

He was interviewed about the McGwire controversy yesterday on ESPN Radio in Chicago and said something that I always suspected: Sammy and McGwire didn't even like each other.

The full story is here.

Even though Trachsel was a decent pitcher, he was never one of my favorites. He was soooooo slooooooooow on the mound. Every game he pitched took forever. But I will never forget the game he pitched in that one-game playoff game to win the wildcard in 1998. Without him, the Cubs wouldn't have won the right to be swept in three straight by the Braves.

You don't just forget something like that.

McGwire admits it

"I used steroids" says Mark McGwire.

This news is obviously not a shock, but I give McGwire credit for admitting it.

Sammy...your turn.