The 2008 Chicago Cubs: From Swagger to Stagger
12/23/2008
Andrew Shaffer is writer and graphic designer with a passion for the Chicago Cubs and Big Ten football. He hails from Iowa City, Iowa, and has made a yearly migration to Wrigley Field for the past 10 years.
Shaffer holds an MBA from the University of Iowa's Tippie School of Management. He received his BA in English from the University of Iowa as well, where he studied creative writing for a semester at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.
Hope you're looking forward to game two of the NLDS! Here's my take on Chad Billingsley for the Dodgers:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/64482-dodgers-cubs-its-a-series-for-the-young-guns
421 days ago
This was officially announced as of 10:49 am CT. No surprises here...it's nice to see Marquis make it in the bullpen. Besides Howry and possibly Cotts, the bullpen will be the strongest in the playoffs. If Ward whiffs at anything in the NLDS, perhaps we will see Hoff-POWER in the NLCS and World Series when those lineups are set?
Pitchers (11): LHP Neal Cotts, RHP Ryan Dempster, RHP Rich Harden, RHP Bob Howry, LHP Ted Lilly, RHP Carlos Marmol, RHP Jason Marquis, LHP Sean Marshall, RHP Jeff Samardzija, RHP Kerry Wood and RHP Carlos Zambrano
Catchers (2): Henry Blanco and Geovany Soto
Infielders (7): Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot and Daryle Ward
Outfielders (5): Jim Edmonds, Kosuke Fukudome, Reed Johnson, Felix Pie, Alfonso Soriano
422 days ago
This is the year. There's nothing superstitious or magical about the 100-year drought, but the comparison to the championship teams of 1907-08 are uncanny. The last time the Cubs won back-to-back division titles--and here we are again. The Cubs have been drawing comparisons to historic Cubs' teams all year: Most wins by a certain point in the season, best record in baseball latest in the season...the list goes on. The players are also having historic years for individual players, from Z's no-hitter to Geovany Soto being the first rookie starting catcher for the NL in the All-Star Game.
424 days ago
Here is your Cubs' 2008 Postseason Schedule (and, yes, being an optimist, I penciled the Cubs in for every series):
* NLDS Game 1, Oct. 1: Dodgers @ Cubs, 5:37 p.m. CT
* NLDS Game 2, Oct. 2: Dodgers @ Cubs, 8:37 p.m. CT
* NLDS Game 3, Oct. 4: Cubs @ Dodgers, 9:07 p.m. CT
* NLDS Game 4, Oct. 5: Cubs @ Dodgers, TBD*
* NLDS Game 5, Oct. 7: Dodgers @ Cubs, TBD*
* NLCS Game 1, Oct. 9: TBD @ Cubs, TBD
* NLCS Game 2, Oct. 10: TBD @ Cubs, TBD
* NLCS Game 3, Oct. 12: Cubs @ TBD, TBD
* NLCS Game 4, Oct. 13: Cubs @ TBD, TBD
* NLCS Game 5, Oct. 14: Cubs @ TBD, TBD*
* NLCS Game 6, Oct. 16: TBD @ Cubs, TBD*
* NLCS Game 7, Oct. 17: TBD @ Cubs, TBD*
* WS Game 1, Oct. 22: Cubs @ TBD, TBD
* WS Game 2, Oct. 23: Cubs @ TBD, TBD
* WS Game 3, Oct. 25: TBD @ Cubs, TBD
* WS Game 4, Oct. 26: TBD @ Cubs, TBD
* WS Game 5, Oct. 27: TBD @ Cubs, TBD*
* WS Game 6, Oct. 29: Cubs @ TBD, TBD*
* WS Game 7, Oct. 30: Cubs @ TBD, TBD*
* If necessary.
424 days ago
Andrew does not have any awards.
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Jeff Kneis said...
DeleteHey Andrew—Jeff here, a Bleacher Report Community Coordinator.
I've been spending time on our Cubs page and read a couple of your old articles. Really on-point analysis...you do good work.
Given that you haven't written in a while, I thought I'd check in and see if you're interested in picking up your coverage again. What do you say?
If not, it would be great if you could give me some feedback on why you decided to stop writing and what we could have done to better serve you. If you wouldn't mind, please shoot me a line at jeff@bleacherreport.com with any thoughts.
Thanks so much,
Jeff
354 days ago