November 16, 2016

Daily Herald, Rozner: Play by Chicago Cubs' Bryant still top of mind http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161115/sports/161119298/

Cubs.com, Maddon finishes 2nd in NL MOY Award voting http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/208924754/joe-maddon-comes-in-2nd-for-manager-of-year/

Cubs.com, Hendricks, Lester could lead Cubs to 2nd straight Cy http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/208904042/kyle-hendricks-jon-lester-have-case-for-cy/

Cubs.com, Cubs Convention passes go on sale Friday http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/208922394/2017-cubs-convention-tickets-released-friday/

Cubs.com, Cy Young Award competitions too close to call http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/208900434/cy-young-award-winners-too-close-to-call/

ESPNChicago.com, Did a rainout cost Cubs' Maddon NL Manager of the Year Award? http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/42918/could-a-rainout-have-cost-cubs-joe-maddon-nl-manager-of-the-year-award

CSNChicago.com, Joe Maddon May Not Be Manager Of The Year — Or A Game 7 Hero — But Cubs Still See A Future Hall Of Famer http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/joe-maddon-may-not-be-manager-year-or-game-7-hero-cubs-still-see-future-hall-famer

Chicago Tribune, Dodgers' Dave Roberts beats Joe Maddon for NL Manager of the Year http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-bbwaa-manager-of-year-spt-1116-20161115-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Cubs Convention tickets to go on sale Friday http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-cubs-convention-tickets-friday-20161115-story.html

Chicago Tribune, Steve Goodman's family sold rights to 'Go Cubs Go' before World Series http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-go-cubs-go-steve-goodman-20161115-story.html

Chicago Sun-Times, Cy of the times: Hendricks or Lester to back Arrieta’s award? http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/cy-of-the-times-hendricks-or-lester-to-back-arrietas-award/

-- Daily Herald Rozner: Play by Chicago Cubs' Bryant still top of mind By Barry Rozner Two weeks have now passed since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Not sure which is more difficult to believe, that it's been a fortnight already or that the North Siders are the champs.

Nevertheless, after a month such as that last one, there are some thoughts that remain quite fresh. The last out Perhaps lost in the celebration frenzy was the play Kris Bryant made to end the game -- and it was a heck of a play that probably got very little attention aside from it obviously being the last out. Mike Montgomery fooled Michael Martinez with an 0-1 curveball. The hitter reached out and topped it, the ball bouncing weakly past the mound. Bryant reacted quickly. Playing behind the bag and on the line with the tying run on first, Bryant moved in and gloved the ball clean. But the field was wet and his plant foot began to slip as soon as Bryant got into his throwing motion. Feeling his foot begin to move out from under him, Bryant stayed with it and made a perfect throw, falling to the ground on his follow through. That's where Bryant was when the Cubs won the World Series. On the ground. That ball could have wound up in Akron. The tying run could have scored and the batter perhaps on third, but credit the Cubs' third baseman with a terrific play that ended Game 7. Sending runners Third-base coach Gary Jones deserves a lot of credit for his incredibly aggressive calls during the postseason. There were at least five plays on which most coaches would not have sent the runner, but especially at times when the Cubs were struggling to score, Jones gambled on errant throws and guessed right. Some of that is knowing opposition outfielders and his own baserunners, but much of it is understanding that another good opportunity may not arrive against elite pitching. Jones would have been heavily criticized if a runner had been gunned down in the late innings and it cost the Cubs a game. Conversely, he deserves a lot of praise for having the guts to be aggressive when it was absolutely necessary. Rain delays It's worth remembering that if the Cubs had not won Game 7 in the 10th inning, or had it still been tied after 10, the game would not have restarted that night, and maybe not even the next night. A monsoon hit immediately after the game concluded, and the downpour would have made the field unplayable that night. It was also supposed to rain the entire next day in Cleveland. That brought back memories for Joe Maddon of 2008, when Tampa and Philadelphia finished Game 5 of the World Series two days after the game was halted by rain. No one wanted to live through that again, least of all Maddon. The aftermath Speaking of Maddon, he had more than rain to worry about had the Cubs not won that game. It would have been the worst loss in franchise history and the manager would have spent this winter and all of 2017 explaining his handling of the pitching staff in the postseason. And finally …

