Ibanez?

Yahoo sports is reporting that the Cubs have made Raul Ibanez their top priority in the free agent market. The left-handed hitting outfielder would probably end up in right field or the Cubs. He is 37, though, a little bit old. I'm glad to ehar that he has conditioning that rivals most guys at 25, but no one fights father time and wins. My personal choice is to bring back Edmonds, and give Fukudome another shot to prove he belongs. By that point, we could possibly do better than Ibanez.

Tab Bramford's article at the Bleacher Report (link over at left) goes into more detail, but ends up recommending Junior Griffey. I would love to see Bobby Abreu, on base beast, wearing our uniform next season.

Dempster resigned for $52 million...

Now we can quit stressing about Fukudome's contract. Ryan Dempster just got a bigger one; $52 million, over 4 years. This will keep Dempster a Cub all throughtout the Obama adminstration, barring a second term.

I think we all know Ryan had a career year last year, and that the Cubs are buying him at the top of the market. So, as a business deal, this doesn't make good sense. However, there is one other thing that it does do: establish a high price for pitching. If Dempster gets THAT much, how much for Sabathia? This ensures that no free agent pitchers will sign themselves away cheaply. And as one of the few teams with deep pockets and a core that can contend, the Cubs are in a position to consider driving other teams out of the market for top-shelf talent.

Now who's with me on the Big Unit?

Free Agency Fever-- Catch It!

Ok, I promised Spot a while back I would respond to his post about free agency, and who the Cubs need. Sometimes who you need depends on what’s out there; for a great player you can find a spot.

With Ryan Dempster out in free agency, it is a given that we will sign someone. It could be him coming back, or it might be someone different. So starting pitcher is one place we can bring in a big name. Some have thought we should get a closer; I don’t think the real reason Kerry Wood is leaving has anything to do with his injury history. It’s about Carlos Marmol. This guy from Florida is just insurance, if Marmol doesn’t work out or he loses his confidence.

The only place in the lineup we could fit anyone is the outfield. We could pick a center fielder, or a right fielder, if Hendry is ready to give up on Fukudome. With the money we are paying him, that might not be possible.

We might also not be the players we are hoping to be: with our economic implosion, Sam Zell, who shockingly still owns the Cubs, can pretty much forget $1 billion. As for Mark Cuban, I think baseball doesn’t want him. By baseball I mean Bud Selig. Such a shame. But Zell has been a decent owner; he’s let Hendry do his thing, and make big signings. Zell, better than the Tribune, understands that great teams make a higher profit, period. If we can’t get Cuban, I’m happy to stick with Zell.

Spot’s recommendations:
Francisco Rodriguez
Mark Teixeira
Eddie Guardado
Adam Dunn
Manny Ramirez
CC Sabathia
Mark Mulder
Mark Prior

Ok heres my take on this list:
I left off Kerry Wood. I’m still a little sad about this, and I’m worried about the way Marmol is at his worst in October. Does he not like cold weather? But K-Rod won’t be here, and we don’t have a closing spot for him. Teixeira, same problem. Eddie Guardado would solve our LOOGY issue nicely; with only Neal Cotts to rely on as a lefty reliever here (I think that Sean Marshall will go back to starting) this is a real need. Hendry may have called Guardado already. If we shifted our entire outfield around, we could get Adam Dunn. It would be a bad defensive outfield though. Here is how we do it; Dunn in left, Soriano moves to right, Fukudome takes center. Fukudome can handle center, though hes borderline, which makes him bad to put next to Dunn. But Soriano would make a good right fielder, if he can handle Wrigley’s sun during day games. Hmmm. With Manny Ramirez, we could just put him in right. He played right field before, with Cleveland. He is an underrated fielder, because he looks so awkward out there. But the truth is that he gets it done. It’s just not pretty. Can we afford CC Sabathia? What are we waiting for? These last two: Mulder and Prior. Their careers are probably over, but why not let them find out in Iowa? Prior especially deserves to be paid for his time, because he messed up his career trying to take us to the postseason, in 2004 and 2005, when he should have been treated conservatively.

Here are my thoughts on some guys Bill didn’t recommend that I do recommend:
Sean Casey - this could be the bat to replace Daryle Ward off the bench.
Jason Varitek - aging catchers who slow down too much to play every day make excellent backups. If we are going to win this thing and Reverse the Curse, we need guys like Varitek, who have rare experience in curse-reversing (see 2004 Bosox).
Sal Fasano -- did you know he went to Hoffman? Graduated in 1989. I remember him. That’s totally worth a contract. I’m not kidding. Henry Blanco might not be back by the way, so we have an opening.
Kyle Farnsworth -- you know you miss him. Also with Kerry gone just one 2003 Cub around isn’t good enough. Bring back Kyle!
Freddy Garcia -- we should give him a deal to see if he has anything left.
Bobby Abreu -why not stick this left handed hitting OBP guy in right and move koseuke to center? With the pressure off him Koseuke will probably be awesome. He definitely tried too hard in the second half last year.
Carl Pavano - see Freddy Garcia. Also, if we had him, we would 2 guys from the Marlins that beat us in the Bartman game, and only one of the players we lost it with. Derrek Lee, remember, was a Marlin. It was his triple off Farnsworth that opened the gates of hell.
Frank Thomas -- just to DH at the Cell in interleague. Bwahahahaha.
Randy Johnson -- seriously, we could have The Big Unit. What are we waiting for? He still throws hella hard.
Corey Patterson - yes, I’m checking to see if you’re still reading this far.
John Smoltz - no, I don’t really think so. But here, I have to point out that Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz are all free for the taking now. Maddux looks finished. But, hmm… Smoltz? I think we do need to bring in one of these rehab cases and see what happens. The upside to Smoltz is real good.
Brian Fuentes - a proven closer. Would make an excellent left handed guy; the only option better than Guardado here.
Glendon Rusch - see Corey Patterson, above. I might as well just do it again with LaTroy Hawkins and get it over with right now.
Brad Penny -- just two years ago, he was an all-star. He didn’t hurt his arm; he just had other problems. This may be the best option as far as a FA pitcher, other than Sabathia.
Pedro Martinez - he’s no longer the dominating Pedro of the mid90s. That was the best pitcher I ever saw, along with the Greg Maddux of that time.

Ok that’s it for now, and Im still not done going down the list. More to follow.

Seize the Day...

I'm 36 years old. This was one of the Cubs during the time in which they started beign about my age, instead of much older. Now, they're typically a lot younger. If you're not sure that life is short here's a little reminder:


http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3642624

RIP, dude. Thanks for the memories, and sorry you didn't get to win the WC, here or elsewhere.

So that's what it takes...

EULOGY FOR THE 00s CUBS, AND THE PLAYER WHO PERSONIFIED THOSE DAYS

I kept meaning to get back to this blog. Like many of us, after the playoffs, I wasn't feeling it. And when the election grabbed my attention, whatever was left for sports went to the Series, and Da Bears. (Yes, I'm in Michigan right now, but the Lions just don't cut it).

Now I have been given the jolt that snaps me back to Cubs consciousness: the Cubs traded for Kevin Gregg, last year’s Marlins closer, and Jim Hendry was quoted as saying that Kerry Wood, last year’s closer, was ‘deserving of a three- or four-year deal, which we were not prepared to do.” In other words, don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya?

Now I would like to call on the usual suspects to ruminate on the end of Kerry Wood’s long tenure with the Cubs. Going back to the middle 90s, when we kept hearing how awesome kerry Wood was going to be (when he was a minor leaguer), to early 98, when Andy MacPhail and Ed Lynch called him up for a night game in Montreal for his big league debut on a cold April night (what a good scam that was, for several reasons). His unbelievable 20-K game against the Astros. The heartbreak of his arm getting sore late that year and leading to surgery, which kept him out all of ‘99 as the Cubs fell apart. The mediocre return the next year. The return to dominance in the early ‘00s, including 266Ks in 2003, and over 200 IP. The home run the day after the Bartman game (amazing that didn’t help!). The re injury and the heartbreak in 2004, and yet again in 2006 as he teamed with Mark Prior to crush Cubs’ fans hope in three straight years, when we all yearned to avenge the 2003 playoff loss. The tentative return late last year, and finally, his 2008 reinvention as a full-out closer, proving those who said he couldn’t wrong (including Steve Stone).

OK, I do understand the real logic here. The REAL plan is for Gregg to be here and to keep the closer job until Marmol can seize it, even if that only means spring training. Then, Gregg would be nest year’s set up man, possibly along with Jeff Samarzija and Sean Marshall. OK then, Kerry, thanks for the memories. It makes me sad that we never won it all with you here. This is the hardest separation since Mark Grace left. Letting Prior go last year was easy; letting Maddux leave a second time seemed right when he was 40 and we were hopelessly out of it. With Kerry Wood go the days of me living in the city and the north side being all about the Cubs, all summer long. Now they’re all gone: Kerry, Prior, Dusty, Corey… all the cornerstones of the team we thought would take us to the Promised Land.

So take a second and vote for your favorite current Cub. I’m voting for Carlos, as I would have done even with Kerry here. Carlos has now been here longer than anyone. Only he and Aramis remain from the team that lost the Bartman game.

Chicagoan Obama Elected. Chicago Real Estate Values Rise?

I'm posting this slightly off topic for the greater good of the Chicago metropolitan area.
Barack Obama, resident of Chicago, has been elected President of the United States.
Surely there is a history of people wanting to move to (and visit) the city where their president is from. If so, this will be a good thing for home owners (and the tourism industry) in Chicago. More people will want to move here, thus increasing the value of real estate in our City and surrounding suburbs, and stimulating the economy.

True, Chicago already has plenty of great reasons to live here, but for those of you still mulling over the decision to relocate to our great city, let me give you a few reasons to do so.
We have cool buildings like the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Building (get a drink at the 95th floor), a bountiful number of competitive sports franchises, plenty of places to see live music and great restaurants (we have more than just italian beef, hot dogs and tasty tasty deep dish pizza - is it lunch time yet?)! We have that shiny silver Bean thing at Millenium Park, fireworks in the summer at Navy Pier, and did I mention we might get the Olympics in 2016? You definitely want to be here for that! For you ladies reading this blog, we have Water Tower Place, the shops on Michigan Avenue and Oprah... and some time in the next 100 years or so, the Cubs will win a world series. Won't you want the chance to say "I lived in Chicago when the Cubs finally broke the curse" ? Come live in the place where Twinkies and Lemonheads were invented!

Hopefully this world famous blog will be picked up by news outlets everywhere and help support Chicago home owners everywhere in this troubling economy.

