Good news and bad new for Kosuke Fukudome

The good news is you have left a team whose fan base is fatalistic and paranoid that they will never see a championship in their life time.

The bad news is... you are going to Cleveland. Their fans are kinda sorta depressed.

Just a heads up.

The Cubs choose to honor someone who beat them

Robert Redford is throwing out the first pitch at opening day at Wrigley Field this year.



Hey look, Redford is a great actor. All The President's Men, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance , The Candidate... he's been is some of the best films of all time. And he's no slouch as a director. Ordinary People is great. Quiz Show is my favorite film of his. And his new film, The Conspirator, looks great.



But what in the name of Harry Carray and Ron Santo is going on here?

What is Sundance's connection to the Cubs?



I'll tell you... in fact I already did in a previous post. In The Natural, Roy Hobbs was going off to try out for the Cubs when he struck out The Whammer at the carnival and was shot by Barbara Hershey. So he never got to play for the Cubs. And later, as a member of the Knights, he saw Glenn Close stand up and be circled by sunlight. He responded by hitting a ball through the center field clock at Wrigley Field AGAINST the Cubs!



So he played a guy who didn't sign with the Cubs and later beat them.



THIS is who the Cubs are honoring on opening day?

A man who grew up in Los Angeles idolizing Ted Williams and the Red Sox?



I would have no problem with Redford throwing out the first ball any other day. But shouldn't opening day be about celebrating the team, not shining the light on a movie star?



I guess you could ask Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg or Andre Dawson to do the honors... but that could be too obvious.



Hall of Famer and former Cub Cy Young winner Bruce Sutter could be given the ball, but he seems to have embraced the Cardinals more than the Cubs.







They could bring out Rod Blagojevich to throw out the first pitch.



Yeah it would be awkward to associate the Cubs with Blago, but come on... is it any worse than the Mets association with Bernie Madoff?



By the way, doesn't he just look awkward with that Cubs hat on? Not as bad as John Kerry at Fenway Park, but damn close.











What about Bill Murray?



If you are going to bring in some movie star power, Bill is as good as The Great Waldo Pepper. And he's had a hit movie more recently as well.



He's a lifelong Cubs fan and filled in a game for Harry Carey back in 1987 when Harry was recovering from a stroke.



Then again with Bill, there is always the possibility that he won't show up.







I am sure Jim Belushi will do it.



He's a Chicago boy (and of course inevitably bring around memories of his brother who was also a rabid Cubs fan.)



He even played a rabid fan trying to see the Cubs in the World Series in the movie Taking Care of Business. (The willing suspension of disbelief is important in watching that film.)



Besides, I bet he could promote The Defenders just before he makes the pitch.







Why not Eddie Vedder?



I always associate him with Seattle, but he is a native of Evanston Illinois and a lifelong Cubs fan.



I find it bizarre that he burst on to the scene nearly 20 years ago. My God, how old am I? Pearl Jam were big when I was in college. Now he is becoming an elder statesman.



Have him throw out the first pitch... while we are young!











Speaking about feeling old... why not Macaulay Culkin?



The kid was left alone in Chicago in that movie, so shouldn't he be an icon now?



I tell you what he also is now... a 30 year old man!!!













Bring in Bonnie Hunt!



If you are going to bring in a movie star, don't have it be someone who beat the Cubs! Have it be someone who lived in the houses behind Wrigley Field!



The Cubs blew their chance to hire my former boss to be their manager.



Don't blow having her throw out the first pitch! Besides, she is already going to be there. She hasn't missed an opening day since 1977!



So no offense Mr. Redford... there are better and more appropriate people to throw out the first pitch.



Then again, maybe they should just bring that Billy Goat to the mound.

Bonnie Hunt should manage the Cubs

The Cubs have started their search for a new manager and we know 3 things... it won't be Lou Piniella, who retired to take care of his mom... it won't be coach Alan Trammell, whose experience as a big league manager and being a World Series MVP I guess disqualified him... and it won't be interim manager Mike Quade, who is a placeholder.

So now you've heard the names being mentioned as who will be managing the team as they try, as every other manager has done since 1908 and fallen short, as World Series winners.

Cub hero Ryne Sandberg? (No experience in the bigs as a manager.)

Former Indians skipper Eric Wedge? (Nice manager, but how many "nice managers" have left Wrigleyville ringless?)

