I-55: Inspirations drawn from a Cubs/Cards Rivalry

2008-10-05T00:38:00.001-05:00

FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUUUUUUCK!

6 Pitches

2008-04-22T01:09:00.002-05:00

For the second consecutive outing Kerry Wood needed only six pitches to finish the game . Though he didn't get the save tonight I'm thinking he'll take the team victory.

Idiots Abound

2008-04-21T12:08:00.002-05:00

This story has been making the rounds the last couple of days, and anyone who knows me can tell you how I feel about this. If you're not sure, please re-read the title of this post.

I'm not sure how it got to the point where someone actually made this shirt. Apparently they're missing the part of the brain that tells normal people when to stop. My guess is whoever created this shirt A) didn't receive much of an education, B) was abandoned by his parents at an early age, C) is one of those Republicans who goes around calling Barack Obama a "Halfrican," or D) is a total whore who will do anything to make money.

I could spend the entire day trying to figure out what kind of moron would think this is OK, but I'll let one of the morons do the talking. Here, without any edits, is one "fan's" thoughts:

"the horry kow!! FUKUDOME IS NOT RAICE THIS T-SHIRT IS FUNNY I FEEL THIS T-SHIRT SHOULD NOT BE BANDED FROM SEELING AROUND THE PARK. I GO TO SOX PARK AND THEY SELL WRIGLEY FIELD'S LARGEST GAY BAR T-SHIRT THERE FOR TWO YEAR'S NOW WHY HAVEN'T THEY BANDED THEM!!!!!!!!!"*

No real Cubs fan would buy this shirt. No real person would buy this shirt. This isn't about being PC, it's about simple respect.

When asked about the shirt Fukudome said, ''I don't know what the creator of the shirt meant this to be, but they should make it right.''

The shirt has been pulled from the stand where they were being sold, and the Sun-Times is taking full credit.

* I relize this might be an ironic joke posted by a sarcastic Cubs fan. I sure the hell hope so.

Hey Marty

2008-04-18T18:56:00.004-05:00

So Marty Brennaman has an issue with Cubs fans.

A few things:

1) Welcome to the club.

2) Seriously?

3) Go fuck yourself.

To my first point - a lot of people hate the Cubs because of their fans, they're called southsiders. We don't need (or want) some numbnuts announcer from a hillbilly town telling us that Cubs fans can be obnoxious.

To my second point, apparently Marty has some deep-seated issues about the Cubs. First off, a dozen drunk fans don't make up the entirety of Cubdom. Apparently Marty has problems counting considering that attendance for that game was 40,099. The fact that 40,083 (give or take) of those people didn't do a damn thing to upset him went unnoticed.

Maybe it was the 12-3 drubbing the Cubs were putting on the Reds that bothered him.

Maybe Marty forgot to take his Metamucil that morning.

Maybe it's the fact that the Reds are already 4 games off the pace and going nowhere fast.

Or maybe it's just that Marty is a stupid, humorless jerkoff with nothing better to do than disparage everyone who calls themselves a Cubs fan because a couple of frat boys, gasp, threw baseballs onto a baseball diamond.

Basically he's a bigot.

"You simply root against them. I've said all winter, people talk about this team winning the division, and my comment is they won't win it because at the end of the day, they're still the Chicago Cubs and they will figure out a way to screw this whole thing up."

That's like me saying, hey, a guy wearing a Reds hat started a fight in the bar where I work, thus, all Reds fans are belligerent drunks and as a result the Reds are a bad baseball team and will not with the World Series.

Apparently Marty has forgotten (he's getting old, and you know, all old people forget things) the Cubs are the NL Central defending champs. Where did the Reds finish last year? Oh yeah, 5th place.

Maybe Marty is upset because, by percentage of seats, the Cubs last year had the best home attendance in the National League and were second in the majors behind Boston. (The Reds were 19th.) Maybe it's because. again behind Boston, the Cubs are the second highest selling team when they travel. The Cubs were also the best-selling NL team in 2006, 2002 and 2001, and the best selling team in the majors in 2005, 2004, and 2003.

Yeah, Cubs fans suck.

As to my last point, well, I think it speaks for itself.

Numbers

2008-04-17T11:12:00.002-05:00

I came across some interesting stats this morning.

Between 2003-2007 against the Reds Mark DeRosa is hitting an astonishing .463 in 82 at bats with 4 homers and 22 RBIs. Ryan Theriot is at .360 in 89 ABs with 3 HRs and 13 RBIs, Aramis Ramirez is batting .323 in 285 ABs with 18 HRs and 57 RBIs and early MVP candidate Derrek Lee has beat up the Reds staff at a .304 clip in 237 ABS with 22 HRs and 59 runs batted in.

This year these guys (with the exception of Ramirez at .143) have more than picked up where they left off with DeRosa at .429, Theriot at .444, Lee at a red-hot .667 and even Fukudome, obviously facing the Reds for the first time, hitting .571 in 7 ABs.

Today's games should be interesting with the Cubs facing Edinson Volquez who is 1-0 this season with a minuscule 0.87 ERA going against so-far very disappointing (he's absolutely murdering my fantasy staff) Ted Lilly who hasn't won yet and is brandishing a 9.95 ERA.

Sheesh!

2008-04-10T16:01:00.002-05:00

Is this how it's gonna be all year?

I don't need to watch my team blow a 7-0 lead, then the next day blow two two-run leads (including one in the 14th inning) only to come back and win. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they won (against one of the saddest teams in the National League), I just wish they would do it in a more traditional fashion. Let's keep the extra inning games to one or two a month, not every day.

Interesting tidbit, the last time that the Cubs won consecutive extra-innings games on the road was June 20 and June 21*, 1989, coincidentally enough, against the Pirates.

*Greg Maddux threw 10 innings of shutout ball and the Cubs won 1-0 in 11 innings. Must have been a great game to watch.

Oh No, AlSo

2008-04-07T14:32:00.002-05:00

We're a week into the season and I'm just wondering, what has Alfonso Soriano done with his strike zone?

He's hitting .077 going into today's game.

0. 7. 7.

Here's the thing about leadoff men - they're supposed to get on base. For his career AlSo has a .281 BA and a .326 OBP. For comparison, Derrek Lee has a .282 career BA and an OBP of .368, nearly 50 points higher than Soriano.

Does Soriano have to be a "traditional" leadoff guy? Not at all. But he does have to get a hit more than once every 13 at bats.

Aw, Fuku

2008-03-31T17:56:00.003-05:00

Opening day, and we got exactly what we hoped for, and what we hoped against.

On a day when the weather wreaked havoc on Cubs fans heads, the team wreaked havoc with the fans' emotions. After 8 shutout innings by the Brewers and Cubs aces, the bullpens took over, and shit all over the Wrigley mound.

Newly minted Cubs closer Kerry Wood promptly beaned the first batter he faced (which in and of itself is fine with me) then gave up three runs to put the Cubs in what seemed like an insurmountable hole, 3-0.

The Brewers then trotted out recently acquired, former closer extraordinaire Eric Gagne, who gave up a couple of hits and what was very likely a dramatic home run to Fukudome. (I say very likely because I missed it as I was trapped in a windowless office.)

Welcome to 2008. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Hey Hey!

2008-03-31T08:14:00.002-05:00

It's opening day 2008!

Like most opening days I begin the season hopeful, but unlike most opening days I begin the season with high expectations: for a division title, a pennant, and a World Series championship.

I know what most people are thinking - it's the Cubs, it's been 100 years, it's never gonna happen.

That's what they told Red Sox fans in 2004. That's what they told White Sox fans in 2005. That's what they've told Marlins fans during the two years they've won. (I swear if they win this thing again I'm jumping off the Sears Tower.)

You can have your pessimism, your nay saying and your negativity.

I'm hoping for the best.

Deal? No Deal?

2008-03-09T09:59:00.003-05:00

Let's call the whole thing off.

Seriously, let's call the whole thing off.

According to the Baltimore Sun the Brian Roberts deal the Cubs and Os have been discussing since the dawn of time (or so it feels) is apparently on the back burner, though everyone involved seems all too eager to talk about it.

As it stands the Cubs are apparently willing to ship Ronny Cedeno, Sean Gallagher and Donald Veal to Baltimore in exchange for the second baseman/lead off hitter.

Could the Cubs use a prototypical lead-off man who steals 50 bases and scores 100 runs? Of course, who doesn't need that guy? But at what cost?

No offense (pun intended), but the Cubs could send Cedeno to Baltimore for some crab cakes and I'd consider it a fair deal. He seems like a nice kid with decent skills, but he's a career minor leaguer in the making. He scorches AAA pitching, hitting .359 down there last season. But once he's called up he couldn't hit water if he fell off Navy Pier. He hit an anemic .203 at the major league level last season and hit only .245 as a full-time player in 2006.

The snag for me is the young pitchers. Gallagher is only 22 years old and has impressed at every level of the minors, going 21-8 in 47 starts with an ERA of 2.76 while striking out 262 in 266 innings.

Veal, a lefty, is only 23 and considered one of the Cubs better prospects. After the 2006 season Baseball America called Veal, "One of the top southpaws in the minors" after he led all minor league starting pitchers with a .175 batting average against, with an 11-5 record and a paltry 2.16 ERA. Veal is considered the #3 pitching prospect in the Cubs organization behind the aforementioned Gallagher and Jose Ceda (who B.A. said has the best fastball in the Cubs system).

If the deal were to go as is I might be inclined to agree with it, but apparently the problem is that the Orioles want a fourth or even fifth player including Ceda and either Felix Pie or Tyler Colvin. What the hell are they smoking?

Baseball America said Colvin is the best athlete in the Cubs system and Pie is the future in center field, considered one of the better overall players in the Cubs organization. He should blossom this season playing between Fukudome and Soraiano (talk about the pressure being off). I know what you're thinking: Jerome Walton, Earl Cunningham, Corey Patterson. (Not to mention Derrick May, Doug Glanville, Ozzie Timmons, Brooks Kieschnick, Bobbie Brownlie, Jason Dubois, David Kelton, Ryan Harvey etc., etc.)

And as far as second base goes I think the Cubs have it covered between Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot (even Eric Patterson can plat 2B).

In other words, NO DEAL.

FukuWatch

2008-03-04T21:45:00.002-06:00

Fukudome went 3-for-3 today, including his first home run of the season.

Polish up the Jackie Robinson trophy and learn how to say 'rookie of the year' in Japanese.

FukuWatch

2008-02-29T23:18:00.003-06:00

I can't prove it (and I'm not gonna bother trying) but I'm claiming this site as the first official sponsor of the FukuWatch, where we discuss all things Fukudome.

How impressive is this guy? He scored two runs today in only one official at bat. If he can maintain that ratio he should score close to 1,000 runs this season, shattering Billy Hamilton's singles season record of 192.

The only thing this guy is missing is a cool nickname.

Any thoughts?

Dempster's Declarartion

2008-02-13T20:22:00.003-06:00

Ryan Dempster has predicted the Cubs will win the World Series this year. And boy has the media jumped on this "story." There are pieces in the places you'd expect: the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and of course Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and ESPN. But there's also the story (basically the exact same story) at MSNBC, WIFR in Rockford, the Charleston Daily Mail, the Philadelphia Daily News, the Houston Chronicle, the Lake County News-Sun, the Arizona Republic, the Globe and Mail (in Toronto), the International Herald Tribune, and the Vegas Insider.

The guys at Deadspin have their own opinion of the prediction.

When asked how he could say the Cubs would win it all, considering...well you know...all that curse stuff and the last 100 years and all, he said he's not guaranteeing victory, but rather, "Like you believe it, you really do."

Well, if you, like, really reeeaaallly believe it, then it must be true.

The reason I list these links (and trust me on this, I could fill an encyclopedia with all the places this story has been picked up) is to prove a point - no one is buying it.

So if you're a believer, I mean a true believer, save this post, that way, if it comes true, you'll be able to come back to it and remember where you heard it first. And you'll be able to print up all these articles and mail them to your favorite hillbilly Sox fan.

WOOOOOOO!

2008-02-13T10:09:00.001-06:00

Pitchers and catchers report today!

Fukudome On Hitting

2008-02-12T14:23:00.000-06:00

The New York Times ran a piece today about the Cubs next Gold Glove winner, right fielder (or maybe center fielder, depending on the spring Felix Pie has) Kosuke Fukudome.

Coffee Is For Closers

2008-02-06T10:12:00.000-06:00

Carlos Marmol and I want the same thing - to see him closing games for the Cubs this season. It will take some impressive pitching by someone else in the Cubs bullpen (Kerry Wood?) this spring to convince me otherwise.

Marmol was a revelation last year, striking out 96 in 69 innings while holding hitters to a .169 batting average and toting around a miniscule 1.43 ERA. The guy is only 25 years old and has the mentality and the arm (95 MPH fastball and wicked off speed pitches) to be a legitimate, All-Star caliber closer.

What's more impressive is that Marmol was drafted as a skinny, weak-hitting catcher. Maybe the Cubs should have tried this experiment earlier with Shawon Dunston, another (former) rocket-armed weak-hitting prospect.

Goose Fucking Gossage?

2008-01-24T14:52:00.002-06:00

Are you kidding me with this?

First of all, Goose is an idiotic nickname. Who would allow themselves to be named after:
a) A goofy-looking, long-necked bird that hisses and shits all over the place.
b) The process where someone sticks their thumb in your ass.

When I first saw that Gossage made the Hall I defended the decisions with the standard arguments: he hit certain milestones (300 saves), was a dominant guy in his era, was on winning rosters with teams that made the playoffs, and played for the Yankees for at least one season (which is always good for a few votes even if you suck).

But when I saw the voting results for this year I looked a little deeper and discovered, to my amazement, that Gossage has no right being in the Hall of Fame.

Gossage received votes on 85.8% of the ballots. Lee Smith finished fifth in the balloting with 43.3%. Robb Nen and Rod Beck received 2 votes each (0.4%)

But look at the numbers:

W L G GF SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
Gossage 124 107 1002 681 310 1809 1497 605 119 732 1502 3.01
Smith 71 92 1022 802 478 1289 1133 434 89 486 1251 3.03
Beck 58 45 704 519 286 768 703 282 97 191 644 3.30
Nen 45 42 643 548 314 715 607 237 51 260 793 2.98

What matters most when you look at your closer? Saves, strikeouts to walk ratio and games finished. Smith, in only 20 more games played, finished 121 more games, and saved 168 more games than Gossage! Gossage had more Ks (in more innings pitched) but Lee’s strikeouts to walk ratio is 2.6 to 1 while Gossage was only at 2 to 1.

Gossage has more wins, but those could be the result of blown saves his team had to come back from.

Gossage saved over 30 games twice

Smith had at least 30 saves 11 times, including 43 or more 4 straight years.

