BCB After Dark: Schedule blues
Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. For the first time this week, there's no game happening right after we go live, and we won't have another early-morning game for a few years at least. But come on in and join us anyway. There's no cover charge. The hostess will seat you shortly. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
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Yesterday I asked if you Shōta Imanaga should have stayed in the game past the fourth inning in the season opener. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you thought it was the right move to pull Imanaga when Counsell did. The other 47 percent thought he should have stayed in at least one more inning.
Here's the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You can skip that if you want. You won't hurt my feelings.
Tonight we're featuring a performance from 1983 featuring trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker with saxophonist Stan Getz. This is 'Just Friends.'
In honor of the Cubs' trip to Japan, I thought I'd ask you to tell us about your favorite Japanese films. I'm going to define 'Japanese' films loosely, so it can either be your favorite film from Japanese creators, such as a Toshiro Mifune picture, Godzilla or a Studio Ghibli movie. Or it can just be a film set in Japan, such as Hiroshima mon amour, which is a terrific French film that I keep meaning to write about here but every time I try to re-watch it, I get stuck on the first 20 minutes of footage of atomic bomb victims. But Hiroshima mon amour is the kind of French New Wave film that makes you think these guys and gals were utter geniuses or just plain nuts. (I tend towards genius.)
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So tell us your favorite Japanese films—either made by the Japanese or set in Japan.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
There wasn't a good photo of the Cubs schedule—I suppose I could have screenshotted one—but that Pikachu photo was too good to pass us.
So this has been floating around the internet the past few days.
I hope you can read that, because it ranks the projected difficulty of schedule for each MLB team for the year and for each month. As you can see, the Cubs have a projected below-average difficult schedule for the entire season—23rd hardest out of 30 teams.
On the other hand, and this has been mentioned many times around here and even on the Cubs' broadcasts, the Cubs' first month of the season is brutal. The projected record of Cubs' opponents in March and April is .546. Only one team has a single month within .010 of that winning percentage.
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After that, things get a lot easier. The Cubs have the easiest schedule in the game of any month in May and no other team is within .010 opponents projected winning percentage.
The Cubs play 30 games in March and April and they're already 0-2. Coming up, the schedule for the rest of the month is:
3 @ Arizona
3 @ Sacramento
3 San Diego
3 Texas
3 @ Dodgers
3 @ San Diego
3 Arizona
2 Dodgers
3 Phillies
2 @ Pirates
So at what win total on May 1 do you start to panic? I know Jim Deshaies said on the Marquee broadcast that if the Cubs go .500 through the end of April, they'll be in good shape the rest of the year. But do you agree? If the Cubs are 13 and 17 at the end of April, do you think the season is in trouble?
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Remember, games in March and April count the same as ones in September. If the Cubs fall too far behind, they might not be able to catch up.
Thank you for stopping by this week. It's been an unusual week for all of us around here and we're glad you came around for the ride. Please get home safely. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join Sara Sanchez tomorrow night for more BCB AFter Dark.
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