It has been a LONG time since I was nearly brought to tears with a Bulls loss, but tonight it happened. Losing at home to the worst team in the NBA that was on pace (I know it's WAY early) to destroy the lowest season win total "record" (they were on pace to win 4 games for the season while the record is 9) just about killed me. Thank goodness I wasn't there to see it although I was at the debacle against Toronto on Saturday when they lost by 32 again at home.
For tonight's game I know there were a million reasons they lost and you really shouldn't point to a single moment that lost the game, but that disastrous decision by John Salmons to take a step-back 3-pointer with over 10 seconds left on the clock with the Bulls down by 1 was just horrendous. Of all the guys on the floor at that point, the one guy you just didn't want taking an outside shot (forget the fact that there were still 10 seconds left and NO RUSH and they didn't need a 3 at that point), John Salmons was THE guy NOT to take the shot. Luol was 10-17 from the field; Rose (who was a beast tonight) was 13-23; Taj was 8-12; and Noah was 3-6. Salmons was 4-11 before his ill-fated shot. If they had ANYONE else on the bench that could do anything, I would hope that Vinny wouldn't have even had him on the floor at that point but Pargo was 1-8 and Johnson was 0-5 and well on his way to bust status.
The missed free throws were a HUGE problem AGAIN tonight as the Bulls finished up 15-23 for 65% (Nets were 24-28 for nearly 86%) including going 0-4 to start the 4th quarter down by 10 points. The 19 turnovers leading to about 20 points for the Nets were also a huge problem as well. But with the game on the line, how does the ball end up in the hands of the coldest guy on the floor? And WHY is he chucking up a step-back 3 with 10 seconds left down by only 1 point? There was still plenty of time to get the ball to Rose (does this team no how to set a dang pick?) and let HIM take the last shot or at least drive and kick it to someone having a better night than Salmons.
The Bulls have now lost 7-of-8 including two pretty embarrassing home losses to a sub-.500 Toronto team and the loss tonight to the worst team in the NBA (this was their first road win of the season after dropping their first 12). Yes, they are missing a couple of key players in Tyrus and Kirk, but injuries are a part of the game and everyone always says they aren't an excuse so what is the problem here? I watched the post-game press conference with Vinny and someone actually had the guts to ask him if he felt he still had job security. GREAT question! And a perfect lead-in to this post.
I mentioned in my first post in this series that I have never been much of a fan of Vinny's considering how young this team is and his total lack of coaching experience having never coached anywhere ever before. He certainly came here on the cheap but as a 10+ year season ticket holder paying a ridiculous amount of money for the tickets, that is NOT what I want to hear. Seeing former Bulls coach Scott Skiles hold together a pretty bad Bucks team without Michael Redd (played only 5 of their 19 games) only aggravates me that much more. This Bulls team started the season with a nice defensive attitude because we all knew they'd have some trouble scoring without BG but that disappeared very quickly as they have given up 100+ points in 7 of their last 9 which resulted in losses each time. What is this team's identity? They absolutely suck at defending the pick-and-roll and give up too many easy shots to be a defensive minded team but then they can't score either (reaching 100 twice in 19 games - not a good combo.
So who's working with this team on their outside shooting? What about their free throws? Do they have any "go-to" plays they can run at the end of a game that will at least guarantee a good shot? The plain truth is that they don't have anyone or they just don't work on it. Sure at some point the players need to take responsibility for their weaknesses, but do you see any improvement in any of these areas? I sure don't. The rest of the truth is that this team is NOT positioned very well for this season and the worse they play, the less likely they will be to attract any of the upcoming free agents. After dismantling the Bulls on their home floor, why would Chris Bosh want to come here to play? Or why would Wade want to come back "home" to play rather than stay in Miami? And with LeBron doing his special dance in advance of their home win against the Bulls, that doesn't seem like the antics of a guy that wants to play here rather than fulfill D-Rose's dream of playing with him.
What the heck was Vinny thinking when he changed the starting lineup to bench Taj and start the OLD and SLOW Brad Miller (hey, at least he's tall) against a young, quick, up and coming Center in Brook Lopez? I'm all for shaking up a lineup that's struggling, but Brad Miller?!? As anyone that's ever seen Lopez or Miller play could guess, Lopez OWNED Miller in the first quarter. Brutal Vinny! I know he was trying to cover for his player when asked about the ill-fated Salmons 3-point shot near the end, but his response about checking the tape made it sound like he had no idea what happened. Anyone watching the game knew there was at least 8 seconds left when he chucked it up there so what is there to check? He was the LAST guy on teh floor that you'd want to take that shot and that should have been made explicitly clear in teh team huddle during the timeout preceding the play.
The Bulls, like the Bears and Cubs as highlighted in the previous two posts need a NEW coaching perspective and staff...one with some respect to help lure free agents here in the most important off-season in NBA history.
Again, why do we put up with this here in Chicago?
Next up...off-season baseball and the winter meetings.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Why Do We Put Up With This - Part 2?
As a lifelong Cubs fan, I guess I should follow up the Bears problems with those of my favorite pro sports team - the Cubs.
The good news is the Trib is officially GONE - thank goodness. The only problem is the debris field they left behind. Wrigley is totally out-of-date and run down; the minor league player development is a total joke; the GM had arguably (no argument from me) the worst season of all-time; the team president remains in his old spot; and the manager who mailed it in for the second half of last year is back too. Did I mention the worst ever Chicago free-agent signing (and THAT is saying a LOT) ever remains on the roster? They have the most expensive and under-achieving outfield in the history of baseball including THE most overpaid player in baseball (that is also saying a LOT). Luckily, they are only stuck with Soriano for another 5 SEASONS!!!
Yes, we now have owners who are at least telling us they are in this because they are baseball fans - lifelong Cubs fans as a matter of fact. But I remain baffled that Tom Ricketts has been supposedly involved with this team for nearly 2 years and yet left all the leaders of the organization in their familiar places. Even scarier were his comments on how much better the team was doing recently by making the playoffs 3 times in the last 7 seasons. The Cubs are the ONLY major market team in the NL Central with the highest payroll too. WHY can't they win the division more than they have? And since they have been spending but not performing, doesn't that leave the leadership as the problem? Particularly the GM who oversees the draft, signs the free agents, makes or doesn't make the trades, and hires/fires the manager? So how does Jim Hendry remain? I just don't get it.
Lou had a club option to come back this year. After a VERY disappointing season, the Cubs didn't renew it right? Wrong! Jim Hendry for whatever reason exercised the club option back in 2008. Wait...yes, you read that right...the Cubs exercised Lou's club option for the 2010 season back in September 2008 right BEFORE the Cubs went 3-and-out in the playoffs for the second time in two years. Why the big rush Jim? Was there some huge demand out there for an aging skipper that can't get his team up for the playoffs? This guy spends money like it isn't his...you know why...because it ISN'T! That's not the guy I want leading my organization.
