Last Mag Standing

Being old school to the core, I visited my local newsstand yesterday to pick this year’s supply of baseball magazines. I got one for my troubles. No more Street and Smith, no more Athlon. Lindy’s it was. “The Baseball Preview for Smart Fans” may as well call itself “The Only Preview Around.” I checked online to find that Athlon merged with Sports Illustrated last fall. The newsstand guy said SI was supposed to come out with a preview, “But I never got it.” You take what you can get and hope there’s around come next year. I was pleasantly surprised Lindy’s predicted the White Sox would take a wildcard spot. As for organizational direction, the arrow was pointing neutral. But, hey, that’s better than the downward arrow they assigned the Cubs. The Cubs are projected to finish fourth—behind the Pirates, which is saying something—in the NL Central. I know at least one Cubs’ fan who won’t like reading his team has “reverted to [being] lovable losers” or the question posed to “Dansby Swanson: What were you thinking?” Ouch. Play ball!