As it if werent enough that Mike Quade led the Cubs to their first sweep in 137 years, inserted guys with the best OBPs at the top of the lineup, and got Tylermania back in the game, now he's managed to beat the unbeatable Pirates and possibly cure Big z's nephew:.

"I hope the overall picture is taken into account, but I'm not doing the evaluation," he said. "Some of that I'm sure will be in the mix. Look, there are a lot of good baseball people out there and I get a chance to do this in front of people. We're going to try and win every ballgame obviously, and I'm sure wins and losses will be a part of it. To what extent, that's for the people evaluating me to answer."

Quade took a moment to look around the ballpark during the national anthem, thinking about how fortunate he is to have finally reached this position. It has been a long road to Wrigley, but the wait was worth it.

"It's not just about being here," he said. "But it's about where I've been, and I've been damn near everywhere, so this is a pretty good place to end up right now."

Read more: Mike Quade: Great Manager? Or Greatest Manager?

On the debut of Hang Ten with Fish and Gotty, the guys recapped an exciting offseason in the Big Ten and the addition of Nebraska. They talked with Pete Bigelow of AnnArbor.com about the Michigan Wolverines and another season of low expectations in Ann Arbor. ESPN Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg helped preview the Big Ten season, looking at what teams and players could be big surprises. The guys introduced the Fish Tank and G-Status as well as the 11 at 11 segments, then made their predictions for the 2010 Big Ten bowl games.

Read more: Hang Ten Show - August 30, 2010

I love Wrigley Field. I do. It's one of my favorite places in the world. I say that to inform you that nothing in this post is out of spite for the venue I revere as a mecca of the baseball world. And as much as I give Cubs fans a hard time, I don't really think they're worse than the fans of any other team. There are some great Cubs fans and some abominable ones just as any fan base is prone to including members from both ends of the spectrum of tolerability.

But the home-field advantage at Wrigley, for the last several decades, has been the worst in all of baseball, and I've got the numbers to prove it.

I started out investigating home-field advantage in general in the hopes of proving something about the significance of psychology in baseball. The first wave of research showed that as far back as I could look (1901) there always has been a home-field advantage league-wide. In every season of Major League Baseball, the home teams have, collectively, registered a winning record. There have been 4 seasons in which the teams of either the National League or the American League had a collective losing record at home, but it has never happened across baseball.

Read more: Wrigley: the Worst Home-Field Advantage in Baseball

Monday on B-Squared, the Cubs talk Carlos Zambrano as he gets ready to pitch against the potent Pirates of Pittsburgh.  Blake DeWitt and Kosuke Fukudome were very good in the month of August, but did anyone really notice?  Also, today is "Andre Dawson Day" in Chicago as proclaimed by Mayor Daley.  Bernie and Bedo debate whether or not the Cubs should retire his #8 jersey number.  And finally, former B-Squared producer and co-host of the newest show on 312sports Radio "Hang Ten with Fish & Gotty" Kevin Fishbain joins in to talk about his show which debuts Monday as well as the Big Ten football landscape for the upcoming season.

Read more: B-Squared August 30, 2010

Mike Quade can ride his chariot back to Chicago with his head held high, the owner of a 4-2 managerial record. It looked like the Cubs had a good chance at 5-1 after heroics by Kosuke Fukudome. Unfortunately, Fuky also decided to not be heroic.

Kosuke Fukudome hit a 2-run homer in the top of the eighth inning to tie Sunday's game at 5-5, but a tough throwing error by Fukudome enabled the Reds to score 1 of 2 runs in the bottom of the inning as Cincinnati won to open a 5-game lead over St. Louis in the National League Central.

Read more: Cubs Monday Headlines: Triumphant 4-2 Road Trip Finished

TGIF.  Eric Wedge was interviewed by Jim Hendry for the Cubs managerial post.  How serious are his chances of landing the gig?  Joe Girardi comes to Chicago tonight!.....as his team plays the Sox.  Would he be crazy to leave the Yanks?  Or would he be stupid to not listen to the Cubs?  Julie DiCaro from 312sports.com and ChicagoNow joins the guys to cover these issues and more.  Stephen Strasburg is our for the rest of this year and next.  We'll tell you how bad it is for baseball.  Also, the Cubs try to make it four in a row tonight as they battle first-place Cincinnati as the Starlin watch continues.  And last but never least, Scott Spinelli from MLB Network chimes in as part of Fantasy Friday.

Read more: B-Squared August 27, 2010

Read more: Illini Release 2010-11 Schedule

Quade did it his way Wednesday night, lifting Dempster for a pinch-hitter in a scoreless duel against Jason Marquis in the eighth inning. Dempster had thrown only 79 pitches and seemed to be upset.

"He wanted no part of coming out, and he wasn't happy about that," Quade said. "And that's OK. I don't want guys happy (to leave). ... I couldn't live with myself if we're tied in the eighth we don't try and do something to win the game. It wouldn't matter who (is pitching), but it's always more difficult when it's somebody who's giving you a heck of an outing."

Read more: Cubs Thursday Headlines: Cubs Sweep by Nats in Wild Card Race

Read more: Pippen to be Honored by Bulls with Statue