April 20, 2016 Chicago Sun-Times Cubs ascension makes Cubs-Cards no longer “rivalry in name only” By Gordon Wittenmyer ST. LOUIS – Cubs veteran David Ross calls it “noise” on the outside that doesn’t affect the guys in the clubhouse. But the changes to the Cubs-Cardinals dynamic these days are as palpable as the bruises inflicted during the fight between a guy in a red shirt and a guy in a blue shirt behind the Cubs’ dugout at Busch Stadium during Monday night’s game. “I just laughed,” said Ross. “You can definitely see the fans are a little more riled up. I think Cubs fans have got something to cheer about finally. Nothing wrong with that.” As the Cubs and Cardinals engaged in another starting pitchers duel Tuesday night, it became more clear with every Jaime Garcia pitch, Yadier Molina triple and Jason Hammel two-run single that the Cubs’ ascension over the last 12 months has changed the tone of this century-old rivalry. Never mind the ascension the last two nights. The Cubs are looking for a series sweep Wednesday after beating the Cards 2-1 on Tuesday night behind six sharp innings of pitching — and that two-out hit in the fourth — by Hammel. A year ago, a young Cubs team that hadn’t finished higher than fifth place since 2009, lost six of seven games at Busch Stadium in May and June to a veteran Cardinals team accustomed to annual trips to the National League Championship Series. Then the Cubs finished strong, beat the Cardinals in the playoffs, earned their own trip to the NLCS and signed away two of the Cardinals’ top players from 2015: Jason Heyward and John Lackey. Lackey beat the Cardinals Monday. Tuesday, Heyward threw out Matt Holliday at the plate to end the fourth inning, with the Cubs leading by a run. And the 2016 brawl is on between the guys in the red shirts and the ones in the blue, after 90 years of a rivalry that mostly involved the Cubs chasing the Cardinals, with occasional flashes of first-place bragging rights that flickered out in October. “It’s the best thing for a rivalry when it’s a real rivalry, with two really good teams going at it,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. “For the most part this has been a rivalry in name only and hopefully we can get it to a place where it’s very consistent every single year, and that it’s two very good teams.” Name only?

While the Dodgers and Giants, and the Yankees and Red Sox have built long, storied histories of battling for division titles and pennants, the Cubs and Cardinals have finished 1-2 only four times in the last century (1930, ’35, ’45 and 2009). When Hoyer and Cubs president Theo Epstein were in Boston, the expanded playoffs took the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry to an epic level – helped by the Red Sox improving enough to bust their own Curse of the Bambino. “I look back on it, and I think Yankees fans will probably say this has been the best 10 or 15 years of the rivalry,” Hoyer said. “They got the Red Sox in ’03; we got them in ’04. The Red Sox won the World Series in ’07. They win one in ’09. “I think that’s a great thing for a rivalry. And hopefully we can get to that point here, where both teams are really good, both teams have their years, but every single year you’re going into the season, you probably know one team’s going to win 11 games and one team’s going to win 10. “Every year with the Yankees it seemed that way.” -- Chicago Sun-Times Zobrist sets ring tone with diamond-encrusted fist bumps By Gordon Wittenmyer ST. LOUIS — One of the first things Cub second baseman Ben Zobrist did when he got his new World Series ring Tuesday was put it on his finger and start making the rounds in the Cubs’ clubhouse. “Fist bumps all around,” he said. “I was like, `Hey guys, how’s it going?’ “ Zobrist’s diamond-encrusted ring with the Royals’ KC logo arrived Tuesday morning when Kansas City general manager Dayton Moore showed up to personally deliver it after driving across Missouri Monday night. Moore also gave Zobrist one of the specially made Royals’ jerseys with gold lettering, worn the day of the team’s ring ceremony in Kansas City. “It was very cool of him to deliver it personally and to just reiterate the important part I played in that championship run,” said Zobrist, who went to the Royals from the Athletics in a trading deadline deal last summer. “It’s awesome. It’s a dream. When you’re in the middle of playing, you’re not thinking so much about being a World Series champion,” added Zobrist, who also played in the 2008 World Series for Tampa Bay. “We’re in the middle of trying to win one here in Chicago. It’s just a cool memory of how special that was.” -- Chicago Sun-Times No surprises with Schwarber knee surgery; rehab next By Gordon Wittenmyer ST. LOUIS – Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber underwent reconstructive knee surgery Tuesday in Dallas, and general manager Jed Hoyer said no unforeseen damage was detected. “It sounds like everything went as well as we could have hoped,” Hoyer said. Schwarber, who was injured April 7 when he collided with center fielder Dexter Fowler chasing a fly ball, underwent a reconstruction of his anterior cruciate ligament and repair of his lateral collateral ligament. The surgery, which was delayed long enough for the swelling to subside, was performed by Dr. Daniel Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys’ orthopedist and knee specialist.

“He’s really an expert on multiple ligament surgeries, and we tried to find the best person in the world,” Hoyer said Schwarber, who hopes to be ready to play at full strength by next spring, is scheduled to return to Chicago Thursday and start rehab work almost immediately. “It’s incumbent on him to do a great job on his rehab. Knowing his personality he’ll dominate his rehab,” Hoyer said. “There’s no indications that he’s not going to recover fully and be the player that we expect.” Whether the catcher/outfielder will be able or allowed to catch again is still to be determined. “We haven’t really talked through all that stuff,” Hoyer said. “Let’s get away from the surgery a little bit. We certainly haven’t had any discussions about ending that possibility.” -- Chicago Sun-Times Cubs-Cards: The best — and worst — of baseball fandom By Steve Greenberg ST. LOUIS — The Best Fans in Baseball? Please. The most sanctimonious and self-involved? That’s probably more like it. But we’re not about to bend over backward to give St. Louis Cardinals fans the business. Their old, tired act — full of sacrosanct rules and know-it-all conceit — has been roundly dismissed and become widely, relentlessly mocked as it is. Then came Tuesday, when a New York Daily News online story accused Cardinals fans of having “blitzed” Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward with the N-word the previous night at Busch Stadium. On social media, the Most Defensive Fans in Baseball took what seemed at first to be a well-deserved beating. Unfairly, it turns out. The original version of the story stated outright that vile shouts from the crowd toward the former Cardinal could be heard on television broadcasts, though that turned out not to be the case. In fact, there was next to no corroboration — not even from random voices in the Twitter echo chamber — of the Daily News’ story. Multiple players on both teams said they heard nothing of the sort during Monday’s 5-0 Cubs victory. Even Heyward — who bolted St. Louis for Chicago in December in a delightful free agency surprise for Cubs fans — said he didn’t hear any specific words above the expected boos he received. “I don’t feel like it’s a story,” Heyward said. We should be careful not to paint it as a total non-story. Heyward may not have heard the N-word on Monday, yet if he had, it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d heard the term hurled by cowardly bigots in the stands at a big-league ballpark. “Have I heard it before? Yes,” he said. Enough times, unfortunately, that he said it wouldn’t have surprised him to have to hear it again.

Teammate Dexter Fowler has heard it, too. “You always think we’re past that as a whole in this world,” he said, “but, obviously, we’re not.” Cubs catcher David Ross has seen past teammates “pissed off” by racial epithets from the crowd. Cardinals journeyman Brandon Moss recalls a night in the big-leagues when he nearly went after a fan who’d called a teammate the N-word. “There’s small-minded people everywhere, man,” said Cubs manager Joe Maddon. “There’s stupid people everywhere. It’s not unique to one spot in one ballpark.” The point is: If the Daily News’ shoddy report at first left you appalled, then by all means, remain appalled. Just not at the Best Fans in Baseball. At least not in this particular case. Cardinals fans aren’t a bunch of innocents. Many of them, for example, directed despicable sentiments at Heyward on social media after the right fielder left money on the table and defected to the rival Cubs. If one could fight through all the nasty language, the underlying message smacked of familiar St. Louis sanctimony: How could any player in his right mind trade the precious “Cardinal Way” for whatever it is the inferior Cubs do? But it’s a changing world, and no longer are the Cubs inferior. The long-held Cardinals-Cubs hierarchy seems to be reversing. Not surprisingly, the Best Fans in Baseball are struggling mightily with this. It ought to be noted that Cubs fans may be struggling with it some themselves. Struggling not to gloat. Struggling not to take shots at their red-clad contemporaries to the south. That act could eventually wear rather thin, too. Didn’t this rivalry used to be friendly? -- Daily Herald Chicago Cubs take another one from Cardinals By Bruce Miles ST. LOUIS -- Sometimes the worst time to judge events is when they're happening. In the case of the rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, it certainly looks and feels like the balance may be swinging the Cubs' way. After the Cubs beat the Cardinals on Monday night at Busch Stadium they added a 2-1 victory Tuesday night. But there's a long way to go this year and an even longer way to go before we'll know if that's true. This new feeling began to take hold late last season, when the Cubs came into Busch Stadium and won two of three in September before vanquishing their Gateway Arch rivals in the National League division series. "I think it's the best thing for a rivalry when it's a real rivalry with two really good teams going at it," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. "This has been a rivalry sort of in name only for most years. Hopefully we can get it to a place where it's very consistent every single year where there's to very good teams." Last season started out much the same way as it had in recent years, when the Cubs lost three of four at Busch Stadium in May and were swept in three games at the end of June.

"Last year in the beginning of the year, they out-experienced us," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon. "I said from the beginning I felt we were as good as them, but they had a greater amount of experience that we didn't, and that really showed." The Cardinals did win 100 games last season and finished first in the NL Central ahead of the Pirates and Cubs before the Cubs took care of business in October. The Cubs have the experience from last year, and they added veteran players such as John Lackey and Jason Heyward from the Cardinals as well as Ben Zobrist from the world-champion Royals. As far as any change in who has the edge now, Hoyer wasn't going there yet. "I don't know about that, but I feel like we come in here now and just expect really good baseball games," he said. "I don't think there's any sense that this is a team that we can't compete with. Now we know we can compete with these guys We played well against them the last half of last season. Hopefully we'll keep that going into this year. "We're still aspiring to get to their level, as far as consistency. That's what the challenge is. They do it every single year." Even though the Cubs have a big edge in market size, Hoyer said that hasn't mattered. "They've done a pretty good job so far with making the market-size thing irrelevant," he said. "I think when you pack this place with 45,000 people every night, the size of the city doesn't matter that much. They bring a lot of revenue because they have great fans and they have great teams." -- Daily Herald Chicago Cubs' Heyward unaware of any racist language By Bruce Miles ST. LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward said he heard no racist language Monday night from fans in the stands at Busch Stadium. The New York Daily News reported Tuesday that crowd microphones picked up fans yelling racial slurs at Heyward, who played for the Cardinals last season before he signed with the Cubs this past off-season. Reports said ESPN, which telecast Monday's game, could find no evidence on tapes to corroborate claims of racist language. Heyward met with the St. Louis and Chicago media before and after Monday's game. He expressed no concerns during postgame interviews and said Tuesday he heard no slurs. "No, but I obviously wasn't really listening," he said. He went on to say that he has heard racial taunts in major-league parks, but that's "not something you really pay attention to. It's not really part of the game on the field." Cardinals fans booed Heyward every time he stepped to the plate Monday. Heyward played from 2010-14 with Atlanta before the Braves traded him to the Cardinals before the 2015 season. He signed with the Cubs as a free agent. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he was not aware of such language Monday but that he's experienced similar things during his career.

"Little Rock, Arkansas, 1985," Maddon said. "Also Beaumont, Texas. I got involved. I was not happy. I went into our GM's office. I had a really good argument. I was looking for more protection for my guys, and I wasn't getting the answer I was looking for." St. Louis is a town that has idolized black players such as Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee. On April 15, baseball celebrated the 69th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the modern-day color line. "Watch the elections right now," Maddon said. "Watch what's going on everywhere. It's nothing unusual to a baseball stadium. It's nothing unique to a particular city. Every city. "We've come a long way, but then again, we haven't. None of it surprises if in fact it was true. We have to continually attempt to fight against that, for lack of a better term. "There are small-minded people everywhere. There are stupid people everywhere. It's not one ballpark." The ring is the thing: Second baseman Ben Zobrist received his 2015 World Series ring from Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore. "He drove over from across the state and made a point to deliver it to me personally," said Zobrist, who was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Royals last July 28. He signed with the Cubs as a free agent in December. "He also gave me one of the jerseys that have the gold lettering on them that they wore. I thought that was very cool." Players often talk of "getting a ring." Zobrist was asked what it feels like to have one now. "It's awesome," he said. "It's a dream. It's just a reminder of when you're in the middle of playing, you're not thinking so much about being a World Series champion because we're in the middle of trying to win one here in Chicago. "It's a cool memory just to remember how special that was. It's a memento for all of us to carry with us throughout our lives and remember that special time." -- Daily Herald Chicago Cubs optimistic following Schwarber surgery By Bruce Miles ST. LOUIS -- The Chicago Cubs expressed optimism about the future of catcher-outfielder Kyle Schwarber, who underwent major knee surgery Tuesday. Schwarber had the surgery performed in Dallas by Dr. Daniel Cooper, head team physician for the Dallas Cowboys. The Cubs say their own team doctor, Stephen Gryzlo, was in close contact with Cooper. During the surgery, Schwarber had his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructed and his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) repaired. He sustained the injury April 7 while playing left field in a game at Arizona. Schwarber collided with center fielder Dexter Fowler as both chased a flyball in left-center field Although Schwarber will miss the rest of this season, he will begin his rehab almost immediately. "It sounds like everything went as well as we could have hoped," said general manager Jed Hoyer, who joined the team at Busch Stadium. "He's resting and will probably come back sometime on Thursday."

Hoyer added that nothing unusual was found during the surgery and that Cooper has an outstanding reputation. Schwarber will do most of his rehab in Chicago, Hoyer added. "Getting him started with the movements (of the knee) is really important," Hoyer said. "We know he'll do a great job in his rehab. It's incumbent on him to really do a great job on the rehab. There's no indication that he's not going to recover fully and be the player we expect." Schwarber was the Cubs' first-round draft pick in 2014. He came up from the minor leagues last year and hit 16 home runs in 69 regular-season games and 5 in the postseason. "He knows what's ahead," Hoyer said. "He was in good spirits before. I think he's gotten over the initial shock. He's back to his normal self. I think you know his personality. He'll dominate this rehab. I think he'll work incredibly hard. "We miss his bat, but we miss that personality. He's such a competitor and a winner. He'll go about the rehab the same way." -- Cubs.com Hammel nails Cards with hand from Heyward By Carrie Muskat and Joe Harris ST. LOUIS -- Once again, Jason Hammel helped himself, hitting a two-run single as well as striking out six over six innings to lift the Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday night. Chicago is the first team to 11 wins this season, and is off to its best start since going 11-3 in 1970. Hammel, who hit an RBI double in his last start, delivered the key hit in the fourth, and now has more RBIs (three) than runs allowed (two) for the season. The right-hander got a big assist from Jason Heyward in the bottom of the fourth. The Cardinals had runners at second and third with one out, and Yadier Molina flied out to right. Matt Holliday tried to score, but Heyward threw a perfect strike home to get him and end the inning. "He's got to make a great throw, it doesn't matter who's running there and he made it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "That's a play we need to try and push to make them make the play every time." "A lot of momentum came back to us in that moment," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Heyward's throw. "He constantly makes great plays." St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia, making his first start since throwing a one-hit shutout against the Brewers, struck out seven over five innings. The Cardinals' only run came on a rare Molina RBI triple in the second. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Pitchers can hit, too: Last season, Maddon often batted the pitcher eighth. He may want to consider moving the pitcher up. The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the fourth after Jorge Soler walked and Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero singled. Garcia struck out Addison Russell, but Hammel delivered a two-run single to left. Hammel had four RBIs total in 32 games last season; he already has three in three outings this year, and Chicago pitchers have driven in a Major League-high seven runs. "We hit every day, but I'm not trying anything different," Hammel said. "I'm trying to get the barrel out. I had a pitch down and in that I could handle. As long as I can put good wood on it, maybe I can squeak it through a hole." Missed opportunities: A baserunning mistake cost the Cardinals at least one run in the second inning, when Matt Adams was caught stealing ahead of Molina's triple. The Cardinals also were unable to score with runners on second and third and no

