Bonnie Hunt should manage the Cubs

The Cubs have started their search for a new manager and we know 3 things... it won't be Lou Piniella, who retired to take care of his mom... it won't be coach Alan Trammell, whose experience as a big league manager and being a World Series MVP I guess disqualified him... and it won't be interim manager Mike Quade, who is a placeholder.

So now you've heard the names being mentioned as who will be managing the team as they try, as every other manager has done since 1908 and fallen short, as World Series winners.

Cub hero Ryne Sandberg? (No experience in the bigs as a manager.)

Former Indians skipper Eric Wedge? (Nice manager, but how many "nice managers" have left Wrigleyville ringless?)

Bobby Valentine? (They tried the "big name" manager route with Dusty Baker and Lou Piniella.)

Chicago's own Joe Girardi? (Would YOU leave a Yankee team with an unlimited payroll?)

No, the Cubs need to think outside of the box and bring in someone who can put their own stamp on the team and will live and die with the team.

So Bonnie Hunt makes the most sense.

Now I know what you are thinking... I am bringing Bonnie's name up because I am sucking up to my former boss.

Maybe I am.

But as with all of my insanity... there is some truth in there.

So hear me out.



1. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SAY "THE MANAGER DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WE CUBS FANS ARE GOING THROUGH!"

We shut down production of the show for a few days in April. Do you know why? Bonnie had to go to opening day at Wrigley Field. Now keep in mind we taped in Los Angeles. So we shut things down and Bonnie flew out to Wrigley to see a team that was going nowhere in a hurry.

She hasn't missed an opening day since 1977 and she loves her Cubs. She talks about her love for the Cubs in the film We Believe, she would talk Cubs in the office and the studio was filled with Wrigley Field pictures. (By the way, she used to live in the apartments beyond Wrigley Field.)

Hell, Bonnie wants the Cubs to win more than the Cubs do!

2. BONNIE WILL MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS DOING THEIR JOB

Trust me on this one. Bonnie doesn't miss a detail. And if someone is slacking, she'll let you know. Not in a mean way... just in a wonderfully sarcastic way that will have you say "OK, I won't do THAT again."

The players who don't hustle will know it. It won't be mean... but it will sting. Carlos Zambrano's temper tantrum would have been diffused with a quick "For $18 million you'd think you could throw a strike or two. Maybe I'm greedy."


3. YOU NEED TO IMPROVISE TO MANAGE THIS TEAM... AND BONNIE CAN DO THAT

There's always something unpredictable that happens with the Cubs. Whether it is the banishing of Carlos Zambrano, the up and down of Fukudome and figuring out what the hell to do with Soriano, you need to be able to change your plan in midstream.

Well in Chicago there's no better place to show your improvisation chops than The Second City, where Bonnie was a star. Her entire background is based on improvisation. Her sitcom Life With Bonnie was based on improvisation. And I saw Bonnie zig and zag in interview after interview. Trust me, changing course in mid season and mid game isn't going to be a challenge. She'll be right at home.


4. THE POST GAME INTERVIEWS WOULD BE HILARIOUS

Now I am not talking about the "get the seven second delay button ready" like an Ozzie Guillen post game press conference.

Bonnie's will be funny, classy, family friendly... but in their own way just as cutting.

In fact the contrast of Bonnie's warm, family friendly but passionate Cubs and Ozzie's rougher with a chip on their shoulder White Sox would be a perfect illustration of what the two franchises are all about.

Check out Bonnie on Letterman. She's just funny. Now imagine her talking about a tough Cubs loss. It would be good TV.


5. THEY NEED TO TRY SOMETHING NEW

When you try and fail at something every single time you do it for 102 years, it's time to say "What haven't we done?"

They've built a team around hitting... and a team around pitching.

They've developed superstars from the farm AND traded and signed Hall of Famers. Take a look at my Home Grown vs. Acquired entry for the Cubs. They've had a colossal amount of talent on the squad.

So it isn't the players.

As for the managers, they've tried life long baseball men like Don Zimmer, Gene Michael, Herman Franks, Jim Frey and Jim Riggleman. They've had Hall of Famer players like Gabby Hartnett, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Boudreau and Frankie Frisch manage the team. They've had managers who had success elsewhere like Dusty Baker, Don Baylor and Lou Piniella come in.

They brought in Leo Durocher, one of the great managers of all time.
They even tried, in 1960-1961 and 1962 a rotation of coaches instead of a single manager.

Nothing worked. So how is handing the reigns over to a passionate fan something that can be simply dismissed.

You might as well give it a shot. What's the worst that can happen? Bonnie will fall short. Well so did Leo the Lip!

So give Bonnie a shot!
No doubt she'll bring the great Don Lake around as the first base coach. (He's a Tornto fan, but hey, he's already seen his Blue Jays win a few.)

What do you have to lose, Cubs?
You've been losing enough for over a century.

And if Bonnie wins it for the Cubs, you already have the leading lady for the inevitable film version.

Just remember it was your pal Sully who came up with the idea!

WATCH THE KILBORN FILE! (Keep Sully employed!)

Alas The Bonnie Hunt Show is over and I still miss it... but Sully has to work and feed his kids and wife.

And guess what? I landed on two feet on the new Fox talk show The Kilborn File hosted by Craig Kilborn.

It's a fun solid 1/2 hour of comedy with headlines, a power panel, current event comedy and guests (whose interviews are produced by your pal Sully.)

But don't take MY word for it.

Gawker loves what we are doing.

Check us out.

OK, back to baseball.

Sully Baseball Salutes THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW

Sadly, we've taped our last episode of The Bonnie Hunt Show.
It was the most fun I've ever had professionally and I got to work with some of the best producers and production staff in the business.

No doubt Bonnie, Don Lake and everyone else will land on their feet, but working there is worth a salute...

Hey, what other place allowed me a shot to do stand up AND pay tribute to my grandfather?

Onwards and upwards.
Bonnie is good people... enough to make me root for the Cubs this year (although they don't really have a shot... Sorry Bonnie.)

DOING STAND UP ON THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW

My insanely cool boss, Bonnie Hunt, and my fantastic executive producer, Daniel Kellison, gave me the chance to do stand up comedy on The Bonnie Hunt Show.

It was a very cool and almost surreal experience.

I've produced so many segments on the show, but to actually perform and be one of the guests was an out of body experience.

And it is one thing to do one of my appearances on ESPN2 or HBO Sports... but doing my stand up for a television audience was a whole other bag of wax.

Here is my stand up set.



And here I am chatting with Bonnie.




I tried to talk about Home Grown vs Acquired Rosters on the show, but it would have probably been edited out.

Thanks in public, Bonnie, Daniel, Brina, Don, Mya and everyone at work for being supportive of me.

Now back to baseball.

Hey to those of you new to my blog...

Sully here... as seen on The Bonnie Hunt Show.

Welcome to my blog of strange thoughts and lists about baseball and any other things that cross my mind.

Also check me out on Twitter

Enjoy, and if you saw me on the show, tell me what you thought.

Now here I am on HBO talking about the Red Sox.

Curse of the Bambino

Paul Sullivan (aka Sully) | MySpace Video

Sully Baseball Presents... THE MAKING OF A BLOG POST

Hey dear readers... have you ever read one of my posts and thought "why the hell would Sully write that?"

I'm sure you have. Hell, I ask it many times myself.

And I have received a few snarky e mails asking me what the thought process is that leads to me taking the time and energy to write a long list post with some historical research.

Well let me take you through the process of how some idle thoughts and my compulsive list writing can result in a blog post.

Let's take my recent post about second basemen not winning the World Series MVP.


That particular post began when I was at work... I am a producer for The Bonnie Hunt Show.

The other day I was sitting in rehearsal. Bonnie and executive producer Don Lake were going over a segment that I had nothing to do with.

I was sitting in the studio audience seats, waiting to go over MY segment.

I didn't want to leave the studio... so I just sat there, watching rehearsal.

And while I was sitting there, I began to think about the up coming season... and the different divisions.

And I thought about the AL West and how the Angels lost some key players...

But they did pick up Hideki Matsui. Hey! He was the World Series MVP. I wonder how many World Series MVPs I can write on my pad of paper starting backwards from 2009 and Hideki Matsui.


So I filled up the page with every World Series MVP from 1979 to 2009 from memory.

And yes I included 1981 and 2001 when there were multiple winners.

And looking at the page, I thought to myself "Hey! It looks like every single position is represented on my list. I wonder if I could do one of my nutty 25 man rosters.






So I tallied all of the positions... and I found lots of starting pitchers, some relievers, some catchers and shortstops, some outfielders and third basemen and even a pair of DHs.

Only one first baseman oddly (Willie Stargell in 1979.)

But no second basemen.

So on the bottom part of the sheet, I started jotting down all of the second basemen I could think of who had a great World Series.

Before I could break down which ones went to college and which ones didn't, it was time to look at my segment for the show.

I produced some TV and when the show was done, I wanted to sit down and write a blog post.
As it turned out I already had the research done and the format all written on my note pad.

All because my mind was wandering during a rehearsal.
Before I had this blog, those idle thoughts would have been lost forever.

Now I have you to read them!

And if enough of you read them, who knows? I might have a show of my own some day!!!

We interrupt Sully Baseball to help save Sully's job!

Hey dear readers. As some of you know I work as a TV producer as well as writing my insane baseball blog. As much as I would love to write baseball lists for a living, I actually earn my rent and supper by putting together interview segments for The Bonnie Hunt Show.

It's a fun show and Bonnie is a terrific host to work for.
She is also a big Cubs fan.

We haven't been renewed yet and we need to tell the powers that be that the show is worth keeping on the air.

Click on Save the Bonnie Hunt Show

Sign the online petition. It takes 2 seconds. And don't worry about the "donation page" that pops up. You don't need to send in any money.

Hopefully we can help keep the show on.

Here's a clip from an interview I helped produce with the great George Wallace.



Back to baseball.