A tip of the cap to umpire Tony Randazzo. The Lake Park High School grad, in his 17th year in the big leagues, just worked his first World Series and got a shout-out from Jon Lester after Game 5 in Chicago. "I thought Tony did a great job behind home plate tonight," Lester said. "It was a really good zone for both hitters and pitchers. He was very consistent. He called the high strike consistently through the game and that's all both sides really ask. "As a hitter, you want to know the zone. As a pitcher, you want to know the zone. You know where you can go." Coming from a guy who has pitched in 22 postseason games and expects to get every call -- and didn't in that game -- that's a pretty high compliment. For Randazzo's first Fall Classic game behind the dish, not a bad way to finish the season, right? -- Cubs.com Maddon finishes 2nd in NL MOY Award voting By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- Joe Maddon guided the Cubs to the best record in the Major Leagues this season, but he finished second in the 2016 National League Manager of the Year Award voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, which was released Tuesday. The Dodgers' Dave Roberts won the award, while the Nationals' Dusty Baker finished third. Voting was done by BBWAA members before the postseason began, so the Cubs' World Series championship was not a factor. Roberts was the only manager named on every ballot. Roberts received 16 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and seven third-place votes for a total of 108 points. Maddon received eight first-place votes, eight second-place votes and six third-place votes for a total of 70 points. Maddon has won the managerial honor three times, doing so with the Rays in 2008 and '11, as well as last year with the Cubs. The only managers to win the award four times are Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa. Esurance MLB Awards week concludes Friday on MLB Network and MLB.com at 7 p.m. CT with the MLB Awards. Categories include Best Major Leaguer, Hitter, Pitcher, Rookie, Executive and Manager. The results were revealed on MLB Network on Tuesday night, and Maddon was sitting in his backyard with a neon "Derby Lane" sign in the background. That sign was from a dog track that former Cubs manager Don Zimmer used to frequent. "That's my tribute to Coach Zimmerman -- that's what I called him," Maddon said. "Zim, extraordinary human being, and probably the best strategist I've ever been associated with." Zimmer led the 1989 Cubs, known as the "Boys of Zimmer," to first place in the NL East. In two seasons in Chicago, Maddon has guided the team to 200 wins, the most by a Cubs manager in consecutive seasons since Frank Chance won 208 in 1909-10. Maddon is the second manager in franchise history to reach the playoffs in his first two seasons, joining Lou Piniella, who did so in 2007 and '08. Maddon, 62, did keep things lively in his second season in Chicago. In Spring Training, he dressed up in '70s garb with a tie-dyed T-shirt, encouraged a visit by live bear cubs and shaved his head as part of a fundraiser. During the

season, his creativity was on display as he tested the versatility of some of his players, including moving pitchers to the outfield. Kris Bryant was a perfect example, switching from third to the outfield with ease. During the telecast, Maddon made a point of emphasizing how young the Cubs are, and that this is just the beginning. "Everybody talked about us being the best team in baseball, but I'm here to tell you, these guys are young and lacked experience," Maddon said. "They're very green. When you see them at the end of the year performing like they did in the World Series and the playoffs, that's wonderful. They're going to get better. Our guys will continue to get better." -- Cubs.com Hendricks, Lester could lead Cubs to 2nd straight Cy By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- Jon Lester's 2016 season was stellar. Kyle Hendricks' year was a surprise. Both Cubs pitchers are finalists for the National League Cy Young Award, which will be presented Wednesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (5 p.m. CT on MLB Network). Hendricks (2.13) and Lester (2.44) finished 1-2 in the Majors in ERA, and they are vying for the top prize along with the Nationals' Max Scherzer, who won 20 games and struck out 284 over 228 1/3 innings. Jake Arrieta won the NL Cy Young Award in 2015, but no Cubs pitcher had won before that since Greg Maddux (1992). Hendricks, who turns 27 on Dec. 7, set career bests in ERA, wins (16), innings pitched (190) and strikeouts (170). The right-hander is the first Cubs pitcher to lead the Majors in ERA since Bill Lee did so in 1938 (2.66). Wrigley Field fit Hendricks perfectly, and he posted a 9-2 record and a 1.32 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) at home. What was the difference this year? "There's one really obvious factor to me, and it's the word 'confidence,'" Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "[Hendricks is] much more confident. I thought at the end of last season, he started pitching at a higher level, more consistent command. He's a guy that has to have his command. The first part of last season, he wasn't as sharp as he can be. He became sharper as the season progressed. By the end of the year, he got -- he started to pitch really well. And that just carried over to this season." In 2015, Hendricks threw at least 100 pitches in four starts; this year, he did so in 10 games. Maddon felt Hendricks' ability to go deeper into games helped his confidence, too. "He works at his craft; his work is impeccable," Maddon said. "It's just a matter of his confidence catching up with his abilities." Hendricks incorporated a four-seam fastball and a breaking ball into his repertoire during a May 17 start against the Brewers, and made a conscious effort to do so in his next outing against the Giants on May 22. Something clicked. "That was kind of a tipping point for me, where I knew I had to implement these pitches and I had to use them more," Hendricks said. This year, Hendricks posted a 0.979 WHIP while striking out fewer than 23 percent of the batters he faced. The last NL pitcher to post a WHIP that low and come in under 23 percent was Maddux (1997). Lester, 32, has finished fourth twice in the American League Cy Young Award voting (2010 and '14), and this year, he won his third World Series championship, having also done so with the Red Sox in '07 and '13. He tied a career

high and ranked second in the NL with 19 wins, and his 2.44 ERA was a career best. The lefty posted a quality start in all 15 of his home outings, and he finished the season strong, going 5-0 with a 0.48 ERA in September. When Maddon was with the Rays, he had to deal with opposing Lester in the AL East. The Cubs manager is very happy to have the left-hander on his side. "I believe what I'm seeing now is much better command of everything that [Lester is] doing," Maddon said. "He was always a command kind of guy. I think he's got a better understanding of what he's got and how to work with it now. I believe he can throw a strike whenever he wants to, and when he throws outside of the zone, it's because he wants to throw outside of the zone." Lester's .792 winning percentage has been exceeded by a NL left-hander with 32 starts only eight times. If either Hendricks or Lester wins the NL Cy Young Award, the Cubs would join a select list of teams that have claimed the top pitching honor with two different pitchers in back-to-back seasons. That includes the Dodgers (Don Drysdale in 1962, Sandy Koufax in '63), the Yankees (Sparky Lyle in '77, Ron Guidry in '78), the Orioles (Mike Flanagan in '79, Steve Stone in '80), the Brewers (Rollie Fingers in '81, Pete Vuckovich in '82), the Phillies (Steve Carlton in '82, John Denny in '83), the Braves (Maddux in '95, John Smoltz in '96), the Blue Jays (Pat Hentgen in '96, Roger Clemens in '97) and the Indians (CC Sabathia in 2007, Cliff Lee in '08). Esurance MLB Awards week concludes Friday on MLB Network and MLB.com at 8 p.m. ET with the MLB Awards. Categories include Best Major Leaguer, Hitter, Pitcher, Rookie, Executive and Manager. -- Cubs.com Cubs Convention passes go on sale Friday By Carrie Muskat CHICAGO -- Want to celebrate the Cubs' World Series championship at the team's winter convention? Individual weekend passes for the 32nd-annual Cubs Convention go on sale Friday at noon CT. Fans using a MasterCard can participate in an exclusive presale starting at 10 a.m. CT. A limited number of passes are available for purchase through the MasterCard presale. Each weekend pass is $108 plus convenience fees and is valid for all three days, Jan. 13-15, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. A limit of four passes may be purchased per household. Passes will be available for purchase at cubs.com/convention or calling 1-800-THE-CUBS. The 2017 Cubs Convention will celebrate the 2016 World Series champions as players, coaches and alumni gather for the weekend. The 2016 World Series trophy will be on display throughout the weekend. A portion of the proceeds from the Cubs Convention benefits Cubs Charities, and to date, the winter fan fest has raised more than $4 million. -- Cubs.com Cy Young Award competitions too close to call By Phil Rogers Raise your hand if you know who's going to win a Cy Young Award? Not so fast, anyone. In what was a good season for many pitchers already considered elite, as well as a breakthrough campaign for at least a few who started 2016 toward the back of their team's rotation, there's no consensus on what is going to

