Chicago Radio Spotlight: Jim Moran

My latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview has been posted. This weekend I spoke with veteran traffic reporter Jim Moran.

You can read it here.

Coming this weekend

Tomorrow I'll be posting a new Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I'll speak to veteran traffic reporter Jim Moran about his career in radio (and politics).

Of course, as always, we'll take a trip back in time this weekend at Just One Bad Century to this week in 1908 and 1945.

And, I've got a new Father Knows Nothing column that will be posted on Sunday. This weekend's column is called "The Hidden Benefits of Dog Ownership" and it's about the things I've learned over this last year since Ivy joined the family. (And don't worry, tongue will be planted firmly in cheek)

Have a great weekend!

Holtzman's No-No

On this day, exactly 40 years ago, Ken Holtzman pitched his second no-hitter for the Cubs. He did it in Cincinnati in front of just over 11,000 fans.

In the Reds lineup that day; Hal McRae, Tommy Helms, Lee May, Johnny Bench, George Foster, Tony Perez, and Dave Concepcion. Not too shabby.

The Cubs scored an unearned run in the top of the third, and it was Holtzman himself that scored it. He reached base on an error by Tony Perez and scored on a Glenn Beckert single.

Holtzman struck out six, including Johnny Bench (once), George Foster (once), and Dave Concepcion (twice). He also struck out Tommy Helms and Lee May for the last two outs of the game.

That big win brought the Cubs three games under .500, and 8 1/2 games behind the first place Cardinals. The Pirates would eventually win the division and the World Series that year.

Paint it Black

#1 45 years ago today...

The Cubs finances

Are the Cubs having financial troubles?

According to baseball's debt rules, yes they are.

Great. Just great.

Sights & Sounds

This week's Sights & Sounds at JOBC features video of Bill Veeck at Wrigley Field, and audio of a Landecker & The Legends song called "Baseball's Striking Again" (about the 1994/1995 baseball strike)

Watch and listen here.

Charlie Watts

He's 70 years old today. That's right, 70! Here's an interview of Charlie from 1973. He talks about Chicago Blues, among other things...

Greg Jarrett

Some pretty cool behind the scenes stuff with WGN morning man Greg Jarrett as he sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley yesterday.

(If you'd like to read my Chicago Radio Spotlight interview with Jarrett from last year, click here.)

The Fork

Sorry optimistic Cub fans, I held off the fork as long as I could. Look at it this way...at least we stayed in it until June.

But there's no getting around it. It's time to put a fork in it. This season is done. When you get swept by the worst team in the National League, you are officially the new worst team in the National League.

Enjoy watching the kids play the rest of the year. Maybe there will be hope for the coming seasons. Until then, we once again say..."Wait til next year."

Vocabulary Victories and Defeats

This week's Suburban Dad contribution to the City Mom blog at ChicagoNow has been posted. This week I wrote about my son Johnny and his unintentional tribute to the comedian Norm Crosby.

You can read it here.

Cubs attendance is down

Anyone that has tried to sell tickets this year knows about this already, but the press is starting to notice too.

Cubs attendance is way down.

I've already had to turn down tickets to three different games this year. Those tickets normally would have been sold on sites like StubHub, but the people offering me the tickets can't get rid of them, so they offered them to me for free...and I still couldn't go for one reason or another.

When I have gone, I couldn't help but notice the empty seats. The same thing was happening at the end of last year. Look out, Cubs fans, we may have a trend here.

Now let's see if this gets the attention of the owner. For years Cubs fans have been hearing that it's our fault the Cubs don't win because we support them whether they win or not. I always thought that was a load of doo doo because nobody went to the games when I was a kid, and that didn't seem to make a difference either.

I guess we'll find out whether or not it's true...again.

The JOBC Contest

Five years ago today the Cubs acquired a former all-star slugger and one-time #1 overall pick in the draft. He hit 12 homers for the Cubs that year, but was out of baseball before the next season began.

Name him.

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard, an autographed copy of the excellent baseball novel "The Pitch" (by Hank Owens), plus a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrats to Yuji Fukunaga. He was the first one to e-mail me the answer to this week's JOBC contest question. He knew that Phil Nevin was the player the Cubs acquired on this day in 2006. If you didn't win, check back next Monday. We'll have another JOBC prize package.

That'll be the Day

From Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac...

55 years ago today...May 31, 1956…Buddy Holly was inspired to write "That'll Be the Day" after he saw the John Wayne movie "The Searchers," in which that expression was used twice by Wayne as a sarcastic reply to another character.

Meet the new Cubs

There are seven Cubs on the roster that weren't there when the season began, and after attending a game or two recently, I heard so many "Who is this guy?" comments in the crowd, I thought I'd provide a little primer for you.

The new guys...

Doug Davis (#32)
He's a veteran pitcher that used to kill the Cubs when he was with the Brewers and the Diamondbacks, but was completely out of baseball when the Cubs brought him back. His best season was 2007 when he went 13-12 for Arizona. He pitches very sloooooooow. You can go the concession stand between pitches and not miss a thing. (AP Photo)

DJ LeMahieu (#33)
He's another former LSU infielder who won a game for the Cubs with a walk-off homer in spring training, but in his first at bat yesterday, he grounded into a double play. He was playing in Double A (as a second baseman) when the Cubs called him up.

Lou Montanez (#39)
He was a #1 draft choice of the Cubs in 2000 (as a shortstop), but never made it to the big leagues with us after a very disappointing minor league career. The Cubs released him in 2006, and he signed with the Orioles. He made it to the bigs with the O's as a backup outfielder in 2008. The Orioles released him after the 2010 season and the Cubs picked him up again. He was hitting .369 for Iowa when the Cubs called him up. (AP Photo)

Tony Campana (#41)
Fastest guy on the Cubs. The outfielder wears his hat slightly askew and hustles all the time. Campana has no power at all. He has never hit a home run, even in the minor leagues. He has been a stealing machine, however. In his last two minor league seasons he stole 66 and 55 bases respectively. He also has a lifetime average of over .300. Today is his 25th birthday.

Rodrigo Lopez (#50)
Another veteran pitcher. The Cubs just got him in a trade with Atlanta, where he was pitching for their AAA team. He has quite a bit of big league experience, however, and pitched for the Braves just last year. Unfortunately, he also led the league in home runs allowed (37), had a 5.00 ERA, and was nine games under .500.

Brad Snyder (#56)
He got a cup of coffee with the Cubs last year at the end of the season and hit .185, but Snyder is also a former first round draft choice (Cleveland, 2003). The Cubs claimed him off waivers in 2009. He is power hitting outfielder who slugged 25 HRs and knocked in 106 runs for the Iowa Cubs last year (and hit .308). He had seven homers for Iowa already in 2011 when the Cubs called him up.

Scott Maine (#57)
The Cubs got him from Arizona in the Aaron Heilman trade. He's easily recognizable because of his unusual soul patch beard and his 10.29 ERA. He was a pretty effective reliever in the minors, and even closed games for Iowa, so there is hope he will be able to do it in the big leagues eventually. He's only 26. (Photo: Getty Images)