Are Gossage’s numbers that much better than even Robb Nen or Rod Beck that he’s a Hall of Famer and they’re getting four total votes? Are his stats over 85% better? Not even close. When you look at the numbers you have to wonder what else is at work here, because getting into the Hall, at least in this case, does not seem to be performance based.

Things Change

2008-01-24T14:33:00.000-06:00

Baseball is a fickle game. A teams's fortunes can change season to season, week to week and even pitch to pitch (I still can't stomach the thought of Latoya Hawkins in a Cubs uniform...fuckin' Mets).

A couple months back Baseball America listed its top 10 prospects in the Cubs system for the 2008 season:

1. Josh Vitters, 3b
2. Geovany Soto, c/1b
3. Tyler Colvin, of
4. Jose Ceda, rhp
5. Sean Gallagher, rhp
6. Donald Veal, lhp
7. Josh Donaldson, c
8. Jeff Samardzija, rhp
9. Tony Thomas, 2b
10. Kevin Hart, rhp

Compare this to the same list going in to the 2007 season:

1. Felix Pie, of
2. Donald Veal, lhp
3. Jeff Samardzija, rhp
4. Tyler Colvin, of
5. Sean Gallagher, rhp
6. Eric Patterson, 2b
7. Scott Moore, 3b
8. Ryan Harvey, of
9. Chris Huseby, rhp
10. Mark Pawelek, lhp

Obviously this whole thing is a guessing game. Maybe not the whole thing, but it's pretty much a crap shoot as to who will succeed and who will fail, who will fulfill their potential, who will rise from the pack, and who will just plain stink up the joint regardless off their potential (I hate that word).

In baseball (as in life) much is assumed based on past performance, if not on the field then in other areas: foot speed, arm strength, bat speed. Baseball America goes so far as to project what the Cubs opening day roster will look like...in 2011!

Catcher -Geovany Soto
First Base - Derrek Lee
Second Base - Tony Thomas
Third Base - Aramis Ramirez
Shortstop - Ronny Cedeno
Left Field - Alfonso Soriano
Center Field - Felix Pie
Right Field - Tyler Colvin
No. 1 Starter - Carlos Zambrano
No. 2 Starter - Rich Hill
No. 3 Starter - Sean Gallagher
No. 4 Starter - Ted Lilly
No. 5 Starter - Donald Veal
Closer - Carlos Marmol

Here's to the future.

Npwbet Jon Lieber

2008-01-17T14:31:00.000-06:00

The Cubs signing of Jon Lieber is a great move, but it's not the kind of thing you would classify as making headlines. Sure, it made the front page of the Chicago Tribune sports section, but that makes sense considering that Lieber was the Cubs last 20-game winner back in 2001.

But apparently the Lieber deal is big news...in Russia! I was browsing Pravda today (don't ask) and came across the Lieber signing, right next to an article about a dog having a mutant, humanoid puppy. (I couldn't make this stuff up.)

The article seems to have been written by someone for who (whom?) English is a second language. The article begins:

"Chicago Cubs, a professional baseball team, the champion of the Central Division of Major League Baseball’s National League signed a one year contract with Jon Lieber."

Then there's this paragraph:

"In addition to the leading players and just bought right-handed pitcher Ryan Meyers it will improve the team’s pitching. The Cubs consider Jon an experienced and really good competitor, a good guy in the clubhouse and well-respected."

I love the picture they use of Lieber. It's not a shot of him pitching, or in a Cubs uniform, but apparently a photo of him walking off the mound with, I don't know, maybe his uncle.

Just when you think all is lost they throw in this great stats-loaded paragraph:

"Lieber uses a tough slider and an effective changeup to go with his low 90s fastball. (That's a great observation.) He led the National League in shutouts for three consecutive years (1999-2001). (I didn't know that.) His most productive season came in 2001, when he led the league in games started (35) and innings (251), posted a career-high 20 victories, was selected an All-Star, and finished 4th in the Cy Young Award vote. (Did he really pitch that well for us?) In the same year, he one-hit the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0, ending the team's NL-record streak of 208 games in a row without being shut out. (Really? Who knew the Reds held that record?)

So there you have it. If you want the really skinny on the Cubs this year, don't read the Tribune, go to Russia.

The Case For Cuban

2008-01-08T21:41:00.001-06:00

My brother and I keep debating whether Mark Cuban would be good or bad for the Cubs. I say he would be a great fit, Eddie says no.

Chris Ballard at SI.com makes a compelling argument as to why Cuban should be the guy (other than his cutesy joke about the fact that Cuban's name starts with CUB.)

Plenty of people seem to think Cuban could be the guy who helps the Cubs become the winning franchise so many people hope for (and by "winning" I don't mean getting to the playoffs then being swept in the first round). You can even sign a petition...though what good it would do I can't say.

Spring It On

2008-01-08T19:04:00.000-06:00

Cubs spring training tickets went on sale this morning, on a nearly 60-degree day in January. That's 60 degrees in Chicago...not Mesa!

The first game of the spring will be February 29th against the Giants. Sadly, I won't be making the trip. (Last year was great. Man, has it been a year already?)

While you're trying to order your tickets, which are probably already sold out, go to the Cubs store and order your Cubs 2007 national League Central Division Champs wallpaper for your phone. Not cool enough? Try the Kerry Wood 20-strikeout ringtone.

And remember, part of every purchase you make goes to the Fukudome Fund, because every Cubs fan needs a rightfielder with a career .397 on-base percentage.

Don't Do It

2007-12-22T18:25:00.000-06:00

Never trade within your division. I don't remember where I first heard that but I think it's true. Unless you're trading with the Pirates (the Aramis Ramirez trade still makes me smile).

The thought is that the guys you trade away will face you multiple times, and they always seem to be the guys who come back to kill you.

That's my fear with Mark Prior.

Apparently the Astros have made Prior an offer.

Why does this make me nervous?

I'm a little worried about the Astros, with the acquisitions of Jose Valerde, Miguel Tejada and Kaz Matsui, they've turned themselves into perhaps the second-best team in the NL Central.

That's all we need. I can see it already - Mark Prior returns to form and wins 18 games to lead the Astros to a first place finish ahead of the Cubs.

Shoot me now. (But at least my Mark Prior autographed ball might finally be worth something.)

Cubs Sign Minor League Star

2007-12-18T13:56:00.001-06:00

The Cubs have signed the Frontier League's top pitcher, Tanner Watson. I know what you're thinking...we're saved! But seriously, Watson seems to be a decent young pitcher, and you can never have too many arms in the bullpen or in your system.

This past season Watson broke the Rockford Riverhawks single-season wins record and was the only Frontier League player named to Baseball America's All-Independent Leagues first team. The magazine also writes that he's a front-line starter with good control and a fastball in the low 90s

Watson was drafted by the Mariners and in five years in their system racked-up an unimpressive 18-21 record with a 5.08 ERA.

But he seems to have found himself over the last couple of seasons in Rockford.

$3 Million?

2007-12-15T17:08:00.001-06:00

The Cliff Floyd era is over.

A native Chicagoan, Floyd spent last year occasionally playing for the Cubs, belting 9 dingers and hitting .284, five points above his career average.

Yesterday he signed a one-year $2.75 million deal with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The deal includes incentives that could add another $2 million.

Huh?

I know by today's standards $3 million (or even $5 million) isn't a whole lot of money, but seriously?

Floyd has been a decent enough player at times, but he's hit over 30 homers only twice, has hit over .303 only twice, and has driven in over 100 runs exactly once.

Why would the D-Rays pay a part-time player, a DH with a little pop but not much left in the tank, nearly $3 million when the entire team salary for last year was $24 million? That was the lowest in all of baseball and less than Alex Rodriguez made by himself! (Jason Giambi was payed over $23 million...he hit 14 HRs with 39 RBIs while batting .236 and missing over half the season. Hell, to rip people off that badly you usually have to be a televangelist.)

I don''t begrudge a guy his right to make a buck, especially a ballplayer (and let me tell you, sometimes it's hard to be the guy defending mega-million dollar baseball salaries when people are throwing steroids allegations and teacher salaries in your face), but if there's a system that could use a little tweaking it's the salary structure in Major League Baseball.

The D-Rays are maybe the most pathetic franchise in all of professional sports, perhaps even pro sports history. They've lost at least 90 games every year of their existence (losing 100 games three times) and have finished in dead last 9 of the 10 years they've been around. (Interestingly, Lou Piniella coached them to their only second-to-last place finish in 2004 when they won a franchise record 70 games and finished 30.5 games out of first place, 3 games ahead of the Blue Jays.

Is this really the kind of signing that will turn them around?

Go Rays! No really, go. And take the Marlins with you.

Fast Balls

2007-12-14T14:08:00.000-06:00

Physics is cool.

Scientists were able to determine what percentage of the body is used when throwing a baseball. A study by Toyoshima, Hoshikawa, Miyashita, and Oguri (1974) compared the velocity of a normal throw (100%), the velocity without a step (84%), with the lower body immobilized (64), upper body immobilized (53%), and upper arm immobilized (43%).

Two years late Hoshikawa and Toyoshima (1976) imposed mores specific strictures and determined ball velocities at release without the initial step (82%), without hip and trunk rotation (50%) and using the forearm alone (37% ).

Peterson (1973) ran similar experiments using "highly skilled baseball players" and reported "contributions to baseball velocity calculated over a 9.15m distance immediately following release:" legs and hips 37%, trunk and shoulder rotation 15%, arm 24% and hand 24%.

Which essentially means "arm strength" itself (not counting the hand) accounts for less than a quarter of a baseball's velocity. Interestingly, the hand alone, that is presumably a flick of the wrist, accounts for as much velocity as the entire rest of the arm.

Busted

2007-12-13T14:10:00.000-06:00

The shit has hit the fan.

As always, the answers to some questions leads to more questions.

The players have been named, and for anyone who's been following this story there are really no surprises. The story isn't how many players, or when they took steroids or a few inflated stats. Does anyone really care that F.P. Santangello or Chris Donnels took steroids? (I knew Todd Hundley hitting 40 home runs had to be tainted.)

The story is what to make of the fact that the two best players of their generation (at least statistically) and maybe the best players of all time at their respective positions, got their because they used steroids (or HGH or baby aspirin or whatever-the-fuck).

The law will do what the law does...and that's usually imprisoning the wrong people for the wrong reasons. But what will Baseball do? What will The Hall do? What will fans do?

I'm guessing MLB will make grandiose statements and suspend (perhaps for life) some players all the while pretending they knew nothing about it and making claims about 'trying to combat the problem,' and they will talk of 'looking to the future' and trying to 'repair this great game' (or some other pompous sounding shit like that).

The Hall will take the baseballs and the jerseys and the spikes and display them prominently, maybe dedicating a glass case or two to the "Steroids Era." They can place it next to a case glorifying the Dead Ball Era, (a nice way to bracket the 20th century) and people will look at them and talk of the days when the game was pure and you could trust ballplayers to be role models. You know, like Ty Cobb (racist), Ted Williams (asshole), Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth (alcoholics).

As for the fans, they've forgiven everything from game fixing to laziness; there's no reason to think they won't forgive this.

A few former Cubs were mentioned, Rondell White, Glennallen Hill, but there was one glaring omission. Of all the players not named the most notorious was Sammy Sosa. Or maybe he just wasn't mentioned by name.

From pages 280-281:

Matt Karchner pitched for two teams in Major League Baseball between 1995 and
2000, the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. Members of my investigative staff
contacted him as part of our effort to interview former major league players.

Karchner said that during spring training in 1999, he observed two of his Chicago Cubs teammates (Sammy Sosa?) inject themselves with steroids in an apartment that Karchner was sharing with them. Karchner declined to identify the players. He said that one of the players (Sammy Sosa?) brought the steroids to the apartment but was afraid of needles and therefore asked the second player to administer the shot. The second player injected the first player with steroids in the buttocks and then injected himself.

Later that season, Karchner was offered steroids by certain of his Cubs teammates (Sammy Sosa?). Karchner would not disclose the names of players who offered him steroids, but he said that the conversations he had with them involved the general cost of steroids and discussions of “stacking” to build lean muscle necessary for pitchers. Karchner did not report either of these incidents to anyone at the time.

As for the future, we can hope for a return to baseball - A game where batters hit to the right side of the diamond to move a guy over, hitters know how to lay down a bunt, take a walk, go the opposite way and manufacturing runs doesn't mean a couple of singles and waiting for a three-run homer.

Next Year Is Here

2007-10-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

Not really, but at least next year's schedule is here.

Lo and behold, the schedule actually makes sense, except for the fact that we're playing Toronto, Baltimore and Tampa Bay. (Hasn't the novelty of this worn off? Can we get past this nonsense and move back to a balanced schedule?)

5 of the first 6 series are against division rivals, including opening and closing the first month of the season against Milwaukee.

Even better, 7 of the 8 series in September are also against division rivals, including finishing the season against the Brewers.

And the coolest thing? The All-Star Game is on my birthday this year. This will be the last season at Yankee Stadium before they open their new digs for the 2009 season.

Tickets to the All-Star Game being played on my birthday - that would be a great birthday present.

In Mourning

2007-10-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

But I'll get over it soon enough.

*Sigh*

"The Cubs"

2007-10-03T14:58:00.000-05:00

There's a new book about the Cubs. Glenn Stout, who has written books about the Yankees, Dodgers, and is the co-editor of The Best American Sports Writing anthologies (with the late, great David Halberstam)

The Cubs: The Complete Story of Chicago Cubs Baseball, is the-self proclaimed "definitive account" of, well, the Cubs.

Glenn Stout will be making a number of appearances in the Chicago area, including:

The Chicago Public Library, October 3, 6:00 p.m..

DePaul University (Barnes & Noble College Store), October 4, 5:30 p.m.

Midwest Literary Festival, Aurora October 5-7.

Bookstall at Chestnut Court in Winnetka, IL Monday, October 8, at 7:00.

I'm planning on going to the last reading at the Bookstall. If you're going, say hi...I'll be the guy with the reddish goatee, probably asking some obnoxious question.

Pitching Wins Championships

2007-10-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

Offense gets all the glory (chicks dig the long ball), but anyone who knows baseball knows that pitching (and defense) wins championships.

How did the Cubs fare in that department? I'm glad you asked.

Overall ERA: 4.04, 2nd in NL
Starters ERA: 4.19, 2nd in NL
Bullpen ERA: 3.75, 3rd in NL
Opponents BA: .246, 1st in NL
Strikeouts: 1,211, 1st in NL
The team also led the Major Leagues in strikeouts for the seventh consecutive season.

The Cubs used only eight starters all season, a year after 15 different pitchers made appearances in the rotation.

Prediction: Cubs in 4.

525,320 Chicago Homeowners Screwed

2007-10-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

MLB won't allow WGN to simulcast Cubs playoff games. While a large majority of Chicago-area homes have access to TBS (84.8%) that still leaves over half-a-million homes without the option of watching their local team on their local channel.

It seems that Tim Brosnan is all over the place these days, and this time he's telling Cubs fans that they're the one who screwed themselves. "We didn't make this decision," Brosnan said. "The marketplace made this decision."

I see now, the marketplace made the decision. I tried to do a little research on this, but like the proverbial "they" (as in they always say), the marketplace could not be reached for comment.

Was it really the marketplace that made this decision? Or was it something else? Could it be that "TBS is paying $728 million through 2013 for the rights to all four Division Series, one of the League Championship Series and a Sunday afternoon package of games which begins in 2008?"

So was it the market, or was it three-quarters of a billion dollars? You decide.

The East-Coast Bias

2007-09-30T23:31:00.000-05:00

No serious discussion about baseball can be had without mentioning what seems to be an inherent caste system. There is the Junior Circuit and the Senior Circuit. All-Stars and “everyday” players. There was the color barrier (why is there no Jackie Robinson Day in America, a country that loves its athletes as heroes.). Even in baseball card collecting the distinction is obvious; there are stars and there are “commons.” Then, of course, there’s the East Coast Bias.

Ask anyone who knows the game about the best rivalries, and you’ll hear Yankees/Red Sox or Dodgers/Giants (originally east coast teams). Eventually the conversation will come around to the Cubs and the Cardinals, but usually as an afterthought, some charming Midwestern skirmish. The real baseball wars are fought on the coasts. Just watch Ken Burns’ documentary, Baseball. 1500 minutes about the greatest game ever invented…and most of it takes place east of the Mississippi, hell, east of the Hudson River.

When the Cubs clinched a couple of days ago they were the first story on Sportscenter…after the first commercial. ESPN led with the Phillies and Mets in a first-place tie. The Cubs were the first NL team to clinch, for christsake - if that doesn’t merit first-story status then what does? The freakin’ Orioles got more air time this year than the Cubs.

Whatever.

Even fans of whichever American League team we beat will be happy for us. Yankees fans have had enough championships to last a lifetime. Every Red Sox fan maybe be saddened by their loss, but they will be buoyed by the memory of their recent miraculous triumph and in the knowledge that a fellow formerly-cursed team will have arrived in the Promised Land. The Angels won it in 2003. And I know the Indians have had the longest drought in the American League, but that was 1948, we’ve got that beat by almost half-a-century.

Win it all, and every conversation in the off-season will be about the Cubs: The hot-stove league will feel that much warmer when the preponderance of conversation will be about the Boys in Blue. Can they repeat? Maybe, irony of ironies, A-Rod leaves the Yankees to win a championship with his ol’ buddy, Uncle Lou. Is Lou Piniella the greatest coach of all-time? Hell, he helped the Cubs win the World Series.

That night in late October when whatever memorable catch or strikeout (or, perhaps greatest of all…walk-off home run) clinches the winning game, it will be the lead story on every newscast in America. Grinning broadcasters will pause from their their litany of bad news to being with the feel-good story of the century.

Parents will speak of it like a fairy tale, ‘You can achieve anything, when you give it your all..” Instead of "Over the Rainbow" or "When You Wish Upon a Star," the anthem for achieving your dreams will be "Go Cubs, Go!"

A noticeable shift in the space-time continuum will occur - creatures in distant galaxies will pause, not knowing why, but somehow aware that the universe will never be the same again.

All things will be possible in the minds of the old and the young. Because every curse, every jinx, every obstacle to success (perhaps even the east-coast bias) will have been defeated, because, miracle of miracles, the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series.

Rally Monday

2007-09-29T12:30:00.000-05:00

Should a team really celebrate simply making the playoffs? Granted, in baseball this is a rare occasion for a lot of teams. It's not like basketball or hockey where over half the teams go to the postseason. In the National Pastime you actually have to earn a chance at a championship.

This is the 5th time in my life that Cubs have made the playoffs. Kinda sad, really. 1984 (Who to hate more - Garvey or Durham?), 1989 (The Earthquake Series), 1998 (I was living in LA and threw a full water bottle at a Braves fan...while I was working), 2003 (Don't get me started) and this year.

That's 5 times in 23 years, a ratio of once every 4.6 years. It's not the Yankees or Braves, but it's not the Phillies (or Pirates or Royals or possibly the saddest franchise in sports - the Devil Rays).

Just making the playoffs isn't good enough anymore. In the last handful of years the bar has been raised. The Bears made the Super Bowl, the Bulls are a serious player in the Eastern Conference and the White Sox embarassed themselves this year, but they did win it all a couple of years ago. The Blackhawks are even supposed to be half-decent this year.

So, back to my original question - should a team celebrate merely making the playoffs? According to Tim Brosnan they should, because it's a chance to "thank baseball fans in each market." Thanks Tim, for letting me know what this is really all about. It's not about my home town team winning the World Series, it's about selling shit in my "market."

This isn't my team. it's the Chicago National League Ball Club, otherwise known as a logo used to sell shit to Cubs fans. According to MLB, "Rally Monday also gives local and national business partners a chance to capitalize on the excitement of each club's advancement into the postseason, engaging fans in a celebration setting."

Gee, thanks for allowing me to engage with other fans in a celebration "setting." Which, I guess, is similar to an actual celebration except for the fact that it's set up by sponsors to, as I so eloquently stated earlier, sell shit to Cubs fans.

Will I let this blatant commercialism dampen my spirits? Not at all. Will I go downtown and "celebrate" (in the appropriate corporately-sponsored "setting")? Probably. What matters to me, no matter what baseball's executive vice president of business says, is my team.

Go Cubs, Go!

Pour It On

2007-09-29T00:58:00.000-05:00

The Champagne, that is.

CHAMPS!

2007-09-28T22:15:00.000-05:00

Central Division champions!

To be continued.

Late September, 2007

2007-09-28T09:47:00.000-05:00

Pic-A-Game

2007-09-28T09:45:00.001-05:00

The Tribune has set up a site with a picture from every Cubs game this year.

Decades from now, after the Cubs win it all this year, I will look at everyone of those pictures and weep with joy. (I hope.)

In Through The Out Door

2007-09-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

...Or...

The Cubs backdoor their way into the playoffs.

When this regular season is all said and done, some people will talk about how the Cubs snuck into the playoffs, or how the Brewers blew it, or how the NL Central is a weak (the weakest?) division.

None of that matters. I will invoke, for the last time, the Cardinals 83-win regular season last year, and their more important 11-win playoff season.

After 162 games the teams that make it are the teams that should. This isn't college football where 1 loss dooms your year. This is a grind, and if you make the playoffs by 25 games or 1 you beat a lot of teams to get there.

The magic number is 2. Just get it done.

3

2007-09-27T09:37:00.001-05:00

It's the magic number.

Walks

2007-09-27T08:58:00.001-05:00

One of the things that has always made me crazy are walks - pitchers who throw them and batters who don't know how to take them.

(Side note: Danny Knobler, of Booth Newspapers, reports Detroit Tigers C Ivan Rodriguez could become just the third player in the live ball era with 500-plus at-bats and fewer than 10 walks. The first two were Virgil Stallcup, with the Cincinnati Reds in 1949, and Tito Fuentes, with the San Francisco Giants in 1966.)

The old adage is that a walk is as good as a hit - a guy on base is a guy on base no matter how he got there. (That means a HBP, or an error or a fielder's choice are also as good as a hit.) While the cliche may be true, there' s something almost demoralizing to the defense about a walk. The pitcher can't get his job done; he's thinking about the guy on first, he's worried about getting the ball over the plate - and once you get a player thinking too much, he's screwed.

The Cubs offense currently ranks 14th in the NL (of 16 teams) in their ability to draw walks. That sucks. But I guess it's hard to draw a walk WHEN YOU'RE SWINGING AT THE FIRST GOD DAMN PITCH ALL THE TIME! (Sorry.) Apparently this is a problem division wide...the 4 worst teams in the NL at taking walks are the Cardinals, the Cubs the Brewers and the Pirates.

By contrast, the five best teams at drawing walks in the AL are the Yankees, Tigers, Mariners, Angels and Red Sox, all playoff contending teams. (4 of the top 5 in the NL are the 1. Phillies, 2. Rockies, 3. Padres and 5. Mets, all playoff-caliber teams - only the Astros, at 4th, are an aberration.)

The Cubs have only 2 guys in the top 50 at taking a walk: D-Lee (17th with 71) and Mark DeRosa (34th with 58 BB). Frankly, that's pathetic.

Sure, it's nice to hit home runs, doubles are a lot of fun too, especially when you can string three or four in a row. All I'm saying is take a pitch once in a while. And don't trade for Pudge Rodriguez.

One Week To Go

2007-09-24T09:31:00.000-05:00

The Cubs magic number is down to four. Forgive me for suppressing my giddiness (at least for now).

The Boys in Blue had a fantastic weekend, completing a sweep of the lowly Pirates while the Brewers blew the last two games of a three-game set against the Braves (including an 11-inning stunner on Saturday).

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't feeling good about our chances. The Cubs have won 10 of their last 12 games (I know, against the pathetic Pirates, the lowly Reds and the beleaguered - or is it B-leaguers? - Cardinals) and are heading into the last week of the season on a high note.

No one in the National League is particularly loaded. Sure, the Mets have a lot of offense, the Padres have a lot of pitching and the D-backs have, um, well they must have something, but on paper (and I know the games aren't played on paper) the Cubs are as good as anyone in the NL.

They have two guys at the top of the rotation who can get in done and can even sparkle. They have a triumvirate of hitters who are capable of carrying a team in D-Lee, A-Ram and Al-So, and they have a manager who has been their and won it all with a team no one thought had a chance.

Before the season started everyone thought this team had a chance to go far. Then the season started and everyone thought they were going nowhere. But the Cubs have turned an 8-and-a-half-game deficit into a 3-and-a-half-game lead with only six games to go.

We're right where we hoped we would be.

And yes, I'm gong to keep saying we when I discuss my relationship to this team because they are as much my team as they are anyone else's.

Now That's A Fan

2007-09-24T09:27:00.001-05:00

Even if my last name was Fields, I don't think I would have done this, but a couple from Indiana has named their son Wrigley. Wrigley Fields.

No shit.

The couple said their son can go by his middle name, Alexander, when he's old enough to decide for himself. But really, why would he?

If that's not enough, there's the story of a family living on the Northshore who named their kids Ivy, Grace Waveland, Sheffield, Clark and, Addison. Seriously, I might have done it with a litter of cats or dogs, but my own kids?

They named one of their children WAVELAND. Wow.

Jack's First Cubs Game

2007-08-28T23:57:00.000-05:00

On a steamy late-August night in Chicago, Jack M.C. Rajczyk attended his first Cubs game.

The second place Brewers have come to town for the most important series if the season so far. And the Cubs, led by Rich Hill's nine-strikeouts (and an RBI for the Cubs first run of the night) took game 1 by a score of 5-3 in front of 40,884 happy fans, except, of course, for the handful of Cheeseheads who'd made their way down from Wisconsin.

Some would argue that 11 weeks is a little early for a baby to go to a Major League ballgame. And if this was a regular child we were talking about I'd say they were probably right. But the pictures speak for themselves. On a night that would have made many grown men wilt under the heat and humidity, not to mention the tension of such an important game, Jack was a trooper. He didn't fuss or cry, spending most of the game happily in Mom's lap while occasionally dozing off for little cat naps while contentedly sucking his Nuk.

Kevin was just as contentedly sucking down Old Styles.

Want to see more pictures of Jack's first game? (And really, who wouldn't?)

MMMMM, Nice.

2007-08-24T23:47:00.000-05:00

Marshall took the mound last and threw maybe his best game of the season, allowing only 2 hits over 6 innings (5Ks, 1 walk). The Cubs took game 1 of the series against the NL West leading D-backs.

Milwaukee was thumped by the Giants, 11-6, pushing them a game-and-a-half behind the Cubs (and 2 full games in the loss columns).

More daylight. The Cubs pushed the Cardinals 4 games back with Lou's Guys win and the Cards 7-2 loss to Atlanta.

Mauled at Comiskey, that should be tomorrow morning's headline after the last place White Sux went out and ate it today, getting clobbered by the Red Sox in both ends of a twin bill, losing the opener 11-3 and the night cap 10-1.

Magnificent day all around, if you're a Cubs fan.

Rain Outs

2007-08-19T22:52:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it, I'm a little sad. Usually I love the rain. I don't care what anyone says, I'd rather have it rainy and 50 degrees than sunny and 90 degrees. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

But there are exceptions. Like when the rain causes a much-anticipated nationally televised Cubs/Cardinals game to be rained out.

After winning the first two games of this series the Cubs were poised to make a statement on national television - this is not the Cardinal's division...at least not this year.

Ater the All-Star break the Cubs seemed ready to make a tight race into a laugher, winning 7 of their first 8 games. But the August heat seemed to have caused the boys in blue to wilt. They started the month at 4-10, allowing the Brewers to maintain a glimmer of hope and, more importantly, giving the Cardinals a chance to come charging back into the race.

But the Cubs seem to be getting their bearings, putting together a modest 3-game winning streak, including the first two games of this important series. Going into Sunday night's clash they were poised to sweep the series with their newly-minted mega-millionaire ready to go, and he seemed eager to prove he's worth the money.

Tomorrow night would prove no easier for the Cards as they prepare to face Ted Lilly. While Z gets the big contract (Lilly did ok for himself in the offseason), Lilly has quietly gone 7-1 in his last 9 starts dating back to the 2nd of July.

During a 162-game season it's hard to pinpoint a game or even a series that's more important than the rest, but this game was huge. I don't doubt that Cardinals fans were praying for rain, or at least they were happy when they went to weather.com and saw the storm clouds.

This Is Why We Watch

2007-08-17T01:54:00.000-05:00

For all intents and purposes the Cubs are tied for first place with Milwaukee, half-a-game back in the standings but tied in the loss column. We should be thinking about the Brewers.

But as I feared a month ago, the Cardinals are charging hard. They are 2.5 games back, but they are only one loss behind the Cubs and Brewers. And they're coming to town for four big ones.

This is the biggest four-game series the Cubs have had in years. The 2007 season may ultimately be decided by this series. 3 out of 4 or a sweep for either team could mean enough momentum to carry them to the postseason.

The Saturday afternoon game is the Fox game of the week, and ESPN is airing Sunday night's match up. I'm making no predictions about what's going to happen, but I will say it's going to be worth watching.

Good Times, Bad Times

2007-07-25T01:18:00.000-05:00

These days it's getting tougher to be a Cardinals fan (despite today's 11-1 win).

I've always said if the Cubs ever won a World Series I wouldn't care what happened the next season; they could go out there and I'd cheer for everyone of their victories and losses. Hell, they could go 0-162 and it wouldn't bother me a bit.

But I know that's not true.

When the Bulls won it all in 1991 I was delirious, and during the victory celebration in June I said I didn't care if they repeated or not. Then training camp rolled around and I had visions of another ring.

And there was another - the first two-time Chicago champion in my lifetime.

Then I got greedy.

