The Losers' Club

Faithful, Too: “Games 39L/40W/41L and Some Gerberlytics”

I had zero engagement with Cubs brief road trip to New York for Mother’s Day weekend, mainly due to the day in question (out at a tulip fest) and the first two games airing on Apple+ (don’t subscribe) and Fox (cut the cord). Although the Cubs definitely had a shot to win the series on Sunday (they didn’t), the series didn’t seem close.

They lost in a blowout 7-2 on Friday thanks ...

Faithful, Too: “Game 38 L w/ Crazy Stat”

With the wind blowing in today at Wrigley, home runs became pop outs, pop outs became doubles, and aside from a couple doubles by Nico (and a nifty play at the plate courtesy of PCA), the Cubs didn’t have it today. Final score 3-1. Not how I wanted to have my work day play out. Off to New York to play the Mets. Just the 4th best team in baseball after playing the Giants who are the 5th best t...

Faithful, Too: “Game 37 L - A Close Blowout”

From Cubs.com: “The nine runs plated in the 11th by the Giants set a Cubs franchise record for runs allowed in an extra-inning frame, according to team historian Ed Hartig. The previous record of seven was set in the 10th inning of a game on June 18, 1921 (also against the Giants). The nine-run defeat was also the largest extra-inning loss in Cubs history.”

That about sums it up. Afte...

Faithful, Too: “Game 36 W”

Missed much of this victory due to a recording for Halloweenies (Phavorite Phantom Philms), but watched it while Kait and I each painted a stepping stone (picture above). You know, just your normal Monday night.

It was not a normal Monday night for the visiting Giants. One of the best defensive teams in baseball had arguably their worst outing this season at Wrigley, and I turne...

Faithful, Too: “Game 34 W and Game 35 L”

Twas a day out Saturday, exploring Chinatown, a walk and a catch in the park, and a random screening of Step Brothers in the living room that were the delightful causes of me missing the majority of Saturday’s series-winning victory over the Brewers. I did accidentally watch PCA bat in the 9th without averting my eyes, something that the jinx gods did not forgive me for. He struck ou...

Faithful, Too: “Game 33 - After the Opener”

Went to the Salt Shed with Loser Mac and our respective partners to see Japanese Breakfast. Doors opened at 7, and the game started at 7:10. I did a pretty damn good job not getting on my phone until after the opener’s set finished (Ginger Root, for the curious). And what I saw surprised and pleased me in equal measure.

9-0 Cubs.

In the bottom of the 5th.

Marone. 2025-05-03 16:14:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Faithful, Too: “Game 32 - You Never Know”

Going into the top of the 5th and with the Cubs down 2-0, I thought I had already written this entry in my head. A team is often only as good as their starting pitcher. Young Pirates phenom Paul Skene is inevitable. Of course he’s gonna throw six or so innings of shutout baseball. Cubs are gonna lose a series to these clowns? Back-to-back series losses? Now I’m getting flashbacks t...

Here's our May 2025 schedule!

In May the Losers may or may not flinch...

--In our main feed, we're answering our patrons' questions in another Bag of Bones installment, reissuing our Later coverage from 2021 as part of our chronological re-read, dusting off our Danse Macabre series with Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror, and journeying back to Hollywood King to catch up on all the Stephen King headli...

Faithful, Too: “Game 31 L w/ Perspective)

The Cubs lost 4-3 more-or-less on a weird 2-run double by Pirates great Andrew McCutchen that was definitively overshadowed by genuine horror in right field. I was recording an upcoming Losers’ pod during the final six innings of the game and only later discovered at some point during McCutchen’s double, a fan fell 21 feet from the stands and onto the field. As of this writing he is in crit...

Faithful, Too: “Game 30 - A Walk in the Park and a Walk in the Park”

Got home from work yesterday just in time to watch the Cubs game only to find they were experiencing a delay and had to start at 6. Instead, Kait and I had dinner then walked to a park to read (my book pictured above). A bit chilly compared to the perfect weather the day before, so we headed back after a bit. I figured it would still be early in the game when we sat down to start a 1,000-piece ...