Move to Chicago! Boost Our Home Values. Help Support the Economy.
Thank you. USA! USA! USA!

YES WE DID!

... now let's work on the cubbies!

time to fix the fundamentals of chicago baseball.

YES WE CUB!

E Pluribus Catuli
(Out of many, CUBS!)

Who should the Cubs go after? FA LIST

I will put my personal picks in RED AMERICAN LEAGUE
BALTIMORE (4)—Juan Castro, ss; Alex Cintron, ss; Kevin Millar, 1b; Jay Payton, of.
BOSTON (10)—Paul Byrd, rhp; Sean Casey, 1b; Bartolo Colon, rhp; Alex Cora, ss; Mark Kotsay, of; David Ross, c; Curt Schilling, rhp; Mike Timlin, rhp; Jason Varitek, c; c-Tim Wakefield, rhp.
CHICAGO (6)—Orlando Cabrera, ss; Joe Crede, 3b; Ken Griffey Jr., of; Toby Hall, c; Horacio Ramirez, lhp; Juan Uribe, 3b.
CLEVELAND (4)—Brendan Donnelly, rhp; Scott Elarton, rhp; Sal Fasano, c; Juan Rincon, rhp.
DETROIT (7)—Kyle Farnsworth, rhp; Casey Fossum, lhp; Freddy Garcia, rhp; Todd Jones, rhp; Edgar Renteria, ss; Kenny Rogers, lhp; Vance Wilson, c.
KANSAS CITY (2)—Mark Grudzielanek, 2b; Miguel Olivo, c.
LOS ANGELES (6)—Garret Anderson, of; Jon Garland, rhp; Darren Oliver, lhp; Juan Rivera, of; Francisco Rodriguez, rhp; Mark Teixeira, 1b.
MINNESOTA (4)—Adam Everett, ss; Eddie Guardado, lhp; Nick Punto, ss; Dennys Reyes, lhp.
NEW YORK (9)—Bobby Abreu, of; c-Jason Giambi, 1b; c-Damaso Marte, lhp; Chad Moeller, c; Mike Mussina, rhp; c-Carl Pavano, rhp; Andy Pettitte, lhp; Sidney Ponson, rhp; Ivan Rodriguez, c.
OAKLAND (4)—Emil Brown, of; c-Alan Embree, lhp; Keith Foulke, rhp; Frank Thomas, dh.
SEATTLE (3)—Willie Bloomquist, of; Miguel Cairo, inf; Raul Ibanez, of.
TAMPA BAY (4)—Rocco Baldelli, dh; c-Cliff Floyd, dh; Eric Hinske, of; c-Trever Miller, lhp.
TEXAS (5)—c-Hank Blalock, 1b; Milton Bradley, dh; Jason Jennings, rhp; Ramon Vazquez, 3b; Jamey Wright, rhp.
TORONTO (6)—c-Rod Barajas, c; p-A.J. Burnett, rhp; Kevin Mench, of; John Parrish, lhp; Brad Wilkerson, of; Gregg Zaun, c.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ARIZONA (7)—Tony Clark, 1b; Juan Cruz, rhp; Adam Dunn, of; David Eckstein, ss; Orlando Hudson, 2b; Randy Johnson, lhp; Brandon Lyon, rhp.
ATLANTA (8)—Elmer Dessens, rhp; Tom Glavine, lhp; Mike Hampton, lhp; Jorge Julio, rhp; Greg Norton, of; Will Ohman, lhp; John Smoltz, rhp; Julian Tavarez, rhp.
CHICAGO (8)—c-Henry Blanco, c; Ryan Dempster, rhp; Jim Edmonds, of; Chad Fox, rhp; Bob Howry, rhp; Jon Lieber, rhp; Daryle Ward, 1b; Kerry Wood, rhp.
CINCINNATI (9)—Jeremy Affeldt, lhp; Paul Bako, c; Josh Fogg, rhp; Jerry Hairston Jr., of; Mike Lincoln, rhp; Kent Mercker, lhp; Corey Patterson, of; Javier Valentin, c; David Weathers, rhp.
COLORADO (6)—Brian Fuentes, lhp; Matt Herges, rhp; Livan Hernandez, rhp; Adam Melhuse, c; Scott Podsednik, of; Glendon Rusch, lhp.
FLORIDA (4)—Luis Gonzalez, of; Mark Hendrickson, lhp; Paul Lo Duca, c; Arthur Rhodes, lhp.
HOUSTON (5)—Brad Ausmus, c; Doug Brocail, rhp; LaTroy Hawkins, rhp; Mark Loretta, 2b; Randy Wolf, lhp.
LOS ANGELES (14)—Joe Beimel, lhp; m-Gary Bennett, c; Casey Blake, 3b; Rafael Furcal, ss; Nomar Garciaparra, ss; Jason Johnson, rhp; Jeff Kent, 2b; Derek Lowe, rhp; Greg Maddux, rhp; Pablo Ozuna, 2b; Chan Ho Park, rhp; c-Brad Penny, rhp; Manny Ramirez, of; Mark Sweeney, 1b.
MILWAUKEE (12)—Russell Branyan, 3b; c-Mike Cameron, of; c-Craig Counsell, 3b; Ray Durham, 2b; Eric Gagne, rhp; Gabe Kapler, of; Mike Lamb, 3b; Guillermo Mota, rhp; CC Sabathia, lhp; Ben Sheets, rhp; Brian Shouse, lhp; c-Salomon Torres, rhp.
NEW YORK (12)—Moises Alou, of; Tony Armas Jr., rhp; Luis Ayala, rhp; c-Carlos Delgado, 1b; Damion Easley, 2b; Orlando Hernandez, rhp; Pedro Martinez, rhp; Ramon Martinez, 2b; Trot Nixon, of; Oliver Perez, lhp; Ricardo Rincon, lhp; Matt Wise, rhp.
PHILADELPHIA (5)—Pat Burrell, of; Scott Eyre, lhp; c-Tom Gordon, rhp; Jamie Moyer, lhp; Rudy Seanez, rhp.
PITTSBURGH (4)—Chris Gomez, 3b; c-Jason Micheals, of; Doug Mientkiewicz, 1b; Luis Rivas, ss.
ST. LOUIS (9)—Juan Encarnacion, of; Jason Isringhausen, rhp; Cesar Izturis, ss; Jason LaRue, c; Braden Looper, rhp; Felipe Lopez, 2b; Mark Mulder, lhp; Russ Springer, rhp; Ron Villone, lhp.
SAN DIEGO (3)—c-Brian Giles, of; Trevor Hoffman, rhp; Mark Prior, rhp.
SAN FRANCISCO (2)—Rich Aurilia, 1b; c-Omar Vizquel, ss.
WASHINGTON (2)—Aaron Boone, 1b; Odalis Perez, lhp.

Baseball Fans - Do Not Watch The Series!

Baseball fans:
DO NOT WATCH THE WORLD SERIES.

Don't turn to the channel on your DVR (on either tuner - you know who you are).
Don't switch over for a second to check the score.
Don't watch Baseball Tonight on ESPN
Don't watch any postgame analysis.

We need to send a message.
What that message is exactly, I don't know.
Wait! I know!
No, wait.. I lost it.
Oh yeah, I got it!
The message is this:

We don't wanna watch your crappy world series until the friggin Cubs play the friggin White Sox!

TV NETWORKS, ARE YOU LISTENING?
We don't care how.
Just make it happen.

p.s. - also make sure that more real fans have a reasonable chance to purchase tickets this time!
p.p.s. - TBS should not be allowed to show any more baseball games until they correctly position the cameras for proper pitch-viewing. There is no excuse!

Cubs 101

Third time's a charm.

An Open Email to Another Die-Hard...

Hey Jim. I’m a little irritated because I typed a very long reply but somehow Facebook ate it. Actually, I was irritated. Then I waited about 3 hours before trying again. The main point was that the team in particular fed off of the tension of the fans; in other series, it wasn’t there, and in today’s game, the SouthSiders showed us, with Terrible Towels, how it was done. It has definitely (in my opinion) helped the Sox, who define themselves sometimes as being NOT the Cubs to not choke after watching us do it in legendary fashion. It WAS truly remarkable just how somber us fans got, and how quickly. A 9-game post-season losing streak will do that to you.

The first casualty of this, for me, is my Piniella boosterism. At this point, I’m ready to welcome back Dusty, I really am. His achievement with the 2003 team looms large now, it really does. This is a really grim thought, but his decision to ride his horses hard, which may have cost Mark Prior his career, doesn’t look so crazy. Q: if a healthy Mark Prior had been here, (meaning the division series) would it have helped?

The problem with Lou is that I think we all felt Something Wrong after the Loney grand slam, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Torre pushed buttons differently in the post-season - Piniella did not. He actually let Howry pitch, which shouldn’t have happened. Those insurance runs mean more in October; they confer momentum that they don’t confer in July or April. He also should have Done Something about right field; he would have liked to have DeRosa out there and Fontenot at second, but DeRosa wasn’t really able to play right with his calf injury. And this was the kind of series in which that came in to play in the first inning DeRosa was out there in game 3; with Fukudome in right, no way Manny scores from first, nor does he even consider trying. Arugably, it could have been an out with Fukudome in RF. As for game 1, Sometimes, after 6 walks, you have to get a clue and pull your ace. Dempster walked 7; I think that Lou gave him too much slack. I suspect laRussa or Torre would have pulled him before it got way out of control. I also wonder if regular-season Lou wouldn’t have done likewise.

Ron Darling said what I was thinking, that Fukudome got a hit against Kuroda because facing a familiar Japanese pitcher put him back in his comfort zone. Kosuke was visibly uncomfortable - you could see it in his face. His single changed that.

If you look at articles on ESPN and other places, we are more of a laughingstock than the Cubs have ever been before. Last year was a major oopsie, 2003 was a tragic collapse, 1984 was several unlucky incidents in a do-or-die game, 1989 was an ass-kicking by Will Clark, 1998 was a disposal of us by the superior Braves, and 1969 was the only real equivalent. In 2037, will an elderly Derrek Lee go, OH NOOOO!!!! from the broadcast booth when Jules Patel drops an easy fly ball in, say, Columbus? Maybe the new Mr. Cub will be Big Z by then? Or to pick someone like Santo whose career was cut short, Mark Prior?

Sigh. The only thing to do is to come back yet again, in 2009. The Central will still suck other than us. This core group probably can look forward to a three-peat, judging from the rest of the division, as it will be after CC Sabathia leaves.

... or bust.

sigh .......


Go Bears!

Can We Still Win This Thing?

We all feel a hell of a lot less optimistic than we did a few days ago, as we should. That is only natural. There is only one thing that mitigates this feeling of being utterly screwed: you have to remember the two times in our lives that the Cubs had the advantage that the Dodgers do now, and blew it.

Exhibit A: The bartman game. We've got 2 games at home, and only need to win one. Yes, we didn't get one. That's what the Dodgers need now.

Their roster has flaws, such as, they lack a true ace starting pitcher, they have only one legitimate star hitter, and their closer is not healthy.

Exhibit B: Cubs-Padres, 1984. Remember how we embarrassed the Padres in the opener in that series? Well maybe, just maybe, we are now lurking on the other side of that wall. We've got a more veteran team, and now that we've gone past panic in to reisngation, I think the players will be looser.

So what's the blueprint?

A great game by Harden in game three (always a realistic hope with Rich Harden), somehow (I'm not sure yet) win game 4 with Ted Lilly, and if they do those two things, Wrigley will be totally insane on Tuesday. In that case, just don't let Manny do anything about it, and then we are looking really good.

What can Lou do with the lineup to bring this about?
1) Fukudome has to sit. You know you're in a slump when Joe Torre purposely brings in a reliever against your platoon split so that your manager leaves you in.
Who goes in? Normally, DeRosa goes to RF and Fontenot to 2B to maintain the two-lefties setup. Now, I wonder if DeRosa is healthy enough to play right, with whatever is going on with his ankle. Because Fontenot is exactly what we need against the Dodgers' right-handed power arms. So, if we can't do that, then either send in Reed Johnson damn the handedness in favor of someone who can hit some, or say the heck with defense and break out Daryle Ward.
Side note: Hendry and Piniella made a big mistake not bringing Hoffpauir along. They should, if they get the chance, take Howry off of the roster and put Hoffpauir on it before the next series.
2) Edmonds should move up in the lineup. He is the only power hitter we have who is not playing tense right now.
3) If Soto is not healthy, consider Henry Blanco.
4) If Harden has trouble early, bring Carlos marmol in right away, and go with that until he's gassed. Then choose between Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster, Kerry Wood, and Sean Marshall. These are the reliable pitchers right now: avoid the others.

Overlooked X Factor, as to why we are losing:
There is one guy who most likely is helping the Dodgers pitch-by-pitch.
He did it here, he did it in Atlanta, and its got to have something to do with the way the LA pitchers got so hot at the end, Billingsley being the best example. When he was a Cub, he used to call pitches from the dugout. We should not have let maddux go? It was the right thing to do in '06... we gave him a chance to finish his career as a winner instead of losing here with Dusty. That said, maybe when San Diego was shopping him this year, we should have given him Marquis' job. Not that I don't like Marquis. Although, watching him pitch gets old!

So, root for a flat Dodger team, and a fired-up Rich Harden. If he brings his A game, we will score enough to win. His tendency to get outs by strikeout will also give our stressing fielders a chance to relax a bit. If we can get this one, our chances actually come up to closer to 50-50. The key is not to have quit already, and I hope they have not.

GO GO GO GO WHITE SOX!

at least there not down 0-2... yet

What The Cubs Need

Nine 9th innings in a row instead of only one.

Reed Johnson (or anybody) to replace Fukudome.

Emergency life support on site for Ron Santo (and Cubs hitting).

All games going forward to be played in Milwaukee

More tickets at reasonable prices for REAL fans.

Beer in Wrigleyville in the 8th and 9th innings.

postseason ticket shutout

=======================================================================

2008 CHICAGO CUBS NLCS TICKET OPPORTUNITY
=======================================================================
October 2, 2008

We're sorry, but you were not selected for an opportunity to purchase
tickets to 2008 National League Championship Series tickets for games at
Wrigley Field.

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGH!!!!!

Does anyone else think there's something hinky going on here?

Cub Fans! It's Up To You!

To the lucky few who made it through the ticket lottery for the honor of purchasing playoff tickets (and didn't sell them to pay for rent or gasoline):

It's up to you, guys! "Root, root, root for the Cubbies!"
I know it's cold outside in October in the evenings, but we need to light a fire under the other fans in the stands. Yes, I know you're outnumbered by CEOs and celebrities and people with money who still had a few shekels left to pay those unreal prices for game tickets, but it's time...

Get up! Start the "Let's Go, Cubbies!" cheers! Clap until your hands warm up!
Scream "D - LEE!!!" and "Raaaaaammiiiirrreeezzzzz!!!" until your throat hurts!

This is the year!
Show them what home field advantage REALLY can do!

You also have my permission to wear red and blue face paint... but only this year.
And yes, it is also permissable to encourage Ronnie Woo Woo.

SO CHEER AND YELL AND SCREAM AND HECKLE THE DODGERS!
And you guys near the Cubs dugout... Don't let Lou leave the pitchers in too long!

Thank you for your time.
Go Cubs.
100yearsorbust.com

p.s. - Take a disco nap before the game. 8:30pm start time? Less beer, more caffeine!

Ahhh.... Every Century, We Get Our Back to Back Post Season Appearances

Thoughts of the 1st inning.

Dodgers have Derek Lowe pitching. IN 2004, he was a hero with the Miracle Red Sox. Come to think of it, now he is reunited with Manny. Think of that what you will. We have Ryan Dempster. ONe thing that definitely went right for the Cubs this year was the pitching of that guy. Do we even remember that last season, some us were ready to get our pitchforks and torches and run him out of town after yet another bad attempt at "closing?" No, we do not. Dempster has been AWESOME.

Top of the 2nd.
Dempster walks Andre Ethier. James Loney batting. Dempster has already walked two. Loney pops out to DeRosa. Matt Kemp is another rising star of the Dodgers; the same is true of each of this inning's batters. I'm thinking about breaking out the Samuel Adams Boston Lager 40 ouncer. I didn't even those existed until yesterday. Sweet. And the Dodgers have wasted the leadoff walk. The longer this game goes with no scoring, I think it benefits the Cubs more.

Blogger ate my bottom of the second post. Here's the deal: HR DeRosa, Cubs 2, Dodgers zero. Now there's a Barack Obama ad on. He will be in town tomrrow morning for a rally.

Top of the Third:
Awesome catch by Fukudome! Wondering why he's even in there? because great defense and situational hitting win in October. Say what you want about our import, but he never stopped playing the game the right way. That's one out. I don't think the Dodgers should be bunting with Furcall after Dempster walked Lowe. He's walked three now. One great ting about Piniella: you never find yourself going, what is Lou doing? during a Cubs game. Now Furcal walks too. Hey, wait. How long until Manny bats? Now Dempster is just getting wild. Pitch count watch: 50 for Dempster. Soriano picks a NICE time to break out some actual defense! RUnning catch in LF. But I think the broadcasters are right: normally that one is outta here. I believe this may be Manny's first trip to Wrigley. Wow, nice play by Theriot, at least, to stop the ball. Theriot is a nice player, but his arm isn't strong enough for SS. Every few games it costs us a hit. It is good that we've made Derek Lowe stand on the bases this long. Wow the pitches are piling up for Dempster... but... Ethier fans. Wow, somehow Dempster survived that inning without giving up any runs.

Bottom of the 3rd.
Let's pile it on! I consider it a good sign that the Dodgers are starting game 1 with Derek Lowe. By the way, 18 to go. A hit by DLee! I'd like to see us just knock this guy out early and get in that LA bullpen. 6-4-3, Ramirez. Cubs 2, Dodgers 0.

Bottom of the 4th:
There's only one October. And every 100 years, there is a true Cubtober! Let's hope it is EXACTLY every 100 years. Two runners on for Dempster. Is another hit too much to ask with 2 runners on? Yes, but now we are already on to the 5th. Good times. Cubs 2, Dodgers 0.

Top of the 5th.
Commercial Break: The GEICO cavemen as cool motorcycle guys. Awesome. Guys, we've been waiting for this all year. (I'm talking about the Cubs again now) Really, since last October, that ended much too soon. Groundout, Derek Lowe. I'm getting after the countdown. Fourteen to go. I just realized that none of the Dodgers have postseason experience except Manny and Derek Lowe. I guess Furcal, too, from his Braves days. So, when will the Dodgers go for the kill, and break out Juan Pierre? Walk to Furcal. Now it's 5. Russell Martin batting, Manny on deck. For those of you who care, the Phillies are already one up on the Brewers. Martin flies out, and that's two down. Getting Manny out here would be HUGE. So far this is the most important at-bat of the game. Manny battles him to get a walk. However, their only truly scary hitter is fone. Now it is up to Andre Ethier... props to Ed H who is being a Cubs diehard quared by looping a radio through a dely to sync up Pat and Ron on 'GN with the TV feed on TBS. Walk to Ethier. Bases loaded now. Loney batting. Rothschild out to the mound. Bullpen up? Yes, Samarzdija and Marshall. Almost strike three, but a foul tip. But soooo close. Grand Slam, James Loney. Double, Matt Kemp. OK, I hope the 'pen is ready. Lou out - Sean Marshall in. Marshall was big for us down the stretch. But he is Always big. 6-8 or so. Blake DeWitt to bat for LA. Was it two years ago under Baker that Sean Marshall was a starter? Yes, it was. I've been really impressed by Marshall out of the pen this year. PHEW! Marshall gets out of it. LAD 4, CHC 2. :(

Bottom of the 5th.
No more arrogance... down by 2. The countdown is theirs now. Soriano will lead off for us... leads off with his Shawon Dunston. Nice time for Fukudome to come to life! Double play, DLee... hmmm....

Top of the 6th. Dodgers 4, Cubs 2.
Marshall now walks a guy too. Marquis up in the 'pen. Not a good sign! That means it's not your day. But, Marshall retires Manny, and we are on to our at-bats.

TOp of the 7th.
No lunch for us in the 6th. Sean Marshall, still in, facing Manny. WHOAAAAA! Have you ever seen someone crush a GOOD pitch like that? Marshall allows no one else on base. He pitched great. His only mistake was not rolling the pitches on the ground to Manny. Manny is starting to bother me. I never had this problem when he was on the Red Sox. Theo, what have you done to us?

Bottom of the 7th.
Rally caps on! Theriot grounds out. WOOOOO!! Fontenot delivers a pinch-single. Cmon guys!!!! Instaed Soriano and Fukudome go quietly....

Top of the 8th.
Cubs definitely flustered. Edmonds misplayed it, then dropped it, as did Theriot, trying to pick the ball up. Runner on third, no outs. Samardzija is aiming the ball, rather than pitching it now. A second bad pitch by Samardzija. He escapes giving up only one run.