outs in the fourth and stranded two runners in the seventh and eighth innings. They also left the potential tying run on second base in the ninth, when Cubs closer Hector Rondon struck out pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko to end the game. "Against a club like that we've got to get the runs across," Adams said. "Everybody was going up there having good at-bats, and their pitchers just made good pitches." Gilded glove: Maddon has called Heyward the perfect example of a five-tool player, and the right fielder showed one of his skills in the fourth with his perfect throw home. A three-time Gold Glove winner, Heyward was hitless in the first two games of the series, but made three nice catches Monday night and then his throw on Tuesday. "It's a huge momentum swing there," Heyward said of throwing out Holliday at home to end the fourth. "Even if you're down, you feel like you stopped them from scoring the extra run in a one-run ballgame -- that's huge. Games like that are ones you'll have to win against great teams like the ones we're playing and against playoff teams." Garcia not sharp: Garcia couldn't come up with a quality start on the heels of his one-hitter. Command was an issue as he walked four, and 59 of his 98 pitches were strikes. Garcia's 15 2/3 scoreless-innings streak was snapped by Hammel's two-run single in the fourth. "The movement's a blessing and curse," Matheny said. "When he can control it and control it in the bottom of the zone, good things are going to happen. Then there's days when it's just going to run too much, and it's going to sail." QUOTABLE "It doesn't matter who we're playing against, but if we don't execute in those situations, we don't get the job done, get the little things right, it doesn't matter who we're playing. We just got to control what we can control." -- Matheny, on the Cardinals being 0-5 against the Cubs and Pirates this season SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS With Hammel's outing, the Cubs starters now have gone at least six innings in each of the first 14 games. It's the first time the franchise has done that since 1910. All but one this year has been a quality start, and 13 quality starts leads the Major Leagues. REPLAY REVIEW Cubs pinch-hitter Javier Baez appeared to be hit by a pitch on the left wrist leading off the seventh inning. The Cardinals challenged the call, and after a review, it was overturned. Kevin Siegrist struck out Baez swinging a few pitches later. "Yadi probably heard it and then the guys upstairs saw something, it looked like it deflected the ball a little bit," Matheny said. "Just try to take a chance to keep the leadoff guy off base." WHAT'S NEXT Cubs: Kyle Hendricks will look to deliver a series sweep on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. CT. Hendricks is coming off a loss to the Rockies, although he did pitch six innings and two of the four runs off him were unearned. Expect to see Tommy La Stella in the lineup. Cardinals: Carlos Martinez will look to build on a strong last outing, when he gave up three runs over seven innings in a 14-3 win against the Reds. Martinez was 2-0 with a 5.24 ERA in five appearances against the Cubs last season; the Cardinals won all five of those games. --

Cubs.com J-Hey winning over Cubs with defense Right fielder's rocket throw home key to win over Cardinals By Carrie Muskat ST. LOUIS -- Jason Heyward may not have a hit yet in the first two games of the Cubs' series against the Cardinals, and he's batting .170 overall, but the right fielder has delivered some of the biggest plays in the series. On Tuesday night, Heyward flashed his Gold Glove skills with a perfect throw home to get Matt Holliday, and end the Cardinals' threat in the fourth inning. Chicago held on for a 2-1 win, and now has a 2-0 lead in the series. "A lot of momentum came back to us in that moment," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Heyward's play. "I've seen it from the other side. He constantly makes great plays." A three-time Gold Glove winner, Heyward takes pride in his defensive play, and it shows. "I just want to work at it," Heyward said. "I just try to know where everybody's going to be on the field. I knew who was hitting, somebody who hits to right field often, know who's running. You always want to think about those things before the play happens and it develops. Expect the worst thing to happen, expect to have to make a diving play, expect the ball to be hit to you. You want to be in every spot." Maddon appreciated it. "[Defensive skills] normally don't go away -- that doesn't go in a slump," Maddon said. "Ask the pitchers how they feel about it. It's fun to watch and it's contagious." Cubs starting pitcher Jason Hammel enjoyed it. "I wouldn't have been out there without Jason Heyward's great play there," Hammel said. "He's taking outs away. You've seen it. Any time you shorten an inning because you have a guy in the outfield who can make a great diving catch, which he's done a couple times, or throw a guy out at the plate, that's the unheralded part of his game." -- Cubs.com Hit men: Cubs pitchers help themselves Hammel's two-RBI knock enough for win over Cardinals By Carrie Muskat ST. LOUIS -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon isn't thinking about moving the pitcher up to the No. 4 spot in his lineup, although lately, that's who has been delivering clutch hits. Jake Arrieta has hit a monster 442-foot homer, Jon Lester has registered the hardest-hit ball by a pitcher this season, and John Lackey has two RBIs in three games. Jason Hammel added to the Cubs pitchers stats on Tuesday night, delivering a key two-run single in a 2-1 win over the Cardinals. Hammel now has more RBIs (three) than runs allowed (two) for the season. He also picked up another April win, his 18th in 28 starts in the first month over the past six seasons. That's the most April wins in the Majors in that period. Against the Cardinals, he gave up five hits over six innings, striking out six, and didn't walk a batter. Chicago starters have gone at least six innings in each of the first 14 games, which the Cubs last did in 1910. "You can't expect that to continue," Maddon said of the pitchers' success with the bat. "Technically, we have some guys with good swings. If a pitcher makes a mistake, they have the ability to do what you saw tonight. If you watch them all, and break them all down, they go up to the plate and do things right."

Chicago pitchers now have seven RBIs, tops in the Majors. Give pitching coach Chris Bosio credit for the batting-practice work. "'Bos' is usually flipping 30 mile-an-hour cutters in there, and we tee off," Hammel said. "We take a little pride in it." Hammel, who now has an RBI in consecutive games for the first time in his career, didn't work on his swing in the offseason. "We hit every day, but I'm not trying anything different," he said. "I'm trying to get the barrel out. I had a pitch down and in that I could handle. As long as I can put good wood on it, maybe I can squeak it through a hole." -- Cubs.com Schwarber has surgery; full recovery expected By Carrie Muskat ST. LOUIS -- Kyle Schwarber underwent successful ACL reconstruction and LCL repair on his left knee Tuesday by Dallas Cowboys orthopedic specialist Dr. Daniel Cooper, and the Cubs expect a full recovery. "It sounds like everything went as well as we could've hoped," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Tuesday, adding that Cooper did not find anything unexpected during the procedure, which was done in Dallas. Schwarber was playing left field on April 7 when he tore both ligaments in a collision with teammate Dexter Fowler at Chase Field. Cooper has been in touch with Cubs orthopedic specialist Dr. Stephen Gryzlo regarding the procedure. Schwarber was expected to return to Chicago on Thursday to begin his rehab. The Cubs sought Cooper because of his experience with multiple ligament tears. "We tried to find the best person in the world," Hoyer said. Schwarber is well aware of how difficult the rehab will be. "There's no indications he won't recover fully and be the player we expect," Hoyer said. "He knows what's ahead. He was in good spirits before [the procedure]. He had gotten over the initial shock. He'll dominate this rehab and work incredibly hard. That's what we miss the most -- we miss the bat but he's such a personality. He's such a competitor and a winner. He'll go about the rehab the same way." Schwarber batted .246 in 69 games in his rookie campaign with the Cubs last season, hitting 16 home runs and driving in 43 runs. He was expected to play both outfield and catcher this season. "It'll be good to get him back and part of the group again," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. -- Cubs.com Former All-Star Pappas passes away at 76 Right-hander was one strike away from perfect game during 1972 no-hitter By Cash Kruth Former Major Leaguer Milt Pappas died Tuesday, the Beecher (Ill.) Police Department confirmed to the Chicago Tribune. He was 76.