Lou totally mailed it in last year giving up on his team in August and never fighting to get them back on track. Let's not forget the Cubs were still in first place as late as August 5th. Then the wheels fell off and the guy in charge of getting them back on was asleep at the helm instead. But let's turn the clock back a little further. How about calling his starting RF a "piece of s***" and sending him home one day only to have him back in the starting lineup the very next day? Or how long did he leave the ultra-struggling Soriano in the lead-off spot? How many Gatorade machines did he allow to be destroyed by underachieving pitchers with no repercussions? Who's in charge in the dugout Lou? Even when it was clearly over towards the end of the season, Lou still kept throwing out the old guys instead of trying out the younger ones to see if they could salvage anything from an otherwise disastrous season. Sam Fuld, Micah, Jake Fox, and Andre Blanco should have been sent out there day after day towards the end.
The biggest problem with the Cubs today is the long-term contracts that lock the team up and totally limit flexibility. Soriano is making so much money, you just have to play him and he's got so many years left on his contract and he's already pretty old that you're just never going to be able to unload him without taking on another disastrous contract which means you won't gain anything. You still have Milton Bradley but hopefully, he's all but out of here - I heard when Hendry finally sent him home with a couple weeks left in the season that the remaining players cheered wildly - not a good sign. Fukudome has two more years on his ridiculous Jim Hendry contract so you're stuck with him starting too so there goes 2 of your 3 outfield spots. You have no real CF - no, Fukudome is NOT a CF; he's a RF. The oft-injured Aramis Ramirez is here for 2 or 3 more years; Dempster 3 more years; Zambrano 3-4 more years; and Aaron Miles (what a JOKE this guy is!) for 1 more year. The guy that had the best year last season was D-Lee and he's only signed for 1 more year. They'll lose Rich Harden to free agency and Lilly is only signed for one more year so what once was considered a strength doesn't seem very strong anymore. Dempster seems to have lost a little something and Zambrano just seems to be one of those guys you scratch your head about what could have been if he would just grow up.
So the Cubs have a new owner that arguably over spent during tough economic times which will probably limit their immediate further investment in the team. They already said they were going to increase ticket prices again (the Cubs were the only pro team in Chicago to raise prices last year) and they are trying to squeeze some money from the guy that owns the building that used to have the Budweiser sign painted on the roof who changed it to Horseshoe Casino. Sounds like the same story as last year.
Lou has asked AGAIN for a middle-of-the-order guy which will potentially be the third year in a row as Fukudome and then Bradley were supposed to be that guy. What they really need to do is get a REAL lead-off guy - right now, the roster includes 3 pretty good #2 hitters (Theriot, Fukudome, and Bradley) and zero #1 or #5 hitters (Soriano is a #6 hitter at best these days). They also need a healthy and productive Aramis and D-Lee along with Soto getting his head screwed back on right. How about Chone Figgins to lead-off and play 2B? How does this starting lineup sound?
1 - Figgins 2B
2 - Theriot SS
3 - Lee 1B
4 - Aramis 3B
5 - Soriano LF
6 - Soto C
7 - Fukudome RF
8 - Johnson CF
Or what about moving Soriano back to 2B and putting Jake Fox out in LF? Having both corner outfield spots sucked up by overpaid underachievers really limits the Cubs flexibility with their young guys. Of course, they did this to themselves.
Next up...Vinny and the Bulls...
The good news is the Trib is officially GONE - thank goodness. The only problem is the debris field they left behind. Wrigley is totally out-of-date and run down; the minor league player development is a total joke; the GM had arguably (no argument from me) the worst season of all-time; the team president remains in his old spot; and the manager who mailed it in for the second half of last year is back too. Did I mention the worst ever Chicago free-agent signing (and THAT is saying a LOT) ever remains on the roster? They have the most expensive and under-achieving outfield in the history of baseball including THE most overpaid player in baseball (that is also saying a LOT). Luckily, they are only stuck with Soriano for another 5 SEASONS!!!
Yes, we now have owners who are at least telling us they are in this because they are baseball fans - lifelong Cubs fans as a matter of fact. But I remain baffled that Tom Ricketts has been supposedly involved with this team for nearly 2 years and yet left all the leaders of the organization in their familiar places. Even scarier were his comments on how much better the team was doing recently by making the playoffs 3 times in the last 7 seasons. The Cubs are the ONLY major market team in the NL Central with the highest payroll too. WHY can't they win the division more than they have? And since they have been spending but not performing, doesn't that leave the leadership as the problem? Particularly the GM who oversees the draft, signs the free agents, makes or doesn't make the trades, and hires/fires the manager? So how does Jim Hendry remain? I just don't get it.
Lou had a club option to come back this year. After a VERY disappointing season, the Cubs didn't renew it right? Wrong! Jim Hendry for whatever reason exercised the club option back in 2008. Wait...yes, you read that right...the Cubs exercised Lou's club option for the 2010 season back in September 2008 right BEFORE the Cubs went 3-and-out in the playoffs for the second time in two years. Why the big rush Jim? Was there some huge demand out there for an aging skipper that can't get his team up for the playoffs? This guy spends money like it isn't his...you know why...because it ISN'T! That's not the guy I want leading my organization.
Lou totally mailed it in last year giving up on his team in August and never fighting to get them back on track. Let's not forget the Cubs were still in first place as late as August 5th. Then the wheels fell off and the guy in charge of getting them back on was asleep at the helm instead. But let's turn the clock back a little further. How about calling his starting RF a "piece of s***" and sending him home one day only to have him back in the starting lineup the very next day? Or how long did he leave the ultra-struggling Soriano in the lead-off spot? How many Gatorade machines did he allow to be destroyed by underachieving pitchers with no repercussions? Who's in charge in the dugout Lou? Even when it was clearly over towards the end of the season, Lou still kept throwing out the old guys instead of trying out the younger ones to see if they could salvage anything from an otherwise disastrous season. Sam Fuld, Micah, Jake Fox, and Andre Blanco should have been sent out there day after day towards the end.
The biggest problem with the Cubs today is the long-term contracts that lock the team up and totally limit flexibility. Soriano is making so much money, you just have to play him and he's got so many years left on his contract and he's already pretty old that you're just never going to be able to unload him without taking on another disastrous contract which means you won't gain anything. You still have Milton Bradley but hopefully, he's all but out of here - I heard when Hendry finally sent him home with a couple weeks left in the season that the remaining players cheered wildly - not a good sign. Fukudome has two more years on his ridiculous Jim Hendry contract so you're stuck with him starting too so there goes 2 of your 3 outfield spots. You have no real CF - no, Fukudome is NOT a CF; he's a RF. The oft-injured Aramis Ramirez is here for 2 or 3 more years; Dempster 3 more years; Zambrano 3-4 more years; and Aaron Miles (what a JOKE this guy is!) for 1 more year. The guy that had the best year last season was D-Lee and he's only signed for 1 more year. They'll lose Rich Harden to free agency and Lilly is only signed for one more year so what once was considered a strength doesn't seem very strong anymore. Dempster seems to have lost a little something and Zambrano just seems to be one of those guys you scratch your head about what could have been if he would just grow up.
So the Cubs have a new owner that arguably over spent during tough economic times which will probably limit their immediate further investment in the team. They already said they were going to increase ticket prices again (the Cubs were the only pro team in Chicago to raise prices last year) and they are trying to squeeze some money from the guy that owns the building that used to have the Budweiser sign painted on the roof who changed it to Horseshoe Casino. Sounds like the same story as last year.
