Box Score 11/4: Cubs and quarterbacks

Welcome to the YB Box Score, what we're reading while we try to make it to 5 o'clock today.

Happy birthday to Orlando Pace, Vince Wilfork and Devin Hester. On this date in in 1980, Sadaharu Oh retired from playing baseball.

Around the league: 

• Bill Barnwell over at ESPN says the decline in quarterback quality is a myth. [ESPN]
• Coming back from a 3-1 deficit really is more impressive in the NBA Finals than the World Series, here is the math to tell you why. [WFNY] 
• Turns out curses about goats are good for bar business. [Chicago Sun-Times]

YB ICYMI: 

"Unlike with the Chicago Cubs, nobody saw this coming from the Cleveland Indians. Starting with their 14-game win streak and 22-win June performance, they had been putting something special together, but it largely eluded the headlines. Perhaps this was because more focus was on the David Ortiz farewell tour, Los Angeles Dodgers rounding into form or those Cubs, or maybe it was simply because Cleveland doesn’t move headlines unless LeBron James is attached. Who knows?" - Why the Cleveland Indians came up short

"Meanwhile the hot take artisans are taking this as Cam Newton broadcasting a sign of weakness because he didn’t feel safe. On ESPN, Jim Kelly agreed with Cam’s assessment of calls, though bemoaned present-day passers complaining about safety when the guys of his year didn’t enjoy the same protections while occasionally playing on turf that might as well have been concrete. There’s some validity to that, but it’s very much beside the point. Just because Jim Kelly played in the NFL dark ages doesn’t mean Cam can’t complain about uncalled penalties or that he’s exposing himself by doing so." - Cam's QB contact complaints lead Week 9 in the NFL

"The international flavor will get even spicier in March when the World Baseball Classic rolls around. Again, the best thing about the WBC is that it gives us meaningful, high-level baseball a full month earlier than normal. The snobs who turn their nose up at this tournament are only doing it now because they're still riding the high of Major League Baseball. After a full winter without the sport, they'll be begging for any kind of baseball, and the WBC will be forgiving enough to welcome those snobs into their arms with a loving embrace." - How baseball fans can get through the offseason following epic 2016 World Series

"Cowboys at Vikings, Thursday Night Football, Week 13. Given that Dak Prescott will have already gone against the Eagles, it won't be his first time going against an aggressive, attacking defense, though it'll be an intriguing matchup between two teams shaping up to be among the top of the NFC." - The best remaining games this NFL season

"But through the first three games of the series, the Cubs had a grand total of zero long balls. That all changed in Game 4, when Dexter Fowler took Andrew Miller deep for what was an inconsequential hit in that game’s outcome, but something that lit a spark in the Cubs lineup from then on. Kris Bryant’s game changing three-run shot in the fourth inning of Game 5 provided all the offense the Cubs required to stay alive. Bryant put the Cubs on the board with another shot to kick off Game 6, before Addison Russell’s grand slam later on affirmed the fact that the Cubs’ sleeping giants had reawakened for real." - Seven reasons why the Cubs had the greatest postseason run ever

Why we love football reason #28,208: