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Cubs BCB After Dark: Who is the Cubs’ MVP?

It’s Tuesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the hippest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Please come on in and join us. There’s no cover charge. We have a few good tables still available. The show will start shortly. 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 Pirates and Paul Skenes, 4-1. The only reason this game doesn’t clinch a playoff spot for the Cubs is because of the bizarre chance of a three-way tie between the Cubs, Mets and Giants or Diamondbacks. (Or I guess the Padres could be the tie, or there be a four-way tie.)

In any case, the Cubs can sweep the Pirates Wednesday morning to clinch. More importantly, the Padres lost, meaning the Cubs now hold a five-game lead over San Diego for home field in the Wild Card Series with 11 to play. It seems almost certain that there will be playoff games at Wrigley Field for the first time since 2020. And the first time in front of fans since 2018.

Let’s hope I can break out Judy tomorrow.

Last night, I asked you if Moisés “Mo Baller” Ballesteros should make the Wild Card round roster. The vote was even more lopsided than I expected as a resounding 83 percent of you said “Yes.” But I guess Jed Hoyer and Craig Counsell have the only votes that count.

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

Tonight we’re featuring the Christian McBride Big Band from his new album Without Further Ado, Volume 1. This one features the legendary Dianne Reeves on vocals singing the classic Shirelles hit “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.”

Normally I don’t do any movie talk on Tuesday night, but I didn’t want the passing of Robert Redford (gift link) to go unmentioned.

Obviously Redford was perhaps the biggest star and male sex symbol of the 1970s and he retained that movie star allure throughout his life. He did step back from acting a bit in the 1980s to concentrated on directing, and he won his only competitive Oscar for directing the film Ordinary People in 1980. But beyond acting, he also dedicated himself to the Sundance Institute, his foundation to promote independent filmmaking in the US, as well as its other associated side projects. As that obituary noted, directors as diverse as Quentin Tarantino, James Wan, Darren Aronofsky, Nicole Holofcener, David O. Russell, Ryan Coogler, Robert Rodriguez, Chloé Zhao and Ava DuVernay all got a boost early in their careers by the Sundance Institute. Redford also spent a lot of time on environmental causes, although he hated the term “activist,” which he thought was too strident.

Of course, baseball fans will most immediately connect Redford to The Natural, one of the great baseball movies of all time with perhaps the most famous climax. But I wanted to give you all a chance to talk about your favorite Redford films, either as an actor or a director. Certainly his two films with Paul Newman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting are rightfully famous. So is the romance he made with Barbara Streisand, The Way We Were. And he made two of the great “paranoia” films of all time in All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor. Redford got a second Oscar nomination for Best Director for Quiz Show.

So give us your favorite Redford memories.

Welcome back to every who skips that other stuff.

Tonight I’m just going to keep it simple and ask you for your vote for the Cubs MVP is. Yes, I know that there are 11 games left in the season, but for all intents and purposes, the regular season is just about over. The Cubs would literally have to lose all 11 games and some other team would have to win out.

So I’m going to have you submit your ballot for the Cubs MVP Award. I can’t give you ten votes, so you’re just going to have to make that one count. You can go by whatever criteria you want. You can pick a pitcher. You can pick the guy who you think overperformed the most. You can count defense. You can count off-field “intangibles” if you want. Heck, while I’m not going to make Justin Turner an option, if you think his leadership in the dugout was the most valuable thing this year, vote “other” and tell us why you voted Turner in the comments.

So who is the Cubs’ MVP for 2025?

Thank you for stopping by tonight. We’re always glad to have someone to celebrate good times with. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for more BCB After Dark.