A third ring brought delusions of grandeur, and thoughts of 7, 8, even 10 championships.

Even with Jordan gone for the 1993-94 season I thought the Bulls would compete, but I never thought they could win without him. They came close that year (Fucking Hugh Hollins...someone should check that guy out for game fixing; game five against the Knicks - to this day the worst goddamn call I've ever seen).

The world champs are 14 games under .500 and going nowhere while the Cubs are the hottest team in the majors since June. For nearly two months, when the Northsiders typically go into a tailspin (and usually after an awful two-month start to the season) they have played as well as any Cubs team I've seen.

They're winning blow outs and close games, they're scoring early and coming from behind late in games. They are second in the NL in ERA (behind the freaks on the Padres) and Piniella can seem to do no wrong.

There's plenty of time left in the season, and there's no saying with any certainty where the Cubs (or any team) will finish the season.

But the Cardinals are losing lots of games, the White Sox are nearly as bad as the Royals, and the Cubbies are winning games in bunches.

Sometimes (only once in a while) it's fun to be a Cubs fan.

The Thunder In Their Ears

2007-07-24T00:47:00.000-05:00

The rumbling Milwaukeeans have been hearing lately is not a Midwestern thunderstorm, or the pounding of the Lake Michigan shore. It is the sound of the Cubs stampeding their way toward first place.

The Cubs ended their recent home stand on a downer, losing the last two games, but went 7-3 overall.

How are the Brewers handling the pressure? By losing three of their last four (and four of their last six).

I bet it's hard to drink an MGD when you have both hands around your throat.

10 Weeks...

2007-07-13T09:59:00.000-05:00

That's how much time is left in this season.

The Cubs finished the last month of the first half as the hottest team in the Majors. If they can start the second half the same way they can go a long way toward making the playoffs and impressing me enough to allow my son to be exposed to the perpetually frustrating enterprise that is the Chicago National League Ball Club.

10 weeks.

4,000 Words

2007-06-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

Fight C(l)ub

2007-06-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

I'm not a fan of fighting. Whether it's "organized" like boxing or the idiotic UFC, or it's three drunks in a bar, punching someone in the face (or worse) is a bad idea.

But shit happens. Tempers boil over and once in a while two people who otherwise wouldn't go at each other (like teammates) have to be separated.

If I had to lay odds (and I'm not a betting man) on which two Cubs would eventually smack each other in the face, I would have bet the house on the fiery Zambrano and the apparently always-ready-to-throw-down Michael Barrett.

This is no way to fire-up a time, as evidenced by the fact that they lost yesterday's game and then went out today and lost again (their 6th loss in a row) despite the best efforts of Piniella, who got tossed for arguing a call the umpire made correctly.

The only good thing to come out of this whole debacle is the headline from the Tribune: Aggravated Battery.

Now that's funny.

Too Little Too Late?

2007-05-28T23:31:00.000-05:00

My dog Finley is a 5 month-old Gordon setter, so he needs to run. A lot. So every morning around 10:00 I take him to the park (he knows the way) and I throw his tennis ball or his Kong or his knotted rope and he runs and gets it then brings it back to me so I can throw it again.

Sometimes he’s not interested in playing fetch, so I play this little game with him; I pretend I’m not interested. I’ll leave his toy in the grass where it lays, or I’ll turn my back to him, holding his toy in my hand and be all like, “Whatever…I don’t want to play anyway.”

This, of course, makes him want whatever I have as if it were filled with bacon.

The universe seems to work this way sometimes – the more you want something the less likely it is that you’ll get it. The reverse also seems to be true; the less you want something the more likely it is to happen.

I think that’s what the Cubs are doing. They are waiting for me to not give a shit anymore. They are pushing me away. And when I’ve gotten to the point where I treat them the way I treat, say, the Blackhawks (that is, with a general indifference), where I check scores a couple times a month. Then, after I’ve moved on and the only connection I have to baseball is my son’s little league games, then and only then, will they become champions.

I don’t remember my first Cubs game. I don’t remember developing a love for the game or my team…it’s always been there, like my nose, or my one bad eye.

My desire for them to win is an autonomic response, like breathing. And when it doesn’t happen it hurts (just like ceasing breathing will very likely hurt).

The'll win when I don’t care anymore, (or care very little) and, sadly, I won't feel victorious, but likely nostaltic. Nostalgia is nothing more than homogenized happiness...with maybe a tinge of melancholy. It's is a useless emotion, lacking the punch of regret and the intensity of joy. It’s a watered-down emotion lacking gravitas.

My window of opportunity is closing. Life moves on. I know plenty of people who've grown up, had kids, aged, and never lost their passion for their favorite team. I don’t think that’s going to happen to me. I already feel myself becoming more casual in my fandom. It’s not simply a question of having enough time; there are plenty of hours in a day for me to read the sports section. It’s something…else (I’m loathe to say something ‘bigger’ for fear of placing a value judgment on my emotions). Something more abstract but no less real is at work.

Plenty of people will feel immense joy when the Cubs finally break through and win it all (whether in 2007 or 2097). But if it doesn’t happen soon I may not be one of them.

Are You Fucking Kidding Me?

2007-05-26T16:18:00.000-05:00

The headline reads Cubs Lose Late.

It could read Cubs Lose Face Or maybe Cubs Lose Faith.

What it should read is Cubs Pissing-Off Fans.

Last night they were down 5-0, then they went up 8-5, then I left work, happy in the notion that the Cubs had come from behind to win a game on the road.

Silly me.

With the 9-8 loss the Cubs are now 2-11 in one-run games. (They are 1-4 in extra-inning games.)

I’m not sure if they guys in the bullpen understand their job, but I can sum it up in three short sentences: throw fucking strikes, get fucking outs, finish fucking games.

Any fucking questions?

An Open Letter

2007-05-21T13:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Chicago National League Ball Club (aka the Cubs)

We need to talk.

I’m about to turn 40, a time of great introspection, and in my case, of massive changes. I’ve recently adopted a puppy (lovable and smart but precocious as hell) and my wife and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first child (not that you care about what’s going on in my life).

We should have spoken earlier (years ago) but I was distracted by 1998 and then 2003. I was reminded of the need for this conversation after this week’s debacle against the Mets. (Seriously…how can you blow a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th and not expect to have this conversation?)

Here’s the deal. You have to get your shit together. It’s really that simple. Yes, it was nice to see you bounce back this past weekend and take the first two games against the White Sox (Neal, Neal…what were you thinking?) But the fact of the matter is that our relationship has been degenerating for years now. It used to be that the mere thought of you would send my mind spiraling into hopeful daydreams. The possibilities seemed endless. When everyone doubted you it was me who defended you, it was me who said that they just didn’t understand.

But I was just a kid then, starry-eyed and optimistic. I believed your promises (I thought, why would you lie to me?) But that trust has been trampled like so much outfield grass. When you broke my heart (as you so often did) I took it out on other people, dumping my emotions on family and friends who didn’t deserve it. Oh, the hours I wasted rationalizing our relationship…how long we knew each other, how every year you promised to do better, how you made yourself pretty when everyone said you were getting old and showing your age.

Sure, you were beautiful to me (love truly is blind)…and your house…well, that speaks for itself. It was worth the visit alone just to hang out there, even if you broke my heart and sent me home disappointed time after time for years on end…with the notable exceptions of 1984 (and the aforementioned ’89 and ’03). And even then you were (apparently) merely setting me up for greater disappointment.

I’ll never forget the night we spent on the rooftop (I even remember the date – October 7th 2003) when, under the stars and surrounded by 50,000 of our closest friends, we started the night so hot and heavy - oh, the 4 runs you scored in the 1st inning making me so hot. And even when things seemed so gloomy later that evening, down by 2 in the bottom of the 9th with two out and a man on, you came through in the clutch and delivered the single greatest moment in our relationship, I remember thinking, this is the time. But it was not to be.

And a week later I was left all but alone, my heart bleeding as you came so close to making it all the way.I was crushed.That should have been the last straw. What kind of masochist would go back to you after that? But you promised you’d be back, that 2003 was only the beginning of the new you, the you who wouldn’t let me down, the you who for years to come would not only say the things I wanted to hear, but was willing to work toward making our life together wonderful (and wonderful is a word I don’t use lightly).

I can’t do it any more. I have my son to think about. I can’t raise him in this kind of abusive relationship (and there’s no denying that’s what this is). For his sake, I have to leave you. For him (if not myself) I have to find a new mistress, a new partner to get me through the long winter as we anticipate the coming spring. Someone who can carry me through those long summer days, and into the cool, grey days of autumn with a smile, with hope that this time it will work out.

I don’t want to find someone new, but you’ve left me few options. I simply cannot allow my son to grow up with the same unfulfilled longing, with the same unrequited love. I know what you’ll say, that I’ll miss coming over to your place (and I do love your place), that I’ll miss those summer days together where the weather is perfect and things are going well and it seems like the season will last forever. But I know it’s a lie. It’s taken me a long time to learn this, but I know it’s a lie.

So I’m giving you one final chance. If you can do it this year, if you can take me all the way, then I’ll stay with you. I’ll stay with you forever, sing your praises, even if we never go all the way again I will tell me son of our love, we will come to your cathedral and worship you through the generations.

But if you fail me, if you fall short yet again, it will be over. Forever. I will remove every reminder of you from my house (and my heart). I will burn every picture, sell every gift, pawn off every memento to friends, family, strangers who don’t know of your deceptions, maybe they will love you better than I can. Maybe I’m just not strong enough.I know it will be difficult.

I know I will see reminders of you everywhere I go in this city: on the television, when I ride the train past your house and look down at the green grass and the full ivy, when I ride the #22 Clark bus to and from work and see the entrance to your place all lit up, all your suitors swarming outside your front door. (It’s always a good idea to move to a new city after a breakup…but that’s simply not an option.)

I will speak of you in the past tense…when we used to be in love, how well I knew you, how intimate we were, our lives so entangled.

You have five months. That’s almost half a year to get it together. No more promises, no more ifs or buts.

This is your last chance.

I mean it this time.

I Hate To Be Inarticulate…

2007-05-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

…but…

…Hey Cotts, you suck!

How D-Lee Got His Groove Back

2007-05-15T21:19:00.000-05:00

Jeff Passan from Yahoo! sports wrote a nice piece about the return of Derrek Lee to his form of 2005. Lee finished 3rd in the NL in MVP voting that year behind winner Albert Pujols, even though Lee had a slightly better year statistically

AB Hits HR BA OPS
1 Albert Pujols 591 195 41 .330 1.039
3 Derrek Lee 594 199 46 .335 1.080

(I know what you're thinking - the Cubs finished 4 games under .500, 21 games behind the Cardinals in the division. That only magnifies what Lee did on a truly mediocre team.)

The guy is flat tearing it up this year: He's 2nd in the majors in doubles with 17 (just ahead of teammate Alfonso Soriano) and hits (55), 3rd in OBP (.463), 5th in OPS (1.016) and he's leading the universe in hitting at .390, having flirted with .400 most of the early going.

Sadly all of this has translated into a season of mediocrity where the Cubs seem to think that .500 is some sort of glass ceiling and they'll all die if they get over it.

Another Reason To Hate The Yankees

2007-05-13T23:59:00.000-05:00

I have a silent and public way of protesting the current administration: When I go to a sporting event I stay seated during the National Anthem. (Mark Twain said, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.")

It’s a small gesture and, other than my younger brother, not a single person has ever said anything to me about it. I haven’t even noticed a dirty look directed at me.

I’m not going to go into the many reasons I believe this administration does not deserve my respect, but now I have yet one more reason why the Yankee don’t deserve my respect.

“Seconds before “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” are played, police officers, security guards and ushers turn their backs to the American flag in center field, stare at fans moving through the stands and ask them to stop. Across the stadium’s lower section, ushers stand every 20 feet to block the main aisle with chains.”

I think the “with chains” part of this scenario is quite revealing.

“Howard J. Rubenstein, the spokesman for the Yankees’ principal owner, George Steinbrenner, said the policy was an expression of patriotism.”

And that expression is, ‘do what we say when we say and how we say.’ You know, like Jason Giambi, Randy Johnson and Johnny Damon kissing Steinbrenner's ass and cutting their hair.

What does it say about America (and ‘freedom’) when patriotism means you obey under the stare of a police officer? While attending a baseball game?

“The fans were telling us it was a disgrace that when the song was being sung people were not observing it with a moment of silence,” claims Lonn A. Trost, the team’s chief operating officer.

Weren’t the people going to the bathroom or getting nachos also fans?

The Yankees say they instituted the policy because they received “hundreds” of emails and phone calls.

So of the 3 million-plus people who attend Yankees games, “hundreds” don’t like it when people have to take a potty break during “God Bless America,” so the Yankees go out and hire police officers to make sure everyone better damn well bless America.

Is the phrase Gestapo tactics too strong?

Probably, but it begs the question, what next? Dress codes? No cheering for the opposing team? The Cubs sending ushers to club anyone who doesn’t sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch?

Fuck the Yankees.

DId I Mention...

2007-05-10T09:43:00.000-05:00

...Jason Marquis' 3-hit, complete game shutout?

Nice.

$$$

2007-05-09T23:44:00.000-05:00

Because Cubs tickets aren't expensive enough.

And did you see the game Jason Marquis pitched today? I did. Just for the record: Complete game, 3-hit shoutout with 5Ks and zero walks. He's 5-1 with a 1.70 ERA and the league is hitting .175 against him.

Someone might want to DNA test the guy on the Cubs wearing #21 because there's no way this is the same guy who led the league in losses last year with 16.

I know I predecited a decent year for Marquis (calling for 16 wins) but he's looking like Cy Young material. Though it is waaaaay early, and Brad Penny is tearing it up at 4-0, leading the universe (as if such a thing could actually be known) in ERA at 1.39.

70 Years And Counting

2007-05-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

The Daily Journal of Fergus Falls, Minnesota has a circulation of 8,000. Interestingly enough, that's about the same number of bleacher seats at Wrigley Field. More interesting still is that Tom Hintgen is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the famed ivy-covered walls of those same 8,000-seat bleachers.

And why would a reporter from Fergus Falls write about the 70th anniversary of Wrigley's Boston ivy?

"Former Fergus Falls Red Sox pitcher Harley Oyloe saw two World Series games at Wrigley Field in 1945, when he served with the U.S. Air Force and was stationed near Chicago.'

Not impressed?

Well then, "Prior to World War II Oyloe saw St. Louis Cardinal star pitchers Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul Dean play at Wrigley Field."

Awesome.

.500 Never Looked So Good.

2007-05-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

Well, well. Look at who’s climbed their way back up to .500.

So this is what a baseball team looks like: pitching, (half) decent defense, and timely hitting. Throw in a pretty good coach and a bullpen that holds a lead once in a while and you too can put together a 4 game win streak (and 7 of the last 8).

But before anyone gets too excited, let’s remember a couple of things: They are playing the Nationals, who are, by record, the worst team in the Majors and, with this win, the Cubs improved their home record to a sad 6-9.

But I have to say this is the most fun I’ve had as a Cubs fan in a couple of years. Rich Hill continues his impressive start by getting his 4th win and lowering his ERA to 1.73. Dempster earned his 7th save in 7 changes. And D-Lee reached base for the 28th game in a row (though he stranded 7 batters and hit into a bases-loaded double-play).

Then there’s the Cardinals. Talk about a hangover.

Only two teams in the NL have winning percentages under .400: the Nationals (thank goodness they came to town) and the Cardinals.

The Cards can’t seem to buy a break. They are 14th in the NL in team batting average, and dead last in hits, RBIs and runs scored (though their offense has struck out fewer times than anyone else…so they have that whole plate discipline thing down).

And then there’s the death of Josh Hancock. Is there any easy way to discuss something like this? I feel bad for the guy’s family, but it’s hard to feel bad for a guy whose blood alcohol was double the legal limit, speeding, talking on his cell phone, not wearing his seat belt and possibly stoned…and he was driving to another bar.

I respect Cardinals fans; they love their team and they know baseball. They respect the game. I think it’s great that a truly Midwestern city has the most World Series wins in National League history (and the second most appearances overall).

It saddens me a little to think that the Cards might spend the rest of the year in or near the basement. Right now it’s looking like the Brewers and the Cubs will be fighting it out in this (weak) division.

Cubs/Brewers.

It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Pitching is 90% Of The Game

2007-05-02T16:04:00.000-05:00

April was all about pitching.

With today’s win the Cubs have won 5 of their last 6; their only loss was another one-run heartbreaker, 3-2, in which Rich Hill continued to pitch extremely well (7.0 innings, 2 earned runs, 6Ks.) Hill has proven good as advertised – he’s eating innings, getting quality starts and his ERA sits at an impressive 1.77.

Jason Marquis continues to sparkle (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), throwing 8 innings today while giving up only 4 hits and 1 earned run, extending his record to 4-1 while lowering his ERA to 2.09.

Ted Lilly is also putting together the kind of season we hoped he would. He’s only 2-2, but his ERA is a stellar 2.82, he’s leading the team in innings (38.1) and Ks (38), while only giving up 6 walks.

Dempster’s ERA isn’t necessarily where you want it for your closer at 2.57, but he’s 5-for-5 in save opportunities, leads the team in WHIP at 0.71 and the league is hitting a paltry .130 against him.

It hasn’t all been rosy. Zambrano has been disappointing, and Wade Miller has been a disaster.

Can we count on these trends to continue?

The good news is that Hill and Lilly look like the real deal (though they obviously won't finish the season with their current ERAs), Zambrano should turn it around like he did last year after a terrible April where he went 0-5, and the bullpen (other than Scott Eyre) should do the same good job they did last year.

Marquis is a question mark because of last year’s numbers (16 losses), but he’s come out of the gate like a horse and is making me look like a genius (so far) in my 16 win prediction for him.

Poetry Slam

2007-05-01T00:08:00.000-05:00

Some idiot at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch couldn’t come up with enough material to write an actual column, so apparently he decided to pull out an old college journalism assignment instead. (When I was an undergrad I had to re-write Kafka’s The Penal Colony…and I didn’t even go to an expensive college.)

More interesting than the ham-fisted attempt at poetry are the footnotes where the writer drags out clichés about cursed goats and Steve Bartman (what stunning originality and wit.). He also inaccurately declares that Mark Prior and Kerry Wood are currently the “bedrock” on which the Cubs have built their future.

This piece would likely never had made much of an impact (who reads the Post-Dispatch anyway?) had it not been for Tony La Russa taking umbrage, and it’s hard to disagree with his points. Essentially he said that he wasn’t going to dignify the paper that printed this and in protest refused to answer questions asked by PD “writers.”

“Hey, I have an idea; why not make fun of the Cubs…that’s what Cardinals fans want to read.”

What bothers me most is that somehow this sort of writing is considered journalism. (And people in the Midwest wonder why coastal dwellers refer to this part of the U.S. as flyover country.)

What do Cubs fans and White Sox fans have in common? All they ever talk about is the Cubs. Can we add Cardinals beat writers to that list?

With this piece the writer has lowered himself to the level of a White Sox fan. Like the Sox before them, they won the World Series, but instead of basking in the glow of victory, they would rather wallow around in their hatred of another team. Is being in last place this early in the season really that difficult to deal with? Instead of criticizing his own team this jerk decides to hop on the fullest bandwagon in America.

In case you missed the last 100 years, the Cubs often suck.

Can we move on now?

Robo Wood

2007-04-24T23:39:00.000-05:00

It's easy to make jokes at the expense of the Cubs and their beleaguered youngish starters Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

Seriously.

It’s really easy to make jokes about these guys.

Cherry Popped

2007-04-23T23:57:00.000-05:00

Rocky Cherry (yes, that’s his real name) made his major league debut and helped maintain one of the most frustrating trends (along with injuries) of the (admittedly still young) 2007 season – one-run loses.

Cherry gave up a home run to Prince Fielder (his second of the game…the third time he’s had a multi-homer game at Wrigley) in the 12th inning.

I don’t know what the record is for one-run loses in a major league season, but the Cubs are well on their way (assuming they haven’t broken the record already).

David Halberstam 1934-2007

2007-04-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

In today’s media climate, where style is more important than substance, where ideology trumps integrity, where anyone with a computer and an internet connection (myself included), can be labeled a “journalist,’ to use such a mundane title for David Halberstam is, frankly, an insult to the spectrum of his writing.

Most sports writers observe, condense then regurgitate. Mr. Halberstam had an innate understating of baseball that went well beyond ball players and box scores to the core of what makes the National Pastime, well, the National Pastime.

He will be missed.

Among his works are the baseball classics, Summer of '49, October 1964, The Teammates and his book about Michael Jordan Playing For Keeps.

Fuck!

2007-04-22T18:04:00.000-05:00

One of the most commonly offered pieces of advice is never do anything in anger. Never drive angry, don’t go to bed angry, don’t call someone when you’re pissed off at them, and never, ever blog angry.

I’m not big on unsolicited advice.

This past weekend series against St. Louis has been the pinnacle of what has already been the most frustrating April I’ve experienced as a Cubs fan. I’m sick of this mediocrity shit! Either win games or suck. If you’re going to spend the season hovering within 5 games of .500 then just tell me now so I can stay focused on the Bulls playoff run, the upcoming NFL draft and trying to lose the ten or so sympathy pounds I‘ve gained during the first 8 months of my wife’s pregnancy.

The Cubs have won only a single series this year (against Milwaukee). The agonizing part is 7 of their last 8 losses have come by two runs or less, and the other loss was today’s extra-innings fiasco against the Cardinals.

And adding insult to injury, I sat Scott Rolen in my fantasy league because he was hitting .200 with a single home run and only 4 RBIs. Today he had a career best 5 hits with 3 runs, 3 RBIs and a home run while raising his average to .268.

You want it to hurt even more? The Cubs left 24 runners on base.

24!

AHHHHHHHH!

Do they want me to hate them? Is this some sort of cosmic test? Maybe they were told that the new owner (whoever that may turn out to be) wants to move the team, and if they lose every game by three runs or less die-hard fans will become who-cares fans and the team can move to Schaumburg.

This is the most annoying scoring line I’ve ever seen.

I’ve lost all patience for polite rhetoric, and we’re only three weeks into this season. Not only do I want to see Piniella lose his shit, I want him to actually kill and eat one of his players. May I suggest Wade Miller? Ryan Dumpster is also a good suggestion.

The Cubs have until the end of this month to get their shit together or I swear I’m going to start cheering for someone else. Anyone else. If they don’t start winning some of these games I’m going to do something drastic. I might even start watching the NHL playoffs.

Seriously?

2007-04-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

So, the only thing that kept Mark Buehrle from throwing a perfect game against the Rangers was a walk.

One walk.

To Sammy Sosa.

Yes, that Sammy Sosa.

The same Sammy Sosa who was so averse to taking walks you'd think he had an allergy to base-on-balls.

The same Sammy Sosa who struck out over 170 times three years in a row (and 168 in the fourth). (Just for comparison, Joe DiMaggio never struck out more than 39 times in a season, and that was his rookie year; 7 times he finished a season with more home runs that strikeouts.)

I mean, in 1996 Slammin' had more home runs (40) than walks (34).

Sosa, of course, being Sosa, was promptly picked off first.

Now, that's the Sosa I remember.

Identity

2007-04-18T15:21:00.000-05:00

A team needs an identity, and one of the keys to that is consistency. No matter what it is: Are we about pitching-and-defense, or are we a big-offense team who can outscore anyone? Do we jump out to big leads, or are we a come-from-behind team that is never out of a ballgame?

Some teams become famous for it…the big bats of Murderer’s Row, or the 1971 Orioles with their four 20-game winners. It doesn’t even have to be about numbers; it can be defined by a general character or attitude…the We Are Family Pirates of 1979 or the self-proclaimed Idiots of the 2004 Red Sox.

There's no way the Cubs can find an identity with 5 outfielders being shuffled in and out of the dugout then back and forth from left to right.

Ideally, I think, you want three guys who are going to run out there 140+ games each, plus either a defensive specialist/speedster and/or a late-innings bat, depending on the character of your team.

Pie has shown that he can play at a high level. I think you can do worse than trotting out Murton (who finished April 2006 at .294 and finished the season at .297…that’s consistent), Pie, and Soriano in right. AlSo’s not gonna win a Gold Glove, but he’s quick to the ball and has an above-average arm - he led all outfielders with 22 outfield assists last year.

To win you have to take the occasional chance. Admittedly, asking Pie to be your everyday guy out there is taking a chance. But the pitching is doing what we’d hoped, DeRosa, Ramirez and Lee are off the hot starts (the tweakiness of the first two notwithstanding), and if Barrett, Soriano, and Murton have even the seasons they had last year, scoring runs shouldn’t be a problem.

Someone needs to go, and it’s very obviously not going to be Pie or Soriano. Murton has too-much upside (I think he can turn into a guy who can hit 30-35 home runs a year batting around .300), as does Cliff Floyd (even if it is shorter term), playing at home, in a park he can potentially put up some decent numbers, even in a part-time role.

I give Jones credit for having above-average power to the opposite field, and being a seemingly nice guy, and, um…for being left-handed. We’ve had some good times, and some sad times, some angry times and some happy times…but now it’s time to go our separate ways, so we can both be happy.

It worked for Corey Patterson. Sosa seems to be doing well. And look what leaving did for Greg Maddux’s career.

Luck And Other Illusions

2007-04-18T02:43:00.000-05:00

After starting the season at 3-3, the Cubs have lost 5 of there last 7 by a combined total of 7 runs. The last three loses have all been by a single run each.

Fuck!

In those 7 games they’ve actually out scored their opponents 32-24.

!!!

It’s not the pitching.

The Cubs staff has the second highest strikeout total in the majors. Dempster has been lights out. In 7 innings he’s given up 1 hit, no runs, and has struck out 8 while walking only 2. The league is hitting a minuscule .130 off the guy. Granted, it’s a small sample, but he’s getting it done when given the ball.

The Cubs team ERA is 10th best in the majors…not bad, bud annoyingly the teams ahead of them include St. Louis (5th), Pittsburgh (6th), Cincinnati (7th) and Houston (9th), collectively known as the rest of the NL central. (The Brewers are sucking it up back at 24th, but, of course, they’re sitting at 2nd place in the division.)

You can’t necessarily blame the offense: They’re 3rd in the league in hits, and 4th in team batting (.260).

I’m not going to say it’s bad luck (because I don’t believe in superstitious nonsense like luck or curses).

But I believe in momentum and the law of averages…and that a bloop single dropping in once a while can do wonders for a team’s chemistry.

It's Pronounced Pee-A

2007-04-17T21:23:00.000-05:00

Felix Pie, please pick up the red courtesy phone.

I don't want to get all excited here. I remember Ryan Harvey, Corey Patterson, Brooks Kieschnick, Doug Glanville, Jerome Walton, Earl Cunningham… not to mention Brian Rosinski - A player with a career so successful that when I Google his name (394 hits) he gets almost 250 fewer hits than when I Google myself (635 hits).

It didn’t take long for the next Cubs phenom center fielder to get his chance to impress. And he didn’t disappoint. (Yeah, and Tuffy Rhodes hit three home runs on opening day in 1994 before shipping off to Japan.)

(Don't even get me started on the pitchers they've drafted...Ben fucking Christensen?)

Sadly, Pie got his chance because the (one hundred thirty) Six Million Dollar Man tweaked his hamstring while not making a diving catch in centerfield, a dive he made in a game the Cubs eventually won 12-4 (though it was only 3-0 at the time).

Interestingly (or maybe not) the Cubs scored 9 runs over the next two innings with their offensive star (0 HRs, 1 RBI, .245 and 11ks in 12 games) limping around the clubhouse.

In his Major League debut Pie tried to make everyone forget the temporary loss of AlSo by driving in his first run with his first hit. He then went on to score the game-tying run and gunned down the potential go-ahead run for the Padres in the 10th when he threw a strike to the plate to cut down the potential go-ahead run.

What does all this mean? Besides the fact that the Cubs are now an arm short after sending Angel Guzman to triple-A to make room for Pie (leaving them with 11 pitchers), it means they have an extra outfielder in a rotation of Pie, Soriano, Floyd, Murton and Jones where everyone except for AlSo is fighting for at bats.

I have a suggestion - trade the Butcher of Left Field aka Jacque Jones. We can put a sign in the window at Wrigley:

FOR SALE or TRADE
Lefty outfielder, decent power to the opposite
Field. Will accept another player in exchange.
If you’re unwilling to part with any talent we
will take a case of sunflower seeds and a
gross of Gatorade bottles.

Jones seems like a decent enough guy, but like the aforementioned Corey Patterson, I think what JJ needs is a change of scenery. Seriously, for his own good, get him out of Wrigley before he hurts himself, or worse, tries to make another play in the outfield.

El Sitio Oficial De Los Cubs

2007-04-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

Cubs buscan revancha contra Rojos.

Ojalá que el equipo de mantenimiento de Wrigley Field pueda remover la nieve sobre el terreno antes del viernes. Después de un partido cancelado por nieve el miércoles y un día libre el jueves, los Cachorros regresan a la acción el viernes contra los Rojos de Cincinnati. El primer partido podría ser bueno: Será una revancha del Día Inaugural entre Carlos Zambrano y Aaron Harang, una batalla entre dos candidatos para el premio Cy Young.

Harang obtuvo la victoria el 2 de abril, limitando a los Cachorros a una sola carrera en siete entradas. Zambrano le permitió dos jonrones a Adam Dunn y fue el derrotado. Los Cachorros pedieron dos de los tres partidos en esa primera serie de la temporada en Cincinnati y han perdido tres partidos consecutivos. El jardinero Jacque Jones no está desanimado.

