Cubs BCB After Dark: Should Billy Hamilton make the playoff roster?

It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. It’s always good to see you stop in. Come on in. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. The hostess can take you to your table now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Tonight the Cubs beat the Mets, 10-3 in a game that couldn’t really have gone much better. Matthew Boyd looked good for the first time in about a month. Aaron Civale pitched three innings, held the Mets to one run on a Juan Soto home run and now looks like an excellent long man out of the bullpen. Michael Busch (or Matthew) and Matt Shaw both homered. Pete Crow-Armstrong went nuts on the base paths like it was May again.

Even better, the Padres lost to the Brewers, so the Cubs magic number to clinch the Wild Card 1 spot and home field advantage in the first round is now 2. Yesterday, I was so despondent after a fifth-straight loss that I thought the Cubs might blow home field. Many of you agreed with me as 62 percent of you thought the Cubs would blow the first Wild Card slot. I’m going to assume that number would be lower after tonight’s win and the Padres loss.

Here’s the part where we talk music and movies. You’re free to skip that if you want. you won’t hurt my feelings.

Several of you praised the video from young Ponpon Chen that I posted yesterday. To be honest, I just heard of her recently. Doing a quick search, I found that she’s from Taiwan but now lives in LA and that while she has a lot of jazz influences, her idol is George Benson. Certainly her guitar looks like one that Benson would play and she even holds the guitar like Benson does. I’ve even found a picture of her online with her getting a big hug from Benson.

So tonight, I’ve got George Benson on The Midnight Special playing his hit tune “Breezin’” with Cubs first baseman guitar legend Carlos Santana.

Before we get to the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic discussion, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of the great actress Claudia Cardinale at the age of 87. It also reminds me that I’ve still never gotten around to watching 8 1/2, which is maybe the most-highly ranked film on all those best-of lists that I’ve never seen.

But I have seen, and I do have a Blu-Ray copy of, the great Western Once Upon A Time in the West which co-starred Cardinale. I also re-watched her in the original The Pink Panther as part of a family film night over the summer. Two very different roles and she was great in both of them. While Cardinale made a handful of American films, she never committed to Hollywood because she feared she would be typecast as a sex bomb in LA. She was probably right. Instead, she made the European films, mostly Italian, that she wanted to make and then she spent her later years as an activist for women’s causes.

Anyway, the Oscars are going to have one hell of an “In Memoriam” reel next year. Thanks for the memories, Claudia.

On to fourth and final bracket of the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic, which is 1983 to 1999. I came up with a list of about 30 films that could make the eight-film fourth bracket. I whittled it down to 12, with 4 as “must-haves.”

• The Matrix (1999)
• Brazil (1985)
• Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
• Strange Days (1995)

Those are the four that I think we have to have. Also, I think there needs to be at least one Japanese anime title, so either Akira (1988) or Ghost in the Shell (1995) needs to be there. I’ve seen both of those films, but it’s been over 20 years for both of them at this point. I seem to remember liking Ghost in the Shell better, but it’s been so long. I’d be very interested in your thoughts on the relative merits of Akira and Ghost in the Shell, because I think we only have room for one.

So that’s five. Only room for three more.

There are some films that deserve to be included but I’ve cut out for reasons of duplication. Aliens didn’t make the cut because Alien did make the cut in the third bracket. You can make the case that The Terminator is a better film than Terminator 2, but the sequel is the one that has all the cultural impact. I’m not including any Star Trek film because The Wrath of Khan is probably making the third bracket.

If it were up to me (and I guess it is), I’d finish out the bracket with the following three films.

• Repo Man (1984)
• 12 Monkeys (1995)
• Gattaca (1997)

Repo Man is one of my favorite films of all time. Maybe it doesn’t belong in place of some of those that got left out. Maybe I don’t want the heartbreak of having some of you vote against it. But I’m open to listen on that oe.

12 Monkeys would make a great comparison to La Jetée, the film that it’s a semi-remake of. But then we’ve got two Terry Gilliam films in this bracket.

Gattaca seems quite relevant today with the way it addresses the topic of genetic testing and who controls it. But maybe the overall reviews of it don’t support it being one of the final eight. Maybe they do. I’m willing to listen.

This leaves a ton of very good science fiction films on the outside looking in.

• Brother from Another Planet (1984)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• Robocop (1987)
• Men in Black (1997)
• Contact (1997)
• Dark City (1998)
• Galaxy Quest (1999)

There are others. Please suggest ones that you think deserve a second look at from me.

Again, I’m curious as to your thoughts between the two Japanese anime films and whether we need a comedy like Back to the Future or Galaxy Quest. Or Men in Black, I suppose. And any ways you think I need to re-adjust my thinking.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

The Cubs are making decisions about their playoff roster right now and the next time we meet will be the eve of the playoffs. So tonight I’m going to ask you if the Cubs should make room for speedster Billy Hamilton on the playoff roster.

The Cubs claimed Hamilton off of waivers down the stretch in 2020 and used him once as a pinch-runner in the playoffs that year. The Cubs did something similar this year, signing Hamilton out of the Mexican League at the end of August and sending him down to Triple-A Iowa. There he’s gotten exactly zero plate appearances, but Hamilton has pinch run six times. He went three for five stealing bases and scored two runs.

To be clear, Hamilton can’t hit. He can’t really play the field anymore. The only think he can do in pinch run. He may not be quite as fast as he was when he made his major league debut with the Reds in 2013, but he’s still probably faster than anyone else on the current Cubs roster other than Pete Crow-Armstrong.

So would you put Hamilton on the Wild Card roster just to pinch run? What about after that? With only three games in the Wild Card round, the Cubs could probably rationalize carrying one fewer pitcher and rostering Hamilton as a pinch-runner. On the other hand, they could also use that spot on someone like Kevin Alcántara, who is reasonably fast himself (not as fast as Hamilton though) and can actually do something else like play the outfield and hit left-handed pitching.

After the Wild Card round, assuming the Cubs advance, the Cubs would need a fourth starting pitcher. So would it still be worth carrying a pinch runner in the Divisional or League Championship round?

Remember, there’s no automatic runner on second base in extra innings in the playoffs. So that would seem to somewhat lessen the need for someone like Hamilton.

Thank you to everyone for stopping by this week. It’s been an up and down week, but we’re getting through it together. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Tip the waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.