chicago Page 40 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Cubs Just Can't Hit
The Chicago Cubs are down 3-0 in the NLCS, and there’s really no use in thinking too hard about why that is. Joe Maddon has made mistakes, and the bullpen has been pretty bad, but there is a simpler explanation for why the Cubs are one loss away from playoff elimination: They can’t hit the dang ball...

Yu Darvish Mindfucks Carl Edwards Jr., Draws Bases-Loaded Walk
That gloriously frustrating scenario that can only occur in the National League smiled on the Cubs in the sixth inning of their losing battle against the Dodgers, when the pitcher came up with the bases loaded and two outs. Los Angeles was already leading 3-1, trying to bury Chicago, but manager Dav...

Report: Nikola Mirotić Went To Hospital After Teammate Bobby Portis Punched Him In Face
The NBA season hasn’t even started yet, and the Chicago Bulls are already falling apart. The Vertical’s Shams Charania reports that Bulls forward Bobby Portis put his teammate Nikola Mirotić in the hospital after a fight at practice....

John Lackey Should Be In Jail<em></em>
Before John Lackey gave up a walk-off three-run homer to Justin Turner in Game 2 of the NLCS, he treated viewers of the game to a special version of baseball hell....

The Bears Have More Trick Plays Up Their Sleeves
The best thing the Chicago Bears have done all year was last Monday’s intricate, confusing trick play for a game-tying two-point conversion.* Today, they added to their elaborate arsenal, bringing Tarik Cohen into the mix as the running back took a toss and threw a score to Zach Miller....

Joe Maddon Works Soda Tax Criticism Into His Thoughts On Blocking The Plate
In the bottom of the seventh inning of last night’s NLCS Game 1, with the Dodgers leading 4-2, Justin Turner singled through the left side and Chris Woodward, the Dodgers’ third-base coach, waved Charlie Culberson around, setting up a play at the plate....

Max Scherzer Did His Job And It Didn't Matter
If you want to get a feel for just how cruel the game of baseball was to Max Scherzer last night, watch a little bit of his postgame interview, in which he stood shell-shocked in front of his locker and tried to explain how a fifth inning that started with two quick outs ended with four runs crossin...

Washington Nationals Lose Playoff Series, Again
The Nationals continued their existence-long stretch of playoff futility tonight, falling to the Cubs in an NLDS Game 5 that combined a shaky Gio Gonzalez start, a blown lead, a historically weird inning-long meltdown, some very intense replay review and a failed attempt at a comeback before finally...

MLB Rulebook Suggests Umps Botched Call As <em></em>Nationals Unlock Special Version Of Two-Out Hell
There are seven different ways to allow a baserunner, and the Nationals engaged in far too many of them in a nightmarish fifth inning that saw their 4-3 lead turn into a 7-4 deficit. ...

Stephen Strasburg Was Electric
Stephen Strasburg wasn’t supposed to pitch today. After a ridiculous 24-hour news cycle in which he was alternately said to be unable to start because he pitched a Tuesday bullpen session, to have actually pitched that Tuesday bullpen session on Monday, to really only be unable to start because he w...

Jon Lester Miraculously Picks Off Runner
Before we begin, a quick refresher on what it normally looks like when Jon Lester tries to throw to first base....

Oh God, There's A Stephen Strasburg Controversy Brewing
A rainout pushed yesterday’s scheduled NLDS Game 4 to today, and as we now know, that game won’t be started by Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg, despite the fact that he would be pitching on regular rest. Why exactly this is the case keeps getting more and more confusing....

Nationals Are Gifted Rainout, Will Still Start Tanner Roark Over Stephen Strasburg, Have Mold Problem
It can be very, very easy to see the decisions surrounding a rainout as far simpler than they are. If it looks like it’s going to rain all evening, but a team refuses to either move up first pitch or call the game—you fucking morons. If it is maybe going to rain later but definitely is not raining n...

The Bears Had Been Holding Onto That Sweet Trick Play For A While
Let me list all the things I’m aware of from the football game: It was 3-2 at halftime. Sam Bradford broke down again. Mitchell Trubisky apparently looked decent in his NFL debut, even if basically all the other Bears are bad. This fake punt TD pass was pretty cool, though. Drew says his Vike boys w...

The Nats Wasted A Brilliant Night From Stephen Strasburg, Because Of Course They Did
There is nothing more frustrating on earth than watching a lineup featuring Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy, and Ryan Zimmerman get completely blanked by a guy who throws an 87 mph fastball. Unless you are a Cubs fan, in which case, screw you right in the ear....

The Blackhawks Obliterated The Penguins
The Penguins might have to call up a third goalie, because I bet both Antti Niemi and Matt Murray suffered severe burns on the backs of their necks from that red light going on so many damn times....

Bryan Bickell Retires With Blackhawks On One-Day Contract After Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis
Nearly a year after he first announced that he’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Bryan Bickell signed a one-day contract this week to retire as a Chicago Blackhawk. After hosting a retirement press conference yesterday, he got one last chance to head out on the ice tonight, in a special pre-...

The Bulls Suck!
Yes, I know, it’s only the preseason, and the NBA has to shut up for at least another 10 days, if not all the days between now and Christmas. But schadenfreude never sleeps! And holy shit, man, the Chicago Bulls are gonna suck so amazingly hard this season....

Here Are The Most Interesting Guys Of The NL Playoffs
You may have checked out of baseball once your team’s season turned into a trash heap, but that’s okay! You’ve come back just in time for the best month of the year, as all the highest-stakes games with top-quality talent begin. Here’s a guide to the NL players you need to pay attention to as the po...

The Cubs Were Never More Themselves Than In 1979
The following is excerpted from The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse, by Rich Cohen....