Ivy Envy

Inaugural Social Media Night at Wrigley Field

Posted on May 18th, 2012 by Corey

Wednesday night, the Cubs hosted their inaugural Social Media Night at Wrigley. I’ve been talking about this on the Ivy Envy Podcast the last few weeks. I think it’s great to see the Cubs embrace social media. I was in Los Angeles a few years ago and saw that the Dodgers were doing a special event for bloggers. At the time, I thought the Cubs would never move in this direction.

The Cubs took their Social Media Night way beyond what the Dodgers did. This event was not limited to a select few bloggers, but rather anyone that was interested in social media enough to purchase the special ticket, which included admission to a panel discussion on social media, a gift pack from the Cubs and admission to the Right Field bleachers for that night’s Cubs/Phillies game.

My friend, Bob from Moline – @The_Proctor was kind enough to make the trip with me. Our original plan was to meet John from Wasting Away in Wrigleyville – @utchicago at D’agostino’s for pizza. After discovering they didn’t open until 4pm, the meat-grilling expert, John was willing to take one for the team and meet us at the Wrigleyville vegetarian-friendly Pick Me Up Cafe. For those of you that would turn your nose up at the idea of anything vegetarian or vegan, check out this vegan gyro.

John made up for this sacrifice by punishing his intestines and taking at least six months off his life later in the evening. @ViennaBeef was happy to help him with that feat.

But back to the event. The Cubs hosted the Social Media Night panel discussion with Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09), Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) and Kevin Saghy (@Cubs) at the Captain Morgan’s Club prior to the game. The three spoke on social media from a player, media and organization perspective. The conversation was very Twitter-heavy. In fact, I don’t recall one mention of any other aspect of social media.

Photos from the Cubs official Twitter account

Robbie Gould stated that he uses Twitter as a line of communication between fans and himself. He also spoke about the league rules on the use of social media and the misuse of social media by certain athletes. Gould said that he considers the fact that children are reading his tweets and avoids anything that could be offensive.

Carrie Muskat spoke on the use of social media from a media perspective. She reported to use Twitter as a way to get roster and other club information to the public. She went on to say that she does not include much opinion and uses Twitter in a purely professional manner. If you follow Carrie on Twitter, her saying this comes as no surprise. She also spoke about how Major League Baseball views Twitter and said that MLB would like MLB beat writers to put more effort into tweeting, rather than blogging.

Kevin Saghy is a Public Relations and Marketing Specialist for the Cubs, and he runs the Cubs’ social media. Kevin went into great detail on the approach that the Cubs take with social media.

1. Deliver the core values of the Cubs
2. Get to know their key influencers
3. Listening and engaging
4. Offer something of real value to the fans
5. Financial benefit

Anyone that pays attention to the Cubs use of social media has definitely seen these principles in action. As an individual that uses and enjoys social media, it has been nice to see them managing this better than most sports organizations.

After the panel discussion was finished, we were taken to a section of the Right Field bleachers that had been reserved for the group. We did have the opportunity to walk through the RF patio area. The patio is what you would expect, but for those of us that enjoy mingling and moving around during a baseball game, it looked pretty appealing. I’d like to take in a game on the patio.

I mentioned earlier that John from Wasting Away in Wrigleyville, who is notorious for his grilling, endured a vegetarian meal before the game. He made up for it quickly by securing vouchers for 5 Vienna Beef (@ViennaBeef) hot dogs.

John’s quest to cut his life short ended up being more entertaining than the Cubs game. Alfonso Soriano’s home run and Juan Pierre’s dropped fly ball off the bat of Bryan LaHair were the highlights, besides the comic relief of Matt Garza trying to throw baseballs to first base.

The Cubs offense seemed to be baffled by Kyle Kendrick, managing just two runs on three hits. Garza didn’t look particularly comfortable on the mound, but kept the Phillies to two runs in his 6 2/3 innings pitched. Sveum went to the bullpen and the floodgates opened as the Phillies scored seven runs in the final two innings off Scott Maine and Michael Bowden.

I enjoyed this event. As I’ve said, I like the progress the Cubs have made in this area. I also enjoyed being able to meet other Cubs bloggers and Twitter personalities. I had the opportunity to meet @BleacherNation, @HarryPav, @CubsStories and @BullpenBrian. It was also nice to meet @JulieDiCaro, and take in a few innings with her.

The Cubs will host one other Social Media Night in the 2012 season. This will be on September 17th.

Filed under: Cubs Promotions, Social Media, The Cubs | No Comments »

Podcast 4.17 – Starting Pitching: No Relief In Sight

Posted on May 13th, 2012 by Corey

Andy, Brian, Corey and Ryan and joined via Skype by Kurt and Jeremy. This episode is very pitching-heavy with the bullpen being the major focus. What do the Cubs do with the bullpen? What do the Cubs do with Marmol? Was Marmol’s injury a little too conveniently timed? Is it a big deal that Kerry Wood tossed his hat and glove into the stands? Who is the most “gangsta” Cubs player?

These are all questions that will be addressed in this episode.

Kurt gives us a positive scary stat and we have a lot of entries to pick from in this week’s photo caption contest.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05:32 — 60.1MB)

Filed under: Podcast | No Comments »

Paul Hoilman’s Hitting Streak Continues

Posted on May 11th, 2012 by Corey

The Cubs’ 2011 draft was a strong one, and fans are looking forward to names like Baez, Vogelbach, DeVoss and Zych begin to work their way up through the minor league system. The member of that draft class that has made the biggest impact in the first month of the 2012 season was not selected by the Cubs until the 19th round. He was the 579th pick overall. That would be current Peoria Chief 1B/DH, Paul Hoilman.

On April 14th, Hoilman had a .136 batting average. On Thursday night, Hoilman got a hit in his 23rd straight game. He has raised his batting average to .308.

Hoilman isn’t squeaking through this hitting streak, though. Eight of those games have been multi-hit games. 15 of his 30 hits have been extra-base hits. He’s hit three home runs in the streak, including two grand-slams. Since April 14th, he has 22 RBIs.

Wednesday night, Hoilman set the Peoria Chiefs record for the longest hit streak with 22 games. The Midwest League record is 35, which was set by Frank Toups in 1977.

Hoilman was well-known for his bat in college. He attended East Tennessee State and broke the Atlantic Sun Conference career record in home runs. He was with Boise last year and set the franchise record with 17 home runs in 71 games and named to the Northwest League Post-Season All-Star team.

While expectations wouldn’t be high for someone drafted in the 19th round and 579th, Hoilman has been a pleasant surprise and extremely valuable for a Peoria team that has had problems generating runs.

Filed under: Minor Leagues | No Comments »

It’s just Kerry being Kerry???

Posted on May 9th, 2012 by Jeremy

The beloved Kerry Wood has been absolutely awful this year. I don’t think anyone can argue with that point. Mr. Wood currently has an ERA around half of his jersey number (34). He has pitched only a hair over 4 innings so far this year. You know that he has been on the DL, well….. because we are talking about Kerry Wood.

You may remember the hoopla regarding Kerry Wood resigning with the Cubs this offseason. Interesting enough, Kerry was able to resign just in time to show up at the Cub convention. Like we cared; everyone came to see Jeff Fassero anyway. I attended the Cub Convention this year. The crowd was very excited (probably the loudest ovation), to hear that Kerry would be returning. I was happy to hear about the signing myself.

It seems that Kerry was promised a job for life in the Cubs organization. I have no idea what the job/s will be. Even though Kerry has pitched for other teams, he is a Cub and we all know it. From the 20 strikeout game to the NLCS (well the 20k game was great), we have fond memories of Kerry in a Cub uniform. Kid K has been everything you could ask for as a team representative. I have heard Kerry referred to as the new Mr. Cub for Heaven Sake. But wait….

After Tuesday night’s game we are to believe that Kerry Wood is suddenly a steaming pile of dung (think Big Z). How could any player be so low? The guy threw his glove and cap into the crowd after a terrible outing. OMfreakinG!!!! I have never witnessed such a despicable act. The former Mr. Cub (2k) even used profanity and was short with a reporter. Wow! Is Kerry trying to take Ozzie Guillen’s place in Chicago?

