The Rundown: Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Program, Cubs Delivered to Your Door, Brief News Bits

You know what’s awesome? Getting all hyped up for Opening Day and then having to suffer through an off-day immediately after. And then there’s a rain-out following the second game, which was really only slightly worse than was was supposed to have been a scheduled day off tacked to the back of the initial series with St. Louis.

To top it all off, the home opener was nearly postponed by rain, the possibility of which necessitated yet another scheduled Cubs moratorium Tuesday. But now, barring any unforeseen inclement weather issues, the Cubs will have eight consecutive days of baseball. They’ve got two more breaks yet this month, followed by only two in all of May. This should be fun.

As a blogger, there’s something to be said for the occasional reprieve from the inexorable waves of content created by a 162-game schedule, and that goes double for an editor. For someone who just closed on and moved into a new home this week, the lack of baseball was actually kind of a blessing. Now, however, we’re back to it and it feels pretty great.

I imagine it’s strange for those who aren’t fans of baseball to see the rest of us jonesing for the next day, knowing there’ll be scores of next days before the season finally winds to a close. They can’t understand how we can place more than a modicum of importance in each game, particularly when said contest makes up a mere six-tenths of a percent of the whole. But see, that’s exactly the point.

Baseball is so incredible because of the infinitesimal fractions of time and inches that comprise it. It’s as granular as a child’s sand castle built too close to the rising tide, only to be washed asunder and subsumed into the rest of the beach again. Rather than weep over the loss of our castle, we get to build it back up all over again. Some creations are little more than humble cottages with thatched roofs, while others are grand cathedrals with towering spires and flying buttresses that would shame even the greatest Gothic architects.

My point here, other than showing off what little I retained from my college Eurasia course, is that it’s the chance to do it all over that makes baseball what it is. Even in the lean years of Theo Epstein’s early tenure in Chicago, I recall staying up because the Cubs might just pull this one out. Or that one. Or the other one. Now we all stick around to see just how they will make it all work in the end.

Cubs in a box

I don’t know how many more of you have noticed on Twitter (if you’re even on Twitter), but I started seeing sponsored tweets a month or so ago for what I thought was a shoe box or something with the Cubs logo. Were they Cubs shoes? A way to store your memorabilia? As I began seeing it more and more I became somewhat intrigued by the whole Sports Crate deal. And then I saw the cut-in ads during Cubs broadcasts, telling me this was more legit than some rando buying spots on social media.

Come to find out, this Sports Crate thing is pretty flippin’ cool. The service actually spawned from Loot Crate, which partnered with movie studios, game companies, comic publishers, and general pop culture interests to bring fans cool swag. They’re now tied in with the Cubs, Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Royals, Tigers, Rangers, Dodgers, Giants, and Cardinals (with more teams and leagues apparently on the way).

Sorry, I still haven’t actually said what it is. Let’s remedy that.

The Cubs Sports Crate is a monthly subscription service that delivers a treasure trove of exclusive Cubs gear — merchandise, collectibles, action figures, experiences and more — right to your door. Each monthly crate will be based on a specific theme — the first of which is “Bringin’ the Heat” — and the contents aren’t announced ahead of time (though we do know that the Jon Lester BALLERS figurine shown below will be included).

In addition to the various tangible items, subscribers have the chance to win a Golden Ticket each month, redeemable for a once-in-a-lifetime Cubs experience. Lucky Veruca Salts and Violet Beauregards will win VIP experiences that could include meeting players, traveling to an away game as a member of the team, being turned into a blueberry, and more

This basically hits all my sweet spots. My favorite thing about Amazon is having stuff delivered right to my front porch, and it’s even better when I forgot what it was I ordered and it’s kind of a surprise. The exclusivity and variety of these crates makes for a pretty cool deal each month. The first delivery is set for May and there will be a total of five crates throughout the MLB season.

The typical subscription is $39.99 a month (not much more than a nice t-shirt these days), but you can purchase a season pass for $179.99 (that’s a 10% savings on the monthly rate). Those season passes are limited and will only be sold through the end of May, so get on it soon. I’m actually getting a little antsy to see what’s in the first crate (yes, I’m set up with this service) and I’ll probably be posting pictures all over social media as soon as I get it.

More news and notes

  • Buster Posey on 7-day concussion DL after taking 94 mph fastball to head
    • Giants promoted Tim Federowicz as a result
  • CSN Chicago has a great video about how one particular ring bearer got his chance to be on the field tonight
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