"The Cubs organization is sad to learn of the passing of Milt Pappas, who not only had a special place on the field with the team in the early 1970s, but also maintained a relationship with Cubs fans as a frequent guest at Wrigley Field, the Cubs Convention and other team events," Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts said. "Milt will forever be remembered for one of the most dramatic pitching performances in team history as he delivered a no-hitter that neared perfection in 1972. Pappas ended his impressive career wearing a Cubs uniform and we will always consider him part of the Chicago Cubs family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends, relatives and fans as we mourn this loss." Pappas was 209-164 with a 3.40 ERA in 17 Major League seasons with the Orioles, Reds, Braves and Cubs. He was a two-time All-Star and finished in the top 10 in the 1972 National League Cy Young Award voting. That season, while with the Cubs, Pappas came within one pitch of a perfect game on Sept. 2, 1972, against the Padres at Wrigley Field. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Pappas threw a 3-2 pitch to pinch-hitter Larry Stahl that home-plate umpire Bruce Froemming called a ball. The right-hander retired the next batter to complete the no-hitter. -- Cubs.com Report of racial slurs toward Heyward unconfirmed Game audio reviewed from Cubs-Cardinals series opener By Carrie Muskat ST. LOUIS -- Jason Heyward heard the boos at Busch Stadium, but if someone was yelling racial slurs at him Monday night, the Cubs outfielder didn't hear them. The New York Daily News, citing four messages on Twitter, claimed Monday's Cubs vs. Cardinals game was marred by racial comments directed at Heyward, who was playing his first game at Busch Stadium since leaving the Cardinals to sign with the Cubs. ESPN reviewed the audio from the game and also did not hear anything. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said the team's public relations staff had been reviewing the various feeds and found nothing. Heyward said he "honestly wasn't really listening" to the fans Monday night. "Have I heard [racial slurs] before? Yes," Heyward said Tuesday. "But it's not something you pay a whole lot of attention to. You just play the game. "It's not part of the game on the field. I don't concern myself with what's going on off the field. People are yelling loud and you're going to hear whatever. Last night I definitely didn't hear it. It was a blur. "I honestly didn't hear specifically really anything. ... Obviously, the majority was boos." Heyward has been the subject of fans' displeasure before, including in St. Louis last year when he got off to a slow start. "Fans will let you know when they're not happy," he said. "That's anywhere." Matheny was not pleased with the New York Daily News story. "It's just an awful thing to be said. Whether it happened or not, it's a shame," Matheny said. "But right now it doesn't seem like there's anything backing the fact that it actually did happen." Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Heyward didn't say anything to him during Monday's game.

"I'm certain that if it did occur, the people around those people [who said it] are not very happy, either," Maddon said. "I did not hear anything specifically other than rumor." -- Cubs.com Red-hot Cubs seek sweep in St. Louis By Joe Harris The Cardinals will look to cool off a sizzling Cubs squad as the rivals meet in the finale of a three-game series Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. CT. The Cubs are the first team to 11 wins this season and are off to their best start since going 11-3 in 1970. Kyle Hendricks will start for the Cubs. Hendricks took the loss in last start but pitched well, going six innings. The Cubs made four errors in the game, a 6-1 loss to the Rockies. The Cardinals counter with Carlos Martinez, who went seven strong innings in his last start with his only mistake being a three-run homer by Joey Votto in a 14-3 win over the Reds. Martinez was 2-0 with a 5.24 ERA in five appearances against the Cubs in 2015. Things to know about this game • Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter has reached base safely in the past 11 games and in all eight home games this season. He is 6-for-10 in his career against Hendricks. • The Cubs are expected to start left-handed hitter Tommy La Stella at either second or third base. La Stella is hitting .308 but was hitless in his last five at-bats. • Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday is 6-for-12 in his career against Hendricks with two home runs and four RBIs. -- ESPNChicago.com Is there anything the Cubs starting staff can't do? By Jesse Rogers ST. LOUIS -- Which is harder to believe: that a starting staff has pitched six or more innings in 14 consecutive games to begin the season, or that the same staff has driven in seven runs at the plate? That's an average of an RBI by the No. 9 hitter every other game. In fact, both narratives are difficult to comprehend. Pitchers are supposed to be working their way to longer outings, and they aren’t supposed to be driving in the only runs in a winning effort. Chicago Cubs starter Jason Hammel accomplished both feats Tuesday in the Cubs' thrilling 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. “You can’t necessarily expect that to continue, although technically we have guys that have good swings,” manager Joe Maddon said postgame. “If a pitcher makes a mistake, they have the ability to do what you saw tonight. They go up to the plate and do things right.” With the Cubs trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, Hammel singled through the hole at shortstop with two outs and the bases loaded to erase the deficit and drive in the final runs of the night for either team. “My first game-winning RBI,” Hammel said with a smile. Cubs pitchers speak proudly of their hitting prowess, but in reality, they aren’t working at it any more than other teams, according to Hammel. They’re just good at it.

“We have fun with it,” Hammel said. “We do hit in there [the cage] for a while. Take a little pride in it. We can help ourselves out.” To put the Cubs' seven RBIs in perspective, the Cardinals are second with three runs driven in by their pitchers. The Cubs pitchers' OPS as a group is .660. That's better than the OPS of three NL teams. But the pitchers aren’t paid to hit -- that’s just a nice bonus. They’re paid to pitch, and pitch they have. It has been 106 years since the Cubs started a season with 14 straight outings of six or more innings pitched. Hammel made start No. 14, and he gave up one run on five hits and no walks. His ERA actually went up -- to 1.00. “His breaking ball kept them off-balance a lot,” Maddon said. Hammel claimed the results might have been better than his stuff, but after a rough second half last year, in which he got no results and had little stuff, he’s just happy to be back to his old self. “Made some pitches when I needed to,” he said nonchalantly. He was even better Tuesday than in his first two starts because he didn’t walk anyone. He was worried some new adjustments with his mechanics were taking him off his line to the plate and causing some extra free passes, but he eliminated any of those issues Tuesday. Slowly, the postgame conversation returned to Hammel's hitting. Like a position player who’s hot, Hammel was asked if he’s doing anything differently at the plate. After all, he has driven in more runs (three) than he has given up (two) this season. “No, no,” he said, a little exasperated. “We hit every day, but I’m not trying to do anything different.” As for that six-inning streak, Hammel wasn’t overly impressed -- though from the outside looking in, it’s very impressive. “That’s our job,” Hammel said. “So far so good.” Same can be said of the series: The Cubs are 2-for-2. -- ESPNChicago.com Jason Heyward proving that defense matters By Jesse Rogers ST. LOUIS -- Maybe St. Louis Cardinals fans should try another tactic rather than booing new Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward. It's not exactly throwing him off his game this week, although he has had no results at the plate against his former team so far. But that doesn't mean he's not helping the Cubs, who've won the first two games of the series, the latest a 2-1 nail-biter Tuesday. Heyward's bat might be quiet, but his glove and arm are as loud as ever. "I'm an advocate," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "I always have been. [Defense] doesn't go in a slump. Just ask the pitchers how they feel about it. It's fun to watch and it's contagious." Heyward has been unlucky at the plate, as hard-hit balls have been finding opposing gloves right now, but there's little luck involved when it comes to playing good defense. In the first game Monday, it was the sliding catches; in the second game, Heyward showed off his arm by throwing out the tying run at the plate in the fourth inning and just missing on another assist when shortstop Addison Russell dropped the ball going for a tag. But it was that throw home that had his teammates talking, including Tuesday's winning pitcher, Jason Hammel.