happen when Cy Young Award votes are counted. Results in the voting by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will be announced tonight beginning at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network. The only one thing we know is that the winners will be starters. The Orioles' Zach Britton, who went 47-for-47 in save opportunities with an 0.54 ERA, isn't among the American League's three finalists, which surprised Baltimore manager Buck Showalter. Closers and versatile relievers like the Indians' Andrew Miller are being valued highly in trades and contract signings. But too many starters turned in outstanding work for Britton to break through pitching's glass ceiling of the award season. Had Britton been named a finalist, it would have made a wide-open Cy Young Award picture even more difficult to unravel. Rarely, if ever, have we seen as tight races as these in both leagues in the same year. AL finalists Rick Porcello, Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber were 1-2-3 in FanGraphs' WAR rankings, but the margin between them was tiny. Porcello, who led the Major Leagues with 22 wins, registered 5.2 fWAR -- the same as Verlander. Kluber, who finished third at 5.1, would have been the first horse eliminated in the photo finish, but only by the length of a nose. National League finalists Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester and Max Scherzer might be just as tough for voters to separate. You also have to wonder how much separation they achieved from the Mets' Noah Syndergaard and late Marlins starter Jose Fernandez, who ranked 1-2 in the Major Leagues in fWAR. It's worth noting that Clayton Kershaw seemed to be rolling toward his fourth NL Cy Young Award before being sidelined with back problems that limited him to 149 innings. The last time there were three strong candidates in the same league was the NL race in 2009, when the Giants' Tim Lincecum just nipped St. Louis teammates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. The trio divided the 32 first-place votes almost as evenly as possible -- 12 to Wainwright, 11 to Lincecum and nine to Carpenter. With strong candidacies from Britton, Syndergaard and Fernandez also in play, it's possible there could be even less separation between the top three in either league this year. Here's your voter's guide to the top three in the AL: • Kluber: For starters, forget his dogged brilliance in carrying the injury-depleted Indians to Game 7 of the World Series. Voting was done between the end of the regular season and the start of the postseason, so that doesn't matter. What does is that Kluber used his wipeout slider to go 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA, finishing in the top five in the AL in wins (third), ERA (fourth), innings (fifth) and strikeouts (fifth). • Porcello: Like Scherzer and Jake Arrieta before him, Porcello turned a corner in his career in his age-27 season. The right-hander was 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA for the Red Sox in 2015, but he lost only four games this season while compiling a 3.15 ERA over 223 innings. His 1.01 WHIP was the second-best mark in the AL, behind Verlander's 1.00. Porcello is not as much of a strikeout pitcher as the other two finalists, however, with only 189. That could hurt him. • Verlander: Remember when he was considered damaged goods because of his heavy workload in his first decade as a starter? The 33-year-old got himself pointed in the right direction in the second half of 2015, and he was arguably the most reliable starter in the AL this season. The veteran right-hander went 16-9 with a 3.04 ERA while leading the AL with 254 strikeouts in 227 2/3 innings. Verander was second in the AL in both innings and ERA. Here are the finalists in the NL: • Hendricks: The first Cubs pitcher to lead the NL in ERA since 1945, he's part of the best-team-in-the-Majors narrative. A fifth starter for Joe Maddon when the season began, Hendricks used his command and wicked changeup to draw comparisons to Greg Maddux and jump past Arrieta in Maddon's postseason rotation. Hendricks

