Ryan Dempster

How did he break his toe? Jumping over the railing to celebrate a Cubs victory.

He's out 3-4 weeks.

That is so Cubs.

Ringo is 69!

Today is his birthday. Ringo is now entering the last year of his 60s.

I had a brush with Ringo about 20 years ago. It was one of my favorite moments in my radio career. The story is here.

Behind the Scenes at Arlington

Arlington Park hired us to produce funny "behind the scenes" videos for their website. Here are the first few. Long-time readers of this blog might recognize the star of these videos (Quinn Ella) as my former Half-Empty co-writer Dave.







Keep checking their website Arlington Park Live for more Behind the Scenes videos. There are a couple more in production as we speak.

Rabbit

One of the most colorful players to ever wear a Cubs uniform was nicknamed Rabbit. Read a half dozen or so of the best old-time baseball stories about him here. Rabbit wasn't just eccentric. He was also a good enough player to be named to baseball's Hall of Fame.

He's this week's Great Nickname at Just One Bad Century.

It was 45 years ago today...

This movie premiered...

Don't Stop Believin'

There's a great look at the Journey song "Don't Stop Believin'" in this morning's Chicago Tribune.

The song was a top ten hit, but it is lasting way beyond everyone's expectations. After all, it came out in 1981. The Tribune analyzes.

Allen Klein dies at 77

At one time he was the agent for John Lennon, George Harrison, and the Rolling Stones. The way his company acquired the rights to "Satisfaction" has always been considered shady. When he was brought into the negotiations between the Beatles, it hastened their breakup.

He later served time in prison.

There was something a little slimy about Allen Klein, but he must have been a great salesman. He died this weekend at the age of 77.

The New Times has the obituary here.

Clear Channel in trouble

Now take this with a grain of salt because the source Tom Taylor refers to in his column this morning is the New York Post, but still, this is sounding very scary for Clear Channel...

"Clear Channel is “running out of options” on financing, says the New York Post. Goldman Sachs has apparently pulled back on attempts to sell two issues of debt for its Clear Channel Outdoor subsidiary – with one Wall Streeter telling The Post “it was impossible to sell.” If that’s true, it’s bad news for San Antonio. The publicly-traded CC Outdoor owes its parent $2.5 billion and it’s presumed to be in better shape than its parent, which took on truckloads of debt 12 months ago to go private under Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners. Clear Channel Media could use the $2.5 billion to maintain compliance under its covenants with lenders. There’s already one theory that some lenders want Clear Channel to crash, so they can escape the deal they had to be hogtied into completing in the first place. If this set of debt offerings for Clear Channel Outdoor flops, that would presumably hasten a day of reckoning for the parent. It certainly seems as if some kind of workout or re-negotiation is ahead for Clear Channel Media."

Prohibition

Prohibition started in Chicago this week in 1919. That story is this week's Cubs through History.

It's hard to believe it actually happened.

The first All-Star game

It was played on this date in 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

There were several Cubs on that first all-star team: Lon Warneke (who pitched 4 innings of one-run ball against the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig & Jimmie Foxx), Gabby Hartnett (who struck out in his only at-bat) & Woody English (who didn't get to play in the game).

Babe Ruth hit a two run homer in the bottom of the third, but it wasn't against Warneke. Cardinals pitcher Wild Bill Hallahan served up the dinger to the Babe.

The American League won 4-2.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted a new Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. It's called "The Big Easy" and it's about the family trip to New Orleans.

A steroids protest

JRL in Indiana

Nice article by Lewis Lazarre in the Sun Times yesterday about my old pal John Records Landecker. He's currently doing an afternoon show in Indiana.

The rest of the gang from this photo (I believe it was taken in 2001.) From left to right, it's me, John, Leslie Keiling (now with the WGN morning show), Richard Cantu (now with ABC Network News in New York), and Vince Argento (now with the Brandmeier show on the Loop).

This week in 1908

Nobody knows for sure what caused such inexplicable damage in remote part of Russia, this week in 1908. Was it a meteor? A UFO? Read all about it, and watch a video that explains it when you check out This Week in 1908 at Just One Bad Century.

Niekro vs. Niekro

On this date in 1967, it was brother versus brother as Niekro faced Niekro in Atlanta. Joe Niekro was the pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Phil Niekro pitched for the Atlanta Braves.

Mack Jones and Rico Carty both hit homers against Joe, chasing him from the game in the 4th inning. Phil pitched a complete game and the Braves won 8-3.

A sidenote to this game: Bob Uecker was the catcher for the Braves. He went 0 for 3.