"He's taking outs away," Hammel said. "In the two games here you've seen it. He's taking outs away. You shorten an inning because you got a guy in the outfield that's either making a diving catch likes he's done or throwing a guy out at the plate to keep the game close." Heyward was textbook in getting behind a fourth-inning fly ball off the bat of Yadier Molina. With the Cubs leading 2-1, Matt Holliday tagged up from third base. The right fielder had his momentum moving perfectly toward home, his timing was impeccable and so was his throw. Holliday was out and the Cubs continued on to victory. "That's one of the better ones you can throw on," Heyward, a three-time Gold Glove winner, said of the fly ball. "As far as hang time, it was one of the easier ones to get behind." Said Russell: "J-Hey [Heyward] is a textbook guy. He does things fundamentally." Heyward proceeded to explain what it takes to be a good defender: knowing the batter, knowing the runner, understanding the game situation. He takes pride in all of it. And when the results don't come at the plate -- he has yet to have a hit in the series -- they can always come in the field. "Just a huge momentum swing there," Heyward said of the throw. "I work at it. I'm a little taller than most guys out there as far as range goes." And he's smarter and simply more sound fundamentally. Maybe his defensive prowess can rub off on left fielder Jorge Soler, who did everything wrong in playing a ball hit his way to the wall in the same inning. That led to Holliday's landing at third base before Heyward took care of him at home. Later he was asked if players and teams appreciate defense the way they used to. "I know the team I'm on cares a lot about it, and the one I was on in 2015 cared about it," Heyward said. As a pretty good defender himself, Russell had the final word in the locker room after a throng of reporters walked away from Heyward when he finished breaking down his big plays in the series so far. "That guy knows how to play," Russell said, nodding Heyward's way. "He doesn't take a play off. It showed tonight." -- ESPNChicago.com Jason Hammel pitches, hits Cubs to second straight win over Cardinals By Jesse Rogers ST. LOUIS – It's starting to feel a little like the changing of the guard in the National League Central, other than the fact that it's only the third week of the season, of course. Still, the Chicago Cubs have already won the series this week against the St. Louis Cardinals, outpitching them in a place where the home team was deadly last year. This time it was Jason Hammel who shut down the Cardinals, 2-1, one day after John Lackey did the same. In doing so, the Cubs accomplished something they last achieved in 1910: Every starter over the first 14 games this season has made it through at least six innings. It's meant a rested and more effective bullpen, making them even more efficient when called upon. What's more, Hammel drove in both of the Cubs' runs Tuesday night, giving Chicago pitchers a whopping seven RBIs so far. Newcomer Adam Warren took care of the seventh, and Travis Wood and Pedro Strop finished off the eighth inning before Hector Rondon earned the save with the tying run on second. Despite the Cubs' winning 11 times in their first 14 games, Rondon hasn't had much work because the Cubs mostly have blown teams out. Tuesday was their first one-run victory of the season, and it dropped the Cardinals to .500, four games behind Chicago. That kind of a lead seemed insurmountable for teams chasing St. Louis last year. Will it prove to be the same for the Cubs?

Of course, it's early, but already a statement has been made. A sweep on Wednesday would hammer that message home. -- ESPNChicago.com Milt Pappas remembered for Frank Robinson trade and near perfect game By David Schoenfield Milt Pappas is remembered primarily for two things: He was traded for Frank Robinson, and he became the only pitcher to lose a perfect game by walking the 27th batter he faced. (Max Scherzer lost one last season by hitting the 27th batter.) Both episodes obscure the legacy of a pitcher who had a tremendous career, winning 209 games, making two All-Star teams and starting the 1965 game and serving as a rotation anchor for 16 major league seasons. Pappas died Tuesday at age 76. In September 1972, while pitching for the Chicago Cubs, Pappas retired the first 26 Padres he faced. He got ahead 1-2 on pinch-hitter Larry Stahl, who then worked it to a full count. The 3-2 pitch was a fastball on the outside corner. Or on the black. Or just outside. Stahl checked his swing. Umpire Bruce Froemming called it ball four and in the video you can see Pappas barking at Froemming, with some of the obscenities in Greek. Pappas completed the no-hitter but always maintained that Froemming blew the call. "I really don't know what Bruce was thinking," Pappas said in a 1989 interview. "I think he was very stupid in what he did. ... All he had to do was raise his right hand and I'm sure nobody would have squawked." Pappas described the entire sequence to WGN.tv on the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field: "I'm one pitch from the greatest thing a pitcher can do. Next pitch was a slider on the outside corner, ball two. Next pitch, another slider on the corner, ball three. All these pitches were right there and I'm saying 'C'mon, Froemming, they're all right there.' Now comes the 3-2 pitch, again on the outside corner, ball four. I went crazy. I called Bruce Froemming every name you can think of. I knew he didn't have the guts to throw me out, because I still had the no-hitter. The next guy, Garry Jestadt popped up to Carmen Fanzone and I got the no-hitter, which was great. But those balls should have been called strikes." Born and raised in Detroit, Pappas signed with the Baltimore Orioles in 1957 and was in the majors at age 18 after just 11 innings in the minors. Still a teenager, he went 10-10 with a 4.06 ERA in 1958 and then won 15 games in 1959. This was the start of an era when the Orioles' farm system under general managers Paul Richards and then Lee MacPhail and farm director Harry Dalton was churning out prospect after prospect. Dave McNally signed in 1960 and would win 184 games in the majors. Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, winner of 268 games, signed in 1963. All three reached the majors while still teenagers. A fourth teenager, Wally Bunker, won 19 games in 1964 at age 19, although he battled arm injuries and would finish with 60 wins. Steve Barber and Jack Fisher, also signed in 1957, would combine for more than 200 major league wins. It was an amazing pipeline of talent and that list doesn't even include the position players, such as Brooks Robinson. The young Pappas threw hard. Harry Brecheen, his pitching coach in the early 1960s, was quoted in the "1965 Official Baseball Almanac" as saying a young "Milt has more hard stuff than anyone in the league. He can use his fastball more than most pitchers because he has one that sinks and one that rises." He made his first All-Star team in 1962 and then started the game in 1965 after going 9-3 with a 1.74 ERA in the first half. Then that offseason came one of the most memorable trades in major league history. The Orioles traded Pappas and two other players (Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson) for Frank Robinson. Pappas was 27; Robinson was 30, coming off a season in which he hit .296 with 33 home runs and 113 RBIs. Reds owner/GM Bill DeWitt would make a famous quote that spring, saying he traded Robinson because "Robinson is not a young 30. If he'd been 26, we might not have traded him." In mythology, the quote became "Robinson was an old 30." Either way, DeWitt was following the lead of Branch Rickey, that it's better to trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.

Well, he was wrong. Robinson went out and won the Triple Crown, the Orioles won the World Series and Pappas had the worst season of his career. After a better season in 1967, the Reds traded Pappas to the Braves early in 1968. Robinson helped the Orioles to three more AL pennants from 1969 to 1971. Still, there have been many more lopsided trades than this one. Pappas accumulated 24.9 WAR after the trade, Robinson 43.4. The Reds just made things worse by trading away Pappas, who went on to have several solid seasons with the Cubs after they acquired him from the Braves. In fact, by FanGraphs WAR, the 1970 Cubs rotation of Fergie Jenkins, Ken Holtzman, Bill Hands and Pappas ranks as the best of the divisional era, tied with the 2011 Phillies at 26.0 WAR. But the bullpen and offense weren't as good and the Cubs finished 84-78. -- ESPNChicago.com Kyle Schwarber undergoes knee surgery; no nerve damage found By Jesse Rogers ST.LOUIS -- Chicago Cubs second-year player Kyle Schwarber underwent surgery on his left knee Tuesday to repair two torn ligaments suffered in an outfield collision with teammate Dexter Fowler during the first week of the season. The team said surgery went well and didn't reveal any nerve damage. "He'll start rehab right away," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Tuesday afternoon. "We want him around the club." Schwarber was operated on by Dr. Daniel Cooper, the team physician for the Dallas Cowboys. Schwarber is expected to return to Chicago by Thursday and begin rehab at Wrigley Field. "It is good, so now we'll just wait until they send him back to us and get on with the rehab situation," manager Joe Maddon said. Schwarber had a "full reconstruction" of his ACL and a "repair" of his LCL on Tuesday and hopes to be ready by spring training next year. If all goes well, he'll continue to catch as well as play the outfield. "We haven't talked through all that stuff," Hoyer said. "Let's get away from the surgery a little bit. ... He knows what's ahead." Maddon and Hoyer want Schwarber around the team for his sake as well as theirs. They feel his camaraderie with his teammates adds to the chemistry of the team. "We miss that personality the most," Hoyer said. -- CSNChicago.com After Another Win Over Cardinals, Cubs Out To Change Balance Of Power In Rivalry By Patrick Mooney ST. LOUIS — Ben Zobrist stood at his locker inside Busch Stadium’s visiting clubhouse, holding his new World Series ring in his right hand. Zobrist had already posted a video showing off his bling on Instagram and joked about using it for fist bumps before batting practice to keep the Cubs hungry.

Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore had personally delivered the ring to Zobrist, recognizing the way he helped glue the team together after a midseason trade from the Oakland A’s and performed in the clutch throughout last year’s playoff run. It became another reminder that the Cubs now have championship-or-bust expectations. This group shows no fear of The Cardinal Way, shrugs off how St. Louis fans treat Jason Heyward and plans to be a force in October for years to come. The Cubs won’t say they now have a psychological edge over the Cardinals, because they can let their play on the field speak for itself and then blast the music again after Tuesday’s 2-1 victory. The Cubs have won 11 of their last 15 games against the Cardinals, including last year’s first-ever playoff matchup in a rivalry that stretches all the way back to 1892 and might never be the same again. “Now we know we can compete with these guys,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “Listen, they’ve been a great team for a long time. That’s a testament to them. The steadiness of this organization is really remarkable. We’re obviously trying to get to that point. “But at least now when we come in here, we feel like these are two really good teams. We have to execute our pitches and make plays and get hits. But it’s not a sense that we don’t have that ability anymore. We certainly have that ability.” The Plan bet on hitters, with most of the early buzz about an American League-style lineup, but this Cubs rotation has been quietly effective, the starting pitchers going at least six innings in each of the team’s first 14 games this season. Jason Hammel (2-0, 1.00 ERA) put up the 13th quality start and came through with the key hit in the fourth inning, knocking a two-out, two-run single into left field off Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia. “This is (April), and it’s already heated,” Hammel said. “It’s the best rivalry in baseball." Hammel also benefitted from Heyward’s Gold Glove defense and sense of the moment in the fourth inning. Heyward understood where Yadier Molina often hits the ball (right field) and accounted for the runner at third base (Matt Holliday) and wouldn’t be caught by surprise. Heyward positioned himself underneath Molina’s flyball, caught it in rhythm and made an accurate one-hop throw to catcher Miguel Montero at home plate for the inning-ending double play. “It’s just a huge momentum swing,” Heyward said. “Games like that are the ones you’re going to have to win against great teams (in) a playoff series.” That’s why the Cubs saw Heyward as a game-changing talent — even when he goes 0-for-5 and gets booed before every at-bat and sees his batting average drop to .170 — and wanted to steal him away from the Cardinals. “That’s the unheralded part of his game,” Hammel said. “He’s hitting laser beams right now right at people, so you feel for him, but they’ll start falling for him. He brings it every day, on both sides of the ball.” With professionals like Heyward and Zobrist, the Cubs are developing a serious side to balance out manager Joe Maddon’s circus, which seems to bother the sensibilities of The Best Fans in Baseball. Hoyer worked in Theo Epstein’s front office when the Boston Red Sox finally toppled the Evil Empire. Hoyer sees the parallels with the New York Yankees and understands what Cubs-Cardinals could become, two teams fighting over big-name free agents, playing in front of raucous crowds and trying to ruin each other’s seasons.

“Yankee fans would probably say this has been the best 10 or 15 years of the rivalry,” Hoyer said. “They got the Red Sox in ’03. We got them in ’04. The Red Sox won a World Series in ’07. They win one in ’09. That’s a great thing for a rivalry. And hopefully we can get to that point here. “It’s the best (when) it’s a real rivalry with two really good teams going at it. This has been a rivalry sort of in name only.” Not anymore, not when the Cubs (11-3) have the best record in baseball, the Cardinals are a 7-7 team and there are still 17 more rivalry games left this season. -- CSNChicago.com Racist Taunts Or Not, Cardinals Fans Won't Bother Jason Heyward By Patrick Mooney ST. LOUIS — “Welcome to Baseball Heaven,” the public-address announcer told the crowd before Tuesday night’s game at Busch Stadium. Jason Heyward didn’t want to stay here — not for more guaranteed money or full no-trade protection or whatever opt-out clauses the St. Louis Cardinals could build into the megadeal. But Heyward said switching sides in a heated rivalry and signing an eight-year, $184 million contract with the Cubs wasn’t connected to how he was once treated in St. Louis. That question became relevant after the New York Daily News posted a thin story on its website, picking up a few tweets and claiming Cardinals fans had yelled racial slurs at Heyward during his return to Busch Stadium. That created a storm on social media. ESPN reviewed its audio feed from Monday’s national broadcast and didn’t find any damning evidence. No incriminating videos have so far surfaced from WGN and Fox Sports Midwest, which showed the game within those local markets. That also doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t happen. Heyward got booed throughout a 5-0 victory and still showed the poise, focus and skills that convinced the Cubs to give him the biggest contract in franchise history. “No,” Heyward said, he didn’t hear any racist taunts. “But honestly I wasn’t really listening. Have (I) heard it before? Yes, but it’s not something that you pay a lot of attention to. Just play the game.” Dexter Fowler — who plays center field next to the Gold Glove defender in right — didn’t hear any specific racial slurs yelled in Heyward’s direction on Monday night. “If it happened, it happened,” Heyward said. “If it didn’t, it didn’t. I’m not surprised one way or the other. But it doesn’t really matter. Some people are going to say what they’re going to say. There are people saying other things. There are people cussing, swearing around women and children and drinking and all that stuff. To point out one thing to me is whatever.” The Cardinals have 11 World Series titles and The Best Fans in Baseball. That carefully projected image created a sense of schadenfreude beyond the Gateway Arch once the FBI’s investigation into the Ground Control data breach went public last year, implicating the Cardinals in a cyberattack against the Houston Astros. But Wrigley Field doesn’t exactly have a pristine reputation either. Cubs fans feeling smug should remember that the Department of Justice is investigating the Chicago Police Department. A task force appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel just released a report blasting the systemic racism built into the city’s police work. “It’s nothing unique to a baseball stadium,” said Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who idealized St. Louis as “The Mecca of Baseball” while growing up as a Cardinals fan in Pennsylvania’s coal-mining region. “It’s nothing unique to a particular city.

