2006 Cubs Promotional Schedule

Not sure who's seen this, but with Cubs tickets going on sale today, I wanted to remind everyone of the promotions going on at Wrigley Field this year. August 19th should be a good one.

2006 Chicago Cubs Promotional Schedule

April 7: Home Opener and raising of the "Attendance Flag" to
commemorate the magical 2005 season in which the Cubs were a bigger draw
than any of their hated rivals. Not being raised: World Series Champions
flag.

April 8: Presentation of the "Nice Neighborhood" rings to members
of the 2005 squad in commemoration of their capturing of the city's heart
by playing in such a cute little part of town. Not being presented: World
Series Champions rings.

April 9: Home Opener Weekend festivities conclude with the Cardinals completing
a sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley.

April 24: Win a Mark Prior autographed picture! 100 lucky fans will receive
a 5 x 7" photo signed by the Cubs' 11-game winner!

April 25: Turn Back the Clock I with throwback jerseys, old-timey music
and special guests and relive the magic of the Cubs' epic loss to the Florida
Marlins in the 2003 NLCS.

May 13: Turn Back the Clock II with authentic 1984 uniforms jerseys and
an even-more-authentic loss to the 1984 NLCS champion San Diego Padres.

May 14: Precious Moments figurine doll to the first 10,000 female fans*.

June 15: Kerry Wood bobblehead day. The first 10,000 fans will receive
a bobblehead doll of the Northsiders' all-time leader in simulated strikeouts!

June 16: Turn Back the Clock III - Kick off a rematch of the Cubs' most
recent World Series appearance as they welcome the Detroit Tigers and try
to beat them for the first time since 1945.

June 30: Crosstown Amnesty Day - All managers and first 25 players on the
White Sox active roster will receive a complimentary win.

July 1: Turn Back the Clock IV - 1906 World Series rematch. Authentic memorabilia
will be given out to lucky Cub fans, as will an authentic 1906-style massacre
of their lovable losers.

July 2: Lovable Loser Day - First 15,000 losers get to fall in love with
the Cubs even more as they are handed yet another staggering loss at home
by yet another area team that has built something more substantial than
their own ticket-scalping empire**.

July 14: Harry Caray Day, featuring an all-star tribute to the late and
beloved former White Sox and Cardinals announcer.

August 1: Nine Games Back Day - First 10,000 fans in attendance to correctly
explain what "Nine Games Back" means receive a Cubs t-shirt***.

August 19: Playoff Day. Come out and root for the Cubs as they stand on
the brink of elimination against the Cardinals with forty-one games still
left to play in the season. First 20,000 fans wearing Cubs gear receive
a White Sox t-shirt.

September 2: Turn Back the Clock V - Cubs fans, come out and party like
it's 1989 in this showdown against the 1989 NLCS champion San Francisco
Giants!

October 1: Final Home Game / Wait 'Til Next Year Day - First 39,538 fans
are idiots.

New Ballpark, Better Record?

Since the Cardinals are moving into the new Busch this 2006 season, I was wondering what effect a new ballpark can have on a team. I looked at teams who had moved into new stadiums in their same city since 1992, the start of the "pretty ballpark" generation. I have listed the new stadium and year of its first season. I then have the record of the last year in the old home and the first year in the new dwelling.
Camden Yards, Baltimore, 1992
- 1991: 67-95
- 1992: 89-73
Ameriquest Field, Texas, 1994
- 1993: 86-76
- 1994: 52-62
Jacobs Field, Cleveland, 1994
- 1993: 76-86
- 1994: 66-47
Coors Field, Colorado, 1995
- 1994: 53-64
- 1995: 77-67
Turner Field, Atlanta, 1997
- 1996: 96-66
- 1997: 101-61
Safeco Field, Seattle, July 15, 1999-2000
- 1999: 79-83
- 2000: 91-71
Comerica Park, Detroit, 2000
- 1999: 69-92
- 2000: 79-83
AT&T Park, San Francisco, 2000
- 1999: 86-76
- 2000: 97-65
Minute Maid Park, Houston, 2000
- 1999: 97-65
- 2000: 72-90
Miller Park, Milwaukee, 2001
- 2000: 73-89
- 2001: 68-94
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, 2001
- 2000: 69-93
- 2001: 62-100
Great American Ballpark, Cincinnatti, 2003
- 2002: 78-84
- 2003: 69-93
Citizens Bank, Philadelphia, 2004
- 2003: 86-76
- 2004: 86-76
Petco Park, San Diego, 2004
- 2003: 64-98
- 2004: 87-75

So, basically, if a team's owners build you a band-box stadium, you are doomed. Teams like Houston, Cincinnatti, and Texas fared worse after moving into their new stadiums.
San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco all had much better seasons. Their stadiums skew towards pitchers.
Overall, 9 of the 14 teams to build new ballparks had better or the same records after moving. 7 of those nine won, or were on pace to win, ten more games than the previous year. That is pretty remarkable.
Of course, there are other factors that go into a team being better from one year to the next. In some cases, maybe the owners of a franchise decide to spend a little more on their payroll as a thank you to their fan-base for paying for the new stadium. I decided to just look at the new stadium as a difference from one year to the next.