Bottom of the 8th.
Cubs look lifeless until Ramirez coaxes a walk. Edmonds nearly hits it out. But, doesn't.

Top of the 9th.
Russell Martin takes Jason Marquis deep. Bad pitch, unlike the pitch to Manny Ramirez. Not this pitch, where somehow, Marquis strikes out Manny for the first out. Marquis gets out of it and then I see something unbelievable. Torre is sending in Greg Maddux to close this out. Not Saito, I can't believe what I'm seeing.

bs... the umps are against us already!!!

ok.. nice setup for the dp

One out... 26 to go

...

Dear ESPN...

Dear ESPN,
PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT THE CUBS!
Lalalalalalalalalaaaaa! We're not listening to you! Lalalalalalalalalalaalalalalaaa!!!

(start humming "All the Way" by Eddie Vedder... )
Hmmm HMM hm HmmHmm hmm Hmmmmm!!!

Thank you.

p.s. - Go Cubs.
p.p.s. - ESPN, you have my permission to talk about the White Sox :-)

Red Line Series? Maybe

Will the White Sox pull it out tonight?
(UPDATE 8:58PM Tuesday - Um... Yes, White Sox pull it out. "Dogs and Cats ... Living Together... MASS HYSTERIA!" - Peter Venkman)

I want to stay positive about this baseball season for all Chicago teams and hope the Sox make it through the playoffs
as I would love to see a Crosstown Series this year,
but as a Cub fan, it's hard for me to not make a snide comment about this:

The Sox are asking all of their fans to wear black to the ballpark.
Hmm.... are they plannning a funeral? (rim shot!)

Sorry... it was like shooting fish in a barrel. :-)

"We have to fight like a cat, paws up. If we are going to fail, fail like a man, with your belt tight." - Ozzie Guillen

"Wooooohoo o ohooooo oooohhhh !!!!" - Ron Santo

So Dempster it is!

Dempster will start game one, as all of you voted for. I voted twice by accident; I had both of the Zambrano votes.

Today we have one chance to finish off the Brewers, with CC Sabathia starting for them- and Zambrano not starting for us. I don't think Lou actually wants to keep Milwaukee out of the playoffs. But it would be to our advantage if we could play against the Mets, should they make it. the Dodgers scare me a lot more. The Mets have a case of the yips, still carried over from last season.

Meanwhile, on the South Side, they are doing their very best to choke... you know how they (Sox fans) would behave if our team did this. Show no mercy, Cub Nation!! Even so, I won't be mad at all if they make it. I am ready to take the Sox on for all the hardware! Bring it, Southside!

Cubs - THE MONOBROW VIDEO

A few of our Cubbies having fun with a little video from FUNNYORDIE.



This is the year! 100 years or bust!

Uribe's Curse - 100 years for the Sox

I was listening to Johnny B. on WLUP 97.9FM - CHICAGO the other day and he was talking to a guy who had sold his boat to White Sox third baseman Juan Uribe.

According to the man who sold the boat, Uribe had asked him to store the boat for him for a few days so he could arrange to have the boat shipped to his home in the Dominican Republic.

Just google (yes, now it's a verb) for "uribe boat" and you'll find plenty of articles that give the details.

Long story short... Uribe has left the boat at this man's car wash/detailing shop for the whole season and has yet to pick it up, so the man contacted Uribe's people and said he would have to start charging daily storage fees.
This information apparently was never relayed to Uribe and so the third baseman refused to pay, and has yet to pick up his boat.

Has anyone noticed the Sox are kinda suckin right now? Suckitude to the level of possibly not making it into the playoffs?

FORGET GOATS!
I'm thinking that Uribe better pay this guy and pick up his boat or the Sox may suffer from...

THE HUNDRED YEAR BOAT CURSE!

Keep it up, Uribe! Maybe the Sox Fans will forgive you.... some day.

Go Cubbies! 100yearsorbust.com

Top 3 choices for our WS opponent... if we get there....

1. Rays
You know they'll be just happy to be involved. They won't admit it, but it's true. This would be a sure win. And that's what I want most of all.

2. ChiSox
The series Chicago would never forget. The negativity of Sox fans would spill over to become a big stress-ball for their team, like we used to do to our Cubs. Why so stressed? Sox fans are mad as hell we got this good this soon. It spills over in to ugly comments about our fans and our park. There's nothing more weird than hating on Wrigley, my friends. But that's what they're saying. It's all because they were hoping to have a long time to lord it over us... now they're facing the end of that, and the loss of bragging rights. If we win, of course, the shoe is on the other foot. And that's the LAST thing they want with an aging, declining team of their own.

3. Angels
They tend to underperform at the crucial times. If they make it back to the series, they still might not play as well as they could.

These teams are, for me, the ones who, in order, are most beatable of the contenders. Who scares me? Red Sox - very scary. Twins - if they make it. When the Twins see the WS they always have won it.

kinda sorta poll about the world series - revised

If the Cubs make it to the W.S. , who would you like them to play?

Here's my top 3 choices:

1) Red Sox
The team that used to have the second longest W.S. drought.

2) White Sox
A crosstown series? The city would probably implode. No wonder Chicago was ranked as the most stressful city.

3) Yankees
I was fortunate enough to see the Cubs play the Yankees at Wrigley. This was a sufficient surrogate W.S. for me.

3) Twins? Rays? I dunno.

Tell me your top 3 choices... POST A COMMENT BELOW :-)

HOME FIELD!

Cubbies Clinch Home Field advantage until the World Series!!

We should have home field advantage in the World Series also, but Bud Selig is a douche bag that came up with a stupid ass rule of making the All Star Game mean something. F U SELIG!

Cubs - On a Mission!!! - Phase One Complete

'Nuff Said.

100yearsorbust.com

Clinch Time? Is This the Day?

Top of the First - Ted Lilly looks good. Alfonso misplays one, and Ludwick gets a double. I did not know he was second in the league at SLG. With a runner on Pujols is up, against a lefty. Pujold eats lefties, hitting .411 against them. Who are we kidding? Pujols destroys all pitching... but not this time. Weak grounder to short. Theriot makes kind of a bad throw, but thats just what makes DLee a gold glove quality 1st baseman. He makes the dig look easy.

Lineup time. Good to see Soto in there. Fukudome batting eighth. I don't care what he's hitting. I will never forget his early season contribution, and it very much was worth the entire $48 million. Besides if our economy keeps going so bad, Fukudome may not be rich anymore when he returns to Japan. Just a joke, I'm sure he will be fine.

Jeanie Zelasko is keeping us up to date on Milwaukee, who have CC pitching against the Reds. So far, no score.

Piniero just became a father yesterday. Congrats. but lets not give these kids a birthday present just yet, ok? How about you wait until their first birthday...

McCarver makes a good point about the Brewers. they have to go for it this year, when they have Sabathia and Sheets. Sheets has already said that he will go free agent. Sabathia just might re-sign though, media outlets have reported that he is really liking Milwaukee.

Two solid hits off of Piniero, but no runs.

Top of Second.
Good inning by Lilly.
Bottom of the second.
Great hit by Edmonds. That would have been out of the park in most stadiums! Soriano drives in three witha single to left, that left fielder Brian Barton makes a little-league kind of mistake... that was one of the worst plays I have seen in a long time. The kind that makes you wonder if he even IS a left fielder! But now... all THREE RUNS SCORE!
It'a s big lead... now let's hold it, and Cubtober can be officially proclaimed!

Top of the third
Cards get one on, but Lilly gets a DP grounder to get out of it before Pujols can bat- he was on deck. That's one more reason we are doing so well. That was a great DP. As for the Cardinals, they failed to turn two against DeRosa, which would have prevented the disaster in left field. That was two bad defensive plays by St. Louis in one inning. Technically, they are still alive for October. But they'll never make it that way, and thank you god for that.

Bottom of the third...
Three up and three down. Good inning of pitching by Piniero. Still, 18 outs to go! Cubs 3, Cardinals 0.

Top of the fourth
Ted Lilly still pitching. Pujols to lead off... his at bats are still must-see. He has no lineup protection. Felipe Lopez bats cleanup for St. Louis. AMAZING diving stop by Ramirez! EVEN BETTER PLAY by DLee to get the out... tagging Pujols on the foot while diving for the ball? Two weak outs by Lopez and Glaus. Twelve down, fifteen to go. If only it can be that simple...

White Soxtober? I don't think so. It's time for CUBTOBER!

Bottom of the fourth. Let's pile on some more, guys...
Piniero's pitches have great movement. Too bad it tends to just move out of the strike zone in a way that no one would swing at.
WOW! Would we have any runs if the Cardinals had 9 gold glovers? Well, let's just thank god they don't!
Glaus lets Soto on by just not getting his glove down. E-5. Then, another one hit out to the overmatched Brian Barton in left... off the bat of Mark DeRosa! 84 RBIs by DeRosa this year. And to think we almost got Brian Roberts? you know the old saying... sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make. Off the wall and rolls away from Barton. Followed by a safety squeeze with Lilly batting. Even though its much too late, Piniero still tries to get the out at the plate. And even Lilly is safe. DeRosa in, 5-0 Cubs!

Top of the 5th.
Before I can even type that, the Cardinals are down to fourteen outs to go... now Brian Barton batting. He'd need to hit about 4 homers to make up for his earlier mistakes. And he's trying to do just that... flyout to left. Thirteen to go. Piniero bats for himself. Not even LaRussa is trying hard right now. Twelve.

Bottom of the fifth.
Piniero still pitching. He's been ok, just the Cardinals can't catch. I didn't realize that Adam Kennedy is in right field today. That doesn't make much sense to me. McCarver is rambling but he is on to something. He's talking about what did the Cubs in last year against the Dbacks... the short series. I feel better about us though; we play good defense and have some great pitchers. Double play by St. Louis. Still 5-0.

Top of the sixth.
Jason LaRue flies out. Eleven to go. Now up, Cesar Izturis... Cub reject. I should not have said that - line drive to center. Runner on for St. Louis. Ludwick strikes out. Ten to go. Pujols batting. Walked. Two on, Lopez batting. Double steal by St. Louis! They haven't given up yet. Lopez gets a solid hit. Theriot keeps it in the infield, but now 5-1. Would not have scored without that double steal. Three-run shot, Glaus. 5-4. We took them too lightly. Should have pitched him more carefully than that with Adam Kennedy on deck. Now, it's a game again. Is anyone warming up? Walk to Kennedy. Lilly having trouble now. Cotts and Samardzija up. Now the crowd is getting in to it... with 0-2 on Brian Barton. Barton grounds weakly to short. it's close though, such a slow roller. Exhale. 5-4 Cardinals, nine to go.

