Cubby-Blue

It would be nice if the Cubs started making some moves.

Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray to the Rangers. Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar to the Mets. Cy Young winner Robby Ray to the Mariners. Noah Syndergaard to the Angels. 
Tampa Bay, Detroit and Toronto are spending $$$.

The Cubs snatched that guy who got booted out of Cincinnati.

Okay, I'm being a jerk, kinda.
The Wade Miley pickup was good, but I'll feel better when more happens.
And that'll probably happen after this top tier wave gets signed, because the Cubs aren't gonna surprise us with a big name.
That's not shocking, right?
I mean... we know how we got here.
And that was pretty painful, but now that we're all down here lookin' up, we should probably get used to the view.
At least til a handful of the kid prospects can start making the jump to the Bigs. 
For now, it won't be as bad as 2012 or 2013 - we won't have anybody as bad as, say, Blake DeWitt.
But I expect to feel like I'm watching some James Russells or Luis Valbueanas, maybe a Nate Schierholtz. 

I prefer to be down there with my thoughts and maybe something unexpectedly good will happen rather than the other way around.
A couple years from now, however, I'll reverse that.

Ummm.. what else?
I'm not surprised Matt Nagy's still here, but omg I totally took off my Bears hat at the airport during Thanksgiving travel. 
When your head coach has to say, "Hey all these rumors about me getting fired are wrong"?
So embarrassing.
I continue to hope that he and Ryan Pace get the ax at the end of the season.
And if that happens, hopefully they have someone waiting in the wings.

Anyway, here's other stuff I've been working on...

Commissioned pet paintings for gifts!



Watching "The Great" and the Bulls.

And lastly... all these "TIME IS RUNNING OUT" Emails.

I realized they were all about the various sales, so... I guess it's okay.

Is this painting a Hot Stove sign for the Cubs?

Pretend you're hearing an erie sound track...

I started this painting of Kris Bryant.
On a piece of wood.
When painting on wood, it first has to be layered with gesso.
(Gesso is a thick, white, opaque paint used as a base to paint on top of.) 
I put down a couple layers of gesso.
Then, I drew him in ink. 

Wasn't wild about it.

So I painted over it with more gesso.
Looked like this:


Next morning, I came into the art room and it looked like this:

Bryant had come back.
(erie music crescendo DU DU DU DUUUUUUUUH)

IS IT A SIGN?!!

There's been enough time with him being gone - the entire core really - that I've gained a different perspective.
We expect the Cubs to rebuild completely, right?
I've tried to strip away all the emotion around KB, Anthony Rizzo, and Javy Baez and look at it objectively.
Do the Cubs take someone like Bryant and rebuild around him?
Hey man, there are so many pieces to pick and choose from, I don't know.
But... San Francisco doesn't want him.
They were underwhelmed with his glove.
Say his bat won't age well.
The hot rumor says Seattle's interested.
This time of year, do you believe these articles?
OR THE PAINTING?

Just sayin'... if KB were to come back now, I wouldn't be surprised.

Even if I just forgot that ink will sometimes bleed through a layer of gesso.

On a related note, I heard that Theo's dog Winston turned down the Mets GM job.
This hot stove is CRAZY isn't it?

Braves Win! Ex Cub Jorge Soler is World Series MVP.

Well.
Would not want to be an Astros fan.
It's like their team was either red hot, or couldn't hit a lick. 
People said they were "loaded", but... nothin' happened.
Vaguely reminded me of another team, only instead of playing in the World Series, that team got scattered to the wind.

Anyway, I would not have picked the Atlanta Braves at the beginning of this year's playoffs.
Let alone the World Series.
They got there, and their stud playoff pitcher Charlie Morton breaks a leg.
Ominous.
But the Braves take that first game in Houston, and Jorge Soler, leading off, goes 2-5 with a dinger and a couple RBIs.
Hmm.
Game 2 goes to the Astros, and Max Fried got fried (I'm SURE he's never heard that before), giving up 6 earned on 7 hits in 5. 
Now they go to Atlanta for Game 3, and it's Braves 2 Astros nothin'.
As in only 2 hits kinda nothin'.
Also, Soler goes ofer 2 and they sit him for game 4 - remember, he's only been a Brave for a couple months.
But he comes in to pinch hit in the bottom of the 7th with the score tied at 2.
Wham-Oh.
Braves win 3-2. 
Hmmmmmm....
In Game 5 Atlanta's Adam Duvall hits a grand slam in the 1st and you thought wow, the Braves are gonna win it all tonight. 
No.
The Astros appear to be the team they're supposed to be and win 9-5.
Soler goes 1-5.
Then comes last night, Game 6. 
Max Fried, who hasn't pitched since Oct 27th, he's electric and the Astros can't hit jack. 
He goes 6 innings, K's 6, gives up 4 hits and nothin' else.
Jorge Soler comes up in the 3rd and hits a 446 foot MVP-type homer that goes all the way out of Minute Maid in about a second.
Really, that was all the Braves needed.
A couple hours later, Soler's out on the field accepting the Willie Mays World Series MVP trophy and a car. 
If I may modify an old baseball catch phrase, people dig the long ball. 

And now here we are, the first day I woke up and it was in the 30s here.
The Bears are terrible.
But there IS this...

I'm gonna have to learn the names of a whole new Bulls team, I guess. 
And wait for the Cubs to start there wheelin' and dealin'. 

Last thing. 
I'm an artist full time now.
I have new Cubs prints, the big ones reduced by $40, and some new original stuff in my Cubby Blue Etsy shop, and I'll be adding more in the coming weeks. Shipping is now FREE!
If you get a chance, check it out.