Lou has asked AGAIN for a middle-of-the-order guy which will potentially be the third year in a row as Fukudome and then Bradley were supposed to be that guy. What they really need to do is get a REAL lead-off guy - right now, the roster includes 3 pretty good #2 hitters (Theriot, Fukudome, and Bradley) and zero #1 or #5 hitters (Soriano is a #6 hitter at best these days). They also need a healthy and productive Aramis and D-Lee along with Soto getting his head screwed back on right. How about Chone Figgins to lead-off and play 2B? How does this starting lineup sound?
1 - Figgins 2B
2 - Theriot SS
3 - Lee 1B
4 - Aramis 3B
5 - Soriano LF
6 - Soto C
7 - Fukudome RF
8 - Johnson CF
Or what about moving Soriano back to 2B and putting Jake Fox out in LF? Having both corner outfield spots sucked up by overpaid underachievers really limits the Cubs flexibility with their young guys. Of course, they did this to themselves.
Next up...Vinny and the Bulls...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Why Do We Put Up With This?
Welcome to December. I'll start with THANK GOODNESS for the Blackhawks! Isn't that about it though in Chicago professional sports though these days?
Man, with the destruction of the Bears this season, what else do we have? There's no question the town's ONLY "universal" sports team is the Bears. Sure when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were winning all those championships (how long ago does that seem?), the town was very much into the Bulls. Other than that though, there are a lot of people in this town that simply don't follow the Bulls primarily because they just aren't that good, but also because NBA basketball just isn't THE sport any more. Then of course you have the dissection of the town's allegiance to the local baseball teams. I'm not sure dissection is the right word as that implies equal separation, but you know what I mean. The Blackhawks are doing great right now and are really the only local franchise even remotely on the right track and I'm not saying that to take away anything from the Hawks...it's just that ALL the other teams are VERY FAR from being in the same vicinity of on the right track. Even so, after the "Dollar Bill" Wirtz spent the last 20 years alienating most of the hockey fans in this town, I still don't think the popularity is back where it was quite yet although it is well on the way back.
Regardless, besides the Hawks, what else do we have in this town from a professional sports perspective? Let's keep in mind that Chicago is the third largest market in the US. It's football season (or so I have been told) so let's start with the "beloved". What the heck is going on here? Wasn't this team just in the Super Bowl a few years ago? Yes Bears' fans...it was less than 3 years ago when the Bears played the Colts in Super Bowl XLI. Well look at them now. What the heck happened? Well, glad you asked - 5 words...Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith...they are what happened to the Bears. For that 2006 season, the Bears had a dominant defense and an up-and-coming defensive coordinator in former Bear Chico Rivera. Lovie felt threatened so they fired him to bring in Lovie's friend Bob Babich to decimate the defense first. After two very declining production years, Lovie decided to step in and call the defenses himself and he even brought in D-Line guru and former 0-16 Lions head coach Rod Marinelli. What a freakin' mess they are now! Lovie - news flash...the NFL has figured out the Cover 2. Additionally, you do NOT have the personnel to run the Cover 2. How many more 30+ points allowed games do you need to see to figure that out?
The defensive line is a joke after a pretty quick start. Tommie Harris was benched one game by Lovie and then took himself out of another with a ridiculous cheap shot punch on the 4th play of another game. Where's the discipline? The tackling is a total joke. If the safeties aren't trying to tackle guys around the shoulders, our line backers are simply trying to knock guys over instead of wrapping up. Maybe it's time to allow the guys to actually work on their tackling in practice Lovie instead of relying on some sort of divine intervention on Sundays. And the D-Line...apparently Rod lost his touch while coaching the first and only 0-16 team in NFL history.
Personally, I think the offense is a total joke. How many more times are they going to try that stupid "bubble screen" while the defense is in tight press coverage? It CAN'T work Ron! Go back and destroy another college program buddy because you are NOT a real NFL O-coordinator. Now that Charlie Weiss is free to pursue other work, maybe he can come here to help install a real offense for Cutler and Forte.
Jerry Angelo has destroyed this team from the inside out on top of everything else. His drafts have been horrible to say the least which is why most of us were such big fans of the Jay Cutler trade - he can't draft anyone decent in the first two rounds anyway so we weren't really losing much. Is he any better at signing free agents? Nope! They signed two big offensive line guys - Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale. One word...DISASTER! These guys have been HORRIBLE! And he also signed a new LB in Pisa Tinoisamoa. Well, he has 3 more tackles than you do sitting on the couch.
For the most part, I have heard very little criticism of Jerry Angelo and the common retort about the Bears potentially firing Lovie with 2 years and $10 million left on that extension he signed after losing the Super Bowl. Really? The Bears are going to cry poor? Seriously? The franchise is worth over $1 billion! Cough up the cash and bring in a REAL name. I find it hard to believe the Bears wouldn't make that $10 million right back with a decent team on the field. Is anyone even still following these guys with the way they are playing? How many of you watched the game on Sunday? The big problem is the Bears can't even rebuild through the draft as they just don't have enough quality picks to bring in skill position players that will make an impact. So now you have a $20 million franchise QB with no line to protect him or to help the running game and not a single real WR for him to throw the ball to. You don't have an offensive coordinator that can get creative enough to get Greg Olsen open more consistently so your best offensive weapon is only about 50% effective.
I know this is far from a universal concept, but the ruining of Devin Hester was the beginning of the end of this team as far as I'm concerned. Again, the Bears in the #2 market in the NFL (remember, LA doesn't have an NFL team!) cried poor and didn't sign the only real receiver they had in Bernard Berrian and instead took their #1 offensive weapon and shoe-horned him into being a receiver. Not only that, but they filled his contact extension with receiver incentives without anything in there about return TDs. He scored 11 return TDs in his first two years in the league (I beleive the all-time record is 13) and ZERO since his new contract. And he has hardly made up for his lack or return production with receiving TDs with only 3 TDs in each of these last 2 years. In the meantime, Bernard Berrian scored 7 receiving TDs last year (that was before Brett Favre!). STUPID AND CHEAP!
The team is a mess and looks to be stuck there for the foreseeable future. So the question is...WHY do we put up with this year after year of mediocrity?
I'll follow up on the Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls in future posts.
Man, with the destruction of the Bears this season, what else do we have? There's no question the town's ONLY "universal" sports team is the Bears. Sure when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were winning all those championships (how long ago does that seem?), the town was very much into the Bulls. Other than that though, there are a lot of people in this town that simply don't follow the Bulls primarily because they just aren't that good, but also because NBA basketball just isn't THE sport any more. Then of course you have the dissection of the town's allegiance to the local baseball teams. I'm not sure dissection is the right word as that implies equal separation, but you know what I mean. The Blackhawks are doing great right now and are really the only local franchise even remotely on the right track and I'm not saying that to take away anything from the Hawks...it's just that ALL the other teams are VERY FAR from being in the same vicinity of on the right track. Even so, after the "Dollar Bill" Wirtz spent the last 20 years alienating most of the hockey fans in this town, I still don't think the popularity is back where it was quite yet although it is well on the way back.