"No queremos que el pánico se apodere de nosotros", dijo Jones. "Es temprano. Yo quiero ganar. Todos aquí quieremos ganar. No queremos acostrumbrarnos a perder. Tenemos un equipo que no creo que se acostumbre a perder".

"Estoy animado porque en todos los partidos teníamos oportunidad de ganar. Es lo que se siente en el dugout. Que podremos a los muchachos en base y que algo va a pasar. Hasta ahora nos hemos quedado cortos, pero estoy animado por lo que ha estado pasando".

(A 6-5 loss sucks in any language.)

Sigh

2007-04-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

At least Mark Prior hasn’t lost his sense of humor (though I’ve lost my sense of humor about Mark Prior).

Prior was pulled in his extended spring training debut after two innings. He experienced shoulder soreness blah blah blah.

He quipped “that his plan was to try and make the Triple-A All-Star team and Futures Game.”

Ha ha.

At this point there are only two possible routes for the Mark Prior Saga to take - triumphant return, or abject failure.

It almost seems that there’s no room for any sort of middle ground.

He dominated at USC:
-2002 finalist for the 72nd annual Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) James E. Sullivan Memorial Award which recognizes the top amateur athlete in the nation ... was just the fourth baseball player to be a finalist for the prestigious award in 2001
-Won seven national Player of the Year awards after going 15-1 with 6 complete games, 3 shutouts and a 1.69 ERA during his junior year at USC
-Led the Trojans to the College World Series while limiting opponents to a .201 average, striking out 202 batters in 138.2 innings and surrounding only 18 walks and 5 homers.
-Won the Golden Spikes Award (the baseball equivalent of the Heisman Trophy), the Rotary Smith Award and the Dick Howser Trophy (National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association).
-Was named the Player of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches' Association, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and The Sporting News.

In his first two years with the Cubs he went 24-12 with a 2.88 ERA, 392 Ks (7.5 per 9 IP) and only walked 88 guys.

And since…some starts, DL, a win or two, DL, DL, DL, some innings, 1-6 last year, DL.

This is not deterioration, it’s a straight drop.

He’s been tweaked and banged and twisted so often that he’s been knocked off his infamously perfect balance.

It’s doubly hard for Cubs fans because Prior’s fall has come directly on the heels of the Demise of Kerry Wood.

With Wood it seemed everyone was blaming the coaching staff…too many innings, too many curve balls, too many strikeouts (they drive up the pitch count…and the expectations), and the incessant tweaking of his mechanics - let the kid fucking pitch!

Mark Prior is...The Can’t-Miss-Kid - Part II. This time, there are no excuses!

We’ve all seen how impressive he can be when he’s on. I was at the game at the end of 2004 when he threw 9 innings, gave up only three hits and struck out 16…and the Cubs lost 2-1. It was beyond frustrating to watch.

Who knows, maybe he can hang around for a while. Often times a flash of brilliance can buy a career’s worth of chances. In the era of free agency the baseball landscape is littered with journeymen players at ever position. Even the coaching ranks seem piled just as high with players who woulda-coulda-shoulda for the bulk of their careers.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2007-04-12T16:52:00.000-05:00

Maybe a dome isn't the worst idea.

Or maybe those who call themselves baseball traditionalists (like myself) should start lobbying for a return to the 154-game season. If the season didn’t go from Valentine’s Day to Thanksgiving there might not be so many canceled games. The phrase ‘snow day’ should not apply to the national pastime.

Begging the question, what makes a traditionalist?

There is no textbook definition (and a Google search isn't much help), but some ground rules can be established.

In no particular order:

1. Scrap the DH.
2. Dump interleague games. (In the Old Days interleague games were called the World Series.)
3. Steal some fucking bases.
4. Hit and run. Yes, three-run homers are very exciting, or at least more exciting than beating out an infield single, stealing second, getting a guy over then driving him home with some contact (either a sac. fly or a single over the infielders' heads) from your number three or four hitter. But you can't count on those three-run bombs.
5. The All-Star game is an EXHIBITION!
6. Astroturf is an abomination (and fortunately on its way out of the game).

The hardest part about calling myself a traditionalist is the recognition that there are definitely some traditions the game is better off without: Segregation,
chewing tobacco and the reserve clause.

I’m serious, if they institute robot umpires I’m out of here.

This Century's Repeat

2007-04-10T18:56:00.000-05:00

A friend recently asked me how I can be an atheist and a Cubs fan. After all, how I can have faith in a team that has in no way proven itself worthy of that faith? Believing the Cubs will win the World Series is as ridiculous as believing in Zeus or the Easter Bunny, both of which seemingly have a more realistic chance of manifesting themselves than a Northside WS victory.

Here’s the difference: as a Cubs fan I don’t believe the Cubs will win it all; I hope they will. Theists don’t walk around saying they don’t believe in heaven but they hope it’s there. They say there is a heaven. Anyone crazy enough to say the Cubs will definitely win the World Series isn’t a faithful fan, they’re nuts.

Everyone knows it’s been 99 years since the Cubs won. At least they had the decency to go back-to-back with a repeat in ’08. So here’s my fearless prediction (please, please, please let it be true): The Cubs will not only be world champions this year, they will do it again next year, repeating that feat of a century ago. '07 and '08 are our lucky numbers.

Now if I can only get Santa to give me those season tickets I keep writing him about.

Welcome To The Wrigleydome

2007-04-09T19:59:00.000-05:00

There’s an old joke about the mythical axe George Washington used in his youth to cut down the cherry tree.

The joke goes something like this: A man is holding a small wood-handled hatchet and discussing the story. “Father, I can not tell a lie,” Washington confesses. The man holds up the axe and declares, “This is the very same axe…but it became so old they had to replace the handle…and the head.”

A more current incarnation could go something like this – a man standing outside of Wrigley Field, his arm around his young son’s shoulder, looks up at the venerated edifice. “Son,” he begins, “This is Wrigley Field. The home of the Cubs as it’s stood since 1914, but they had to replace the bleachers…and the grandstands, the box seats, the dugouts, the clubhouses, and the press boxes…plus they added lights and luxury suites.”

Nothing lasts forever. Not the Great Wall, or the Great Pyramids and definitely not the Great Ballpark. Bricks crumble, technology advances and Barry Bond’s shoe size grows. That doesn’t mean you have to move to Naperville.

When the Cubs change hands next year things will change greatly (that is to say, in a large way, if not for the better), but that doesn’t mean the Cubs need to move.

Over the last couple seasons Michael Barrett has become one of my favorite Cubs. He’s a Silver Slugger winner and a spark plug (I wonder who he’s going to punch in the face this year). But I can’t help but think about what he was smoking when said, “You'd like to see a dome put on the outside of it.” He took a hit then added, “Don't change anything about Wrigley Field. Just reinforce it and have a dome covering it.”

Uh, don’t change anything…except for adding a dome?

I love that shithole as much as anyone (maybe more than most). Does it diminish my qualifications as a fan to say that where my team plays is (almost) as important to me as who plays? I don’t think so. When the Colts moved from Baltimore I’m sure plenty of people stopped calling themselves Colts fans. When the Browns left Cleveland I know people stopped calling themselves Browns fans. And if the Cubs move to Hoffman Estates (or wherever the fuck isn’t Chicago) I will no longer call myself a Cubs fan.

Replace the clubhouses. Add a parking lot/mall. Add a fucking retractable dome. Play a season or two (gasp) on the south side or in Milwaukee or in Thillens Stadium. But the Cubs should now and forever call 1060 West Addison home.

0-3 vs. 1-2

2007-04-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

I'm tempted to make fun of the Cardinals 0-3 start (where they've been out-scored 20-2) but as a Cubs fan I don't have much room to talk considering the Cubs 1-2 start (at least they've been closer, being out-scored 11-7...sheesh).

The good news for the Cubs is after this three-game trip to Milwaukee, 14 of the following 16 games are at home.

Time to make hay. (I don't know what that means, but I heard a farmer say it and it sounded positive.)

Not the best start to the season

2007-04-04T15:01:00.000-05:00

An e-mail exchange I've had with a friend and fellow Cardinal fan on the first two games of the season:

From: Arch Support
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 10:41 AM
To: AZH
Subject: Not the start we were looking for

From Deadspin this morning:

Orlando Hernandez became the second 41-year-old pitcher in two games to beat the Cardinals, throwing a seven-inning five-hitter in a 4-1 New York victory. Fortunately, the Cardinals have Braden Looper starting tonight to avoid the sweep.

La Russa's a freaking genius.

R

_________________

From: AZH
To: Arch Support
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 11:32 AM
Subject: RE: Not the start we were looking for

Yeah, not the best start to the season. It's okay - with Skip "Secret Weapon" Schumaker on our side...nothing can stop us! Well, except maybe 75% of the teams in the NL.

_________________

From: Arch Support
To: AZH
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 3:08 PM
Subject: RE: Not the start we were looking for

I'm more worried about the offense than the pitching. All the sports experts (read: ESPN) are harping on our pitching losses. Like Marquis and his 6.02 ERA. People don't give Wainwright and Reyes any credit. And they forget that Wells was a good pitcher two years ago....granted, he's more of a question mark. But in terms of talent, our rotation is better than it was last year. I just wish La Russa would realize Looper's not a starter. Or at least pit him against the shitty teams in the Central instead of the fucking Mets.

The offense is the scary part. Pujols, Rolen, then not much else. Edmonds is good if he's healthy, but we'll probably only get 100-120 games out of him. Maybe Duncan will be as good as he was last year, but a whole season in the majors will probably reveal more negative than positive. After that, you've got Eckstein, Kennedy, and Molina who are all average or worse. Ugh.

Another thing La Russa does that pisses me off is when he says, "the position is open, whoever plays the best, gets the spot" during spring training. Then, Taguchi and Wilson suck all through March, J-Rod hits the cover off the ball and he still ends up in AAA. If you're going to give the spot to your beloved veterans, just say that. Quit jerking everyone around.

Eh, I'm just anxious because of a pair of losses. My worry is that the team has yet to have a rally. We've scored two runs. Nobody's been stringing hits together, or even the patented Cardinals' "walk - move to second on wild pitch - ground ball to right side moves runner to third - sac fly" or related run. I just get the feeling we're going to spend the season hoping for Pujols three run dongs and Carpenter to pitch 130 games.

In the meantime, why not start Skip Snip in right? Bat him fourth.

R
-----

Just unfounded fear, right? Right?!

Kill Me Now

2007-04-03T18:14:00.000-05:00

I can't help but wonder about fanatics. I'm not talking about fans who get tattoos of their team's logo or paint their dens in team colors. I'm not referring to fans who memorize every statistic or name their dog after their favorite player. I'm not even talking about the goofballs who paint themselves from head to toe and wear garish costumes to every game.

I'm talking about the kind of people, freaks really, who name their daughters Jordan because of MJ. I'm talking about the kind of people who fill every room in their homes (and their garages) with "memorabilia" to the point where they need interventions.

I'm talking about the kind of people who would have their immortal remains interred in a casket "emblazoned" with the logo of their favorite team. Nothing says reverence like being buried in a casket painted in the marketable black and teal of the Florida Marlins.

Casket and urn maker Eternal Image is in the death business, and apparently business is good. According to the company, when they announced the "team urn product last summer" sales were so good they had to start a waiting list.

I'd say get a life, but for their customer base I'd guess it's too late for that.

I'm So Wasted

2007-03-24T13:50:00.000-05:00

"No man, I don't waste my time with those little beer cans...I drink 40s; you know those great big glass bottles of malt liquor..."

One (Or Maybe 4 or 5) For The Road

2007-03-22T22:42:00.000-05:00

Now we know how the Busch family made enough money for a new stadium.

The Unfriendly Confines?

2007-03-11T22:38:00.000-05:00

In one of the most ridiculous articles I’ve ever read, Bllomberg.com “writer” Scott Soshnick claims the Cubs, their fans, and the entire city of Chicago owe Steve Bartman an apology, and even more boldly declares, “Midwestern congeniality vanished on the night of Oct. 14, 2003.”

Mr. Soshnick would have us believe that games at Wrigley resembles skirmishes outside the green zone. I don’t know how many games Mr. Soshnick has attended during the last 3 seasons, but I can tell him that Wrigley has not degenerated into an inhospitable Hellhole. (However, it took me almost 15 minutes to track down a hotdog vendor during a game last August.)

I’m not one to blame Bartman for the collapse the Cubs suffered in that game. I blame Alex Gonzalez for booting an inning-ending double play.

But Soshnick writes idiotically that Bartman “had the misfortune of a great seat for a National League Championship Series game against the Florida Marlins.”

No. He had the great fortune of having a great seat for what should have been the pennant-clinching game.

He had the misfortune of not keeping his hands in his pockets.

Soshnick goes on to declare, “Good karma, not to mention human decency, mandate that Cubs fans make amends. The Cubs should hold a Bartman day at Wrigley - - lead by example, and demonstrate in the most public of ways that bygones are indeed bygones.”

Mandate?

Invoking karma is ludicrous on so many levels it’s laughable. Apparently winning championships has nothing to do with acquiring quality players or keeping guys off the DL or working under a great manager; it’s good karma.

Soshnick says the reason Cubs fans haven’t forgiven Bartman is because Jim Hendry hasn’t tried hard enough.

Hendry says, “He doesn't have to be forgiven from us. We never sat up there and blamed him. I can't control the fan base.''

To which Soshnick brilliantly retorts, “Not if you don't try you can't.” (I get the feeling someone’s been watching Oprah and reading The Secret.)

Let’s envision Bartman day: Bartman stands on the mound to thundering applause while throwing out the first pitch. After being led to his front row seat, the same seat he so famously occupied in 2003, fans all around offer to buy him beers. Little kids run up with their baseballs and blue Cubs caps hoping for just a glimpse of their newly-forgiven hero, praying for an autograph or maybe a picture. Bleacher hotties offer to take him out for a night on the town.

In all seriousness, I haven’t heard Bartman’s named invoked in probably two years. No one, not one single Cubs fan I know, has ever blamed the guy. Sure, they’ll say something like ‘why didn’t he just back off,’ but never once (I’m not exaggerating) have I heard a fan blame anyone but the players or Dusty Baker (which, in this instance, is almost as idiotic as blaming a fan).

But why let reality get in the way of a bad column? After all, this is all just uncongenial flyover country anyway.

Royals Rough Up Prior

2007-03-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

No, Princes William and Henry did not jump Mark Prior in an alley and kick the snot out of him...the Kansas City Royals apparently knocked the snot out of Mark Prior's "fastball" (lately topping out at a less-than-stunning 84 MPH) and perhaps his confidence with it.

Prior's spring so far consists of two appearances: 31⁄3 innings, an 18.90 ERA, and zero strikeouts while giving up eight hits, five walks and a home run. (If he keeps this up someone is going to start calling him Mark Fryer - as in he keeps getting cooked.)