was 16-8 with a 2.13 ERA, never allowing more than four earned runs in any of his 30 starts. But like AL ERA leader Aaron Sanchez, Hendricks didn't distinguish himself in counting statistics, finishing 13th in the NL in innings (190) and 17th in strikeouts (170). He was the Major League ERA leader by a long margin -- Kershaw had a 1.69 ERA, but he was 13 innings short of the qualifying standard. However, like Lester, Hendricks benefitted greatly from the Cubs' fielding -- arguably the best in more than three decades. • Lester: At 32, he's the anchor of a rotation that saw Arrieta emerge as the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2015 and Hendricks win an ERA title this season. Much is made of Lester's troubles throwing the ball in the infield, yet he was 19-5 with a 2.44 ERA in his 32 starts. Maddon limited the southpaw's workload to keep him fresh for October, and while that strategy paid off in the seven-game World Series, it could hurt Lester in the Cy Young Award voting. He was sixth in the NL in innings (202 2/3) and seventh in strikeouts (197), with both totals having dropped in each of the past two years. • Scherzer: While not as consistent as either of the two Cubs finalists, the Nationals' ace moved ahead of Syndergaard and Fernandez to be the NL's most dominating starter. He showed that on May 11, with his 20-strikeout game against the Tigers, which was one of his 13 double-digit strikeout games. He wound up 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA while leading the Major Leagues with 284 strikeouts and the NL with 228 1/3 innings (behind only Boston's David Price). The knock on Scherzer is an ERA that ranked only eighth in the NL. Esurance MLB Awards week concludes Friday on MLB Network and MLB.com at 8 p.m. ET with the MLB Awards. Categories include Best Major Leaguer, Hitter, Pitcher, Rookie, Executive and Manager. -- ESPNChicago.com Did a rainout cost Cubs' Maddon NL Manager of the Year Award? By Jesse Rogers CHICAGO -- It’s possible that one specific day this past season cost Chicago Cubs skipper Joe Maddon his second consecutive National League Manager of the Year Award. Maddon lost out to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Tuesday, coming in second place while earning eight first-place votes. Roberts, who got 16 first-place votes, deserved the honor. He was a first-time manager who won his division, overtaking the San Francisco Giants, all while ace Clayton Kershaw and others were injured. Still, as evidenced by the voting, Maddon had an outside chance to win, but he shouldn’t second-guess any of his decisions for costing him the award. Instead, he can blame Mother Nature. Here’s the thinking: The Cubs probably needed to win closer to 110 games for Maddon to win, a number that few teams have reached. The record, of course, is 116 victories. You can bet he wins Manager of the Year if the Cubs reach that win total, but even getting close might have put him over the top. So, where were there more wins to be had? How about the only time they slumped all season, a stretch where talent was trumped by fatigue? On April 30, the Cubs and Atlanta Braves were rained out. It set in motion a grueling end of the first half that included making that game up. The Cubs played 24 games in 24 days, on top of 23 of 33 on the road, to finish the first half. They were exhausted, and it showed -- they went 6-15 in the final 21 games of that stretch. There is no doubt the schedule affected their play. Under normal circumstances, it’s doubtful that the Cubs would have lost all 15 of those games. Teams slump all the time, but there is a reason why organizations have to give approval to MLB to play more than 20 consecutive days. The Cubs agreed to it in order to make up their game against the Braves, but it cost them. They even lost that makeup game, then flew overnight to Pittsburgh, only to lose the next two. Whatever criticism Maddon received for his decision-making in the World Series obviously had no effect on the voting, which takes place before the playoffs begin. And it’s not like Maddon was in need of second-guessing throughout the regular season. He might have been slower than most wanted to move Jason Heyward down in the

lineup, or perhaps he took out a starter or two earlier than expected, but that’s dwarfed by the tone he set both last year and from day one of this season. Besides, all managers are second-guessed over the course of 162 games. Maddon’s "embrace the target" theme in spring training was a stroke of genius and set the Cubs up for their incredible start, which led to an easy regular-season finish. That finish allowed the team to rest its starters and prepare for three rounds of the playoffs. It paid off in the Cubs' first world championship in 108 years. Maddon might not have won the award this time around, but he did plenty to keep the Cubs on top all season. -- CSNChicago.com Joe Maddon May Not Be Manager Of The Year — Or A Game 7 Hero — But Cubs Still See A Future Hall Of Famer By Patrick Mooney Dave Roberts deserved to be the National League’s Manager of the Year because the Los Angeles Dodgers exceeded preseason expectations, overcame a wave of injuries and made so many different clubhouse pieces fit together. The Dodgers used 15 different starting pitchers while getting fewer than 150 innings out of Clayton Kershaw. Roberts worked with a sprawling front office, creatively manipulating the lineup and the bullpen while incorporating young talent like Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, guiding the Dodgers to 91 wins and a division title. The Cubs woke up on Opening Day as Major League Baseball’s most talented team on paper. Except for Kyle Schwarber shredding his left knee in early April — which would heighten the World Series drama later — the Cubs stayed remarkably healthy. Winning 103 games looked more like a continuation of 2015, when Maddon won the Baseball Writers’ Association of America award. When the BBWAA revealed the voting on Tuesday night, Maddon (70 points) finished a distant second behind a first-year manager (108 points) in a contest that has a lot to do with perception and external factors and closes before the playoffs even start. Roberts received 16 of the 30 first-place votes, with Washington Nationals manager/ex-Cub Dusty Baker placing third with 66 points. It also says something about the fundamental nature of the job — particularly in the age of Twitter and Big Data — that Maddon could guide the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908 ... and still get criticized and second-guessed for how he handled that classic Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians. “Listen, we won the World Series,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “I know there’s a zero-percent chance we win 200 games over two years and win the World Series without Joe. “That’s the nature of the postseason. The managers take on almost an oversized persona because the camera’s on them the entire game. Every move they make is going to be dissected.” Like pulling Cy Young Award contender Kyle Hendricks with two outs in the fifth inning at Progressive Field — to bring in Jon Lester with a runner on first base and intensify the focus on his yips. Or having superstar closer Aroldis Chapman throw 97 pitches in Games 5, 6 and 7 combined. Watching Javier Baez fail to execute an assigned squeeze bunt in the top of the ninth inning compelled Jason Heyward to call a players-only meeting in the weight room during a 17-minute rain delay. “Listen, I’ll be the first person to admit,” Hoyer said, “when Chapman came in with a man on first and two outs in the eighth inning, nowhere in my psyche was the game going to be tied two batters later (on Rajai Davis’ homer). Chapman hadn’t given up a home run as a Cub. So I think, in a lot of ways, what happened was something that was totally anomalous to what had happened throughout the season. “But Joe is a world-champion manager for the first time — and he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame someday.”