“It’s every city. We’ve come a long way, but then again, we haven’t. So none of it surprises if in fact it was true. That’s something we have to continually attempt to fight against. “But there’s small-minded people everywhere, man. There are stupid people everywhere. It’s not unique to one spot and one ballpark.” Heyward said his off-the-field experience in St. Louis didn’t tilt his decision to move to Chicago as a free agent. “I didn’t have any issues,” Heyward said. “When I started slow last year, there was some boos a little bit, but I’ve done that before. It’s kind of part of the game. Fans are going to let you know when they’re not happy with how you’re performing.” This comes after last week’s Jackie Robinson Day celebration, when players across Major League Baseball wore No. 42 jerseys to remember the breaking of the color barrier in 1947. “You always think we’re past that,” Fowler said, “but obviously we’re not.” This comes at a time when the industry worries about losing African-American talent to football and basketball, becoming an expensive country-club sport at the youth levels and failing to connect with the next generation of sports fans. “It’s something I dealt with my whole life,” Heyward said. “This is still the world we live in. It’s part of it. Nobody’s perfect. Everybody’s not moved on. Everybody’s not a certain way. Everybody’s different. “That’s what makes it a special place as well, because you have the freedom of speech to say what you want to say. And that’s that. Nobody physically harmed me — or my family or (any) of my teammates. So for me, all is well.” -- CSNChicago.com Cubs Anticipate Full Recovery After Kyle Schwarber’s Knee Surgery By Patrick Mooney ST. LOUIS — The Cubs are anticipating a full recovery for Kyle Schwarber after one of their most dynamic young players underwent left knee surgery on Tuesday in Dallas. Dr. Daniel Cooper, the head team physician for the Cowboys and a medical expert in NFL circles, reconstructed Schwarber’s ACL and repaired his LCL after a devastating combination of injuries wiped out his season. The procedure did not reveal significant nerve damage. The understanding is Schwarber’s case is somewhat different from the complicated situation facing Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, who will likely see his NFL draft stock plummet after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee against Ohio State in the New Year’s Day Fiesta Bowl. “It sounds like everything went as well as we could have hoped,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “There was nothing unexpected that was found in there.” Schwarber had been a second-team All-Ohio linebacker in high school and played baseball with a max-effort style that endeared him to teammates. What was supposed to be another breakthrough year ended in the second inning of Game 3 on April 7 at Chase Field, where Schwarber crashed into Dexter Fowler while trying to catch a ball Arizona Diamondbacks leadoff guy Jean Segura drove into the left-center field gap.

“It’s incumbent on him to really do a great job on the rehab,” Hoyer said. “But there’s no indications that he’s not going to recover fully and be the player we expect.” That optimism would appear to open the possibility that Schwarber could become a big-league catcher again. “We haven’t really talked through all that stuff,” Hoyer said. “Let’s get away from the surgery a little bit. But we certainly haven’t had discussions about ending that possibility.” Schwarber — the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Indiana — generated 16 home runs in 69 games last season and then set a franchise record with five homers in the postseason. Even without Schwarber’s left-handed power, the Cubs were 10-3 heading into Tuesday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cubs still want Schwarber sitting in on pitchers’ meetings and helping design game plans and will base his rehab activities in Chicago. It’s far too early to set a timetable — other than saying Schwarber faces a long, difficult road ahead — but a tentative best-case scenario could be having him medically cleared by spring training and in the 2017 Opening Day lineup. “He’s sort of gotten over the initial shock,” Hoyer said. “He’s back to his normal self. I think you know his personality — he’ll dominate this rehab. He’ll work incredibly hard. That’s what we miss the most. Obviously, you miss his bat, but you miss that personality. He’s such a competitor and a winner.” -- CSNChicago.com Former Cubs Pitcher Milt Pappas Dies By Tony Andracki Milt Pappas has passed away, the Beecher Police Department confirmed Tuesday according to multiple media outlets. The former Cubs pitcher — best known for his no-hitter in 1972 — has reportedly died of natural causes at age 76. Pappas spent the last four years of his career with the Cubs, going 51-41 with a 3.33 ERA and 1.258 WHIP in 763 innings. He went 17-7 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in that 1972 season. Pappas' no-hitter on Sept. 2, 1972 was shrouded in controversy. He very nearly had a perfect game, but home plate umpire Bruce Froemming called a full-count pitch "Ball Four" on the 27th batter. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts released the following statement Tuesday afternoon: “The Cubs organization is sad to learn of the passing of Milt Pappas, who not only had a special place on the field with the team in the early 1970s but also maintained a relationship with Cubs fans as a frequent guest at Wrigley Field, the Cubs Convention and other team events. Milt will forever be remembered for one of the most dramatic pitching performances in team history as he delivered a no-hitter that neared perfection in 1972. Pappas ended his impressive career wearing a Cubs uniform, and we will always consider him part of the Chicago Cubs family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends, relatives and fans as we mourn this loss.” --

Chicago Tribune Jason Hammel hits and pitches Cubs to 2-1 victory over Cardinals By Mark Gonzales Kyle Schwarber underwent successful knee surgery Tuesday with the expectation that he will make a full recovery. But the way Cubs pitchers are batting this season, there's no need for Schwarber to rush back. Jason Hammel took matters into his own hands Tuesday night, smacking a two-run single in the fourth inning that vaulted the Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals. Hammel limited the Cardinals to one run on five hits with six strikeouts over six innings as he extended the streak of Cubs starting pitchers throwing at least six innings to start a season to 14 games — their longest since the 1905 rotation did it in the team's first 20 games. Meanwhile, the timely hitting of Cubs pitchers continues to be a pleasant development — especially after the loss of Schwarber for the season on April 7 to torn ligaments in his left knee. Hammel's two-run single with two outs in the fourth off Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia was enough offense for the night. Hammel has three of the Cubs pitchers' seven RBIs. As a group, they are 7-for-31 (.226) this season after batting .114 last year. "They've picked it up a lot," manager Joe Maddon said. "You can't necessarily expect that to continue. Although technically, we have some guys who have good swings. "If you break them all down, they go up to the plate and do things right." Hammel got a boost when right fielder Jason Heyward threw out Matt Holliday at home plate to complete a double play to end the fourth. The Cubs still miss the left-handed power of Schwarber, who showed enough improvement in the field in spring training to get the opening-day nod in left field over Jorge Soler. They are taking no chances in treating Schwarber, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament in his left knee after colliding with Dexter Fowler. Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer discusses Kyle Schwarber's surgery on Tuesday. Surgery to repair Schwarber's anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments was performed in Dallas by renowned knee surgeon Daniel Cooper, who was in consultation with team orthopedist Stephen Gryzlo. "We tried to find the best person in the world," general manager Jed Hoyer said of Cooper, who serves as the Cowboys head physician. The procedure revealed no nerve damage. Schwarber, 23, is expected to return to Chicago on Thursday and start his rehabilitation with physical therapist Ryan Mertz. Regaining his full range of motion soon will be essential to Schwarber's ability to catch as well as play left field. No timetable was set for Schwarber, whose recovery could last up to the start of spring training. "We know he'll do a good job on his rehab," Hoyer said. "But it's incumbent on him to do a great job on the rehab. There's no indications he's not going to recover fully and be the player we expect." Even without Schwarber, who hit two home runs against the Cardinals in the 2015 National League Division Series, the Cubs more than held their own against their rivals.

"We've had a good stretch against them, but you can't take that for granted," Hoyer said. "They're still a great team and will be a big challenge to us." -- Chicago Tribune Cubs' Jason Hammel harnesses Cardinals' offense By Mark Gonzales Jason Hammel thought he didn’t pitch as well Tuesday night as his line indicated. But he did enough to extend a remarkable streak by the Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation against a formidable St. Louis Cardinals team. Hammel pitched six innings of one-run ball that was good enough for a 2-1 victory that improved the Cubs’ record to 11-3. Hammel, who worked out of jams in the fourth and fifth innings, extended the streak of Cubs pitchers throwing at least six innings in each game to start a season to 14 consecutive games – their longest mark since the 1905 team pitched at least six innings in 20 consecutive games. “The starters have made the bullpen better,” manager Joe Maddon said. “The bullpen was good.” Relievers Adam Warren, Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon stranded the tying runs on base in the final three innings to preserve the win. Rondon earned his ninth save in as many career chances against the Cardinals. But Hammel helped make the victory possible by keeping the Cardinals’ batters off balance with his breaking pitches. Hammel also showed major improvement by not walking a batter after issuing seven walks in his first two starts. “There were a few full counts I had to battle through, but I made some pitches when I had to,” said Hammel, who improved to 18-5 in 28 April starts over his past six seasons. -- Chicago Tribune Jason Heyward's arm puts a stop to Cardinals rally By Mark Gonzales Jason Heyward’s teammates can’t wait until his line drives finally translate to hits. But there are no worries about his defense, as evidenced by a perfect throw he made to home plate to nail Matt Holliday and complete an inning-ending double play that helped preserve the Chicago Cubs’ 2-1 win over the rival St. Louis Cardinals. “He’s taking outs away,” said pitcher Jason Hammel, the beneficiary of Hayward’s defense. “You’ve seen it. Any time you shorten an inning because you have a guiy who can make a great diving catch or throw a guy out at the plate to keep a game, that’s the unheralded part of his game. He’s won three Gold Glove (awards). “When his hitting comes around ... He’s hitting laser beams right at people. He brings it every day on both sides of the ball.” Heyward executed his play in textbook form. Yadier Molina hit a fly to medium depth in right field. Heyward took a few steps in before catching the ball and letting his momentum help make an accurate one-hop throw, with catcher Miguel Montero putting the tag on Holliday to end the fourth inning.

