Edmonds cooks up new dishes as Cubbie
DOWNTOWN — The arrival of signature Cardinal and St. Louis restaurateur Jim Edmonds at Wrigley Field as the new Cub has overheated many a message board and blog. The standards in Chicagoland have all weighed in:
- Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan recalls a memorable trip around the bases with Edmonds.
- Chris De Luca calls it “a no-brainer” in the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Mizzou man Sullivan, again, with how Edmonds isn’t the only Cardinals import coming to Chicago — he’s going to bat ninth, too.
- Jay Mariotti writes Cubdom could love Jimmy Ballgame because he “produces in the precious present.”
- ESPN’s Page 2 says Edmonds’ peak years rank with the Hall of Famers.
- Sun-Times beat writer Gordon Wittenmyer makes it short and sweet when he Twitters (trademark) the info on Edmonds officially signing.
- Devoted Cardinals fan, former “special to” peer and Sure Sign of the Journalism Apocalypse, Will Leitch describes how Edmonds might bring momentary peace to the seething rivalry. (Check that first comment for a punny.)
- Mike Nadel calls it what it is: “a low-risk, high-reward move” with an escape hatch.
All that is swell, but there’s the little matter of what Edmonds has left behind here in St. Louis. “The legacy he left here,” second baseman Adam Kennedy said before Wednesday’s game. “The influence he had and left behind in here in the clubhouse was obviously huge. You still see the impact he had on this organization.” Right. Close. But not that. Something else he left behind that will have to be … Cubbiefied.
What about the menu at Fi15een?
Doesn’t Edmonds’ posh restaurant in downtown St. Louis need to reflect his new status as a division rival — playing for a team that lives in a happening neighborhood in a happening city with a happening palate? Doesn’t he have to turn his provel over at the border and dig into some deep dish?
With that in mind (and tongue firmly planted in cheek when not savoring some Sheffield Ave. Spaghetti), some suggested NEW menu items:
I-55 Breakfast: Two bear claws & some scrambled eggs with diced red peppers.
All cheeseburgers will now be known as Cheezborgers.
House Salad: Iceberg lettuce with leafy Ivy and No Pepper-corn dressing.
Edmonds’ Chicago-Style Hot Dog: Mustard. Relish. Splash of hot sauce. ‘Nuff said.
Baby Bear Back Ribs: Served upside down on a plate shaped like home so the “back” of the ribs is to the plate, just like Edmonds’ highlight-reel catches.
Big Z Rump Roast: A nod to his new teammate and that game back in 2004 when Carlos Zambrano left an impression on Edmonds’ hindquarters after Edmonds sent one of his pitches off on a tour of Wrigleyville.
Strained Calf’s Liver: Perfect break from that spring training grind.
Ferreira Port (Vintage 1908): A $1,000 bottle with a 100 years of flavor.
Porridge: Comes served in three batting helmets — Angels, Cardinals and Cubs … for Too Cold, Too Hot and Just Right, poured depending on the whim of the chef.
Felix Pie: House dessert, according to P-D columnist Bernie Miklasz, who writes that “the only prob with the Felix Pie is Piniella keeps sending it back to the kitchen saying it isn’t ready and needs more seasoning.”
Sheffield Ave. Spaghetti: House speciality. Made with red and blue noodles, a hearty red meat sauce and two baseball-sized meatballs — which if you don’t like you can throw back to the kitchen.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Will you have to sign a waiver to eat there, since everything is Cubs related eating there is bound to lead to choking!
Don’t miss the link with the third item above: “Mizzou man Sullivan, again, with how Edmonds isn’t the only Cardinals import coming to Chicago — he’s going to bat ninth, too.” The comments mostly from Cub fans are hilarious. Some highlights:
– “I just threw up in mouth a little.”
– “Leave it to Cubs management to revert back to a strike out / HR hitter as they have for the last decade.”
– “Doesn’t this feel like Dennis Rodman all over again? The guy you love to hate is now on your favorite team.”
– “I supposed it’d be wrong to ask Tanya Harding and her boyfriend to meet up with Mr. Edmonds outside of the location where this physical it to take place?”