Maddon clearly deserves credit for helping create the environment where all these hyped prospects could become All Stars, deflecting attention away from his players with his money quotes and long media sessions and deflating some of the pressure around the team with his “Embrace The Target” mentality. It’s also so much easier to write about an 8-7 World Series Game 7 in the press box — or make those decisions from your couch — than actually deal with the human beings in the dugout. On Wednesday night, a Cub will win the Cy Young Award for the second straight year, unless Washington’s Max Scherzer beats Hendricks and Lester in a three-man race that didn’t have a clear-cut frontrunner like Jake Arrieta in 2015. It would be a shocking upset on Thursday night if Kris Bryant doesn’t follow up his Rookie of the Year campaign with an MVP award. Maddon had been a two-time Manager of the Year with the Tampa Bay Rays, a small-market franchise that couldn’t keep its young core intact or win bidding wars for elite free agents. Maddon’s managerial resume already includes six playoff appearances in 11 years, including seven seasons with at least 90 wins, and the Cubs still feel like this is just the beginning of their run. Those crazy 10 innings in Cleveland should be good material for a Cooperstown speech. “It was an amazing game,” Hoyer said. “I’m sort of glad that’s how we won the game. I think it was an appropriate way to end a 108-year-drought. We sort of stared into the abyss for 45 minutes or so — and ended up coming out the other side. “It’s a more appropriate way than having a nice, clean 6-3 win. But I think I probably have more gray hair now. I probably have ulcers. And it probably took some minutes off my life. But I do think it was probably more appropriate.” -- Chicago Tribune Dodgers' Dave Roberts beats Joe Maddon for NL Manager of the Year By Mark Gonzales Joe Maddon directed the Cubs to their highest victory total since 1910, but Maddon finished second to Dave Roberts of the Dodgers for the National League Manager of the Year Award on Tuesday. Roberts, in his first season, steered the Dodgers to 91 victories and an NL West title despite losing 28 players to the disabled list — including ace Clayton Kershaw for 10 weeks because of a bulging disk. Voting was conducted before the playoffs and before Maddon managed the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908. Two writers from each of the 15 NL cities participated in the voting, which was conducted on a 5-3-1 point system by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Roberts, with 16 first-place votes, was the only manager to be named on all 30 ballots. Dusty Baker of the Nationals finished third. Maddon, the 2015 NL Manager of the Year, led the Cubs to 103 victories — one shy of their 1910 total. Terry Francona of the Indians was voted American League Manager of the Year. He guided a team plagued by injuries and drug suspensions to a surprising first-place finish in the AL Central. The Rangers' Jeff Banister was second and the Orioles' Buck Showalter was third. -- Chicago Tribune Cubs Convention tickets to go on sale Friday By Mark Gonzales

Fans thirsting to see their Chicago Cubs heroes will be delighted to learn that individual weekend passes for the 32nd annual Cubs Convention on Jan. 13-15 will go on sale to the general public on Friday at noon. The convention will be held at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, and the cost of each weekend pass is $108 plus convenience fees, with a limit of four passes per household. Passes can be purchased by calling 1-800-THE-CUBS or by visiting the team's website. Fans using a Mastercard can participate in an exclusive Mastercard Presale starting at 10 a.m. in advance of the general sale. A limited number of passes are available through the Mastercard Presale. The 2016 World Series trophy will be on display throughout the convention. -- Chicago Tribune Steve Goodman's family sold rights to 'Go Cubs Go' before World Series By Phil Rosenthal As a Cubs fan till the day he died in 1984, Steve Goodman might well have appreciated the bittersweet deal: Months before the Cubs’ first World Series title since 1908 made his 32-year-old “Go Cubs Go” a surprise hit, his family reportedly sold away the publishing rights to his songs. Goodman’s family can take solace in hearing his voice woven into the collective memory of the Cubs finally ending more than a century of frustration and they did retain his share of royalties as songwriter. But, as the Associated Press reported, their payday as the song unexpectedly has zoomed up the charts isn’t what it would have been had they held on to the publishing rights a little longer. It has not been reported, however, who acquired the rights to Goodman’s extensive catalog or at what price. Goodman wrote and performed a number of popular songs over his career before his death at age 36 from leukemia. Even with its recent sales and streaming bump, “Go Cubs Go” is just one component of an extensive catalog. Likely the best known Goodman song to this point has been 1971’s “City of New Orleans,” a hit for Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson and covered by Judy Collins, Johnny Cash and many others. Nielsen Music and Billboard recently reported “Go Cubs Go” gaining popularity, reporting it had 15,000 downloads and 2.5 million U.S. streams for the week ending Nov. 3. The song made its debut on Billboard’s Pop Digital Song Sales chart at No. 21, and that was before the Cubs’ victory parade and rally on Nov. 4. It was also before ballplayers Anthony Rizzo, David Ross and Dexter Fowler sang the song with “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Bill Murray on Nov. 5’s “SNL.” “Go Cubs Go” was written and recorded as a jingle in 1984 for WGN-AM. An original lyric — “Baseball time is here again/You can catch it all on WGN” — is obsolete now that the station is no longer the ballclub’s radio home. The song was revived a few years ago and turned into a postgame Wrigley Field tradition after Cubs victories and, as that became less of a rarity, became a fan favorite. Lines such as “Hey Chicago, whaddaya say?/The Cubs are gonna win today!” reverberate in and around the ballpark after big wins.