Bottom 6. Piniero.
Single, Soto. What a hitter. DeRosa hit it hard, but out. Fukudome batting. great time to un-slump, Kosuke... hit and run called. Did Fukudome miss the sign? Had to have. Soto out easily. Now we're getting sloppy. Piniero throws Fukudome a bad pitch, a hanging slider, but he misses it completely. Awful. Yes, I still love KF.

Top of the 7th...
Josh Phelps, contact-challenged slugger, pinch hits for St. Louis. takes strike three looking. Not good, Phelps. Eight more outs... Jason LaRue, catcher, batting. Strike three. Seven to go. Lilly looking much better. Milwaukee leading 2-1. Ground out! Six to go! Time to sing! Who is it? Well, Im watching on Fox, so I don't know. 5-4. Slim lead, but 6 outs to go.

Bottom 7th.
Ryan Franklin in. Fontenot batting, PH for Lilly. Surprised it wasn't Daryle Ward. I guess Piniella is saving his best option for last, as the Cards don't have a real closer, exactly. Three up and three down. Josh Lewin gets schooled on baseball trivia by Vince Vaughn! Lewin is talking about Alan Benes, who went to Vaughn's high school on the North Shore. Vaughn mentions the older, more successful Andy Benes. Lewin looked a little flushed. He should have saved it by saying he brought up Alan becaue Alan ended up pitching for the Cubs. But he didn't. Carlos Marmol warming up. Is there any other move Piniella can make? No, not really.

Top 8th.
Marmol pitching for the 79th time this year. Goes 3-0 on Ludwick, but Ludwick was intimidated as soon as Marmol got strike 2. Soft fly out to Edmonds. Five to go. Pujols batting... another out. Lopez up, and Lopez down! THREE MORE OUTS!

Bottom 8th.
Let's get Kerry some insurance runs!
Ryan Franklin throwing well for St. Louis. DLee and Aramis strike out. Edmonds grounds out weakly. Kerry walks in from the pen. It's TIME...

Top 9th.
Hopefully, this is the end. Cross your fingers. Cmon crowd, make this deafening! Glaus first. Last time, a homer to give the Cardinals three of their four. Wood walks Glaus. Brendan Ryan pinch runs. I'm reminded of Steve Stone on WSCR at the beginning of the year, saying Wood couldn't be a good closer because he walks the leadoff man too much, and that would leave him vulnerabel to the steal. Greg Maddux always said, don't worry about the steal. Just get the hitters out. Weak grounder to second, DeRosa throws out Ryan (lead runner) at second. One out. Kennedy on first. Two to go! Schumaker batting. Wood embarrasses him with a slider. He hung on as long as he could against Wood's fastball. He was frozen.
last out? Arron Miles... its over, we're in. 2007 and 2008. 1907 and 1908.
Here we are... its done. You should see my face!

You can tell the team is not satisfied. They did the mound celebration but it is kind of subdued...

But for us fans... CUBTOBER is here!!!

No No.... YES YES!!!

I was there. I lived the No No 1st hand in Milwaukee (Wrigley North).

The morning of the game my friend(Let's call him Sean) said let's go. I said sure what the hell, it's Sunday night, but why not, I haven't been to a game in a while. I got kids and stuff now and don't get to many games anymore. The plan was to watch Da Bears game and Sean was going to pick me up afterwords. Da Bears game ends and I get a phone call... Sean was unable to go... family emergency. I was like what the f#$%. I still want to go, I'm all pumped up and itchin to go now. I'm also a very pre-punctional person and need to get there early, not only to watch BP, but to miss any traffic and ensure no roads are flooded, ect...

So, in a panic I start calling people and looking for a babysitter, so that I can go with my lovely wife (let's call her Jodi). Jodi wanted to go, but we have two kids at home and one is still nursing. The changes of her going with are pretty slim. I keep my feelers out there and got a hold of a work colleague and super big Cubs fan (we'll call him Keith). He was hesitant, cause he's so dedicated to work (it's sunday fricken night) I told him to get off his ass, I'm coming over to pick him up. He's said ok, but I gotta shower 1st. I told him I'll be there in 10-15 minutes.

I now have 10-15 minutes to print out the ticket, which have been forwarded to me from Sean and pick up Keith. My printer is wireless, but in a closet and not plugged in. I 1st get the printer out and plug it in. Then I poop. (laptop comes to the pooper with me). As I perform my civic doody, and keep pinping the printer, but it's not responding. (hang tight, all this poop talk is making me gotta poop)...

So, yah... I'm pooping, and taking a break from this blog post to check my fantasy sports... bbiab.

ahhhh much better. Not as clean as I would like, but I'll take a shower and be fine.

Where was I... yea, I was able to print out the tickets (this is the type of game where you had actual game ticket and not something from my ink jet). I pick up Keith and we drive to the park, with only a stop at Walgreens for cash and Mountain Dew.

We come around the bend of 894 and there it was, through the lightly rain dripped front window of the car we see the closed roof Miller Park. A sea of blue ripples over the the bridge into the waiting arms of Wrigley North. The ballpark that Zambrano wants to call home....

Side note.. I have been a Cubs fan my entire life and love Wrigley, but it's time to upgrade. When we win it all this year, and we will (damnit). We need a bigger, cleaner, and futuristic ballpark (in the same location). Mark Cuban needs to purchase this team from Sam Zell NOW!!

Back to the game. We enter the stadium and walk around the back side of the bleacher to get a peek of the the Cubs batting practice while we locate an optimal spot to score a ball. We find a sweet front row spot in the right field bleacher. Zambrano was hitting rockets over our head. Ramierz was showing us beautiful rainbows to the upper desk in left, while Fukadome couldn't hit it out of the infield... Angel Guzman, Jason Marquee, Mike Quade, Kerry Wood, Jeff Zsamarja, and a cast of Sept call ups were all shagging balls not more than 10 feet infront of us. At this time we we yelling and asking politely for balls, but they kept tossing them in the the ball boy in the center of the field. We were starting to get anxious, but they wouldn't acknowledge us (the fans). These guys get paid millions and they can't toss a couple 6 dollar balls to the fans?! What gives...

Ok back to the game, we migrate to our paid (not paid yet, I still owe Sean the cash) seats in section 207 to be amazed by the 99.9% Cub fan population. I saw 1 Astros hat while I was there. The entire lower desk was filled, and even the non-staffed upper deck was starting to fill up. The energy in the stadium strong, I'm getting goosebumps right now just thinking of it. From the 1st pitch on, there were rhythmic chats of Z Z Z Z Z Z Z. He was on fire, and did his best to keep his cool while us the 11th man told the Umps what we really thought about some of his irregular ball calls.

The 7th inning was the true test, if he could get Borne, Tejeda, and Berkman we knew that the No No was a true possibility. They went down in order, we were going nutz. The adrenaline was starting to kick in and the tingles didn't go away until the next morning.

The 8th and 9th innings were cake... There was one out of the next six batters that anyone knew. Hunter Pence.. Zambrano made him look silly. 1-2-3...... 1-2-3.... Then there was the last out of the game, there was no way Big Z was going to fail, he was so pumped and we were pumped up even more. It was a full count and 2 outs. Zambrano throws a splitter in the dirt and Soto lifts the ball high in the air as Big Z drops to his knees and points to his almighty.

I can't put the next 30 minutes into words, it was truly magical with endorphins in the air.

Go Cubs Go!

What Big Z Means to Us

Remember when there was a big three of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Zambrano? This was way back when, it is a distant and painful memory for Cubs fans.

Now, with the Cubs reeling, on a losing streak, and terrifying Cubs fans everywhere, Caros comes back from the sidelines (not exactly the DL, but we had not seen him in a while) and pitches a no-hitter. I'm 36 and no one has come this close since I was literally a baby. I don't really remember Milt Pappas, how about you?

Once I heard what big Z had done, I knew that we were going to the postseason. September no-hitters don't come to teams destined to choke their way out of the postseason.

Is Today the Day?

Yesterday didn't quite go as us Cub fans might have hoped! After his magnificent no-hitter, Carlos had me feeling better about him. But getting his butt kicked by St. Louis was not what I was hoping for from big Z...

Despite this, the Magic Number is down to 1. It would take an epic collapse to lose it now, but Milwaukee would have to stop panicking and run the table for us to blow it even by losing. That's not going to happen to the team that was so messed up that they had to fire their manager with only 12 games left!

I await the moment when the Cardinals watch the Cubs celebrate. It is sweet to imagine this possibility. Ted Lilly takes the ball for us today, against the Cardinals' Joel Piniero. In Milwaukee, the Reds crushed 7 (yes!) homers against the Brewers yesterday in their efforts to help us out. In a desperate attempt to get the Wild Card, they are starting C.C. Sabathia, while the Redd have thweir talented Caribbean Jonny Cueto pitching.

OPEN SOURCE CUBS BLOG:
I would like you guys to take your commentary to the next level for Cubtober this year: I have some true blue Cub fans (you know who you are) and I'm making copies of the keys and sending them to you. You'll get an email regarding this.

Cubs Make it Two Over Milwaukee

What was looking like a very tense divisional race is a little easier right now. Of course, Milwaukee has two days left to make something happen. But they can also shoot themselves in the foot. The Cubs have a 3 game lead. That lead has reached 4 over the Cardinals. Now the Cubs have beaten the Brew Crew when the starters were Sabathia and Sheets; Manny Parra, their good young lefty, starts today. The Cubs send Ryan Dempster. That is the Brewers' best opportunity, because in the final game it is the mediocre Dave Bush for Milwaukee against the tough Rich Harden.

It was quite a rally last night against Sheets. His stuff eluded him all at once, and the Cubs pounded out seven hits. Carlos Zambrano improved to 12-4, with a 2.80 ERA. Chad Gaudin and Jeff Samarzidja have stabilized a bullpen left empty by Kerry Wood's injury, and bad performances by Bob Howry and Michael Wuertz.

If the Brewers weren't gunning for my beloved and long-suffering Chicago Cubs, I would be rooting for them this year. I love to see a small-market team make good by doing things the right way and winning with talented youngsters.

MLB Watch: Back From the Dead

Fernando Tatis, who once hit 34 homers with the St. Louis Cardinals, is back. He has resurfaced with the NY Mets (my favorite squadron).