Regardless, besides the Hawks, what else do we have in this town from a professional sports perspective? Let's keep in mind that Chicago is the third largest market in the US. It's football season (or so I have been told) so let's start with the "beloved". What the heck is going on here? Wasn't this team just in the Super Bowl a few years ago? Yes Bears' fans...it was less than 3 years ago when the Bears played the Colts in Super Bowl XLI. Well look at them now. What the heck happened? Well, glad you asked - 5 words...Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith...they are what happened to the Bears. For that 2006 season, the Bears had a dominant defense and an up-and-coming defensive coordinator in former Bear Chico Rivera. Lovie felt threatened so they fired him to bring in Lovie's friend Bob Babich to decimate the defense first. After two very declining production years, Lovie decided to step in and call the defenses himself and he even brought in D-Line guru and former 0-16 Lions head coach Rod Marinelli. What a freakin' mess they are now! Lovie - news flash...the NFL has figured out the Cover 2. Additionally, you do NOT have the personnel to run the Cover 2. How many more 30+ points allowed games do you need to see to figure that out?
The defensive line is a joke after a pretty quick start. Tommie Harris was benched one game by Lovie and then took himself out of another with a ridiculous cheap shot punch on the 4th play of another game. Where's the discipline? The tackling is a total joke. If the safeties aren't trying to tackle guys around the shoulders, our line backers are simply trying to knock guys over instead of wrapping up. Maybe it's time to allow the guys to actually work on their tackling in practice Lovie instead of relying on some sort of divine intervention on Sundays. And the D-Line...apparently Rod lost his touch while coaching the first and only 0-16 team in NFL history.
Personally, I think the offense is a total joke. How many more times are they going to try that stupid "bubble screen" while the defense is in tight press coverage? It CAN'T work Ron! Go back and destroy another college program buddy because you are NOT a real NFL O-coordinator. Now that Charlie Weiss is free to pursue other work, maybe he can come here to help install a real offense for Cutler and Forte.
Jerry Angelo has destroyed this team from the inside out on top of everything else. His drafts have been horrible to say the least which is why most of us were such big fans of the Jay Cutler trade - he can't draft anyone decent in the first two rounds anyway so we weren't really losing much. Is he any better at signing free agents? Nope! They signed two big offensive line guys - Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyale. One word...DISASTER! These guys have been HORRIBLE! And he also signed a new LB in Pisa Tinoisamoa. Well, he has 3 more tackles than you do sitting on the couch.
For the most part, I have heard very little criticism of Jerry Angelo and the common retort about the Bears potentially firing Lovie with 2 years and $10 million left on that extension he signed after losing the Super Bowl. Really? The Bears are going to cry poor? Seriously? The franchise is worth over $1 billion! Cough up the cash and bring in a REAL name. I find it hard to believe the Bears wouldn't make that $10 million right back with a decent team on the field. Is anyone even still following these guys with the way they are playing? How many of you watched the game on Sunday? The big problem is the Bears can't even rebuild through the draft as they just don't have enough quality picks to bring in skill position players that will make an impact. So now you have a $20 million franchise QB with no line to protect him or to help the running game and not a single real WR for him to throw the ball to. You don't have an offensive coordinator that can get creative enough to get Greg Olsen open more consistently so your best offensive weapon is only about 50% effective.
I know this is far from a universal concept, but the ruining of Devin Hester was the beginning of the end of this team as far as I'm concerned. Again, the Bears in the #2 market in the NFL (remember, LA doesn't have an NFL team!) cried poor and didn't sign the only real receiver they had in Bernard Berrian and instead took their #1 offensive weapon and shoe-horned him into being a receiver. Not only that, but they filled his contact extension with receiver incentives without anything in there about return TDs. He scored 11 return TDs in his first two years in the league (I beleive the all-time record is 13) and ZERO since his new contract. And he has hardly made up for his lack or return production with receiving TDs with only 3 TDs in each of these last 2 years. In the meantime, Bernard Berrian scored 7 receiving TDs last year (that was before Brett Favre!). STUPID AND CHEAP!
The team is a mess and looks to be stuck there for the foreseeable future. So the question is...WHY do we put up with this year after year of mediocrity?
I'll follow up on the Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls in future posts.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sorry - it has been a while
Sorry I haven't updated this blog but once in the last month or so. I will try to be more vigilant with my updates.
Wow - what a difference a few weeks makes. The Bears went from looking pretty good at 3-1 going into their bye to borderline awful even after a 24-point win against the lowly Cleveland Browns. They played HORRIBLY in Atlanta although they still had a chance to win the game at the end. Then they played one of the worst games EVER for the franchise against former #1 pick Cedric Benson and his new team, the once lowly Cincinnati Bengals even if they were on the road. I could dedicate an entire post to that game, but let's just all agree it was HORRENDOUS and move on.
I was praising their halftime adjustments in the last post...well, what the heck happened to those adjustments? The Falcons confused them with the no-huddle offense which really highlighted the lack of MLB Brian Urlacher as they had a guy in there with very little experience and he wasn't able to make the adjustments on the fly the way Urlacher may have. The Cover 2 was fully exploited in the Bengals game and again, no adjustments seem to be made there either. Wait, Ochocinco just caught another 20-yard hook route behind the LBs and in front of the safeties. Lovie, the Cover 2 is OVER - all the good teams have it figured out and you aren't confusing anyone any more. Speaking of not confusing anyone, the Bears offense is about as vanilla as ever. WHY?!? They just spent a lot of money and draft picks to get Jay Cutler and yet they seem to be running the same offense that Kyle Orton ran as a rookie. Where's the creativity? Wait, Forte is getting stuffed on another inside hand-off for no gain. Every defense the Bears face including the 32nd ranked Browns seems to know exactly where the plays are going particularly down at the goal line, so WHY are the Bears running those plays? Wait, Jay Cutler just got hammered again by Shaun Rogers. I know the offensive line has the blocking ability of wet Kleenex so how about some misdirection? How about some quick slants? How about taking advantage of the pass rush and run a few screens to Forte? Every other NFL team seems to be able to run screens successfully to their RBs...why not the Bears? I'll tell you why in two words...Ron Turner. This guy is living the life of an NFL offensive coordinator based on what he did with the Bears back in 1993-96. Well folks, this is 2009...NOT 1999. What he is running ain't workin! We used to blame the QB - well, Kyle Orton is 6-1 with a QB rating over 100 for the year. Hmmm...maybe it wasn't the QB. Now I guess we're blaming the O-line. Hey, I've got an idea...maybe it is the idiot offensive coordinator...the defiant Ron Turner. The defiance is the part that aggravates me the most...see, he thinks he is good when he has NO PROOF of this...and he never admits anything is his fault (hey, maybe he should work for the Cubs)...and he never changes anything. His approach remains the same all the time even if it doesn't work. Now that's defiant. He was 22 games under .500 in his career as head coach of the UofI Illini so how did this guy even get this job? Good ole Lovie! Loyal to a fault.
There's lots more wrong with the Bears than Ron Turner's offense, but when the team's new toy comes here at great expense to the franchise, you expect to see them "play" with the new toy. Instead the look-out blocking scheme they employ lets the defense have a chance to play with the new toy instead. Let's hope the Bears figure it out before the new toy is inevitably broken.
Wow - what a difference a few weeks makes. The Bears went from looking pretty good at 3-1 going into their bye to borderline awful even after a 24-point win against the lowly Cleveland Browns. They played HORRIBLY in Atlanta although they still had a chance to win the game at the end. Then they played one of the worst games EVER for the franchise against former #1 pick Cedric Benson and his new team, the once lowly Cincinnati Bengals even if they were on the road. I could dedicate an entire post to that game, but let's just all agree it was HORRENDOUS and move on.
I was praising their halftime adjustments in the last post...well, what the heck happened to those adjustments? The Falcons confused them with the no-huddle offense which really highlighted the lack of MLB Brian Urlacher as they had a guy in there with very little experience and he wasn't able to make the adjustments on the fly the way Urlacher may have. The Cover 2 was fully exploited in the Bengals game and again, no adjustments seem to be made there either. Wait, Ochocinco just caught another 20-yard hook route behind the LBs and in front of the safeties. Lovie, the Cover 2 is OVER - all the good teams have it figured out and you aren't confusing anyone any more. Speaking of not confusing anyone, the Bears offense is about as vanilla as ever. WHY?!? They just spent a lot of money and draft picks to get Jay Cutler and yet they seem to be running the same offense that Kyle Orton ran as a rookie. Where's the creativity? Wait, Forte is getting stuffed on another inside hand-off for no gain. Every defense the Bears face including the 32nd ranked Browns seems to know exactly where the plays are going particularly down at the goal line, so WHY are the Bears running those plays? Wait, Jay Cutler just got hammered again by Shaun Rogers. I know the offensive line has the blocking ability of wet Kleenex so how about some misdirection? How about some quick slants? How about taking advantage of the pass rush and run a few screens to Forte? Every other NFL team seems to be able to run screens successfully to their RBs...why not the Bears? I'll tell you why in two words...Ron Turner. This guy is living the life of an NFL offensive coordinator based on what he did with the Bears back in 1993-96. Well folks, this is 2009...NOT 1999. What he is running ain't workin! We used to blame the QB - well, Kyle Orton is 6-1 with a QB rating over 100 for the year. Hmmm...maybe it wasn't the QB. Now I guess we're blaming the O-line. Hey, I've got an idea...maybe it is the idiot offensive coordinator...the defiant Ron Turner. The defiance is the part that aggravates me the most...see, he thinks he is good when he has NO PROOF of this...and he never admits anything is his fault (hey, maybe he should work for the Cubs)...and he never changes anything. His approach remains the same all the time even if it doesn't work. Now that's defiant. He was 22 games under .500 in his career as head coach of the UofI Illini so how did this guy even get this job? Good ole Lovie! Loyal to a fault.
There's lots more wrong with the Bears than Ron Turner's offense, but when the team's new toy comes here at great expense to the franchise, you expect to see them "play" with the new toy. Instead the look-out blocking scheme they employ lets the defense have a chance to play with the new toy instead. Let's hope the Bears figure it out before the new toy is inevitably broken.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
DA BEARS!
Da Bears are 3-1 at the quarter pole! Who would have thought that after the debacle by the Bay? Interestingly, even though they played so terribly, particularly Jay Cutler, they still should have won the game if not for a blown coverage by Nathan Vasher. Even then, they still had the ball with a chance to drive down the field and win the game. Then they turn it around on the defending champs in front of the home folks to even it up at 1-1. Ya, Jeff Reed missed two field goals allowing the Bears to win by 3, but even if Reed converts one of those kicks, I still think the Bears win the game. They were driving on the mighty Steelers on that final drive and only pulled up once they were in field goal range because that's all they needed. Had they needed a TD, Cutler would have taken them all the way in my opinion. On the road in the loudest NFL stadium is no easy place to win even without starting QB Hasselbeck and yet they escaped with another win to get to 2-1.
I have to say I was NOT at all happy at halftime on Sunday. To be even with the hapless Lions at home going into the break was not a comfortable feeling at all. Bowman had NO answer for Calvin Johnson who is one of the best receivers in the NFL right now so that's not to say Bowman is alone with his struggles to cover him.
What I REALLY like about this year's version of the Bears other than the obvious improvement behind center with Jay Cutler is the halftime adjustments this team has made week in and week out. That's just not something we've seen under Lovie in the past. Typically, they have a game plan coming into the game and that's it. This year's Bears go in at halftime and adjust and that's the sign of a real NFL team. Add some talent and now you have a contender that's going to hang around all the way to the end and that's just what the Bears are going to do.
Injuries have decimated the team starting with the guy in camp that seemed to be THE guy in the receiving corps - the "other" Devin - Devin Aromashodu. But what happens with good teams is that other guys step up when someone goes out with an injury. So what we've seen from the other piece of the Cutler trade; the 5th rounder that turned into Johnny Knox pick up the slack and has he ever - BIG TIME! Knox was the 19th receiver selected in the draft this year behind the infamous and yet-to-be-signed Michael Crabtree as well as the first receiver selected in Darrius Heyward-Bey. Bey was the only guy to clock in faster than Knox at the NFL Rookie Combine and yet he has a total of 2 catches for 36 yards while Knox has 14 catches for 190 yards and 2 TDs plus his kick return TD on Sunday. As usual, Jerry Angelo finds another diamond in the rough which is another reason I was excited about the Cutler trade as the Bears gave up 2 first round picks in the deal. Good riddance - Angelo can't pick a first rounder to save his life so let's save that money for other needs.
Oh ya, did I mention the Bears lost their defensive captain in that disastrous game at Green Bay? Yep - Brian Urlacher, healthy for the first time in years, had wrist surgery and is out for the year relegated to cheerleader on the sideline. Hey, the last time the Bears had cheerleaders was 1985...didn't they win a Super Bowl that year? Just kidding...I'm not comparing a Pro Bowl MLB with the 80s Honey Bears. Not only did they lose Urlacher, but they also lost brand new SAM Pisa Tinoisamoa in the same game. Then Hunter Hillenmayer went out in the middle of the second game and a once deep position was stretched pretty thin all of sudden with Nick Roach filling in along with Jamar Williams. There's a domino effect here folks as these guys were filling big roles on special teams and now had to be pulled off in order to focus and limit injury risk.
So now all of a sudden a lousy bye week in Week 5 turns into tremendous timing. Hester, Adrian Peterson, Knox, Alex Brown, and Bowman each get some much needed extra rest and all are supposed to be ready to go against the Falcons in their place. Why do we have to go down there AGAIN?
Is there any doubt whatsoever that Dave Toub is the best special teams coach EVER? This guy is losing players left and right and still managed to win all phases of special teams this past weekend. Ya, I know it was the Lions, but they were ranked #3 in special teams before the game and the Bears toasted them.
Anyway, the future of the Bears certainly looks as bright as it has in years. We may just have a REAL QB for the first time since Sid Luckman back in the 50s. The receivers have performed MUCH better than ANYONE imagined - even Angelo and the coaches as I don't believe they felt like these guys would be this good this quickly. I just look forward to watching them play week in and week out and that's the main thing, isn't it? To have an entertaining and competitive team on the field consistently...
GO BEARS!!!
I have to say I was NOT at all happy at halftime on Sunday. To be even with the hapless Lions at home going into the break was not a comfortable feeling at all. Bowman had NO answer for Calvin Johnson who is one of the best receivers in the NFL right now so that's not to say Bowman is alone with his struggles to cover him.
What I REALLY like about this year's version of the Bears other than the obvious improvement behind center with Jay Cutler is the halftime adjustments this team has made week in and week out. That's just not something we've seen under Lovie in the past. Typically, they have a game plan coming into the game and that's it. This year's Bears go in at halftime and adjust and that's the sign of a real NFL team. Add some talent and now you have a contender that's going to hang around all the way to the end and that's just what the Bears are going to do.
Injuries have decimated the team starting with the guy in camp that seemed to be THE guy in the receiving corps - the "other" Devin - Devin Aromashodu. But what happens with good teams is that other guys step up when someone goes out with an injury. So what we've seen from the other piece of the Cutler trade; the 5th rounder that turned into Johnny Knox pick up the slack and has he ever - BIG TIME! Knox was the 19th receiver selected in the draft this year behind the infamous and yet-to-be-signed Michael Crabtree as well as the first receiver selected in Darrius Heyward-Bey. Bey was the only guy to clock in faster than Knox at the NFL Rookie Combine and yet he has a total of 2 catches for 36 yards while Knox has 14 catches for 190 yards and 2 TDs plus his kick return TD on Sunday. As usual, Jerry Angelo finds another diamond in the rough which is another reason I was excited about the Cutler trade as the Bears gave up 2 first round picks in the deal. Good riddance - Angelo can't pick a first rounder to save his life so let's save that money for other needs.
Oh ya, did I mention the Bears lost their defensive captain in that disastrous game at Green Bay? Yep - Brian Urlacher, healthy for the first time in years, had wrist surgery and is out for the year relegated to cheerleader on the sideline. Hey, the last time the Bears had cheerleaders was 1985...didn't they win a Super Bowl that year? Just kidding...I'm not comparing a Pro Bowl MLB with the 80s Honey Bears. Not only did they lose Urlacher, but they also lost brand new SAM Pisa Tinoisamoa in the same game. Then Hunter Hillenmayer went out in the middle of the second game and a once deep position was stretched pretty thin all of sudden with Nick Roach filling in along with Jamar Williams. There's a domino effect here folks as these guys were filling big roles on special teams and now had to be pulled off in order to focus and limit injury risk.
So now all of a sudden a lousy bye week in Week 5 turns into tremendous timing. Hester, Adrian Peterson, Knox, Alex Brown, and Bowman each get some much needed extra rest and all are supposed to be ready to go against the Falcons in their place. Why do we have to go down there AGAIN?
Is there any doubt whatsoever that Dave Toub is the best special teams coach EVER? This guy is losing players left and right and still managed to win all phases of special teams this past weekend. Ya, I know it was the Lions, but they were ranked #3 in special teams before the game and the Bears toasted them.
Anyway, the future of the Bears certainly looks as bright as it has in years. We may just have a REAL QB for the first time since Sid Luckman back in the 50s. The receivers have performed MUCH better than ANYONE imagined - even Angelo and the coaches as I don't believe they felt like these guys would be this good this quickly. I just look forward to watching them play week in and week out and that's the main thing, isn't it? To have an entertaining and competitive team on the field consistently...
GO BEARS!!!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
What do they do now???
This will be my last post on the Cubs this season. I wrote back at the end of August that NOW it was over after watching a lethargic effort at home against a woeful Nationals team. That was the only loss at Wrigley I witnessed although I have tickets for two more games yet this season. Of course, when I bought those tickets, the thought was these games would actually mean something...obviously not so much as the Cubs go for elimination tonight as the Cards can clinch the division with a win or Cubs loss tonight. The Cubs remain mathematically alive for the Wild Card but COME ON...it's over people! The White Sox are going for complete playoff elimination tonight after being swept at home by the rival Twins who remain alive for the division with some good baseball in the final month of the season.
So here we are...after a nice 2008 campaign with both home teams in the playoffs for the first time since 1906 to back to "normal" with both teams on the outside looking in. Well, the White Sox may be in better position to get back in than the Cubs but neither are looking great for 2010 at this point. The Sox have Peavy who will be adjusting to a much tougher AL not to mention coming back from a serious although non-arm-related injury. They also have Alex Rios who has looked pretty horrible since joining the Sox. But they also have Gordan Beckham who looks like the "real deal" to build around. They are aging though and it looks like this may finally be it for Konerko, Dye, and AJ although Dye is the only likely FA. Hey, from my perspective this is a GOOD thing and as a Cubs fan, I envy this position because the Cubs are locked in on many of their older players and are stuck with their limited production for several more years.
If you have followed my blog in the past, you are well aware of my feelings about Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella. The Cubs have a new owner although I guess that won't be 100% official until the owners meetings in November following another World Series without my Cubbies. I know the Ricketts family will only be taking over officially at that point but these guys have been watching and been very involved with this club for over a year. How do they feel about their investment now? I'm guessing a heck of a lot worse than they felt when they submitted their bid last year when the Cubs were on their way to 97 wins. Well, after playing three terrible games against a better managed Dodgers team, the Cubs GM overreacted and blew up a great deal of the team with the overall goal of "getting more lefty". What an overrated crock of you know what!
We looked it up today and while I agree that a lefty-lefty match-up certainly provides an advantage to the pitcher, the righty-righty match-up is nowhere near as big a disadvantage to the hitter. Lefties are hitting .013 higher against righties overall in MLB this season. That's roughly 1% higher or 1 more hit for every 100 ABs. Is that enough of a difference to blow up your team? The team that led all of the NL in runs scored? HECK NO!!! But that's exactly what Hendry did. Now whether it was Lou that told Hendry that's what he wanted or not doesn't make any difference to me. Hendry is the BOSS and has been around baseball long enough and should have a computer to be able to pull up some stats to figure out if he could justify dumping DeRosa in order to bring in Bradley. And Lou should be able to tell if playing Fontenot at 2B was a better option than Jeff Baker just by checking the dang numbers. While Fontenot definitely hit better against RHP than LHP at .245 vs. .220, Baker hit a combined .312 vs. RHP including his HORRENDOUS numbers as a Royal before the trade to the Cubs. That's nearly 70 points higher for you math-challenged folks. Conversely, you have Fukudome and Reed Johnson in a pretty good platoon situation with Fukudome hitting .270 vs. RHP and Johnson hitting .313 vs. LHP compared to .173 and .212 if they both had to hit against pitchers from the other side.
The entire scouting department needs to be replaced as well. When was the last time the Cubs picked up anyone of significance in the draft? Mark Prior? I'll give you that one but that was the biggest no-brainer in the history of the draft as the Cubs had the #2 pick and the small market Twins couldn't afford Prior and "had" to take Joe Mauer (boy are they kicking themselves now, huh?). Theriot is my favorite player on the Cubs these days, but he's hardly a star player. He's a serviceable SS that should probably be playing 2B with someone better at SS. OK - so anyone else? How about from a trade when there are minor leaguers involved? None that I can think of. Isn't that what the scouting department is supposed to do for you? Minor league players change hands all the time and the Cubs just never seem to find anyone.
Well, maybe it's not the scouting department...it could be player development (i.e. coaching). Let's revamp that area too! Is Jeff Samardzija better today than he was coming out of Notre Dame? The numbers would say NO! In 26 games last year, Jeff had a 2.26 ERA while in 20 games this year he has a 7.53 ERA which is more than TRIPLE last year's. What the heck happened? Oh ya, "coaching"!
