Binge Media Sports: The Jeff Samardzija Situation
Honestly, I had no plans to write an article today. I spent the morning with my girls before I had to take them back to their mother’s house, got my oil changed and made it back to the house to have a late lunch and prepare for a meeting I have tomorrow. As I often do, I turned on the Cubs game as background noise and I like to watch when I can. Now, I do my best on this site to be objective, usually not letting you know the teams I root for, but yes, I am a true blue die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. I think I set myself up as a kid to lead a tortured life. I’ve even written an article on my personal blog entitled How to Root for the Chicago Cubs (just click on the title there to check it out). I love the Cubs, but after today, I am officially on boycott from watching any Cubs action until further notice and I’ll tell you why.
If you’re a Cubs fan, you know who Jeff Samardzija is. But if you’re not, then let me give you a quick history lesson. Jeff Samardzija is a 29 year old pitcher for my beloved Chicago Cubs. He was born in Merrillville, Indiana and is a 6’5″ and 225 lbs. of pure athlete. He attended Notre Dame from 2003 to 2006 and not only played baseball, but was on the historic football team as well. Actually, in 2005, he was a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award for the nation’s top wide receiver after 77 catches for the Irish. The Cubs took him in the 5th round of the 2006 amateur draft and in 2007, Samardzija announced he would skip the NFL draft to focus on baseball and signed a decent deal with Chicago. He made his first big league appearance in 2008, striking out his first batter, and then spent the next few years between the big club and Triple A Iowa. His stuff has gotten considerably better over the past few years and the past two years, he has been the Cubs’ Opening Day starter. So this guy is a player.
Here’s where my problem comes in. Today, the Cubs were playing the New York Yankees. Derek Jeter is on his farewell tour and this will be the last time he will ever play at historic Wrigley Field. It was a beautiful day for baseball on the north side and it’s the Cubs and Yankees so it’s pretty cool, right? But for poor Jeff Samardzija, it was another sad day at the ballpark. In other years, he would be being talked about as a possible starter for the National League All-Star team. He truly has blossomed into one of the best pitchers in the National League, and possibly all of baseball. Here’s the stats to back me up. Coming into today’s game, his ERA hadn’t gotten over 2.oo all season (1.62 coming into today to be exact in just over 60 innings of work, second in the league for qualifying pitchers). He’d only given up 11 earned runs in his first nine starts. So what was his record coming into today? 0-4! Zero wins in nearly two months of a season with a 1.62 ERA. That’s Cubs baseball ladies and gentlemen.
So we move to today. Cubs v. Yankees. Wrigley Field. Derek Jeter’s farewell tour. Milt Pappas singing the 7th inning stretch. Last night, the Cubs broke Masahiro Tanaka’s crazy winning streak. Things are all set up for Jeff Samardzija, right? And for a while, they were. He does what he’s been doing all season. He pitched seven innings, giving up zero runs (AGAIN) and only giving up four scattered hits on the day. And the Cubs do what they’ve been doing all season. They only gave him two runs of support and oh, I almost forgot, coming into today Samardzija had the second worst run support in all of baseball. But at least they’re ahead. The Cubs go into the ninth up 2-0. So I tell myself, if the Cubs blow this for him, I’m going to boycott the Cubs until Jeff Samardzija gets himself a W. I even threw it up on facebook, so you know it’s on now. And just as they did on the 100th anniversary of one of my favorite places in the world, the Cubs did what they do best. They blew it, giving him a no-decision and I immediately switched the channel. If nothing else, I try to be a man of my word. I honestly don’t know what happened the rest of the game. It could still be going on for all I know, but until they can give this poor man some help, I am officially boycotting the team I root for more than all others. And for those of you that will say I’m not a real fan and I should support them in good times and bad, then go ahead and say it. I’ve loved the Cubs since my grandfather taught me how to read with the Chicago Tribune and I always will. But every now and then, I need a break from the pain. It may be five days from now, or it may be a month from now, but I’m sticking to my promise. Hell, I’m going to Wrigley in late July for a game against the Cardinals. Hopefully, I won’t have to sit with a blindfold on the whole time. The only upside would be my other senses will be heightened, making my 8 dollar beers taste that much better.
I really do feel for the guy. For years, we’ve been listening to Theo Epstein talk about the future of this franchise. Honestly, it does look very bright. The prospects the Cubs have coming up are very solid. Guys like Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Jorge Soler are looking to join Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro in the next couple of seasons. The question is whether or not Jeff Samardzija will be around when they get there. The trade rumors have been swirling all season about what the Cubs could get in exchange for the right-hander before the trade deadline to play to their youth movement and the truth is, it probably will happen, and for his sake I hope it does. As a Cubs fan, I will truly hate to see him go. It’s been great to watch his progress over the years, but I don’t think management is ready to give him that long term extension that he will eventually command. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him end up with the team he dominated today. But in the meantime, he’ll continue to go out every fifth day and give his all for a team that can’t come through for him. You have to figure that he’ll get a win for the Cubs this year at some point. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. I miss my Cubs already.
Are you upset with this situation as well. Let me know in the comments below or tweet @THElukenorris to let me know your thoughts. And don’t forget to check out the updates on the conference finals in the NHL and NBA and vote for the winners.