No one knows exactly how the new Busch is going to play, but it doesn't seem like it will be a band-box. As far as the Cardinals are concerned, I see them having an equal or better record because of the new stadium.

This Day in Baseball History

February 23, 2000

Cubs' manager Don Baylor names four captains including first baseman Mark Grace, right fielder Sammy Sosa, pitcher Kevin Tapani and reliever Rick Aguilera. The quartet will be the Cubs first captains since the 1960s and early 1970s when Ron Santo held the position.

Our hats are off to Baylor today as we remember this historic move. The quartet led the northsiders to a glorious 65-97 mark, leaving them 30 games behind the Central Division Champion Cardinals for the 2000 season.

Cards vs. Cubs: New RFs

Both the Cardinals and Cubs have lost their 2005 starting right-fielders (Larry Walker to retirement, Jeromy Burnitz via free agency to the Pirates) and have replaced them with younger, sleeker, and presumably more athletic players in the corner outfield spot. The Cardinals signed Juan Encarnacion to a three-year, 15 million dollar contract, while the Cubs signed Jacque Jones to a three-year, 16 million dollar contract.
Just from what I have heard about the two players through the media it looks like the Cubs have signed the better player. Encarnacion has always been labeled as a malcontent who has never really reached his potential. Jones, however, has helped the Twins win the AL Central a few times earlier in the decade. Jones is a product of the Twins organization (drafted in 1996, breaking in 1999) and has never been traded. Encarnacion, however, has played for Detroit, Cincinnatti, Los Angeles and Florida (twice). As I started looking at the two players more closely, I am starting to think the Cardinals made the better signing.
Offense:
For clarification, Encarnacion will turn 30 in March; bats right and throws right.
Jones will turn 31 in April; bats left and throws left.
Games, AB 2005
Encarnacion played in 141 G and had 506 AB.
Jones played in 142 and had 523 AB.
- since they played in an almost identical amount of games and had similar at-bats last year, comparisons should be fairly easy to make.
AVG./OBP./SLG
Encarnacion: .287/.349/.447
Jones: .249/.319/.438
- First thought on this is that the OBPs of both players don't exactly jump out at you. Both players seem to like to swing the bat. When they do swing the bat, Encarnacion hits for a better average while Jones puts a little more power on the ball when he does make contact (lower AVG, but comparable slugging).
R/HR/RBI
Encarnacion: 59/16/76
Jones: 74/23/73
- Judging from the low AVG and greater HR totals, it seems like Jacque loves to swing for the fences. It would seem that someone who likes to swing for the fences in the Metrodome would have more than 23 HR while batting .249 (more on that later). Just from the lines above, Jones has the power advantage. If I remember correctly, though, Jones was cleanup for the Twins while Encarnacion mostly batted sixth for the Marlins. You would think Jones would have had more RBIs just by batting in the cleanup spot alone. Jones did lead in R, but if you are the cleanup batter you have more batters that are able to hit you in rather than if you batted sixth like Encarnacion.
- FYI: Jones had 13 SB while Encarnacion had 6. I would say that this season they will be about even because LaRussa loves to run and create, while Dusty (unless he changes his mind in the offseason) doesn't (or can't).
Strikeouts:
Encarnacion struck out 104 times last year (25.3%)
Jones struck out 120 times last year (26.4%).
- Not much discipline here by either. Very similar.
Last Year Team:
In terms of runs, both players played in below average offenses last season. Encarnacion played with Florida. Florida ranked 19th in MLB in runs scored (717). Jones played in Minnesota which ranked 25th in runs scored (688).
Encarnacion is moving into the 6th best offense in St. Louis (805). I know the lineup is different now, but I am looking for the core players to be back in 2006 which they are.
Jones is moving into the 20th best offense in Chicago (703).
You can expect Juan Encarnacion to jump in both R and RBIs playing in a much better offense than he did last year. Jones is playing in a better offense also, but not all that much better.
Encarnacion gets the advantage here. He is moving from a below average offense to one of the best while Jones is moving from one of the worst offenses to a below average offense.
Ballpark Effect:
I don't have concrete statistics on this, but Encarnacion is moving from a notorious pitcher's park (Pro Player) to the new Busch. Nobody knows how the new Busch will play out, but the early reports are that it will play neutral.
Jones is moving from one of the best hitter's parks, especially for lefthanders (Metrodome) to another good hitter's park in Wrigley Field. Wrigley tends to play better for right-handed batters than lefties but it is still, overall, a hitters park.
Defense:
In these stats by Baseball Prospectus, Encarnacion doesn't look like all that great of a Right Fielder.
Jones, on the other hand, seems to be a great defensive right fielder.
Based on these stats alone, Jones gets the advantage here.
Overview:
From the information gathered, I think the Cardinals will have better production from their new right fielder than the Cubs will from theirs. Encarnacion had a better average, OBP, and SLG than Jones last year, while Encarnacion played in a pitchers park and Jones in a hitter's park. If Busch Stadium plays neutral or skew a little towards hitters, Encarnacion should have better individual stats. Jones, on the other hand, is leaving one of the best hitter's parks for lefties. Although he is still moving to a good hitter's park, the Metrodome should have been his personal haven. His numbers should have been better than he posted last year.
Encarnacion is jumping into the sixth best lineup in run production while Jones is jumping into the twentieth. I think Encarnacion's move to St. Louis will benefit him more than Jones's move to Chicago.
Also, Jones is going to be seeing NL pitching for the first time. I am always very cautious of a batter switching leagues. He has to get used to new pitchers, ballparks, etc. Encarnacion has served for a while in the NL. He is familiar with the pitchers, ballparks, etc. I always give a slight advantage to a player staying in the league he has played in for a few years rather than a player who will be seeing a league for the first time.
Look for Juan Encarnacion to have a better year offensively than Jacque Jones in 2006. If this happens, there is no doubt the Cardinals as a team will have a more successful year than the Cubs.