So far this year, he has a .552 slugging percentage. Tatis' resurgence is as mysterious as his collapse in earlier years. After being traded to Montreal in 2000, Tatis' game fell apart. In 2006, he played for Baltimore, with 8 extra-base hits in just over 50 at bats. But this year's Mets have given him a real chance to revive his career. Congratulations, Fernando.

100 Years or Bust!

The Cubs last won the World Series in the long-ago year of 1908. During this ong ago time, America was kind of a backwater with the real international action taking place in Europe, among such powers as: the British Empire, the German Empire, and Austria-Hungary, among others.

I think I speak for other Cubs fans when I say there is a palpable sense of non-cursedness this year; somehow that three-digit number 100 makes it seem as though we've served our sentence and done our time. My only worry is that WGN Radio keeps playing that audio clip of Ron Santo yelling, THIS IS THE YEAR! Perhaps you've heard it...

The gauntlet is thrown; its too late not to say it. At this cafepress shop, you can find a t-shirt to match that sentiment:

www.100yearsorbust.com

They also sell hats, mugs, and the like. Check it out!

What a Wild One Up in Milwaukee...

Our Cubs had a narrow escape last night. Two of the brewers' Achilles Heel areas cost them dearly. One is their inability to find a real, true closer after losing Francisco Cordero in free agency. The other is the defense of Rickie Weeks.

If Weeks had not launched a double play relay throw in to the outfield last night, this would all be a different story. As it is, things are looking up in Cub land, and if you're a Brewers fan, you've got to feel really down about last night.

The Cubs survived the C.C. Sabathia buzzsaw, even though we only had Ted Lilly as our starter. Now, we are at least even money facing Ben Sheets tonight, because Big Z will start for the Cubs. Z sometimes freaks out a little when all the pressure is on him, but truth be told, the real burden is on Milwaukee.

Right now, the Rich Harden trade looms large. At some point in this series now the Brewers will have to face Harden, with no pitcher of his caliber on the mound for them.

I was filled with a warm, happy feeling last night when I heard that Alfonso Soriano hit one out of off Sabathia early in the game. A Soriano hot streak is a best case scenario now, don't you think?

Milwaukee leads off with Weeks, who is a very shaky defensive player. Despite that, he is hitting only .224. Imagine how much better the Brewers would be if they shipped Weeks off for a smoother, veteran second baseman like Mark Loretta. Another change I would make to the Brewers is to add another relief pitcher (using the same candidates I recommended and still recommend for the Cubs). Heath Bell is not talked about much on the trade market, but the padres would have to think carefully abuot an offer for a serious prospect.

I don't know why the Cubs haven't tried offering Felix Pie for Heath Bell or Cla Meredith (pronounced Clay). The Padres, after giving up on Jim Edmonds WAY too early, are reduced to using Pirates reject Jody Gerut in center. It is definitely rebuilding time in San Diego.

What a game yesterday! Woooo! Just when you thought that the Cubs were on the edge of a total "Cubbie Occurrence," Sean Marshall comes to the rescue. Marshall closed down the Giants' momentum with 2 great innings of, at times, overpowering relief pitching, followed by a hit to start the rally in the 11th.

We are one game from the All-Star Break. At that time I will break down the first-half performance of our beloved Cubs. But for now, what is obvious is that the Cubs lack a top-level setup man. Carlos Marmol has shown a sad tendency to let us down when we rely on him too heavily. I'm thinking of yesterday, and in the playoffs against the Dbacks. In my opinion, he doesn't have enough heart to be a closer. He might also not have enough to be an October setup man, not if there is no one there to pick him up when he gets down.

This would all be OK if this weren't the year that Bob Howry got a little bit too old to be really good. Chicago fans might remember his closer days with the South Siders. After he hurt himself he was replaced by Keith Foulke during the Sox' better years in the early 00s (or whatever I should call it). Howry vanished, and then resurfaced with Cleveland after arm problems.

But now, the Cubs long list of right handed bullpen arms looks thin after Kerry Wood. Howry gives up too many hits, as does Jon Lieber. Marmol seems either that he is hiding an injury, or he is going into a mental funk. Michael Wuertz was recently sent down to AAA to re-learn his slider. If breaking the 100 year curse depends on Michael Wuertz, well, maybe Rex Grossman can win a Super Bowl for us so we won't feel so down this fall.

It is settled then: we need another reliever. Where do we find that? The best place to look is teams that have a lot of veterans and thought they would contend but will not.

Padres: suck.
Have: Heath Bell, Cla Meredith.
Need: to blow it up and rebuild.
Why not: they might not want to make any more trades with us after we sent them Michael Barrett. Let the buyer beware SD -- not our fault.

Mariners: wow, what a train wreck!
Have: Brandon Morrow, Ryan Rowland-Smith
Need: talent.
Also: could we try and get Ichiro? Though that would give us TWO Japanese right fielders. But then Fukudome would have someone to hang with.

Indians: just not their year.
Have: Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez.
Need: to reload to take on the Central in 2009.

Any of these trades could probably happen in exchange for Rich Hill. Felix Pie might work too. The roster tinkering is not done; more additions need to be made. This is the best opportunity I have seen for the Cubs, ever, and that we-can't-win feeling is somehow overruled by the number 100. Thanks also the Red Sox, White Sox, Dbacks, Marlins, and Angels for making this the decade where teams that no one thinks can win do.

Harden Trade

By now, Cub nation is all aware that the Cubs picked up Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin for Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton, and Josh Donaldson.

Some of us openly wonder what the A's were thinking; others shudder that the Cubs made a trade with Billy Beane that doesn't make sense for Beane on paper.

Maybe the real point was to get something for Harden, as if he were a ticking time bomb of injury that would break the A's hearts if they held on to him too long.

I remember that Andy MacPhail tried to get Sean Gallagher in the Brian Roberts deal that never happened. MacPhail would, of course, know all about the Cubs' minor leaguers. It wasn't so long ago that he was here.

So to me, that is the answer: Gallagher is a very fine player with a bright future. The press is united in its view that he will never be anything more than a fourth starter. Beane must think otherwise. Actually, to make it to the big leagues by 22, it does take real talent.

From the Cubs' point of view, this is absolutely a good idea. Harden is the type of pitcher we needed for the playoffs, to pair with Zambrano. Ted Lilly is a fine pitcher, but he has bad days. It would be tough to feel confident in a playoff sries against Arizona with Zambrano and Lilly versus Webb and Haren, or if Milwaukee gets that wild card, against Sheets and Sabathia.

Harden pushes everyone down one notch in the depth chart. The Cubs also added depth by getting Chad Gaudin included in the deal. With Marmol struggling, and Howry gettnig up there in age, another arm for the 'pen is a good thing, a very good thing.

Zambrano vs. Cueto Tonight

Big Z makes the second start of his return tonight against the Reds, who will have hard-throwing young Johnny Cueto pitching against him. Cueto pitched great in his first game, but has been knocked around a little bit since then.

With both Eric Patterson and Matt Murton now gone, Reed Johnson will start in left field. Except for that, it is the usual lineup, with Theriot leading off, and Fukudome hitting second.

Zambrano gets fewer strikeouts but also walks fewer hitters than he has in the past. Call it maturation, if you like. Cueto gets almost as many Ks as Zambrano used to, but gives up too many homers... he would be doing better if the Reds would move in their fences to make their park a little less homer-happy.

They also bring young slugger Joey Votto to Wrigley; he's a great young left-handd hitter who is a serious contender for Rookie of the Year.

Should the Cubs Bat the Pitcher Eighth?

This idea definitely has not hurt the Cardinals, who, bafflingly, are fighting it out with us for first place. We may see this lineup before the year is over. Why? There are a couple reasons why it makes sense for the Cubs, more than ANYONE. Best reason: LaRussa thinks it is a good idea to have RBI opportunities of some kind for his leadoff hitter, and increased RBI opportunities for his #3 hitter.
More RBIs for a leadoff hitter? Do we know any leadoff hitters that would benefit from more RBI opportunities? Secondly, we have a couple pitchers who can really hit. Here I mean Zambrano and Jason Marquis. I believe Zambrano would love the chance to hit eighth, and possibly score another at-bat.
I have a couple ideas about who should move down to ninth. One idea is to bat Theriot there. But what if Soto batted there? If Soto bats ninth, he would have Soriano as lineup protection, and the offensive beat down he is giving the NL might just continue.

Cubs Were 17-10 in April...

This was a great month for the team! Fukudome showed he was a smart pickup, and Derrek Lee is the player he was back in 2005 once again. These two led the offense, along with Ryan Theriot, Geovany Soto, Reed Johnson, Mark DeRosa, and Aramis Ramirez. In other words, the entire lineup had a good month, and two players had a great month. But let's not forget our pitchers: Zambrano pitched like an ace. Ryan Dempster had multiple quality starts. Rich Hill rebounded nicely from a rough start. Kerry Wood pitched like a real closer, and Carlos Marmol was even better than that.

If the Cubs are going to continue playing .600 ball, what issues need to be dealt with?

1. Felix Pie. Can this man hit any better or not? I am surprised that he has been this bad, but not shocked. Maybe he needs to go to a team that has time to just send him out to center, and let him figure out the game with no fans that expect to win right away. Another thing that might be good for Felix is to play for a team that can afford to carry his weak bat for some time. We are almost that team. If we sub Reed Johnson in to the game in later innings, we might be able to get away with this one for a time.

2. Starting Rotation. Zambrano will be fine, and Ted Lilly is improving. But will Ryan Dempster continue to pitch this way for a full season? Right now, Ryan is far and away out-pitching his best years with Florida. Not only would he come down hard for that reason, we also have to remember he hasn't been a starter in years. He will get tired, and if we don't have a backup plan, it will kill us at the worst possible time. That would be August. Rich Hill has had only one good year, but also some potential, with comes with some risk. Jason Marquis, however, has shown that he is unreliable over the long haul. It's not a question of attitude, or pacing, or anything else that can be fixed. The problem is he's not that talented, and needs to be "on" in order to win.

3. Bobby Howry. Does he have enough left to be a part of a great bullpen, or will he be in mop-up roles all year?

4. Geovany Soto. I doubt he will hit .333 his whole career. What will happen when national league scouts turn on to his weaknesses? I suspect he has one or two, at least.

5. Kevin Hart and Sean Marshall. Are these two the answer in the last spots of the bullpen? Hart has won admiration with his attitude, but the results are not there so far. Sean Marshall is a young starting pitcher, not a lefty specialist. that half of the question might be answered by the return of Scott Eyre.

