Cubs fan in the Cardinal's Clubhouse

The guy who caught the game winning homer by David Freese yesterday returned the ball to Freese, and in return was allowed to come into the clubhouse and meet the team. He brought his buddy with him too. And his buddy was wearing a Cubs shirt.

It's in all the pictures.

Love it.

Aramis

Aramis Ramirez now says that he would be willing to return to the Cubs because they brought in Theo Epstein.

But here's the thing, A-Ram. Now that the Cubs have brought in Epstein, it's not just a matter of saying "I'll come back" anymore. Maybe Epstein doesn't want you.

It's like a guy who dumps his girlfriend because she put on a few pounds, and then when she loses the weight after the breakup says..."You know what, I'll take you back now." Not so fast there, hotshot. Now she's got lots of other guys to choose from too, and some of them may be far better long-term prospects than you are.

HalloweeM

This Saturday I'm going to be one of the featured speakers/panelists at HalloweeM, a regional Chicago Area Mensa gathering. That's right, Mensa.

Remember, the first two letters of Mensa are M-E.

I'm sure alarms will be going off when I enter the room at the Westin Hotel in Wheeling between 12:30pm–2:30 pm (*Alert, average intelligence! *Alert, average intelligence!)

The subject matter for this discussion? Cubbie Blues – panel of sports writers on Chicago’s loveable losers. Sadly, Theo Epstein will not be attending. It will just be your humble Just One Bad Century editor (me), the editor of the Cubs book I contributed to (Cubbie Blues) Don Evans, fellow author/Cub lover/Cubbie Blues contributor Randy Richardson, and the publisher of that book George Rawlinson.

I'm actually pretty excited about it. Should be a good time.

Theo's Boys

Two more of Theo Epstein's boys have officially come aboard.

Meet Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod.

"Hoyer worked with Epstein on Boston player acquisitions, contract negotiations and player evaluations. His speciality was quantitative analysis, also known as sabermetrics. But he combined that with practical scouting, which he also helped direct. McLeod's expertise is in amateur scouting. He is given credit for stocking and fortifying the Red Sox farm system under the guidance of Epstein and Hoyer."

This is making me salivate. I'm like Homer Simpson looking at bacon.

The Onion on Parenting

This is brilliant, and of course, true. An excerpt...

"Our research suggests that while overprotective parenting ultimately produces adults unprepared to contend with life's difficulties, highly permissive parenting leads to feelings of bitterness and isolation throughout adulthood," lead researcher Daniel Porter said. "And, interestingly, we found that anything between those two extremes is equally damaging, always resulting in an adult who suffers from some debilitating combination of unpreparedness and isolation. Despite great variance in parenting styles across populations, the end product is always the same: a profoundly flawed and joyless human being."

Love the Onion.

All Things Must Pass

I just posted my latest weekly Suburban Dad contribution to the City Mom blog at ChicagoNow. This one is called "All Things Must Pass" and it's about my favorite "passing wind" story.

You can read it here.

Theo in Chicago

I listened to this entire press conference on the radio yesterday, and I've never been this excited to be a Cubs fan. (Watch part of it here. It's just nice to see that Cubs logo behind him, isn't it?) I'm still giddy. I know the naysayers are out there (I've been hearing from you--and by the way, you Boston fans could be the most ungrateful group of fans on the face of the Earth), but would you mind letting us have this moment to dream again? At least for a season or two. Is that really too much to ask?

Theo

His press conference is happening right now. It's very exciting. It's like watching the bride walk down the aisle. She's beaming, thinking of the honeymoon and the wedded bliss, but even though you know it won't be long before she discovers the reality of dirty socks on the floor and uninvited flatulence, on this one special day you can't bring yourself to rain on her parade.

Somebody fetch me a Kleenex.

RIP Roy Smalley

He was the shortstop for the Cubs before a young Ernie Banks took his place. While he was on the Cubs, Smalley made headlines by marrying the sister of his teammate Gene Mauch.

Roy had some pop and a rifle arm, but he could never put it all together in the big leagues. His son (also named Roy) later played in the big leagues too.

Roy Smalley died on Saturday at the age of 85.

Bill Wyman

The former bass player for the Rolling Stones is 75 years old today. That's not a misprint. He's 75! Here he is in action, back in the day...

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

From "BP", another friend in Boston...

"My idea for a great Halloween costume. Any Red Sox pitcher. Red Sox Jersey and cap, bucket of KFC under one arm, and six pack of Bud under the other."

It appears that the ol' drunk Red Sox pitchers story is getting big play in Beantown.

Oldest Cubs Fan

There aren't many left that were alive when the Cubs last won the World Series, but there is at least one. His name is Archie, he lives in Peoria, and he's 107 years old.

Father Knows Nothing

My latest Father Knows Nothing column is entitled "Balloon Grinch".

You can read it here.