It was an upbeat complement to Goodman’s sardonic “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request,” a wry, loving but clear-eyed 1981 tune that asked the musical question, “When the snow melts away/Do the Cubbies still play/In their ivy-covered burial ground?” That song was informed by both decades of disappointing baseball and the fact that Goodman had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1969, the year the Cubs were surpassed by the New York Mets. Goodman took a turn for the worse just as “Go Cubs Go” was introduced and died four days before the 1984 Cubs clinched the National League East and the ballclub's first postseason berth in 39 years, a prelude to losing the pennant to the San Diego Padres. -- Chicago Sun-Times Cy of the times: Hendricks or Lester to back Arrieta’s award? By Gordon Wittenmyer One started Game 7 of the World Series. The other took over for him and pitched like he planned to finish it. The Cubs wouldn’t have been in the World Series without either one of them. And on Wednesday – exactly two weeks after they helped make history for the Cubs that night in Cleveland – Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester find out whether they’ve made even more history. The two most consistent performers on the best pitching staff in the majors this season are among the three finalists for the National League Cy Young Award, along with Nationals ace Max Scherzer. The announcement is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. It would be the first Cy Young Award for either – and mark the first time the Cubs have had back-to-back winners. Jake Arrieta last year became the fifth Cub to win the award, first since Greg Maddux in 1992. Lester, who finished with the second-best ERA (2.44) in the majors and tied his career high with 19 wins, is the one player ownership and the front office most often identify as the key for turning a long-term rebuilding process into a competitive ascent – mostly for giving credibility to the regime’s vision by committing to a six-year, $155 million deal as a free agent. “It’s very rare that someone shows up and does exactly what you hope that he does,” team president Theo Epstein said. And he really has. Outside of a small hiccup in April of 2015, he’s been a dominant, elite, starting pitcher – reliable, a hard worker, and he pitches his best in the big games. “And I thought his poise in several key postseason games rubbed off on a lot of other people.” Lester has made 32 starts and exceeded 200 innings each of the last two years as the Cubs averaged 100 regular-season victories and made back-to-back National League Championship Series appearances, including the first title in 108 years this month. After coming out of his first Cubs spring training dealing with lingering effects from a “dead arm” period, Lester was winless in April 2015. He’s 30-15 with a 3.02 ERA as a Cub since then with an All-Star appearance and five Game 1 postseason series starts. Hendricks, in his second full season in the majors, went from competing in spring training to win the fifth-starter job to a 16-8 season with the best ERA in the majors: 2.13.

After the Cy Young voting was complete at the end of the regular season, Hendricks went on to beat Clayton Kershaw in the NLCS clincher with 7 1/3 scoreless innings. Then he took a 5-1 lead two outs deep into the fifth inning of Game 7 of the World Series before a much-criticized early hook after a walk on a questionable call. Hendricks last week won an MLB Players Choice award as the National League Outstanding Pitcher. “Our starting pitching really carried us for most of the season,” Epstein said. “And Hendricks’ growth I thought was a big story of the season and especially of the postseason. If you compare where he was this October to last October in terms of his endurance, the weapons that he had to attack good-hitting lineups, and his performance this October vs. last October, it’s an obvious significant step forward.” --