Cubs Sitting at 10-6

The Cubs are playing very well, and yesterday Rich Hill got going. So it seems we were all too concerned about Hill too soon. Like many inexperienced (people get on me when I say Rich Hill is young. Ok, he is late 20s. But he doesn't have a lot of major league time) pitchers, he is inconsistent. But he can still help us win.

The early stars are Derrek Lee-- 6 HR, 13 RBI, .357; Reed Johnson -- .375; Fukudome, .317, with a .431 OBP; Zambrano, 2-1, 3.04; and Dempster, 2-0, 2.37.

Right now, we are tied for second with Milwaukee, chasing St. Louis, 1.5 games ahead.

Matt Murton

Murton might be the most talented Cub I have ever seen not get a chance. His problem is that he is not versatile at all; he can handle left field, or maybe first base, and that's really it. After we moved Soriano to left field, there was no place here for Murton. Somehow, the trade never got done.

Now, Murton is back. No doubt he can help us while Soriano is gone. He should get an extended look while Soriano is out. And if Soriano were to keep getting hutr all year, Murton might just be here and put up good numbers. If Soriano gets healthy and stays healthy, they will look to trade Murton. That would be a good thing for everyone; there has to be a team out there that can use a legit 300 hitter.

Marty Brennaman Rips Cubs Fans...

You guys who come here regularly know that I often steer clear of the controversies and focus on the game between the lines. That is my personality; I don't love this game because of who said what, I just want to watch these games and I want the Cubs to get that World Championship.

But this Brennaman thing is a BIG deal. He's talking about US, guys. First - this is not the guy who used to work here; this is his dad, who has been working for the Reds forever. Now on to what he said, and his repeated comments the next day.

The fact that Brennaman got so tightly wound up about this incident only shows how uptight and formalized American culture has become. The Reds' Adam Dunn hit a homer and Cub fans, in a bit of spontaneity and fun, launch 15 balls on to the field instead of just throwing the one back, as we often do.

Mr. Brennaman, this is our secret. Cub fans have turned Wrigley in to a place that allows actions like this; it gave everyone a good laugh. I think that anyone who thinks this disrespects the game has forgotten that the game is about having fun, at its very essence.

This sort of thing is what makes Wrigley the temple of baseball, not the sticky, ancient, wooden seat (though they certainly help). What else is it all about?

Its about throngs of people entering and leaving the stadium in random directions, ignoring traffic rules, and weaving around hucksters selling all things Cubs and many other items.
Its about insisting on day baseball as often as possible, sitting out in the sun on a day off or a half day from work, rather than rushing to the nice modern stadium after work in time for a 715 game.
Its about bars operating just outside the stadium, because some people just love being in Wrigleyville.
All this and so much more. Other stadium experiences are corporate and bland. Somehow, when the Cubs cram more ads in to Wrigley and stick some more screens where they can fit them in, it only makes it better. Why? Because it is all so chaotic. When I see those little signs that show the scores and count electronically along the upper deck, I am aware that they are on the margins, unlike at some stadiums where the big jumbotron IS the game. If I wanted to watch a huge screen, I could buy one and stay at home.
I've done some other stadium experiences and the conveniences are nice. But none of them have been worthy after Wrigley. And its fans have not forgotten the point of the whole deal.

Reds Lying in the Weeds...

The Reds' lineup and bullpen yesterday impressed me. There are several competent relievers down in the Reds' bullpen, with Cordero closing, and Kent Mercker to set up along with David Weathers, last year's closer. Todd Coffey is another young reliever with some promise.

The Reds' lineup, 1-8, has only two weak points. One is in center field, where Corey Patterson leads off. Patterson did not impress last year, after scaring Cubs fans in 2006 by leading the league in steals with Baltimore. The Reds' homerrific park is maybe the best place for Patterson to try to revive his career. If Dusty is thinking anything sensible with this move, that's it.

Griffey is still here, and of course, he is not the player he once was, but who is at 38. Adam Dunn is in his prime, and a true homer threat at all times. Brandon Phillips leads the new generation of second basemen with pop, right along with Philadelphia's Chase Utley. Edwin Encarnacion and Jeff Keppinger are solid hitters, and Joey Votto is one the game's brightest stars.

CF prospect Jay Bruce is often called the best prospect in the game. In years to come, Reds fans will get to enjoy seeing him play alongside Cueto, Harang, and Votto. If baseball were at all serious in helping small-market teams compete like football does, the Reds would have the brightest future in the Central Division. But the good players they have now will be gone as soon as the younger players are good enough to need to be paid.

Cubs Juggernaut?

Maybe it is too early to get excited about the Cubs. Our teams frequently do well at the start of the year; this has been true even with our mediocre teams that came with less talent and even fewer expectations.

But last night we put the hurt on a weaker Reds team, despite playing without Soriano.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280416116

The Cubs have recalled Eric Patterson from Iowa to fill Soriano's roster spot. He got in the game yesterday. More interesting, strategically, was Piniella's use of Fontenot leading off at second, with DeRosa in left field.

If Patterson shows he is ready to play here, this could be Fontenot's last chance to prove he is good enough to keep Patterson waiting in Iowa. Or maybe now it is time to show the league what Fontenot can do, and trade him somewhere there is an opportunity for a second baseman with a little pop.

Should Patterson succeed, that will put the Brian Roberts rumors to rest for ever. DeRosa would not be happy about becoming a supersub once again, but hey, he's in the big leagues getting regular ABs. At the end of the day, most of us would take that.

Zambrano pitched like an ace yesterday; he beat a team that he should beat. And as always, he contributed with the bat too. Three hits. A personality as large as the body that carries it. This is why I love watching Zambrano, win or lose.

Kevin Hart continues to impress in his bullpen role. His job is to pitch when it is helpful for other pitchers to rest. As he improves his game, he will rise in the ranks of the Cubs' bullpen. It's a long way to the top here - unlike other years for the Cubs, in which after this much success, we would already be wondering if Hart could close.

MLB: Corey Hasn't Changed, Dusty Doesn't Let It Affect His Plans

Corey Patterson has not elevated his game AT ALL; he still doesn't hit .300, or get on base well, and these days, he hits for power a bit less. Now he is hitting .239; but Baker still has him leading off.

It's a very sad outcome for a guy who had been a blue-chip prospect. The question now becomes: what happened? He never did get hurt, or get involved with drugs (to our knowledge) or even get buried and not get his chance. He just simply failed to become what he should have become, and only because that is how life sometimes is. And that is how it normally is with Cubs prospects...

Take That, Dusty!

Dusty was booed each time he emerged from the dugout last night. I have to say, Cub fans in general have become like New York fans. Used to be, we were the most placid and forgiving group you ever wanted to see. Ironically, it was Dusty and 2003 that changed that. After the Bartman game, the feel-good vibe did not last for any reason beyond winning. Which is not normal here for our North Siders.

The Cubs pounded 3 homers against our Reds nemesis, Aaron Harang, and his reliever friends. If Harang doesn't beat us, I'm not sure who the Reds have that can. Maybe that young Jonny Cueto; he has great stuff, overpowering at times.

Felix Pie was overmatched again last night; he struck out 3 times. Now he has whiffed 10 times in 26 at bats. He has not walked once. Last year, he walked 14 times in 177 at bats, which isn't totally horrible. He probably needs to go back to AAA, and come back to us when he can dominate down there - not just succeed.

MLB: LaRussa's pitcher bats 8th this year

The Cardinals and Brewers are trying something new this year; they are batting their pitchers 8th rather than 9th. LaRussa says that he is doing it so that he can have it both ways with Albert Pujols: he has Pujols to bat in the first inning for sure, as the #3 hitter, but after that, he is effectively a cleanup hitter. Having three hitters in front of him instead of two (following the pitcher's spot) increases his RBI opportunities.

The downside is that the pitcher is more likely to bat in the second inning, and more likely to mess up your third inning. After about 2 at bats, its not a very big deal, as the pinch hitters take over, or the guys who are double switched in to the lineup occupy that slot. Also, now your #7 hitter has no lineup protection.

This makes a lot of sense with the Cardinals' set up of having a relatively weak starting rotation, and a (normally) strong bullpen. I expect that despite whatever names you find on your Cardinals roster sheet, the bullpen will be good. LaRussa knows how to find guys Kiko Calero to come from the baseball wilderness and get outs in the late innings. It's a skill he shares with Jim Leyland and Piniella.

Cubs Humming Right Along

... Until Soriano got hurt again. He is starting to remind me of Eric Davis; all muscle but not a huge guy, but strong and fast. I hope he is not as brittle in his later years. I'm not worried about the Cubs pitching at all; we have some pitchers who are off to slow starts, but those guys will get it together. Included in that group are Ted Lilly and Rich Hill. I'm not confident either of them can pitch as well as last year, but overall, we have a better team now than we did then.

The hitting looks better than I thought it would be, for sure. Derrek Lee looks like he is once again the awesome hitter he was in 2004 and 2005. I wasn't sure if he ever would be again, on this side of 30. But his wrist just needed more time to fully recover. Fukudome is the real deal, too. He works pitchers and fouls off good pitches. He will hit .300 for sure.

The bullpen is deep, with Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz, Lieber, and Hart to with Scott Eyre when he returns. Lou and Hendry opted to go with the best pitchers they could get, rather than carry 2 lefty relievers. This works better.

Piniella uses his bench skillfully; he knows how to use guys like Mike Fontenot, and Daryle Ward to the maximum of their potential. With just about any other manager I can remember, the bench was not a weapon the Cubs really had. Maybe the last time goes way back to the Don Zimmer era.

All's well that ends well. Looked like th Cubs might blow that one, but the Pirates just ran outr of relievers, and had to send Dumatrait out for the 15th even after he failed in the 14th.

The Cubs ran through pretty much the entire bullpen in getting this one done, as well as all the bench players. In the 15th, Sean marshall got the win. Did you know he was on the roster? Oh, you did? Well then, how IS your fantasy team doing!

The Cubs now have a 4 game winning streak, not having lost since falling to 1-3 after the opening loss to Houston. The hitters are hitting, and the pitchers are pitching. The offense has been led by Fukudome (.419/.526/1.139), and Lee (.415/.694/1.109), with the top pitchers being Dempster (13 Ip, 4 H, 0.69 ERA) and Zambrano (1 BB, 12 K, 1.32 ERA). The bullpen has been solid too, with Michael Wuertz and Jon Lieber sporting 0.00 ERAs. After seeing Lieber out of the pen, I have to say that myself and many of my friends were wrong. Dempster will not be losing his starting job to Lieber; at this point, Lieber makes a much better reliever than starter. He has complete command and rhythm out of the bullpen. It is a pleasure to watch him work.