Seriously though Chicago sports fans and media! Really??? Is this that big of a deal? I did not think twice about the glove and cap toss. It’s not like the guy fired a heater into the crowd. I didn’t see him accost a Gatorade machine. OMfreakinG!!!! Give me a break. Kerry Wood makes mistakes just like everyone else. He is still a good guy to have in the clubhouse. He apparently cares about his contributions to the team. I like that in a player! I want to see people show a little emotion when they struggle. Player emotion validates the $200 I spend every time I go to a game. Dale Sveum chalked it all up to emotion. He provided the politically correct response of course, but I bet he could give a rats behind. Dale has much bigger problems (see: Carlos Marmol). The media and any fans who want to focus on this need to forget about it.

Kerry is not the messiah or even Mr. Cub (2k). He is a good clubhouse guy, team ambassador, and for all we know super swell guy. Kerry Wood may never pitch well again. I am ok with that. He has earned a chance to pitch on this team. Are we going to lose out on a pennant this year because of him? Wake up and smell the Sammy Sosa salsa music. Teammates like Kerry Wood, and I’m sure they forgive him for tossing his cap into the crowd. I bet even the equipment guy isn’t all that pissed. Forgive and forget and if you get a chance check out Kerry Wood’s Wikipedia page. It seems Kid K was once caught by police urinating on a public wall. OMfreaknG!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

I Cub update and debate

Posted on May 9th, 2012 by Kurt

The Iowa Cubs continue to follow in the footsteps of their big league brothers with a 13-18 record in the Pacific Coast League American Northern. The Cubs stand at 12-18 today. While the records are nearly identical the two teams are very different. The Chicago Cubs’ starting pitching has outperformed everyone’s expectations and they’re winning with pitching and waiting for their offense to get rolling. The Iowa Cubs are winning in spite of a 4.61 team ERA. They’re doing it with offense led by Anthony Rizzo‘s 9 HR, 31 RBI and .357 batting average. Brett Jackson is improving on his slow start and it’s encouraging that half of his 30 hits are for extra bases.

Rizzo’s recent play has only added fuel to the argument that he belongs in Chicago. He hit two home runs and picked up 6 RBI on May 8 in a 13-2 route of Fresno. The challenge, as discussed in podcast 4.16, is “what do you do with Bryan LaHair?”, the only consistent source of power in this lineup. The move LaHair/call up Rizzo idea has gained momentum on the talk radio topic list and I can understand the excitement about two powerful left handed bats in a Cubs lineup. We’re used to chasing nearly retired lefty power. Here’s a short list: Milton Bradley, Jim Edmunds, Cliff Floyd, Jeromy Burnitz. The idea of a young one in our system is almost too much for Cubs fans to handle. He has to be called up, right? I think he’s fine where he is. This team is not contending and Rizzo isn’t going to change that. Building confidence in Iowa and the fact that there isn’t a spot for him is reason enough for me to leave things as they are. Rizzo will be a Cub soon enough and leaving him in Iowa will keep some of the pressure of Chicago off of him for the time being.

As long as Rizzo’s offensive performance keeps up and he’s still in Iowa, I don’t see this debate going away. Wherever he ends up, let’s pause to give credit where credit is due. Jed Hoyer traded Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Min Na for Rizzo and Zach Cates. Basically Cashner for Rizzo. Cashner is pretty average out of the Padres bullpen. Let’s face it, picking up a power hitting, left handed, future first baseman you can build around for a bullpen guy/potential fourth starter is a pretty stellar deal.

After all the Rizzo debate it was a bit of surprise to see the first performance related call up in the form of Adrian Cardenas who saw immediate action on May 7 as a pinch hitter and got the start May 8. Blake DeWitt has been designated for assignment. The I Cubs are pretty stacked with middle infielders with Luis Valbuena, Alfredo Amezaga, Matt Tolbert, Edgar Gonzalez and Jonathan Mota. Cardenas gives the Cubs another left handed bat to drop in for Darwin Barney when facing lefties (.375 average in 24 AB). He can also play SS and 3B. He started hot in Iowa with a .319 average and even had a couple home runs and 18 RBI. His defense needs work, but defense is not the reason he’s in Chicago.