Larry Rothschild has got to be THE most overrated pitching coach in the history of MLB. Name one guy this guy has developed into a stud pitcher. He has coached some of the best raw talents this town has ever seen and he couldn't help keep them healthy or keep their heads on straight so they could put together a run of domination. The names Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano all come to mind. There's a lot of talk about trading Zambrano but my fear is that he ends up with a pitching coach that can actually get through to him and he'll put it all together and come back to haunt the Cubs. Was Lou Brock that great a ball player when the Cubs made that infamous trade back in 1964? Or was the Cards coaching that much better that they were able to get the most out of his talent? I'm afraid the same thing will happen to Zambrano on another team. BUT if the Cubs don't get new coaching, then what's the point of keeping Zambrano?
Here's the BIG thing…this AIN'T working folks! You make the playoffs two years in a row for the first time since 1908. Both Chicago teams make the playoffs for the first time since 1906 and what happens the very next year? Right back to "normal" with both teams on the outside looking in. Something needs to change. While you're at it; EVERYTHING needs to change. Start at the top and finish at the bottom…Crane Kenney, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Larry Rothschild, Von Joshua, Matt Sinatro, Mike Quade, Alan Trammell…everyone with the big club.
Now, in my humble opinion, you don't really need to blow up the team at least as far as the players. Bradley absolutely MUST go…I don't think that's any secret regardless of what his mommy says. It will hurt financially, but what's it worth to make the playoffs or to have sellouts at the end of the season? Nobody wants to pay $50 for a ticket to see a guy making $10 million lose a ball in the sun in the middle of a summertime day because he didn't want to wear sunglasses or doesn't keep track of the number of outs or walks off the field without even seeing the trainer. And the manager absolutely MUST go too. How can you call out a player like he did with Bradley back in June and send him home in the middle of a game and then put him in the starting lineup the very next day? How many more pitchers is he going to let beat up a Gatorade machine without handing down some discipline? It's one thing to be a player's manager and another to be a total walk-over sap. Unfortunately Grandpa Lou is the latter.
GO BEARS!
GO BULLS!
GO BLACKHAWKS!
So here we are...after a nice 2008 campaign with both home teams in the playoffs for the first time since 1906 to back to "normal" with both teams on the outside looking in. Well, the White Sox may be in better position to get back in than the Cubs but neither are looking great for 2010 at this point. The Sox have Peavy who will be adjusting to a much tougher AL not to mention coming back from a serious although non-arm-related injury. They also have Alex Rios who has looked pretty horrible since joining the Sox. But they also have Gordan Beckham who looks like the "real deal" to build around. They are aging though and it looks like this may finally be it for Konerko, Dye, and AJ although Dye is the only likely FA. Hey, from my perspective this is a GOOD thing and as a Cubs fan, I envy this position because the Cubs are locked in on many of their older players and are stuck with their limited production for several more years.
If you have followed my blog in the past, you are well aware of my feelings about Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella. The Cubs have a new owner although I guess that won't be 100% official until the owners meetings in November following another World Series without my Cubbies. I know the Ricketts family will only be taking over officially at that point but these guys have been watching and been very involved with this club for over a year. How do they feel about their investment now? I'm guessing a heck of a lot worse than they felt when they submitted their bid last year when the Cubs were on their way to 97 wins. Well, after playing three terrible games against a better managed Dodgers team, the Cubs GM overreacted and blew up a great deal of the team with the overall goal of "getting more lefty". What an overrated crock of you know what!
We looked it up today and while I agree that a lefty-lefty match-up certainly provides an advantage to the pitcher, the righty-righty match-up is nowhere near as big a disadvantage to the hitter. Lefties are hitting .013 higher against righties overall in MLB this season. That's roughly 1% higher or 1 more hit for every 100 ABs. Is that enough of a difference to blow up your team? The team that led all of the NL in runs scored? HECK NO!!! But that's exactly what Hendry did. Now whether it was Lou that told Hendry that's what he wanted or not doesn't make any difference to me. Hendry is the BOSS and has been around baseball long enough and should have a computer to be able to pull up some stats to figure out if he could justify dumping DeRosa in order to bring in Bradley. And Lou should be able to tell if playing Fontenot at 2B was a better option than Jeff Baker just by checking the dang numbers. While Fontenot definitely hit better against RHP than LHP at .245 vs. .220, Baker hit a combined .312 vs. RHP including his HORRENDOUS numbers as a Royal before the trade to the Cubs. That's nearly 70 points higher for you math-challenged folks. Conversely, you have Fukudome and Reed Johnson in a pretty good platoon situation with Fukudome hitting .270 vs. RHP and Johnson hitting .313 vs. LHP compared to .173 and .212 if they both had to hit against pitchers from the other side.
The entire scouting department needs to be replaced as well. When was the last time the Cubs picked up anyone of significance in the draft? Mark Prior? I'll give you that one but that was the biggest no-brainer in the history of the draft as the Cubs had the #2 pick and the small market Twins couldn't afford Prior and "had" to take Joe Mauer (boy are they kicking themselves now, huh?). Theriot is my favorite player on the Cubs these days, but he's hardly a star player. He's a serviceable SS that should probably be playing 2B with someone better at SS. OK - so anyone else? How about from a trade when there are minor leaguers involved? None that I can think of. Isn't that what the scouting department is supposed to do for you? Minor league players change hands all the time and the Cubs just never seem to find anyone.
Well, maybe it's not the scouting department...it could be player development (i.e. coaching). Let's revamp that area too! Is Jeff Samardzija better today than he was coming out of Notre Dame? The numbers would say NO! In 26 games last year, Jeff had a 2.26 ERA while in 20 games this year he has a 7.53 ERA which is more than TRIPLE last year's. What the heck happened? Oh ya, "coaching"!
Larry Rothschild has got to be THE most overrated pitching coach in the history of MLB. Name one guy this guy has developed into a stud pitcher. He has coached some of the best raw talents this town has ever seen and he couldn't help keep them healthy or keep their heads on straight so they could put together a run of domination. The names Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano all come to mind. There's a lot of talk about trading Zambrano but my fear is that he ends up with a pitching coach that can actually get through to him and he'll put it all together and come back to haunt the Cubs. Was Lou Brock that great a ball player when the Cubs made that infamous trade back in 1964? Or was the Cards coaching that much better that they were able to get the most out of his talent? I'm afraid the same thing will happen to Zambrano on another team. BUT if the Cubs don't get new coaching, then what's the point of keeping Zambrano?
Here's the BIG thing…this AIN'T working folks! You make the playoffs two years in a row for the first time since 1908. Both Chicago teams make the playoffs for the first time since 1906 and what happens the very next year? Right back to "normal" with both teams on the outside looking in. Something needs to change. While you're at it; EVERYTHING needs to change. Start at the top and finish at the bottom…Crane Kenney, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Larry Rothschild, Von Joshua, Matt Sinatro, Mike Quade, Alan Trammell…everyone with the big club.
Now, in my humble opinion, you don't really need to blow up the team at least as far as the players. Bradley absolutely MUST go…I don't think that's any secret regardless of what his mommy says. It will hurt financially, but what's it worth to make the playoffs or to have sellouts at the end of the season? Nobody wants to pay $50 for a ticket to see a guy making $10 million lose a ball in the sun in the middle of a summertime day because he didn't want to wear sunglasses or doesn't keep track of the number of outs or walks off the field without even seeing the trainer. And the manager absolutely MUST go too. How can you call out a player like he did with Bradley back in June and send him home in the middle of a game and then put him in the starting lineup the very next day? How many more pitchers is he going to let beat up a Gatorade machine without handing down some discipline? It's one thing to be a player's manager and another to be a total walk-over sap. Unfortunately Grandpa Lou is the latter.
