The Chicago "Dirty Hose" Played Their First Split-Squad Game of the Spring - and. . .

@RedBaron

🤬

Damn Mets and their black cat!

@beckyromero Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Tommie Agee, Donn Clendenon, Cleon Jones and company helped a bit as well.

@beckyromero And the Cubbies got theirs off the Stems in '84!

@RedBaron [quote]Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Tommie Agee, Donn Clendenon, Cleon Jones and company helped a bit as well.[/quote]

And Gil Hodges.

But the black cat was their MVP.

@RedBaron [quote]And the Cubbies got theirs off the Stems in '84![/quote]

The baseball establishment didn't want the Cubs to go to the Series in '84 because of the lights issue.

@beckyromero But "the baseball establishment" doesn't determine game outcomes.

@RedBaron

Had the Cubs won the 1984 pennant, we would have lost a home game because the baseball lords would have changed the format from 2-3-2 with the middle games being played in Detroit to 2-3-2 with the middle games played in Chicago.

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2018/10/22/18004472/cubs-1984-nlcs-home-date-rick-sutcliffe

@beckyromero How did that affect the outcome of the NLCS? The fact is that they lost three straight in San Diego and lost the series as the Cubs always have except for 2016. That rendered the whole World Series and Wrigley lights issue moot. Are you saying there was a conspiracy? Maybe you think it was rigged like the Trump supporters think the election was stolen. I KNOW you don't have any proof of such a thing.

@RedBaron [quote]But "the baseball establishment" doesn't determine game outcomes.[/quote]

Didn't say it effected the outcome of the NLCS.

But it [i]could [/i] have effected the results of a Cubs-Tigers World Series.

What [i]did[/i] make the difference in the NLCS?

That San Diego happens to be in Southern California.

That made the difference in Steve Garvey signing with the Padres instead of with us.

Bill Buckner was willing to move back to left field, sore legs and all, had Garvey signed with us.

Leon Durham becomes trade bait and Garvey doesn't muff Tim Flannery's grounder in game 5.

Well, there won't be a game 5 anyway because Garvey's hitting for us in game 4.

Tigers probably would have won the series just the same. They were too good that year.

@beckyromero But all of that is rank speculation. The Cubs still lost, and they're still the Cubs despite 2016. Not sure what your point was. And in any case, Wrigley should have had lights long before 1988. How many players chose to play elsewhere because of that deficiency?

@RedBaron

There's no speculation about the WS. MLB would have taken home-field advantage away from us. Not from any of the other 25 teams at the time. Only from us.

Players may have wanted to play elsewhere because of Phil Wrigley's stubbornness on contract disputes or his refusal to sign most high-price free agents.

But it wasn't because they didn't want to play ball in the sun.

@beckyromero But you can't truly know all the factors going into Garvey's decision to sign in San Diego. There might well have been more to it than you are aware of. For example, the structure of and dollars in the Padres' contract offer might have been better than that offered by the Cubs. In any case, it was 36 years ago and long past time to get over it.

@RedBaron [quote]But you can't truly know all the factors going into Garvey's decision to sign in San Diego.[/quote]

Reportedly it was more $$$ and he wanted to stay in California.

@beckyromero Then what are you complaining about? The player put in his years of service to earn the right to be a free agent.

@RedBaron [quote]Then what are you complaining about? The player put in his years of service to earn the right to be a free agent.[/quote]

Refuting what [b]YOU[/b] said:

[quote]Wrigley should have had lights long before 1988. How many players chose to play elsewhere because of that deficiency?[/quote]

It was/is [b]NOT[/b] about the lights.

@beckyromero How do you know that?

@RedBaron [quote]How do you know that?[/quote]

Tell me a player who said he didn't want to sign with the Cubs as a free agent because he detests day games.

@beckyromero Just to name two, I've heard both Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez mention it a number of times on Mets SNY telecasts from Wrigley. Not so much detesting day games as preferring the routine and rhythm of the season that goes with playing night games. I also have a personal friend, Billy Sample, who played nine years with the Rangers, Yankees, and Braves. He expressed a similar sentiment about playing night baseball and said that it's what players get used to in the minor leagues.

@RedBaron

The only time Keith Hernandez was a free agent was in 1989 at the age of 35.

He signed with CLEVELAND because not even the METS wanted to keep his .233 batting average.

Ask Billy if he would have turned down signing with the Cubs simply because of having to play a lot of day games. Remind him that he slugged 15 points higher in day games than at night.

Maybe he knows of a player who actually refused to sign or re-sign with the Cubs because of day baseball?

I think he might have enjoyed playing in Chicago - with the Cubs that is. He would have played on a division winner in 1984 giving him a shot at the World Series. His talents were wasted in Arlington (i.e. with a franchise that wasn't interested in building a competitive team until George W. Bush bought them).