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The Stanley Cup visited Wrigley Field on Saturday (July 6). Along with Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and Hawks anthem singer Jim Cornelison, who performed seventh-inning “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” duties. With the Cubs defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1, maybe Cubs management can convince the Hawks to return on a regular basis. Or at least until the Cubs have a .500 record at home (theirs currently stands at 18-23).
Model Hooray for red, white and blue: Justine Davis makes prolonging the Fourth of July holiday certainly seem like a good idea.
* If you’re looking for a Cubs player among the league leaders statistically? There’s right-hander Edwin Jackson (winning pitcher Saturday). He uncorked (is there any better verb to describe?) his 11th wild pitch of the season. He trails Arizona’s Trevor Cahill, who has 12. Hey, we didn’t claim it would be a category affiliated with glory.
* Speaking of Cubs pitchers and league-leading statistics, left-hander Travis Wood is the team’s lone representative on the National League team for the July 16 All-Star Game. Wood leads the NL in quality starts (16) and quality-starts percentage (94). Sadly for Wood, he does not play for a quality team. Meaning there should be no outcry over any other Cubs being left off the All-Star team.
* Speaking of Chicago left-handers named to the All-Star Game, Chris Sale of the White Sox was selected. So was right-handed reliever Jesse Crain, who is on the disabled list. Matt Moore (12-3), who was not named to the AL team, was the winning pitcher against Sale in a 3-0 decision at Tampa Bay. Meaning somebody is looking beyond won-lost records to make intelligent decisions. Sale has the worst run support in the major leagues at 2.46 per game in his 16 starts and is in the top 10 in most pitching categories other than victories and winning percentage.
* For those scoring at home (or elsewhere), Sox slugger Adam Dunn went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Meaning he has 101 — meaning he has struck out at least 100 times every year in his big-league career with the exception of his rookie season in 2001 when he whiffed 74 times in 66 games.
* Spaking of sluggers, Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano had a two-homer game and all four runs batted in in the victory over Pittsburgh. He moved past Andre Dawson on the team’s all-time homer list. They had ben tied at 174. Dawson is in the Hall of Fame. It’s difficult to envision Soriano reaching Cooperstown other than perhaps on a vacation. Soriano tied former White Sox standout Harold Baines for 59th place all-time with 384 home runs. Any Sox fans wanting to make a case for Soriano someday being in the Hall of Fame may feel free to do so.
* As the Cubs continue to focus on the future, they promoted shortstop Javier Baez from Class A to Class AA. At some point, the Cubs will have to focus on the present — but only when they are close to being able to challenge for a title. At the moment, any closeness the Cubs might have to challenge for the NL Central crown is strictly geographical.
* Speaking of the future, Sox right-hander Jake Peavy — who is rehabbing from a rib fracture — is to toss a simulated game Tuesday. Staying healthy has been a problem for Peavy during his Sox tenure. In fact, if he was any more fragile, he would be found in a fine china shop with a “please do not touch” sign attached.
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