Happy Birthday America

Brian Jones

It was 40 years ago today that Brian died. Here's the reaction of Keith Richards and Bill Wyman just after it happened...

Sights & Sounds

This week's Sights & Sounds at Just One Bad Century include the sight of Leo Durocher and Herman Munster, and the sound of Leo Durocher starting a brawl on the field when he was the manager of the Cubs (1970). Both are worth a look/listen.

Santo & Sandberg

Today was a big day in the careers of Cub favorites Ron Santo & Ryne Sandberg.



On this day in 1960, Ron Santo hit the first home run of his career. It came off Cincinnati Reds lefthander Jim O'Toole at Wrigley Field. It was a three run shot in the first inning that knocked in Ernie Banks and Frank Thomas. He hit eight more homers in his rookie season and by the time his Cubs career was over he had hit a total of 337.





On this day in 1993, Ryne Sandberg got the 2000th hit of his Hall of Fame career. He hit a single off Curtis Leskanic of the Colorado Rockies in front of more 60,000 fans in Mile High Stadium. Ryno ended his career with 2386 hits. All but one of those (his first one) were hit wearing a Chicago Cubs uniform.

Ted Danson

These pick up lines might be from the 80s, but I have a funny feeling they're still being used...

There's got to be a story here...

Destroy a company, get a raise

Mel Karmazin (CEO of XM/Sirius) is like a vampire, impossible to kill, always finding a way to suck more blood out of someone. This was the news yesterday...

"Mel Karmazin extends his contract through the end of 2012 and gets a raise in base salary from $1.25 million to $1.5 million plus a bunch of stock options. If you’re counting birthday candles, Mel will be 69 years old in December 2012."

Hubble Photo

The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted best picture taken by the Hubble telescope. The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.

Most Popular iPhone App

The most popular iPhone App was created by an eleven year old boy from Hinsdale. Read all about this amazing kid here.

Skippy

Walter Jacobson is this week's Celebrity Cub fan at Just One Bad Century. There's a audio link in this piece to Mr. Jacobsen reading an essay about his life-long Cubs love on NPR. It's really worth a listen.

Momentous day in Wrigley history

On this day in 1917, three future NFL Hall of Famers played at Cubs Park (now known as Wrigley Field).

Paddy Driscoll played 2B for the Cubs. That was his only year in baseball, but he went on to a great football career with the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals.

Jim Thorpe & Greasy Neal both played in the outfield for the Reds.

Thorpe's biggest baseball claim to fame was knocking in the winning run in the double no-hitter between Hippo Vaughn & Fred Toney, but he was one of the greatest players in the NFL during the 1920s, and was named to the all-decade team.

Neal was a member of the 1919 World Champion Reds (that beat the cheating White Sox), but he went on to become an NFL head coach, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to two championships (1948 & 1949).

On this day in 1917, Thorpe & Neal came out victorious as the Reds beat the Cubs 8-5.

Get ready to cringe

From the Daily Telegraph...

Man uses nail clippers in DIY circumcision

A man who gave himself a DIY circumcision using nail clippers was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

The young man had to be rushed to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The wound was disinfected to cleanse it before he was given a bed in an observation ward.

"This is something we would advise men never to attempt," a medic said, "The results can be quite horrific and long-lasting and have quite an affect on a man's sexual performance.

"Using a pair of nail clippers must have caused excruciating pain, even if he had had a few drinks beforehand."

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"JM" writes regarding the Mark Sanford controversy...

"I think he has coined a new term "taking a hike in the Appalachan's" now means having an affair.

Don't you think the Democrats and Republicans should line up on opposite stands at a high school football field and do this new CHEER ?:

We've got cheaters yes we do, we got cheaters how 'bout you?"

Rick responds: Either that cheer or this one..."D-Fense. (attorney) D-Fense (attorney.)"

Lou Piniella

He was voted the manager that players would least like to play for (Ozzie was #2), according to a poll conducted by Sports Illustrated. The details are here.

Maybe so, but I must admit that I've been hoping for a really good public Lou explosion to wake up the team this year. Call 'em out. Rip 'em good. Screw the pansies that don't want to play for him.

$everance

It's two years old, but it got another good review this week. This one is from the blog "Something that needs nothing."

Jose Cardenal

Jose was one of my all-time favorites. I highlight some of the wackier Jose moments in this week's Tale from a Bad Century.

Buster & the Princess

Two notable birthdays today, although both of them are sadly no longer with us.

Former Cub Buster Freeman was born on this day in 1928, and Princess Diana was born on this day in 1961.

(What does she have to do with the Cubs? Click here.)