“It’s like winning 1-0 right there, and I feel games like that are ones you’re going to have to win against great teams like the one we’re playing and teams in the playoff series,” Heyward said. Heyward said the height of Molina’s fly helped him get in proper position to make a play. “You still have to make a perfect throw, and catcher has to come up with it,” Heyward said. “That’s why you got to send him as a third base coach. It worked out for us.” -- Chicago Tribune Jed Hoyer wants Cubs-Cardinals rivalry to reach Red Sox-Yankees level By Mark Gonzales The Cubs have made remarkable strides against the rival Cardinals since last September, but general manager Jed Hoyer believes the Cubs still have some significant steps to take. Hoyer was an executive with the Boston Red Sox that saw their rivalry with the New York Yankees intensify dramatically, with the Yankees beating the Red Sox fo the American League title in 2003 before the Red Sox dethroning them in 2004 and winning the World Series in 2004 and 2007 before the Yankees winning the title in 2009. "I feel like we come in here now and expect really good baseball games," Hoyer said. "I don’t think there’s any sense this is a team we can’t compete with. We know we can compete with these guys. We played well against them the second half of last season, plus hopefully we’ll keep that going to this year. "They’ve been a great team for a long time. I think that’s a testament to them. The steadiness of this organization is remarkable. We’re absolutely trying to get to that point. At least when we come here we feel there are two good teams playing, and we have to execute our pitches, make plays and get hits. But it’s not a sense we don’t have that ability. We have that ability." Hoyer said the challenge for the Cubs, who haven't won a division title since 2008, is getting to that level on an annual basis. "They do it every single year, and we got to get to that point," Hoyer said. -- Chicago Tribune Milt Pappas always will be remembered for one call that went against him By Paul Sullivan Milt Pappas never let go of the moment that defined his baseball career but eventually was able to laugh about it. The right-handed pitcher, who died Tuesday in Beecher at 76, had a successful major-league career with four teams, including the Cubs from 1970-73. Overall, he had 209 victories, 43 shutouts and three All-Star Game appearances while also belting 20 home runs. Yet one call Pappas didn't get denied him a perfect game Sept. 2, 1972 at Wrigley Field, when umpire Bruce Froemming called a ball on a close, 3-2 pitch to Padres pinch hitter Larry Stahl with two outs in the ninth inning. "Milt jumped up in the air," former teammate Billy Williams recalled Tuesday. "I don't know what he said, but you'd have to use asterisks and dashes and all that stuff (denoting profanity) if you printed it. He held that against Bruce a long time."

Pappas still wound up with the no-hitter and was the last Cubs pitcher to throw one until Carlos Zambrano notched his in 2008. But he was so upset with not getting the perfect game that it took some of the joy out of his no-no. "To this day, I just don't understand it," he said in 2009. Pappas once wondered out loud how Froemming slept after making the call. "I don't think he had trouble sleeping, and I didn't either," Froemming said Tuesday from his Wisconsin home. "When we'd do banquets together, when the teasing was really heavy, we had a lot of fun with it. "It was just a call I made, like any other in over 5,000 games umpiring in the big leagues. You make the call and you move on. "I know he had a great career with Baltimore, and ended with the Cubs. His family has my sympathy." Pappas is survived by his wife, Judi, and children Steve from his first marriage and Alexandria from his second marriage. A daughter, Michelle, died last year. His late wife, Carole, died in a tragic accident in the 1980s. She was missing for five years before her body was discovered in 1987 in a car in a Wheaton pond. The death was ruled an accidental drowning from driving her car into the water. Pappas told the Tribune in 1987 that how she wound up there was "a question that may never be answered." Pappas was a frequent guest at the Cubs Convention and attended the Cubs home opener this year. Williams said they reminisced about the past. Williams recalled Cubs players never had to worry about being thrown at when Pappas was on the mound. "If they did, he would go after them and knock their players down," he said. "Whenever he pitched, you didn't worry about a guy coming close." In the minds of Cubs fans of a certain age, the 76-year-old Froemming, who retired from umpiring but still works for Major League Baseball, always will be linked to Pappas. Many years after the near-perfect game, the two appeared together at sports banquets in Hampshire, Ill., where Pappas brought it back up. "The teasing at the banquet was light and the people there got a kick out of it," Froemming said. "I think Milt got more upset as the years went by. If you go back and look at the papers the next day, he told reporters 'I know the pitch wasn't a strike, but he could've given it to me.' " Williams said Pappas never really got over the call. "Bruce was a young umpire," Williams said. "If we had had a veteran umpire that day, sometimes they get a little lenient with a guy pitching a perfect game. You still have the no-hitter, but I think that weighed heavy on him over the years because you only had 11 guys who'd reached that point." Froemming once told me Cubs radio broadcaster Vince Lloyd interviewed him the next day and told him he could have been the 12th umpire to call a perfect game. "Who's the 11th?" Froemming asked Lloyd. "I don't know," Lloyd replied. "That's how famous I would have been," Froemming responded. Only a crowd of 11,144 was on hand at Wrigley to witness the no-hitter. Froemming said Pappas didn't say anything to him afterward.

"But as the years went by Milt got fired up, and he wanted the perfect game," Froemming said Tuesday. "I understand that. But to me, it was the right call. To him, it wasn't." -- Chicago Tribune Jason Heyward confirms he has heard racial slurs, but not at Busch Stadium By Mark Gonzales Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward acknowledged he has heard racial slurs during his career. But Heyward said he didn't hear any Monday, contrary to four tweets posted during the Cubs' game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium saying slurs were audible on the TV broadcast. "I don't feel like it's a story," Heyward said Tuesday. "It's something I've dealt with my whole life. It's really OK. Some people are going to be angry at me. I just keep going and not give them any attention." Center fielder Dexter Fowler and manager Joe Maddon also said they didn't hear any slurs Monday night but have been exposed to racist comments in the past, particularly in the minor leagues. "You never want to experience that, but you have to take it with a grain of salt," Fowler said. Maddon recalled two incidents at Little Rock, Ark., and Beaumont, Texas, while he was managing in the Texas League in 1985-86, once scolding an opposing general manager for not providing sufficient protection for his players. Maddon also recalled standing on the top steps of the Rays' dugout at Port Charlotte, Fla., to address a person spewing racist comments during a spring training game. "We've come a long way, but then again, we haven't," Maddon said. "There are small-minded, stupid people everywhere." Heyward added he had "no issues" with Cardinals fans in his only season in St. Louis in 2015. That's a relief: Maddon doesn't seem inclined to push for one fewer reliever because his starters have been pitching so deep into games. "Looking at the bench, you're looking for spots for these guys, too," said Maddon, adding that he doesn't have many starting position players whom he would pinch-hit for. "If we keep playing like this, just leave it alone," Maddon said. Extra innings: Infielder Tommy La Stella might start Wednesday's series finale against hard-throwing Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals. … Second baseman Ben Zobrist received his 2015 World Series ring from Royals general manager Dayton Moore and first baseman Anthony Rizzo was one of Zobrist's admirers as he showed it to teammates and media members. --