Filed under: Minor Leagues, Offense, Starting Pitching | 1 Comment »

A FEW BRIEF NOTES ON THE
COLE HAMELS/BRYCE HARPER DEBACLE

Posted on May 8th, 2012 by Ryan

Sunday night Philadelphia Phillies pitcher attempted to make a statement by deliberately beaning 19 year old Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper. On Monday, MLB attempted to make a statement of their own by slapping Hamels with a five game suspension.

First off, the suspension is a joke. We all know that any starting pitcher getting suspended for five games is basically getting a one game sentence, and in some cases it actually works in the team’s favor because it allows them to re-evaluate their rotation based on what they are facing in the coming month. (Not that the Phillies would need to do that, but you would get my point if it were some team with a weaker roster. Think Kansas City.)

Second, Hamels gave a pretty lame explanation when questioned about the event. He just said “It’s just…Welcome to the big leagues”. I hate guys that say shit like that. Look, I’m sure that regardless of how hot of a prospect Harper is, that he has endured plenty of hazing within the clubhouse. It’s not like there was a need to take a 90 MPH fastball in the left shoulder from a recent World Series champion. And if you really wanted to send a message, wouldn’t you have just thrown on the inside of the strike zone to get him to back of the plate, then maybe throw something off speed low and outside to see if he goes for it (which a young guy usually will) and then just blow one by him for strike three? Wouldn’t that send more of a message? Instead you gave the guy first base? That’s kind of silly and counterproductive…

The joke ended up being on Hamels though, as Harper stole home while Cole was trying to pick another Nat off first base. Later in the third inning when Hamels got up to bat, Jordan Zimmerman nailed him in the leg when Cole squared around to bunt. Also a jack move, but I understand the retribution. Both benches were warned, and from my understanding the rest of the game remained tense. Philadelphia ended up winning the game 9-3.

Writers within the sports media have presented both sides over the past couple of days trying to do determine how this fits under the unwritten rules of baseball. So, here we go again with that. I’ve heard that he may have done it because Harper crowds the plate, that he thinks the Nationals are cocky, and/or that he’s trying to remind everybody that the Phillies run the NL East. (They might want to check the fact that their offense has been very poor most of the year, and that might be why they don’t appear to as hot as a team like Washington right now)

Let’s put this in a perspective that we can understand. Say about a week after Starlin Castro had been hit by Hamels a week after he hit that homerun off of Homer Bailey in his first major league at bat. What would our take be then? Would we expect our pitcher to hit Ryan Howard as retaliation?

Here’s what I think: I think the team who retaliates always ends up looking like the bad guys. The team who successfully defends their honor by going out there and scoring (which is the point of all sports except for soccer) is the real winner. However, you have to protect your club at some point. I would guess that a lot of the trash talking that goes on would be enough. Good natured ribbing is part of baseball and considered gamesmanship.

Hitting somebody isn’t really gamesmanship, it just reeks of frustration and ignores the basic fact that regardless of how old a player is, they’re all playing the same game. It reeks of a guy who didn’t get that stuff out when he was in little league essentially picking on a guy who’s playing at his equal in order to assert his “dominance” within the division.

I would hope that even though the Cubs aren’t that great, that they wouldn’t hit a guy just because he’s having a good month. Not only is baseball a sport that requires extreme concentration and skill, it’s for that very reason that we teach our kids to play it at such a young age. So, say you go to an MLB game, your guy plunks some hot phenom to “send a message” and the drunk Dodger fans behind you say out loud that it’s “intentional”. Then your son turns to you and says “Daddy, what’s intentional mean?” And then you say “Well, it’s supposed to be a walk…” but then how would you explain it to him after that?

If you want to see a fight or a display of cheap shots, there are plenty of options available that don’t showcase baseball: You could go to a city council meeting, or maybe a Mitt Romney rally, both of which are guaranteed to feature plenty of low blows and shady behavior. When I go to see a baseball game, I want to see baseball.

Filed under: General Baseball, General Sports | No Comments »