The Cubs game against the Cardinals started out good, but ended horribly for the northsiders. In the first inning, the Cubs scored two runs off of John Smoltz on consecutive doubles by Kosuke Fukudome, Derrek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez. Unfortunately, that was all of the offense the Cubs could muster all night.
The Cardinals tied the game in the 5th inning and it stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th. I don’t know why, but Lou Piniella brought in Aaron Heilman to pitch the 9th inning. I guess he has to pitch sometime, but I sure wouldn’t have trusted him in that situation. Heilman must have been in a hurry to leave the ballpark because he gave up a homer to Matt Holliday, the first batter he faced. Cards win 3-2.
Even though the Rockies lost last night, they remain 7.0 games ahead of the Cubs with 17 games remaining in the season. Realistically (as opposed to mathemetically), the Cubs need to win out in order to have a shot at the post season. And just to make things a little tougher, they get to face Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, both Cy Young candidates, in the next two games.
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Josh Peter at Yahoo Sports has a really interesting article detailing where the Cubs make their money. The conclusion of the artricle is that even though the Ricketts family just paid $845 million to buy the Cubs, it is somewhat of a bargain. Who would have thunk?
I found it interesting that Comcast Sports Net pays the Cubs $350,000 for each game that it televises, but WGN only pays the team $200,000 per game. Now I understand why the Rickettses felt that the Tribune Company had arranged a sweetheart deal between the Cubs and WGN, both properties of the Trib.
It will be interesting to see what happens in 2019 when the current television contracts with Comcast Sports Net and WGN end. There has been speculation that the Rickettes would like to start their own sports network similar to the YES Network owned by the Yankees. As Peter points out, a sports network owned by and featuring a team can be much more lucrative than the team itself.
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Speaking of money, the Wall Street Journal undertook an intensive review of the price of beer at ballparks and how the team’s winning percentage impacts the price of the beer. What did they find? The study found that teams with a .600 winning percentage charge $1.30 more for a 16-ounce beer than a team with a .400 winning percentage.
If you’re looking for the best value in ballpark beer look no further than PNC Park in Pittsburgh. For just $4.75 (cheap by ballpark standards) you’ll be treated to a 21-ounce cold one. Of course, you also have to watch the Pirates play their “special” brand of baseball.
In contrast, it will set you back $7.25 for just 12-ounces of the liquid gold at Fenway Park. The Red Sox may be fun to watch, but that’s outrageous.
