After 2 months of Cubs DNA fun, we wanted to take a look back on some of our forbidden loves that you may have missed.
Forbidden loves are non-Cubs that we appreciate around Major League Baseball. While we are all Cubs fans first, we are not incapable of appreciating or loving other players. I say incapable, but we actively encourage it. There's a lot of good in MLB!
"That man is a treasure." It was all I could think as I watched him stalk around shallow right field stomping on paper airplanes with more contempt than the average Cubs fan has for Ryan Braun. I didn't remember Joey Votto being this surly in years past. I had always had a little soft spot for him because he unreasonably reminded me of my husband. I also knew he was always a Cub Killer--if the man couldn't beat you by lacing a double into the gap, he'd simply annoy you by taking the most borderline pitches possible and working improbable walks at the most inopportune times. He was a perpetual base clogger. Or base clearer. Whatever you didn't want him to be against the Cubs, he was exactly that at exactly the wrong time. But this? This was something new.
I'll be honest, I was a little sad (maybe a lot sad) when Cutch went to the Yankees in 2018 and he had to cut off his dreads and we didn't get to see his dance moves. Then when he became a free agent at the end of 2018, I was hoping that the Cubs would sign the 2013 MVP and 5-time All Star, even if he was on the decline. I thought he was still a solid bat and average defender who could contribute to a competing Cubs ball club. (SSS, but his numbers in Philly this year started to get back to his career norms (.286/.378/.480/.858) before he had a season ending injury only 59 games into the season.) Solid ball player, even better human being. What's not to love?
"That man is a psycho!" you might be thinking. Ah, but if he is, he's exactly the kind you want on your team. I'll admit to having raging Scherzer Envy--I'd take him on the Cubs tomorrow, and probably give up a lot to do it, even with him on the way wrong side of 30. Max is a competitor. He's the guy who comes in and throws seven scoreless innings with a broken nose. He's also the guy who, two days after suffering debilitating neck spasms, starts Game 7 of the World Series and throws 103 pitches while holding the potent Houston Astros offense to a measly two runs so your team can come back and win the whole stinkin' thing. If there's any non-Cub I'd want to see win a World Series, it was this guy, so if you'll allow me to close out with this bit of self indulgence...
He's a hard working dude. Hunter's numbers fell in 2018, his last year on contract with the Giants. As a result, they didn't re-sign him to a new contract, and he left San Francisco as a free agent. Unfortunately, no other MLB club signed him either. So what did he do? He picked himself up, reinvented his swing and went to the Dominican Republic to play winter baseball, where he helped the Eastern Bulls (Toros del Este) get to the playoffs for the first time in years.
Who's next?
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