THE SECRET TO THE CUBS' SUCCESS IS BASEBALL'S NEXT BIG TREND

TOP OF THE NEWS:

- The Secret to the Cubs' Success Is Baseball's Next Big Trend (Ozy) "Instead, the backbone of the Cubbies is the most frequently overlooked baseball skill, the one that has undergone a league-wide renaissance because of the new National League champs: defense. As the game changes, defense is the biggest thing on the block, and notwithstanding this year’s home-run surge, offense has declined over the past six years. So far this decade, the league-wide batting average is roughly 10 points lower than the average in the previous decade. With runs becoming more valuable, teams are more invested than ever in defenders who can save one run every two or three weeks. So, how did the Cubs’ defense get so good? Their roster, which includes exactly one Gold Glove winner (right fielder Jason Heyward), doesn’t tell the whole story. Instead, Cubs general manager Theo Epstein has taken a holistic approach, focusing on youth, athleticism and, most importantly, versatility. Those qualities allow manager Joe Maddon to pinball players all over the field in myriad combinations of defensive lineups that don’t sacrifice hitting."

ENTERTAINMENT:

- Patton Oswalt: ‘I’ll Never Be at 100 Percent Again’ (NYT)

- Pizzas, Pony Rides and Dolphin Shows: Balms for North Korea’s Elite (NYT)

LIVING:

- Millennials increasingly can’t be bothered to go out to eat (WaPo)

NEWS:

- WikiLeaks reveals fears and frustrations inside Clinton world (WaPo) "The emails show that while aides struggled to get past the public controversy, they also expressed exasperation at each other and, at times, at Clinton — both for her decision to use the server and for the way she handled questions about it. Several exchanges illustrate fears among some top advisers that Clinton and other aides were demonstrating the very traits that polls suggested made her vulnerable: a penchant for secrecy and a hesitancy to admit fault or error."

- The next U.S. president must look to these three American heroes (WaPo)

SCIENCE:

- An Ivy League professor says there are only three types of friendships we make (Quartz) "When striking up new connections, people are either 'tight-knitters,' 'compartmentalizers,' or 'samplers,' according to Dartmouth sociology professor Janice McCabe."

- Why you should stop obsessing about your kids’ screen time (WaPo)

TECHNOLOGY:

- Hobbyist hackers probably caused Friday’s Internet meltdown, researchers say (WaPo)

BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:

- Inside Trump Tower, the Center of the Billionaire’s Universe (Bloomberg) "And Trump Tower still has Trump. His home at the top isn't like the others. One reason Trump's triplex is so vast, he has written, is a trip he took to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi's condo nearby, where he stepped into a living room bigger than his own. Trump said he bought up a neighboring unit to expand."

- How the Molotov Cocktail Got Its Name (Ozy)

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