Dark Tower Detour: Dark Tower Virgins

Dark Tower Detour is a chance for Gunslingers to study the minutiae of Roland Deschain’s epic quest. Hosted by Dan Pfleegor, this exclusive series will cover a range of topics that interest those who remember the face of their father. No character is too small. No detail too obscure. And no theory too foreboding as we march closer to the Dark Tower at the center of all creation.

Faithful, Too: “Games 28 & 29 L’s”

Ben Brown didn’t have it on Saturday. He hasn’t had “it” for most of the season. As the fifth starter on this team (well, counting Steele’s semi-replacement Rea. “Rea-placement?”) he just needs to gobble up innings on the mound, and he just hasn’t done so. Over his last two games, Brown’s only pitched 7 2/3 innings but thrown 184 pitches! He was able to get ou...

Bag of Bones: Call for Questions!

Constant Listeners, we're cracking open another Bag of Bones in May. So, we're leaving the floor to our patrons. So get creative, go wild, and leave yours below.

Faithful, Too: “Game 27 W - Baby Blues Return”

After a two-hour rain delay on a dreary Chicago Friday early afternoon…the sun came out, the day flipped, and it was time for the Cubs to commence their home series against the Phillies. Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer were on the radio for me as I finished up work.

Colin Rea continues to be a reliable spot starter in this post-Steele season. In 13 1/3 innings over three short starts, he’s ...

Faithful, Too: “Game 26 W…According to Texts”

Faithful mostly consists of game-by-game entries courtesy of King and Stewart O’Nan, with some exceptions. Those exceptions came in the form of e-mail exchanges sent between the two of them throughout the season. Some were to vent. Some were to celebrate. In the spirit of those technological communications comes today’s entry for the Cubs’ two-game sweep of the Dodgers Wednesday ...

Faithful, Too: “Game 25 Win and RE-SIGN KYLE TUCKER”

After finishing off Sunday’s The Last of Us (knew it was coming, still pretty effective), Kait and I watched the Cubs host their third home game of the season against the Dodgers for the first time at Wrigley (remember those two “home” games in Japan?). The violence of the Last of Us finale behind us, it was time to see what the Cubbies were up to in what ended up being ...

Faithful, Too: “Game 23 W & Game 24 L”

After an eventful Friday, the final two days against the Dbacks had little to showcase. My Saturday consisted of runs to Half-Priced Books, Michaels, and two Walmarts before getting home just in time to see the Cubs celebrate a 6-2 victory against the DBacks; the rare time that the Cubs have been up against the DBacks and actually held onto the lead. Cubs won the series outright, which made the...

Faithful, Too: "Game 22 W - The Agony of Victory"

LOCATION: Geneva, Illinois.

Beautiful little town a little over an hour outside of Chicago. Century-old windmill. Walking path. Japanese Garden (albeit closed at the moment). Grabbed lunch with my girlfriend and grabbed some dessert on the way out. I looked at my phone to see the Cubs were winning 2-1 over the DBacks heading into the bottom of the 7th.

It had been a fairly uneventf...

Faithful, Too: “SABLE, fABLE…er…Game 21 L”

Sometimes, you just get a feeling. Listening to the game as I wrapped up work for the day, I had such a feeling: the Cubs weren’t winning this game. Maybe it was having the bases loaded with no one out in the top of the third and Kyle Tucker at the plate, then only scoring once for the whole inning. Maybe it was the fact that the Padres are just plain awesome, and you can’t squander a big i...

Faithful, Too: "Game 20...W...Phew"

Today marked Jackie Robinson Day, a day in which all players wear Jackie's #42 in place of their own (complete with the classic Dodger-blue coloring). It's a nice tradition that officially started in 2009 to commemorate his birthday and to serve as a reminder of his impact on the game (for the layman, he was the first Black baseball player to cross the color barrier back in 1947).

As for...

Faithful, Too: “Game 19 L - King’s Dominion?”

“One run is not going to win this ball game,” I told my girlfriend, after we watched one of the game’s greatest cheaters, Fernando Tatis, Jr., hit a towering home run to left field in the bottom of the third to put the Padres up 1-0. We weren’t at the beautiful Petco Park in San Diego. We were watching from the comfort of our home on the Marquee Sports Network, the only way to watch non...

Oops! All Tangents: On Nepo Babies

Oops! All Tangents is a free-flowin' conversation based on a topic either topical or submitted by our patrons.  This month, Randall, Justin, Mac, and Ashley engage in a far-ranging chat about nepo babies -- good and bad. Randall apologizes in advance for talking about Crispin Glover so much.

Stay tuned for the next Oops! down the road.

2025-04-15 19:35:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Faithful, Too: “Game 18 W w/ Bad News"

In another cruel twist of fate, celebrations for yet another Cubs series-win (on the road against the Dodgers in a getaway game, no less) was seriously dampened by news of Justin Steele’s season-ending Tommy John surgery. Steele was 3-1 on the short season despite wonky control and coming off his best start (as previously noted multiple times in this journal). The team was able to get away wi...

Faithful, Too: "Game 16 L (Meh) and Game 17 HISTORICAL BLOW-OUT"

Friday night's game was one in which you just have to throw up your hands and salute both pitchers. Matthew Boyd's 1-1 record doesn't reflect how awesome he's been all year. Against the Dodgers a couple days ago, it really came down to one pitch in the sixth inning: a three-run blast to hot-hitting Tommy Edman. That's all the dominant Dodgers needed en route to a 3-0 shutout. Back-to-back poor ...

Ranking Stephen King’s Best Kids

If there’s one thing Stephen King is known for—other than ripping our hearts out and scaring us for life—it’s creating loveable kids with extraordinary powers. Some have actual psychic talents like Danny Torrance and Charlie McGee while others conquer evil with the strength of their friendship. Some emerge from brief short stories while others form the center of King’s most iconic epi...

Faithful, Too: “Game 15 L - Getaway Game”

Ah, a good ol’ loss. Tied through four before the wheels fell off Shota for the first time in a long time. The Rangers woke up, pounced on him for four in the 5th and added another on another later for good measure. Cubs bats, on the other hand, were dormant. They lost 6-2.

The “getaway game” is the last game in a series before a team leaves for another destination (whether it’s a...

Faithful, Too: “Game 14 W - Highs and Lows”

Was prepared to just chat about how good Dansby was last night with his four RBI’s. How good the offense was yet again (10-6 victory). How the last three times over the past 18 seasons (Gerberlytics alert) the Cubs have started at least 9-5 they went on to win their division (and in one case the World Series). Then news arrived that Justin Steele has been placed on the 15-day disabled list wi...

Faithful, Too: “Game 13 W. Or so I read.”

Some games get away from you. Some days get away from you. That was the case yesterday. Between staying late at work to supervise a project to staying even later at work to hop on a Zoom, I caught exactly zero minutes of last night’s shutout; a defeat of yet another opponent whose been playing great so far this season. The Cubs blanked the Rangers 7-0 in what was easily Stee...

Faithful, Too: “Game 12 - A Wild One”

Going to a Cubs game in April is a risk. When you’ve lived here for 15 years, you’re out in the sun, it’s 48 degrees, and the wind is minimal, you can trick yourself into thinking Wrigley Field will be the very same. It never, never, ever is. There are some spots in Wrigley that I’m convinced have never seen the sun, and if you aren’t out in those bleachers, get ready. I remember goin...

Faithful, Too: “Game 11 - Baby Blue W”

A text I received from a non-Cubs fan halfway through today’s eventual victory: “I like these Cubs powder blues with the cream pants!” Couldn’t agree more. These are my favorite alt uniforms the Cubs have had in my lifetime. They’ll be wearing them going forward in all Friday home games and I will absolutely be buying a jersey or hoodie or hat or something. Fantastic job by the organ...