Yes, it's still early, and yes, Prior still has time to turn things around (I've little doubt that he'll stay behind for a extended spring training), but it's not looking good for the former can't-miss kid. It seems these days the only things around him that can't miss are opposing hitters' bats.

Hybernating

2007-03-08T16:42:00.000-06:00

Let The Games Begin

2007-02-26T03:21:00.000-06:00

Bold prediction (revisited): 200 innings = 16 wins.

Welcome South Africa

2007-02-21T14:09:00.000-06:00

You gotta love the internet.

Team Predictions II - Revenge Of The Cubs

2007-02-19T23:03:00.000-06:00

Team: Chicago Cubs. While I admit that 94 wins seems like a huge swing for a team that only mustered 66 wins last season, this is,, in many ways a very (very!) different team; a team with a roster capable of winning 94 games.

Players who will perform: Rudy predicted “Derrek Lee will have a season somewhere…in the park of 90-35-110 (R-HR-RBI) at an average of .290.” I think those numbers are well short. There’s no doubt in my mind Lee will go no less than 100-40-120 and will challenge for the MVP.

Rudy also wrote “Aramis Ramirez will do exactly what he's done the last three years.” I agree. 90 runs, 170+ hits, 30+ doubles and home runs with over 100 RBIs while batting over .300.

Poor Alfonso Soriano; it will be impossible, short of an MVP during the regular season, NLCS and World Series (which, of course, the Cubs will have to win) for AlSo to live up to The Money. I don’t think anyone doubts the guy will put up big numbers. What no one seems to be considering is the affect this will have on the rest of the Cubs roster, a roster, I might add, that has a legitimate major league talent at every position. There are no obvious weak links anywhere up and down the order.

Carlos Zambrano will win the NL Cy Young award.

Players who will disappoint: Mark De Rosa is a good pick here. As Rudy said, there's not a lot expected of him. Rudy also points out that he “won’t be worth what he’s making.”

I’ve been thinking about this idea since the AlSo signing. Actually, I’ve been thinking about it (as has everyone else) since A-Rod signed a deal worth a quarter billion dollars.

I don’t really care how much a player makes. That is to say, that there’s little debate to had as to whether baseball players make too much money; they do. The question is can the guy get the job done? If DeRosa has the year he had last season, 40 doubles, 13 HRs, 74 RBIs, .296 (in 136 games), he will be worth the money.

As Rudy pointed out, I, like most Cubs fans, expect (and hope) Matt Murton will blossom into a star player. Rudy also said that MnM was “another guy who I don't think will be bad, just not as good as everyone wants him to be.” I’m not sure why Rudy thinks he will not be that player considering he pointed out (accurately) that “Murton has gotten a lot of respect from the fans for his solid, intelligent hitting, [and] his patience at the plate.”

Murton should see a lot of good pitches this year considering the protection in the Cubs lineup, even if he’s near the bottom of the order – the guy can take a walk and the last thing a pitcher wants to do is walk guys near the bottom of any order.

I also must agree that Ted Lilly is a good pick by Rudy. But again, I have to point out that Rudy mentions salary and that if his season is not a vast improvement over last year his number will “in no way be even remotely respectable considering what he's being paid.”

Players who will surprise: I did not list Rich Hill for the simple reason that the monster year we’re all hoping for is being predicted for him by a few people, so it will be no surprise when he and Big Z finish 1-2 in the Cy Young voting. (Down boy! I constantly have to beat back the irrationally hopeful Cubs fan in me.)

Henry Blanco? Really? I agree with Rudy, however, that if he steps up the way he did last year at times, the Cubs indeed will have to retire his number.

First player to be traded if the season goes to shit: Jacque Jones. Finally, we are in total agreement.

First player targeted for acquisition if the season goes well: I disagree that the Cubs will not make a deal if the season is going well. Granted, I think it will be for a lefty bat off the bench or some such esoteric void-filler (though the acquisition of Cliff Floyd makes that specific scenario less likely).

As for Rudy’s cum-drenched Ghostbusters marshmallow man, uh…all I’ll say is that I’ve started bringing disinfectant wipes to work when I know Rudy’s been there.

Projected 2007 Won - Loss Record: 94 or bust, baby!

Projected finish in Division: I’m sticking to my guns here and saying the Cubs will win the NL Central.

While our division is not the strongest in baseball, I think the fact that the WS champs are in the Central, combined with the improved Cubs, a decent Reds team and the improving Brewers (hell, the Astros almost surpassed the Cards at the end of last year), the NL Central will not be the joke it was last season.

Projected finish in Playoffs (if included): If last season proved anything it’s simply that in baseball, as in life, you never know.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed and thinking of dead puppies to try and get rid of the image of Jim Hendry in a circle jerk.

Welcome Panama!

2007-02-19T02:50:00.000-06:00

After receiving our first Asian hit last week (Hello China) we have penetrated the Central American market.

Our ClustrMap indicates a hit from what looks like Panama. Though it might be Columbia. In that case...Welcome Columbia!

I'm Not Impressed

2007-02-18T23:52:00.000-06:00

Winter ball is supposed to be a place where emerging prospects, uh, emerge; apparently not this year.

24-year-old Casey McGehee led all Cubs prospects in nearly every offensive category while playing in the Mexican Pacific League. While batting .300 he led Cubs players in hits (74), doubles (10), homers (seven), RBIs (36), runs (35), walks (27) and games (67)

Second base prospect Eric Patterson played well, finishing the season with a .345 average.

Some low-lights:

Mexican Pacific League.

LHP Les Walrond went 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA. The 30-year-old (30?) gave up 17 earned runs and walked 19 in 45 1/3 innings.

RHP John Webb was 1-4 with a 3.83 ERA. (Yawn.)

Venezuelan League.

SS Ronny Cedeno batted .226 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 39 games.

35-year-old catcher Henry Blanco caught 54 games and batted .204 with three homers and 17 runs scored.

Infielder Robinson Chirinos played in just four games where he went 3-for-15 (.200) with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored.

CF Christopher Walker finished the season batting .225 with one home run and three RBIs,

Dominican League.

RHP Carlos Marmol made just one appearance and was charged with one run on three hits over 3 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old made four appearances (one start) in the playoffs and was roughed up for 11 runs on 14 hits over five innings.

RHP Roberto Novoa made just three appearances and surrendered three runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Arizona Fall League

C Jake Fox batted .250 (16-for-64) with a homer and 18 RBIs. More than half of his RBIs came in just two games.

RHP Lincoln Holdzkom went 2-0 with a 7.08 ERA in 13 appearances. He gave up 19 runs -- 16 earned -- over 20 1/3 innings

And the biggest disappointment of all:

OF Felix Pie hit .219 with three stolen bases and 13 RBIs in 32 games. He did not appear on the Tigres' playoff roster.

Tim Hardaway – Mental Midget.

2007-02-16T00:27:00.000-06:00

And speaking of putting your hard away…the NBA has decided to distance itself from the former Golden State Warrior/Miami Heat/Dallas Maverick/Denver Nugget/Indiana Pacer who never even went to the NBA finals, let alone win a championship, (I’m just sayin’) when he declared, “I hate gay people.”

Hardaway (it’s almost too ironic for words) all but admitted he has a mental disorder when he stated, “Yeah, I’m homophobic.”

pho·bi·a NOUN:
A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.

He then went on to clarify his remarks (but confused the shit out of me) when he said, “"It shouldn't be in the world for that or in the United States for that.”

Hardaway added he would not talk to a gay family member.

Amaechi responded to Hardaway's comments:

"It has made it tangibly less safe for gays and lesbians throughout the country, because he has polluted the atmosphere with hatred. Since Tim's comments, the number of vitriolic and hate-filled e-mails has increased. They don't have a complaint, they just want me to know I am hated."

Congrats Timmy, you’ve put yourself on the same side of the issue as professional bigot John Rocker (and JR's got the shirts to prove it).

Your family must be so proud.

We're #2

2007-02-15T23:57:00.000-06:00

The Cubs have been (rightfully) named the second worst person in the world by Keith Olbermann because they are going to start plastering the venerated ivy-covered outfield with advertising. Someone get an airsickness bag because I'm about to puke.

I know the Cubs have spent some money this off-season, but...I don't know what to say. I'm serious about the nausea though.

My unborn son will never see the Wrigley field of his father's youth (and a big chunk of my adulthood); the unfettered view of the best looking arena in all of sports is now defaced no less than if someone had spraypainted graffiti.

These things never get better, they only get worse. Whatever revenue generated will not sate The Suits, it will only whet their appetites. This is not a temporary fix, but another stream of revenue, and one that will doubtless be exploited to its fullest extent.

Say goodbye kids, the good ol' days are gone forever.

Big Z Calls Himself Big Z

2007-02-13T16:47:00.000-06:00

I know English is not Carlos Zambrano's first language, but I'm pretty sure he should know that you shouldn't refer to yourself in the third person. Especially when what you're saying is making you look like an asshole. I quote:

"I want to sign with the Cubs before the season starts. If they don't sign me, sorry, but I must go. That's what Carlos Zambrano thinks."

Is that what you/he thinks?

Here's what I think:

Pitch. Go out there, continue doing what you've been doing, and you'll get paid.

"Jim [Hendry] spent a lot of money. I hope he has more for 'Big Z.'"

No. You/he can not refer to yourself by your/his nickname and your/his full name. Pick one and stick with it...like Rickey Henderson.

Yes, I know, it's part of the business of baseball, but threatening (and this is obviously a threat) the team that drafted you, brought you along, and is going to pay you in the area of well over $10 million this season, is no way to win the hearts of fans.

Oh wait; apparently fans don't have hearts anymore, now we just have open wallets.

Pot Shot

2007-02-09T16:45:00.000-06:00

Pot Shot

Another journalist has thrown out another tired cliché about the Cubs.

Referring to the teams he feels are going to the Big Dance, he writes, “Wisconsin is a lock. So, too, are Ohio State and Indiana, should they avoid collapses that would make members of the 1969 Chicago Cubs exhale massive sighs of relief.”

Yes, the Cubs of 1969 came up short. 37 years ago!

It’s not like other teams haven’t finished seasons poorly.

It’s not like other teams haven’t blown huge leads in games.

The 2004 Yankees were an out away from completing a sweep of the Red Sox and going to the World Series.

Go pick on them for a while.

Welcome China!

2007-02-09T16:23:00.000-06:00

Who had China in the Far East pool?

Rudy pointed out that if you look at the world map at the bottom of our page, you can see where our hits are coming from worldwide. Obviously, they are mostly from Chicago and St. Louis. But now we're global, baby!

That's right; we've penetrated the Chinese market.

Now if they could send us an inexpensive pitcher who can throw 200+ innings that would be helpful.

Rudy's Team Predictions: STL

2007-02-05T17:53:00.000-06:00

Team: The Cardinals are coming off their first World Series triumph in twenty-four years. Moreso, they won the World Series when they had to. They'd been a great team through 2004-2005, made the Series one of those two years, the NLCS both years, but never captured a ring. With Jim Edmonds on the downslope, players like Scott Rolen and Chris Carpenter reaching the peak of their primes, and an uncertain starting rotation for this year, 2006 was a must-win if the Cards wanted a title this decade.

Fortunately, they got it. How much of an effect that will have on this season remains to be seen. Among knowledgable Cards fans, there are two theories: 1. We've won the series, let's not go crazy with money and let the young players get some innings and at-bats, see what we've got; 2. We've won the series, but the Cardinals have been the team to beat in the Central the last six years, let's not let that slip away.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that both of these theories could come to fruition simultaneously. While other teams in the division have improved this offseason, the Cardinals are coming off a World Championship with an identical lineup. The starting rotation will be a marked difference, but with the talent of Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright, the starters can be as good, if not better than last year (remember Jason Marquis's 6.02 ERA in 194.1 innings). The bullpen was deep last year and figures to be the same this year, provided Jason Isringhausen is healthy. Finally, the braintrust of Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan are returning, with the savvy Walt Jocketty pulling players in mid-season trades. La Russa is a coin with two sides: at times, a baseball genius....at others a frustrating traditionalist who thinks he's a baseball genius. Personally, I'm of the opinion that there's not much about a game a manager can control (see this post for a breakdown). But, TLR and Dunc have presided over one of the greatest stretches in a healthy franchise history. The fact that they're coming back can't be a bad thing.

On to the predictions...

Players who will perform: Albert Pujols. No surprises here. Pujols missed almost a month of last season and still had a year that could have won an MVP. Not only was he freakishly consistent, he even quashed the then-forming idea that he wasn't good in clutch situations. While he wasn't much heard from in the World Series, he was the reason the Cards beat the Padres in the Division Series, he was strong in the NLCS, and he hit a big two-run homerun in Game 1 against Detroit that got the Redbirds started on the right foot and eliminated home park advantage for the Tigers.

Scott Rolen. He had a good season last year until he slowed in September and early October. Being a year removed from shoulder surgery will only help him this season. While I don't think he'll be as good as his monster 2004, barring injury, I think he will approach those numbers.

Chris Carpenter. Alright, so this section isn't really all that bold in its predictions, but come on. Who wouldn't pick these guys. Carpenter and Roy Oswalt are the two best pitchers in the NL (Brandon Webb's Cy Young not withstanding). In two or three years, I think Carlos Zambrano and Jake Peavy will hold that title, but for now it's Carp and daddy-O.

Players who will disappoint: Chris Duncan. I'm not putting his name up there because I want him to disappoint nor even because I think it's a given. But it is a good possibility. Duncan finally got regular playing time at the Major League level. He looked like a masher. Problem is, he never hit homeruns like that throughout his minor league career. Given that his stats only encompass about a half season, I'd say we're dealing with a small sample size. I don't think we can expect the same homerun rate from him this year, hitting in front of Pujols or not. Combine a projected decline with his bad outfield defense, and Duncan could be a huge disappointment this year. Of course, if last season is his normal ML production, then....but I don't want to sound too much like a Cubs fan.

Jason Isringhausen. When healthy, Izzy is a good and sometimes great closer. His name is not in the same class as Rivera or Hoffman, but he is consistent and reliable. Most Cardinals fans want to strangle him when he gets on the mound, but he is still able to get the job done most of the time. Problem is when he's not healthy....which can be often. I'm not saying Izzy is injury prone, but when he's hurt, he's hurt. He doesn't seem like the kind of pitcher who can battle his way through aches and pains. When he tries, it affects his performance greatly (and I don't mean positively greatly) and usually costs him in the long-run in that he changes his delivery only to cause more problems (see last season). Izzy has evolved more than any other pitcher on the Cardinals staff: from fastball/cutter/curveball, to cutter/curveball, to pretty much anything he can get over the plate. He continues to rack up saves despite his K rates dropping from year to year. I think he'll be healthy this year, but his performance level won't improve much from last year.

