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“I walked to the other side, I took some photos on the porch swing of the house. I actually walked through the house. The guys who were staying there tonight, who won it through an auction, they’re White Sox fans, so I was able to take a photo with them and walk through the house, which was fantastic. It’s cool. All I’m waiting on is Kevin (Costner), Ray (Liotta) and James Earl (Jones) to come down, and we can figure it out.”
Contreras is dealing with a tweaked knee, manager David Ross said, after being able to play through it for a little bit. In conversations with Cubs trainers, it didn’t make sense for Contreras to continue on that path. The Cubs activated Austin Romine from the 60-day IL, giving Ross two veterans, along with Robinson Chirinos, to use behind the plate during Contreras’ absence.
Dalton’s current trump card remains his experience, 10 NFL seasons that help him understand the Bears offense better, read defenses more quickly and communicate with his offensive teammates on a more advanced level. All of that still is incredibly valuable. And internally at Halas Hall, the belief is that Dalton’s savvy, self-assurance and ability to play on schedule will reduce the number of game-losing errors that could derail a playoff push.
“He runs with so much aggression,” Williams said. “Like, he runs with a chip on his shoulder. I want to ask him, like, ‘What have you got going on personally, you know, that makes you run like this?’ … (Today in red-zone drills), it looked like he fell, and I just saw him pop up and keep running. But I’ve seen that multiple times throughout the time that I’ve been here. His low gravity is something special.”
“I try to forget stuff like (Wednesday’s outing), and looking up at his numbers on the board, what he’s done for this organization, how consistent he has been with the time I was on his team in ‘15 and ‘16,” Ross said. “Those are the things I’m holding on to.”
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, center, helps paint a banner for graduation with principal Michael Herring, left, and eighth grader Tadhg Quinn, 14, right, and others in the auditorium at Jahn School of Fine Arts in Chicago on Monday, May 22, 2017. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
“There’s moments he should take in, like in a place that he’s done really special things, and continue to impact this organization and the young guys here, I think he’s done a phenomenal job this year (at that),” Ross said. “That’s not around our game enough. Our game’s gone really young, and I understand a lot of that. But there’s also that veteran voice that’s competed at a high level, that has a World Series ring, experience, who’s carried the load in some of the biggest moments in his organization’s history, this guy standing on the bump and we’re relying on him.
“Every month, from spring training to September, you want to be better in whatever you do,” Cairo said. “Hitting, defense, base running, pitching, catching, throwing to the bases. You want to be ready so when you go to those difficult games, whoever makes the fewer mistakes is the team that’s going to win.
“When you’re up and need the guy to come in and stop games, there’s definitely comfort in him pitching the ninth with the lead,” Ross said Wednesday. “But I’m also trying to use some of these back-end guys in moments where maybe it would benefit us for a pocket in the order that we feel like sets them up well, so we try to balance that. But I don’t see him pitching down a bunch of runs.”
“When we first pulled up, everybody was standing up, trying to see the field, trying to see what’s around us,” ACE center fielder Ezra Essex said. “Even when I watched the movie, I was like, ‘I’m going to see this soon.’ Now we’re here to really see it. I’m just taking it all in. It’s a great experience.”