– “ARe you kidding me? That washed up nobody is coming to Wrigley as a CUB??? Wow… and I thought this was our year. It just ended right there!!!”
– “I will stop referring to Cardinals and Reds fans as “mouthbreathers” for as long as Edmonds dons a Cub uniform. … I will gouge out my eyes with a rusty screwdriver.”
– “I have always said that I would hate Jim Edmonds unless he played for my team. Fact is the guy is a proven winner and this is a low-risk signing. Lets give him 30 AB’s and go from there.”
– “imagine cubs winning the world series, jim edmonds making the final out on a catch. i seriously want to cry.”
– “Edmonds would need to bite the head off a cardinal or donate a working Tony LaRussa voodoo doll to the city of Chicago to live down his former connection with That Team. Absent that, he’d better be the second coming of Gary Gaetti, or it will be Jim Hendry scrambling to save his own skin.”
– “i hear ya knockin’! oh, that was dave edmunds”
– “As for you in CubNation can’t get over Edmonds years in St.Louis. 3 words-GET OVER IT! Its just a freaken game. No wonder people in St.Louis and Cincinnati think we are loons in this town!”
Finally, proof that old wounds never heal:
– “I think the Cubs should trade Felix Pie to St. Louis so he can become an immediate star, following Lou Brock’s example. Signing Jim Edmunds will complete the deal, like Broglio.”
It’s a sad day in Cardinal Nation, it just won’t be a pretty site to see Jimmy in a Cubs uniform. I just hope when he does come back to Busch, the Cardinal faithful gives him his deserved standing ovation and let him know what he meant to us!
As a Cub fan I hope he does well. I am sure many of you Cardinal fans are upset. I think I would be pissed off if someone like Zambrano went to the Cardinals. Anyways it makes the rivalry even better. If we didn’t hate each other as much the games would not mean anything.
I will give him his due when he comes to Busch on the 4th… I have been an Edmonds fan since he was an Angel, but my Cardinals blood screams “traitor!”
However, he was never the slouch, and always preferred to be out on the field, so it’s understandable that he’d take a job. Good luck Jimmy… Don’t let the Goat get you down!
Please, let’s stop pretending that there’s any sort of loyalty, either from players or teams, in baseball. Baseball is and has always been big business. Edmonds’ departure from the Cardinals and subsequent acquisition by the Cubs are nothing more than transactions conducted in the normal course of doing business. The mere fact that Major League baseball tends to elicit nostalgic notions about being the “national pastime” with so many fans goes to show how out of touch so many baseball fans are.
I’m sorry DG, but that post was just lame. You have to agree.
As I watch Izzy blow open another game I have to wonder what Tony is thinking. He never gave the guy a chance to ‘work through’ whatever his problem is. How do you show up for games with 23 players? He won’t use Parisi and he is supposed to be giving Izzy time. So with 23 players what was he expecting to happen?
I love the guy, but he is either misleading Izzy, misleading the fans or misleading himself.
I think the fans at the game showed great restraint by the way. Someone ought to write an article on the fans - showing statistics - instead of the throw away statement that they are the ‘best in baseball’. Half the journalists in the country will use that throw away statement this year.
Of all the clubs Jim Edmonds could have signed with the Cubs signing him takes him out of my top five all-time Cardinals. He could have signed anywhere but Houston or Chicago and he would have been a hero in St Louis for years to come. Now he is a Cub and that wipes out everything he did as a Cardinal in my mind. I hate him and would never include him in my top 5 Cardinal players. I hope he is booed so loudly and long they have to stop the game if he sticks with the Cubs through the series with the Cards in July.
SWM
Yep, Jim sux and i’ve lost alot of respect for him, now. Going to the Cubs is a bad decision on his behalf. He just got to walk away with millions of dollars from San Diego….so, why would he sign with the Cubs for the league minimum? I understand he wants to still play baseball on a competitive team……but, c’mon, the Cubs?! I’m sure he could’ve signed with a few other clubs. I hope St. Louis doesn’t give him a free pass…