{"id":42817,"date":"2025-03-20T14:46:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:46:57","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T14:46:57","slug":"cub-tracks-take-me-out-to-the-yakyu-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817","title":{"rendered":"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game"},"content":{"rendered":"

WELCOME<\/strong> to today\u2019s episode of Cub Tracks news and notes\u2122, a greatest-hits collection of Chicago-style<\/strong> beat writers and bloggers, ground from #Cubs, #MiLB, and #MLB baseball, overheated, steeped in writers\u2019 tears, and then cold-brewed overnight for maximum flavor. No artificial intelligences were deployed, employed, entranced, or embalmed in the commission of this missive (apparently I might be training some though). Cub Tracks<\/strong> eagerly awaits the advent of robotic umpires and has already amended the three laws. The going is weird. Cub Tracks<\/strong> turned pro a long time ago.<\/p>\n

Cub Tracks<\/strong>. Where the great ones run away.<\/em><\/p>\n

Shohei is a damn good player. I\u2019d still stop short of deifying him. I mean, seriously? The hype is real {$}<\/strong>. Also, Eat the Dodgers.<\/p>\n

Okay, the season-opening non-exhibition games are over. To say that I suspect the fix was in does not detract from the spectacle any more than being completely fake invalidates the athletic competition in the WWE. Am I bitter and cynical? You bet.<\/p>\n

*means autoplay on<\/em>, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} <\/strong>means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics <\/em>are often used on this page as sarcasm font. <\/em>The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font<\/em> in the comments.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s great about the Cubs, we\u2019re always the come-from-behind team,\u201d said Zach Valavanis, a Cubs fan entering a theme bar in the Tokyo Dome complex, filled with Cubs logos and memorabilia \u2014 and dozens of other Chicago fans. \u2014 Stephen Wade.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    \n
  • Sonja Chen (MLB.com*): Ohtani\u2019s aura evokes hometown awe in Tokyo \u2014 and MVP delivers. \u201cThere was just so much anticipation to see anything he did,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said.<\/li>\n
  • Stephen Wade (AP*): Baseball in Japan looks about the same, but the food and the vibe are different. \u201cBaseball in Japan \u2014 the game is called \u201cyakyu\u201d (field ball) in Japanese \u2014 carries more of a rock-concert vibe than its American cousin.\u201d More from Wade.<\/li>\n
  • Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): For Lee & Fukudome, Tokyo school visit all about Japan\u2019s baseball future. \u201cThis is where I fell in love with baseball,\u201d Lee said.<\/li>\n
  • Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs swept in Tokyo Series in playoff-like atmosphere: \u2018That\u2019s a great experience for our young players\u2019. \u201cThese are great experiences, period, and they\u2019re fun experiences. They\u2019re different,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThey do resemble the playoffs. The pregame especially resembled the playoffs, I thought.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs hope Tokyo\u2019s \u2018playoff environment\u2019 a sign of things to come.<\/li>\n
    • Evan Altman (Cubs Insider*): Let\u2019s dispel 3 myths about Cubs\u2019 Opening Day loss with some perspective. \u201c… all that matters is how well the Cubs play over the remaining 160 games of the schedule.\u201d<\/li>\n
    • Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): 3 Cubs things you are absolutely forbidden to freak out About\u2014and one that might matter. \u201cBe better than the fan you want to be.\u201d<\/li>\n
    • Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Nico Hoerner has been lying to you for years, was finally exposed Monday. \u201cWith the automated ball-strike (ABS) system being test-driven in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues this year, accurate heights are required for calibration of the system, so there can be no more fudging.\u201d<\/li>\n
    • Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): \u2018I\u2019ll remember everything\u2019: Shaw makes much-anticipated debut in Tokyo. \u201cYou try to take in everything the whole time.\u201d Sahadev Sharma has more {$}<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    • Laura Molloy (NME*): Jack White attends Cubs vs Dodgers game with Bill Murray, wearing jersey gifted from Eddie Vedder. \u201cThe former White Stripes frontman was attending the game in Tokyo, Japan, where he recently played two shows as part of his current world tour.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Food for thought:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We are 100% in favor of human sportswriting and will not wittingly publish A. I. driven articles or content. Thanks for reading!.lk;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      #Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news, notes, and commentary, four days a week, rain or shine. The Cubs went a long way to lose a couple of ball games in the wee hours and seemed to have left the bats behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":42818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"#Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news, notes, and commentary, four days a week, rain or shine. The Cubs went a long way to lose a couple of ball games in the wee hours and seemed to have left the bats behind.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-20T14:46:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817\",\"name\":\"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-20T14:46:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-20T14:46:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":900},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec\",\"name\":\"MrThanh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrThanh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game - NEWS USA","og_description":"#Cubs, #MLB, and #MiLB news, notes, and commentary, four days a week, rain or shine. The Cubs went a long way to lose a couple of ball games in the wee hours and seemed to have left the bats behind.","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2025-03-20T14:46:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrThanh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrThanh","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817","name":"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-20T14:46:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-20T14:46:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/avtvip-47-5.jpg","width":900,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=42817#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cub Tracks\u2019 take me out to the yakyu game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec","name":"MrThanh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrThanh"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42819,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42817\/revisions\/42819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}