Jim Edmonds. I don't really predict him to disappoint, but he is getting older. His performance last year was less than Edmondsesque, but still better than you could get from many Major League center-fielders. I don't think the fans will be down on Edmonds this year, but at best I see him as good as last year. At worst....well, I won't go there.

Yadier Molina. Molina's a great defensive catcher. And that's it. Every year, the fans hope he will turn it on offensively. Every year, he gives them a taste and then proceeds to suck. After his impressive performance in the NLCS and World Series last year, some fans are predicting him to break out this year. Don't hold your breath. Molina could become a serviceable offensive catcher and that would be great. But I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Players who will surprise: Adam Kennedy. I don't think Kennedy's play next year will be much better than his career numbers, but in an off-season market gone crazy, this was one of the best signings anywhere. If Kennedy does what he can do, then Cardinals fans should be very satisfied with him.

Kip Wells. Another Cardinals season, another Dave Duncan reclamation project. Duncan's record with down-on-their-luck pitchers is so good that Cardinals fans seem to take it as given that he will turn around at least one pitcher a year. This year, Kip Wells is that pitcher. While I don't think Wells is going to ressurect his 2003 season, I do see him becoming a serviceable #3 or #4.

Anthony Reyes. Everyone knows Reyes is talented. But his stock has fallen a bit compared to two years ago. Then, he was king shit and Adam Wainwright was a huge question mark. After a solid season and a huge post-season from Wainwright, he's the projected star in the rotation behind Carpenter. Not that Reyes has fallen off the planet, but people aren't expecting as much out of him, I feel. But, if Reyes can spend the whole season in the bigs, making a start every fifth day, I think he'll be as good as Wainwright, if not better. I feel his performance last season was spotty because of the trips between St. Louis and Memphis every couple of weeks. His performance against the White Sox in interleague (a one-hit loss) and his start in Game 1 against the Tigers are good indicators of what he can do if you just give him the ball.

First player to be traded if the season goes to shit: This is a tough one, if only because I'm so completely un-used to the Cards having a crappy season. It's like speaking French, or floating in zero gravity....alien. Anyway, enough back-handed bragging: I would guess a role-player like Juan Encarnacion, Braden Looper, Scott Spezio.....that type. If things got really crazy....Scott Rolen?.....Nah, they wouldn't do that to me....would they? Walt? Don't look at me like that Walt? I can't take it!

Player targeted if the season goes well: This depends on one thing: which part of the team rocks the least? If its the starting rotation, we'll trade with a loser for someone with experience in the last year of his contract...probably with unusually low stock.....Jeff Weaver did sign a one year contract with Seattle, so he'll probably be available.

If its the bullpen, then I don't know what to tell you. Relievers are like....well, I don't know something that's untrustworthy, totally unpredictable, and screws you over more times than not. Insert Bush Administration joke here.

If the lineup is at fault, look for the Cards to snag an outfielder. Obviously not Alfonso Soriano as he is tied up....FOR THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS!

Projected 2007 Won - Loss Record: 88 - 74. It might seem far-fetched to imagine an almost identical Cardinals team with a less dependable starting rotation gaining five wins, but I see the 2006 Cardinals as a better team than their 83 wins. I would guess if Marquis hadn't made 80,000 starts at a 6.02 ERA we could have had another three or four wins. Add in another one or two from when Pujols was out, and you're about where I put us.

Projected finish in Division: First. But the closeness of the Cards' and Cubs' projected records would make for an interesting pennant race.

Projected finish in playoffs (if included): This is a tough one. If the Cards make the playoffs, they're a lock to win the Division Series just based on history. That makes me think that they're due to lose one. But then there's the stupid fan in me that wants to say, "What the fuck are you talking about? The Cards are going all the way! PUJOLS!!!!"

You might think that winning the World Series would give the Cards a little leeway to try out younger players and see what the farm holds. While I see the value in that, I also want to be able to say that my team was the first to repeat as World Series Champions in seven years!

Go Cardinals!

Rudy's Team Predictions (and therefore more accurate)

2007-01-30T18:11:00.000-06:00

Team: Chicago Cubs. The Cubs finished 66 - 96 last season. Pablo predicts them to finish 94 - 68 this year. That's a one year turnaround of 28 games, an incredible total. While not impossible, an upswing of this magnitude is improbable. As a comparison, the Tigers improved from 72 - 90 to 95 - 67, a change of +23 games....but it took them two seasons to do so (2005 and 2006). While I'm not saying my prediction is more realistic than Pablo's, I will say it's more probable.

Players who will perform: Derrek Lee will have a season somewhere between his monster 2005 and his good but unspectacular career averages before that. I would guess something in the park of 90-35-110 (R-HR-RBI) at an average of .290.

Aramis Ramirez will do exactly what he's done the last three years: average defense, no hustle, monster homeruns.

Soriano will be a marked improvement over any Cubs outfielder from last season, but I don't see as rosy a picture as does Pablo. I would guess 100-30-85 at .260 with a .345 OBP and 30 to 35 steals. Great season, but not the crazy, oh my fucking god season the Cubs are paying him for.

Carlos Zambrano will be Big Z, El Venezualano Loco: 200+ IP, 180+ K's, 16+ W's, and no less than four mid-game Fiery Latino Explosions. Whether these are the good kind that help him strikeout the next six straight batters or the bad kind that make him give up back to back homeruns and throw the next pitch through Michael Barrett's head are up to him.

Players who will disappoint: I don't really see Dempster disappointing as my counterpart did. I envision him duplicating his 2005 season as closer: good, but lucky.....as evidenced by his high WHIP (1.43...high for a reliever, especially a closer), but his stellar 33 for 35 save total. I think he'll be as good, don't know if he'll be as lucky.

Mark De Rosa. I'm not saying there's a lot expected of this guy, but the Cubs are paying him like there is. I don't think De Rosa will be particularly bad, but he surely won't be worth what he's making. He's a bench player on a bad day, platoon player on a good day, and he road a good half season last year to a sweet contract this year. Of course it's the Cubs who gave him that sweet contract.

Matt Murton. Another guy who I don't think will be bad, just not as good as everyone wants him to be. Murton has gotten a lot of respect from the fans for his solid, intelligent hitting, his patience at the plate, and his fire-crotch merkin. As a result, I think the fans are expecting him to bloom into a star player. While this isn't impossible, I don't see it happening with Murton and definitely not this year. Expect a line similar to what he put up last year: .297/.365/.444 (AVG/OBP/SLG). Like I said, that's great for a soon to be 26 year old in only his third season in the Majors. But Cubs fans are expecting something more, and I don't think Murton will deliver...at least not yet.

Mark Prior. I picked this guy because of an odd reverse-psychology style hunch. Finally, the Cubs front office is in agreement with just about everyone else in not counting on this guy. While Pablo claims to be in the minority of Cub fans who thinks Prior's got something left, I don't believe it's a minority at all. Externally, fans are dropping Prior like a hot rock. Internally, they're hoping beyond hope that by vocally diminishing him, he'll perform better than any of them could have expected. It's like me not betting on the Bears to win the Super Bowl because I know if I do, they'll lose. Believe me, in Chicago, that's the attitude every fan takes toward professional sports and their athletes....except maybe Bulls fans and Sox fans, they're championships are still too recent.

In that secret optimism sense, Prior will be a disappointment.

Ted Lilly. Lilly will only be as good as he was last year, or worse. This will in no way be even remotely respectable considering what he's being paid.

One last player: Jason Marquis. I don't think I need to say anything about this. See this post if you need an elaboration of my sentiment.

Players who will surprise:

Rich Hill. Last year, Hill finally clicked the way the Cubs front office said that he would. He got some pitching advice from Larry Rothschild, fixed a hitch in his delivery, and was dominant from that point on. Wait, that sounds like a competent organization. Hm...oh, here's the mistake: Hill was getting no help from Rothschild and went to his AAA coach for advice. His AAA coach fixed his mechanics. I guess that's really not evidence of incompetence in the organization as someone within the organization helped Hill. It just tells us that Rothschild sucks. Your reaction, Larry?

Touche.

Henry Blanco. Shit, if Blanco does anything close to what he did last year, the Cubs will have to retire his number.

First player to be traded if the season goes to shit: If the Cubs weren't on the verge of going a century without a World Series title, I would say Carlos Zambrano....provided he didn't have an extension worked out before the deadline. Since the Cubs are remarkably close to this Centennial of Suckitude, they'll hold Z hoping he'll resign with them. My real world pick? Jacqueline Jones.

First player targeted for acquisition if the season goes well: No one. If the season goes well, the Cubs will be so busy circle jerking they won't have the time to field trade offers. Hendry will have to wash the cum off with a fire hose....we're talking total coverage. He'll look like he was standing next to the Marshmallow Man when it was blowed up by the Ghostbusters.

Projected 2007 Won - Loss Record: 86 - 76. That's a gain of twenty games, which I feel is pretty generous.

Projected finish in Division: Second. Guess who they're behind.

Projected finish in Playoffs (if included): Do the Cubs win the wild card? My projected record of 86 wins wouldn't have done it last year, so I say no. If they do make the playoffs, I also see a loss in the NLCS....to the Cardinals? No, I won't go there. My guess is a loss to the Mets.

My thought is, the best story would be for the Cubs to make it to that 100th season without a title. Then, that year they come back from a three games to one deficit in the NLCS to beat the White Sox in the World Series. To sweeten the pot, the Cubs can't have been to the Fall Classic between now and then, so they can't make it this year.

What do I want you to take away from this post? Hendry as the center of a circle jerk. Don't dream it, live it.

He's Back (Maybe)

2007-01-30T17:59:00.000-06:00

Sammy Sosa (yes, that Sammy Sosa) is back in baseball.

After missing the entire 2006 season due to steroid withdrawal (or some such), the man with 588 home runs (and the Cubs all-time home run leader) is back where he started, with the Texas Rangers.

Actually, Sosa signed an incentive-laden minor league deal.

"Sosa starts at $500,000. He gets an extra $200,000 each when he reaches 200, 250 and 300 plate appearances, another $250,000 each for 350, 400, 450 and 500 plate appearances and another $300,000 each for 550 and 600 plate appearances."

Let the "random" drug testing begin.

Here Comes 2007

2007-01-29T20:28:00.000-06:00

Team: Chicago Cubs

Player(s) who will perform: Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano.

I don’t think there’s any question that AlSo (I crack myself up) will put up monster numbers this season. A quick look at his career numbers and anyone can see that the guy can rake.

Derrek Lee (as opposed to Derek Lee) proved himself among the elite hitter in the NL before lest year’s freak injury held him to only 50 games. He has something to prove.

Big Z is looking to have another big year. Zambrano is going into a free agent season after coming off a year where he threw over 223 innings, led the National League in wins with 16, finished 4th in Ks with 210, finished 5th in ERA (3.41) and hit 6 home runs and won the NL Silver Slugger award.

I think Rich Hill is ready for a breakout season, as does Bill James (who is predicting 253 Ks from the kid) and other baseball prognosticators.

Player(s) who will disappoint: Ryan Dempster.

This is a no-brainer. Dumpster may even get off to a great start, but don’t be fooled. Pitchers usually seem to start the season at an advantage, but hitters catch up. I don’t think the rising tide in Cubdom screaming for Kerry Wood to close is falling on deaf ears. And very likely, no one will hear the boos louder than Dempster.

Player(s) who will surprise: Matt Murton, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood.

I love Murton’s approach at the plate. He hit .297 in 144 games last year and while his power numbers were disappointing (13 HR 62 RBI), the addition of AlSo coupled with the return of Lee and Ramirez will give Murton more RBI opportunities, and the power, as it does with many young players, will develop.

Prior really has nowhere to go but up. On the Cubs website he is listed as a fifth starter. The guy threw 43 innings last year and mustered only one win. The can’t-miss kid has certainly fallen on hard times. So much so that most of the Cubs fans I know have all but dismissed him as a lost cause. I disagree. The pressure of being the Cubs newest savior has certainly abated, so I’m hoping he can relax and go out there and throw strikes. If he stays healthy (don’t laugh) he can be a difference maker.

And speaking of can’t-miss kids, Kerry Wood is about to make a triumphant return to the Cubs, but not in their starting rotation. The clamor to give Wood the closers job is so loud it’s making my ears ring. Wood appeared in only 4 games last year, winning one and compiling 19 innings. In 2005 Wood appeared in 11 games as a reliever striking out 17 in 12 innings with an ERA of 2.25. In the 8th inning of games that year, players hit .080 against him and he struck out better than half the hitters he faced (13 of 25). In the 9th inning hitters batted .180 against him. A small sample yes, but impressive numbers, and I don’t think anyone doubts his skills when he’s healthy. (Just for comparison – in the 8th, 9th and extra innings last year, players hit .287 off Ryan Dumpster.)

First player to be traded if the season goes to shit: Jacque Jones.

This is an easy pick considering many people believe JJ won’t make it through spring training in a Cubs uniform.

Player targeted for acquisition if the season goes well: Any Pittsburgh Pirate.

Projected 2007 Won-Loss Record: 94-68.

Projected finish in Division: First.

The Cubs have added veteran depth with Cliff Floyd, Daryle Ward and Mark DeRosa. Some of the younger players like Ronny Cedeno, Ryan Theriot, Angel Pagan, Eric Patterson and Felix Pie were impressive at times last year (even if it was in the minors).

Ronny Cedeno in particular will put pressure on the starters up the middle and provide spark off the bench (unless, of course, they keep him at triple-A to maintain his reps).

The decision to put AlSo in center takes the pressure off having to rush Pie.

Projected finish in Playoffs (if included): Lose in the NLCS to The Los Angeles Dodgers.

I figure this a couple different ways – The Dodgers made improvements by acquiring serious veteran help with the acquisitions of Juan Pierre (who they waaaaay over-paid for, but he’ll still be very productive), Luis Gonzalez (old but solid) and the improvement of their already above-average starting rotation by acquiring a legitimate ace (though I feel over-rated) in Jason Schmidt.

The second thing is that there’s no way in hell I’m getting baited into picking the Cubs to win the NL or (ha ha) win the World Series. (Though I’m keeping my fingers crossed.)

Pot Shots

2007-01-29T14:11:00.000-06:00

Glenn Garvin has decided that along with "the Betamax, the Ford Edsel, "Ishtar," Harold Stassen, Milli Vanilli, and Beanie Babies," the Cubs are among "the biggest losers of the 20th century."

I'm not going to get into a debate about how a team that had 8 MVPs, 4 Cy Young winners, 4 Rookies of the Year winners and won 10 NL pennants could be labeled losers.

But I am going to point out that sprinkling Harold Stassen into a list of otherwise cheap and easy clichés does not 'smarten up' an otherwise hackneyed list.

A friendly reminder from your local Cardinals fan:

2007-01-25T11:49:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to pop in here and remind everyone of this:

Jason Marquis will be pitching for the Cubs...for the next three years....at $6.66 million dollars a year.

Ah. I feel extreme relaxation.