BCB After Dark: What did the 2024 Cubs have you thankful for?

A holiday version of our late night coffee hangout

Welcome holiday weekend after dark aficionados. Whether you’re up late after a tryptophan-inspired afternoon nap or trying to hide from that one annoying relative here on the internet, we’ve got you covered here at our BCB After Dark.

We’re going to take a bit of an abbreviated and more general tune here given the Thanksgiving holiday and make this one an open question. After all, even in an 83-win season there are things to be thankful for, players emerging and changes that inspire hope for future seasons. We’ll take a look at a few of those that could inspire thanks here today, and of course, we welcome your additions in the comments.

But first, some gratitude-inspired tunes…

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You don’t have to look much further than Natalie Merchant’s 1998 release Kind and Generous for a perfect Thanksgiving vibe:

1998 was smack in the middle of Lilith Fair, an all-woman music festival that showcased a whole generation of brilliant songwriters. Merchant’s Women who sang about love, hope, despair and, well, gratitude:

Oh, I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave
The love, the tenderness, I want to thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love
And the honesty that you gave me
I want to thank you show my gratitude
My love, and my respect for you, I want to thank you
Oh, I want to thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you
I want to thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you

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Back here in our gratitude for the 2024 Cubs, assuming we accept the premise that this team was never going to be all that big of a postseason threat (admittedly, a premise lots of us disagree on) there are a number of things to be thankful for with the 2024 Chicago Cubs.

The emergence of Michael Busch as a legitimate first base option for the Cubs stands out as a highlight. Busch slashed .248/.330/.440 with 21 home runs in 567 plate appearances for the Cubs. The 2.3 fWAR he put up was good for ninth amongst qualified hitters for all first basemen in MLB. You can see him walking off the Padres in May below [VIDEO].

On the pitching side of things Shōta Imanaga dazzled on the mound. However, as thankful as I am for his sterling K-BB rate, I think I might be as thankful for his big personality. I can’t imagine how hard it is to come to the United States from Japan and reestablish everything. While I was as amused as anyone about his endearing story of being “Mike” Imanaga for purposes of his coffee order each day, it was also tinged with sadness. It didn’t seem like that far of a reach that real loneliness could exist under that anecdote. But the show on the field was always must watch. Beyond the filthy pitches, Imanaga is a show man. He earned the Most Expressive Award from Pitching Ninja Rob Friedman:

Finally, on the coaching side of things, I want to give a shout out to the man, the myth, the legend, Willie Harris, who coached his final season with the Cubs in 2024. I often sit on the third base side of the grandstand at Wrigley Field and watching Willie Harris wave runners home (or beg them to stop) with every fiber of his being has always been an absolute joy. Check out these hops with Patrick Wisdom from 2022:

Whether your gratitude was inspired by one of the above, or something else, please share it with us in the comments. We hope our little coffee shop was serving your favorite pie today, and be on the lookout for our Black Friday specials tomorrow.