Cubs Tickets On Sale Friday

Wrigley Field tickets go on sale this Friday. The only thing that might have changed about the whole process is that if you try to get tickets via the internet, you have to have a cubs.com account. The link takes you to the site where you can register for an account.

Rolen Optimistic

An article in the Post-Dispatch today reports that Scott Rolen's shoulder is feeling great and he has received clearance to play baseball. He remains optimistic that he will be able to start in the Grapefruit League opener, but management is stressing patience with the All-Star third baseman.

If all goes well this spring and Rolen starts the season healthy, optimism about the Cardinals' lineup should be high not only with fans, but also with players. If Rolen can play regularly and put up stats near his 2004 levels (.314, 34, 124 in 142 games), the Cardinals lineup should be even better than last year when the team posted 100 wins. Personally, I am not sure that Rolen can duplicate his 2004 year, but if he puts in a good year (.285, 28, 100) the lineup will be just as good if not better than when Reggie Sanders (.271, 21, 54) was manning the 4-or-5 spot in the lineup.

A 3-4-5 of Pujols, Edmonds, and Rolen is the best 3-4-5 in the NL Central, maybe even the NL. Now that Pujols has become accustomed to first base, I would challenge anyone to find a better
3-4-5 combo that also means so much to their team defensively.

CardsFansChicago.com Contributors

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CardsFansChicago.com - Gameday Bar

We won't have long to wait for the Cards to head up to Wrigley Field after opening day...April 7-9, which is the opening series for Wrigley Field. I'm assuming most Cards fans in the city will find a way into the games. The Cubby Bear and Murphy's are fun...but everyone and their brother go to these bars. So, we're working with a few Wrigleyville locations to establish a Cards in Chicago bar with gameday drink specials!

If anyone has ideas, please let us know. If not, we'll keep you posted once details are available.

Sedgwick's on Opening Day

As a kick-off to this whole thing we are organizing an Opening Day celebration at Sedgwick's. We will work on getting a drink special but $8 pitchers of Bud Light on a Monday afternoon should suffice. Hope to see everyone there.

Pitchers and Catchers

Ah, the three best words to hear during another tough Chicago winter. Those three words mean two things: 1. The St. Louis Cardinals are about to defend another National League Central title and 2. There are only four more months of winter here in Chicago.
Zach, Jeff, and I have set up this blog to basically try and organize the Cardinal Nation here in Chicago. Some of you have been to Sedgwicks during the playoffs the past two years and that is always a great time. We feel that if we can organize bar nights like these during the season, the playoffs at Sedgwicks will be that much better. In addition, bar activities when the Cardinals are in town and maybe even some bus trips up to Milwaukee would make the season much more fun for those that are stranded up here in Cubs land.
Please feel free to share opinions on places and people that could make this a success.