I didn't dare hope that Fukudome would be this similar to Ichiro; I just thought that he would come here, show a good batting eye, hit for some power, and play defense well. But I've seen him work over the pitchers, wasting good pitchers' pitches until they give him one to destroy. I've seen running catches in the right-center gap. It is not just for something to do that some fans have taken to wearing Japanese samurai-style headbands. They're on to something.

MLB

We've had a few games now, and there have been some surprises in MLB. For example, the Tigers. I think they will turn it around; it was just a really high-profile time for everyone on the roster in Detroit. And after all, as the Tigers won pennants in 1908, 1945, and even 1984, a good Cubs winning because it is 100 years so its our turn scenario all but requires the Tigers as WS opponents. Other acceptable teams would include any of the AL's original 8, especially those 5 still in their original cities. Those would be: Tigers, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, or Cleveland Indians. Funny, but any one of those would have special meaning; the Indians are long suffering, the Red Sox used to be, as were the White Sox who still are our true arch rivals, the Tigers have that connection with our best years, and the Yankees are more responsible than any of them for the Cubs not winning any WS between 1908 and 1945 despite all the pennants they did win.

Cubs' Lineup Issue

After 3 games, 1-2. A lot of excitement about Soriano's lineup placement, which caused the media to exasperate poor Lou Piniella. Sports teams are really in a fishbowl; every move is dissected endlessly. Really, it is a minor issue and not one that fans really care about.

A lot of ink is used to examine minor moves made by teams, and in the absence of a bigger piece of news, it gets magnified in the 24-hour news cycle. And so now Piniella has reversed the order of Soriano and Theriot. In years past, this would not warrant much interest. Now it is a major story, some kind of big deal.

Did it help the Cubs to win today? it is possible. But I think that if they got some hits today, it had a lot to do with Ben Sheets not being the starter.

Wow, What an Opening Day!

Wow, what an opening day that was! Only one thing would have made it better; it was definitely a good game. Of course the league does not have a good scouting report on Fukudome yet. After one day he has all the team's extra base hits and all 3 RBIs. I'm very happy with this pickup so far. It validates all my offseason rantings that we needed Fukudome.

Kerry Wood was not so great in the ninth; Howry was the losing pitcher in the 10th. Marmol was dominant in his inning and a third. I think Wood will make a fine closer; he has everything a closer needs, both in his arsenal and in his attitude. Marmol is the only reason that there could be any real controversy. He is so dominant in his appearances. Have the Cubs ever had such a great eighth-inning pitcher, ever in their history?

Recently Steve Stone was on AM-670 talking about why Kerry Wood was not going to be chosen as closer. He cited Wood's difficulty with the first batter, his long delivery (which makes it easy to steal bases against him), and maybe some other reasons. Stone is wrong here; Wood has overpowering stuff; that is why he can be a great closer. Opposing stolen bases matter much less when the opposing hitters cannot drive in the run because they strike out. Also in the vein of situational baseball, Woody would have to be considered VERY tough to bunt against, which weakens Stone's small-ball argument. Wood's level of power pitching makes OBP much less useful than against a typical pitcher.

Rating the 2008 Cubs

On a 1-10 scale, my ratings of the Cubs' players:

C - Geovany Soto 6
1b - Derrek Lee 7
2b - Mark DeRosa 6
SS - Ryan Theriot 6
3b - Aramis Ramirez 9
LF - Alfonso Soriano 9
CF - Felix Pie 4
RF - Kosuke Fukudome 7

SP - Carlos Zambrano 9
SP - Ted Lilly 7
SP - Rich Hill 6
SP - Ryan Dempster 6
SP - Jason Marquis 5
CL - Kerry Wood 7
RP - Carlos Marmol 10
RP - Bobby Howry 9

I weight these players at 50% of the value of the starting eight and the top pitchers:

RP - Michael Wuertz 8
RP - Carmen Pigniatello 6
RP - Jon Lieber 6
C - Henry Blanco 6
OF - Reed Johnson 6
OF - Daryl Ward 8
IF - Mike Fontenot 4
IF - Ronny Cedeno 5
RP - Kevin Hart 4

Cubs total score: 113+27 = 140

I predict the Cubs will win 86 games this year, and finish second to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Players Headed for Big/ Bad Years

Some players I am optimsitic about;

Carlos Marmol
Dontrelle Willis
Daric Barton
Joey Votto
Rickie Weeks
Corey Hart
Clay Buchholz
Matt Cain
Tim Lincecum
Jacoby Ellsbury
Nick Swisher
Kosuke Fukudome
Juan Uribe
Alex Gordon
Billy Butler
Ian Kinsler
Ryan Zimmerman
Fukudome
Ichiro
Justin Upton
Josh Hamilton
Matt Capps
Ben Sheets
Hank Blalock
James Loney
James Shields

Some I think are headed for disappointing seasons:
Gary Sheffield
Cole Hamels
Joe Borowski
Eric Byrnes
Juan Pierre
Pat Burrell
Fausto Carmona
Ubaldo Jiminez
Dustin McGowan
Felix Hernandez
Ryan Braun
David Ortiz
Kevin Gregg
Randy Johnson
Ryan Theriot

Im a little low on time, so I will finish this a bit later. Chew on this partial list, for the time being...

2008 Season Predictions!

Well I/we are back here regularly to the Infield Box, now with the season technically already under way. Opening day, though, is for most teams (including our Cubs) not until Monday.

This is the twilight season of American League dominance, baseball fans. Believe it. The young talent is twice as good in the National. Either this year or next, the NL will begin a run of All-Star Game victories.

Here are how the 2008 races shape up, as I see it:

2008 AL East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles

Why not again? One year at a time, Red Sox nation is achieving parity with the law of averages. The Yankees are the second best team here. They are too loaded for me to think that the Jays can catch them, though they do have a realistic chance. No, it is still not the Rays' year. When will it be? If the young talent develops, and the Red Sox get old, and the Yankees' pitchers disappoint, then there could be a run for this team. The Orioles are backing up the truck now. Erik Bedard was traded; Brian Roberts will be next.

2008 AL Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Kansas City Royals

The Tigers are just too loaded not to win. How can ALL of it fail? There is to much talent here for bad individual seasons to stop a division title. I like the White Sox; Kenny Williams really knows how to build on the fly. After last year, it is easy to forget just how good many Sox players are. If Detroit just doesn't care, this could be a first place finish for the Sox. Cleveland has a thin rotation and a bullpen that goes way up or way down year to year. Guess which kind they are due for? I still like their lineup though. The Twins lack the great pitching they had in years past. But they will be ahead of the Royals because of Mauer and Morneau. Kansas City cannot match that, though Alex Gordon and Billy Butler, is in fact a great start.
2008 AL West
1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California
2. Texas Rangers
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Oakland A's

The Angels will cruise in a weak division. Sure is nice to be the Angels. I think the Rangers will have a lot of hitting, and little pitching. Their pickup of Josh Hamilton was astute, and I think that Hank Blalock will come back strong. I really like Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young is still here. The Mariners added Erik Bedard. their idea that they should trade a blue-chip prospect like Adam Jones in order to "win now" was seriously misguided. They have some talent, but does anyone see them in the World Series? Oakland traded it's best hitter and best pitcher. Billy Beane is reloading. Daric Barton has a great upside. Don't forget about these guys for too long.

2008 NL East
1. New York Mets
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Florida Marlins
4. Philadelphia Phillies
5. Washington Nationals

The Mets will be more hungry than a veteran team normally is; we all know why. And now they have Santana, who hasn't been seen before by the NL hitters. The Braves never really die, do they? They have some good young talent. The Marlins also have a lot of talented youngsters. They have good young players on the rise both as hitters and pitchers. The Phillies really peaked last year. They have Rollins and Chase Utley. What else do they have? The Nationals plan to ride out this year based on their new stadium.

2008 NL Central
1. Milwaukee Brewers
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Houston Astros
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. St. Louis Cardinals

Wow, the Brewers have talent. I'm not sue if they are ready to win big or not, but they have too many players with chances to break out to overlook this team and to believe that the generally over-30 Cubs will be better. The Astros have some decent players. Here, that is good enough for 3rd. The Reds have some young talent, and Dusty Baker gets the most out of a team in his early years. The Pirates have some players who are good that you've never heard of, unless you play fantasy baseball. But have you seen the lineup that St. Louis plans to use? That could really implode if Pujols ends up having to have surgery (which he should do, since this year is a lost cause).

2008 NL West
1. San Diego Padres
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Francisco Giants

Any of these NL West teams would be a threat even for second place in the NL Central. I like the Padres front-line pitching; Jake Peavy and Chris Young is a great leg up on the competition. They are better than Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. The Dbacks have a lot of very young players who might slip a bit when the league focuses on getting them out this year. They lack a true #3 hitter, and collectively strike out too much. The Dodgers have enough talent to win often enough. There are some good things about this team, but they are not a true threat. The Rockies in fourth? Really? Yes, but with about 75 wins. There is not one single veteran pitcher with a real resume here. Matt Holliday is the best offensive player, but most other players will have real problems repeating their performances. Todd Helton in particular has disappointed for several years now. The Giants have some outstanding young pitchers, such as Tim Lincecum, and Matt Cain. They have nothing else. The healing has begun; 2008 is the year the Giants take their medicine.

Wild Card Races:
AL Wild Card Contenders: White Sox, Yankees, Cleveland. Winner? White Sox.
NL Wild Card Contenders: Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Braves, Cubs, Astros, Marlins. Winner? I say Atlanta, though Lou Piniella (and it will be because of him if it happens) can will the Cubs in to the post season. IF that happens the common belief that it is the Cubs year will alter the usual we-are-cursed narrative that manifests in such things as the Bartman game.

Cubs Rotation Very Promising This Year

Starting pitching will be the Cubs' strength this year. We have a good surplus of arms. When you have that, you are in good shape because pitching wins ballgames and championships. We have a legit ace in Zambrano, a great young lefty in Rich Hill, and a solid veteran in Ted Lilly. The favorites to be the other two starters are Ryan Dempster and Jon Lieber. If anything goes wrong, there is still Jason Marquis, Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, Sean Gallagher, and Kevin Hart. This miles better than 2006, when Dusty Baker was forced to send out there anyone who was healthy and was willing to do it; this is how Sean Marshall got to the majors too soon, and why Carlos Marmol was stuck in the starting rotation. A smart GM stockpiles starting pitchers. Jim Hendry has also done it.