Bobby Valentine? (They tried the "big name" manager route with Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella.)

Chicago's own Joe Girardi? (Would YOU leave a Yankee team with an unlimited payroll?)

No, the Cubs need to think outside of the box and bring in someone who can put their own stamp on the team and will live and die with the team.

So Bonnie Hunt makes the most sense.

Now I know what you are thinking... I am bringing Bonnie's name up because I am sucking up to my former boss.

Maybe I am.

But as with all of my insanity... there is some truth in there.

So hear me out.



1. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SAY "THE MANAGER DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WE CUBS FANS ARE GOING THROUGH!"

We shut down production of the show for a few days in April. Do you know why? Bonnie had to go to opening day at Wrigley Field. Now keep in mind we taped in Los Angeles. So we shut things down and Bonnie flew out to Wrigley to see a team that was going nowhere in a hurry.

She hasn't missed an opening day since 1977 and she loves her Cubs. She talks about her love for the Cubs in the film We Believe, she would talk Cubs in the office and the studio was filled with Wrigley Field pictures. (By the way, she used to live in the apartments beyond Wrigley Field.)

Hell, Bonnie wants the Cubs to win more than the Cubs do!

2. BONNIE WILL MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS DOING THEIR JOB

Trust me on this one. Bonnie doesn't miss a detail. And if someone is slacking, she'll let you know. Not in a mean way... just in a wonderfully sarcastic way that will have you say "OK, I won't do THAT again."

The players who don't hustle will know it. It won't be mean... but it will sting. Carlos Zambrano's temper tantrum would have been diffused with a quick "For $18 million you'd think you could throw a strike or two. Maybe I'm greedy."


3. YOU NEED TO IMPROVISE TO MANAGE THIS TEAM... AND BONNIE CAN DO THAT

There's always something unpredictable that happens with the Cubs. Whether it is the banishing of Carlos Zambrano, the up and down of Fukudome and figuring out what the hell to do with Soriano, you need to be able to change your plan in midstream.

Well in Chicago there's no better place to show your improvisation chops than The Second City, where Bonnie was a star. Her entire background is based on improvisation. Her sitcom Life With Bonnie was based on improvisation. And I saw Bonnie zig and zag in interview after interview. Trust me, changing course in mid season and mid game isn't going to be a challenge. She'll be right at home.


4. THE POST GAME INTERVIEWS WOULD BE HILARIOUS

Now I am not talking about the "get the seven second delay button ready" like an Ozzie Guillen post game press conference.

Bonnie's will be funny, classy, family friendly... but in their own way just as cutting.

In fact the contrast of Bonnie's warm, family friendly but passionate Cubs and Ozzie's rougher with a chip on their shoulder White Sox would be a perfect illustration of what the two franchises are all about.

Check out Bonnie on Letterman. She's just funny. Now imagine her talking about a tough Cubs loss. It would be good TV.


5. THEY NEED TO TRY SOMETHING NEW

When you try and fail at something every single time you do it for 102 years, it's time to say "What haven't we done?"

They've built a team around hitting... and a team around pitching.

They've developed superstars from the farm AND traded and signed Hall of Famers. Take a look at my Home Grown vs. Acquired entry for the Cubs. They've had a colossal amount of talent on the squad.

So it isn't the players.

As for the managers, they've tried life long baseball men like Don Zimmer, Gene Michael, Herman Franks, Jim Frey and Jim Riggleman. They've had Hall of Famer players like Gabby Hartnett, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Boudreau and Frankie Frisch manage the team. They've had managers who had success elsewhere like Dusty Baker, Don Baylor and Lou Piniella come in.

They brought in Leo Durocher, one of the great managers of all time.
They even tried, in 1960-1961 and 1962 a rotation of coaches instead of a single manager.

Nothing worked. So how is handing the reigns over to a passionate fan something that can be simply dismissed.

You might as well give it a shot. What's the worst that can happen? Bonnie will fall short. Well so did Leo the Lip!

So give Bonnie a shot!
No doubt she'll bring the great Don Lake around as the first base coach. (He's a Tornto fan, but hey, he's already seen his Blue Jays win a few.)

What do you have to lose, Cubs?
You've been losing enough for over a century.

And if Bonnie wins it for the Cubs, you already have the leading lady for the inevitable film version.

Just remember it was your pal Sully who came up with the idea!