GO BEARS!
GO BULLS!
GO BLACKHAWKS!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
NOW It's Over!
In case there was any doubt left in your mind that maybe they could pull a Rockies and come back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit, the Cubs proved last night that there just isn't going to be a comeback. Against the worst team in baseball, the Cubs lost 15-6 at HOME last night to prove they aren't going to prove anything to us. This debacle of a season is now complete and it's now time to say "Go Bears!"
I had the unfortunate timing to be at the game last night and it was the worst game I have ever seen at Wrigley in my 40+ years of being a Cubs fan. I'm so glad I left work early to make the brutal drive from the NW burbs and paid $45 for parking to see THIS game. Just plain awful! The pariah for me on the Cubs' season, Milton Bradley was literally the only guy on the Cubs that showed up last night and it was just a totally painful thing to watch. Luckily I was there with my youngest daughter who helped me keep things in perspective and slightly distracted with her activity book provided by a nice usher at the game.
It was funny too, because she asked me if there was a slaughter rule in MLB and that was before the game. I joked with her during the game that it was too bad there wasn't a slaughter rule because the Cubs would have lost earlier rather than painfully going the full 9 innings.
I don't even really know what else to say at this point. How can you come out that flat against a HORRIBLE Nationals team with the worst record in all of MLB in an absolute MUST WIN situation? I mean, these guys make the Royals look good and yet they came into town with Cubs ex-manager Jim Riggleman (nice suicide squeeze in the 4th inning with the wind blowing out - what an idiot!) at the helm and just plain dominated early and often. I really felt Big Z needed to come out and dominate last night with a shutout or something close to leave no doubt that the Cubs were for real and wanted to battle to the end. Well, let's just say he didn't exactly dominate. He pitched 4 1/3 innings leaving with the bases loaded after walking in a run and having given up 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter (uh, that's 11 base runners in just over 4 innings - NOT GOOD!). Heilman was called into the game with the score "only" 5-1 at that point to try to stop the bleeding. Let's just say, while the patient needed stitches, Heilman decided amputation was quicker. While he struck out Belliard, he gave up a 2-out grand slam to Elijah Dukes who increased his season BA to .238 with his 2-for-3 performance last night - yep, a .238 hitter ended the Cubs season last night. Since Big Z had left the bases loaded when he exited, he was charged with 3 of the 4 runs on the grand slam to cap his night with 8 earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings. Wow!
Hey, at least the Cubs scored some runs...Ya, but the score was 9-1 after the grand slam and THEN the Cubs started scoring some runs. The final was 15-6 so even if it was 0-0 instead of 9-1, they still lost 6-5 after that point. They had some opportunities against Garrett Mock but just didn't get it done. D-Lee, who I praised in my blog has not had an RBI since I wrote it on 8/19. He left 4 guys on base while going 1-5. Jake Fox who I have been lobbying to get more playing time was absolutely AWFUL last night both at the plate and in LF going 0-4 leaving 4 on base and had an error in LF as well as a lackadaisical play allowing a runner to go from 1st to 3rd on a sharp hit to him in LF and without a throw! What the heck was that?!? I am now totally done with Fontenot who had a Jacques Jones throwing error on a ball that he basically spiked to the ground allowing a runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd. Why does Jeff Baker not start? Since joining the Cubs, he has hit .326 and leads the Cubs with a .558 SLG. This lefty/righty thing has pissed me off since day one. Fontenot is hitting .222 vs. righties (.224 vs. LHP which further proves my point) while even with Baker's lousy numbers with Colorado, he's still hitting .277. WHY do you have to be a lefty to have success against a RHP? I just don't get it. The Cubs struck out 8 times against the team that is 2nd to last in strikeouts in the NL this year. Brutal!
Well, now it's over and we can all focus on Jay Cutler and the Bears. Unfortunately, I still have tickets for 5 more Cubs games yet this year. Anyone want to buy them? Didn't think so...
Wait til next year! AGAIN!
I had the unfortunate timing to be at the game last night and it was the worst game I have ever seen at Wrigley in my 40+ years of being a Cubs fan. I'm so glad I left work early to make the brutal drive from the NW burbs and paid $45 for parking to see THIS game. Just plain awful! The pariah for me on the Cubs' season, Milton Bradley was literally the only guy on the Cubs that showed up last night and it was just a totally painful thing to watch. Luckily I was there with my youngest daughter who helped me keep things in perspective and slightly distracted with her activity book provided by a nice usher at the game.
It was funny too, because she asked me if there was a slaughter rule in MLB and that was before the game. I joked with her during the game that it was too bad there wasn't a slaughter rule because the Cubs would have lost earlier rather than painfully going the full 9 innings.
I don't even really know what else to say at this point. How can you come out that flat against a HORRIBLE Nationals team with the worst record in all of MLB in an absolute MUST WIN situation? I mean, these guys make the Royals look good and yet they came into town with Cubs ex-manager Jim Riggleman (nice suicide squeeze in the 4th inning with the wind blowing out - what an idiot!) at the helm and just plain dominated early and often. I really felt Big Z needed to come out and dominate last night with a shutout or something close to leave no doubt that the Cubs were for real and wanted to battle to the end. Well, let's just say he didn't exactly dominate. He pitched 4 1/3 innings leaving with the bases loaded after walking in a run and having given up 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter (uh, that's 11 base runners in just over 4 innings - NOT GOOD!). Heilman was called into the game with the score "only" 5-1 at that point to try to stop the bleeding. Let's just say, while the patient needed stitches, Heilman decided amputation was quicker. While he struck out Belliard, he gave up a 2-out grand slam to Elijah Dukes who increased his season BA to .238 with his 2-for-3 performance last night - yep, a .238 hitter ended the Cubs season last night. Since Big Z had left the bases loaded when he exited, he was charged with 3 of the 4 runs on the grand slam to cap his night with 8 earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings. Wow!
Hey, at least the Cubs scored some runs...Ya, but the score was 9-1 after the grand slam and THEN the Cubs started scoring some runs. The final was 15-6 so even if it was 0-0 instead of 9-1, they still lost 6-5 after that point. They had some opportunities against Garrett Mock but just didn't get it done. D-Lee, who I praised in my blog has not had an RBI since I wrote it on 8/19. He left 4 guys on base while going 1-5. Jake Fox who I have been lobbying to get more playing time was absolutely AWFUL last night both at the plate and in LF going 0-4 leaving 4 on base and had an error in LF as well as a lackadaisical play allowing a runner to go from 1st to 3rd on a sharp hit to him in LF and without a throw! What the heck was that?!? I am now totally done with Fontenot who had a Jacques Jones throwing error on a ball that he basically spiked to the ground allowing a runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd. Why does Jeff Baker not start? Since joining the Cubs, he has hit .326 and leads the Cubs with a .558 SLG. This lefty/righty thing has pissed me off since day one. Fontenot is hitting .222 vs. righties (.224 vs. LHP which further proves my point) while even with Baker's lousy numbers with Colorado, he's still hitting .277. WHY do you have to be a lefty to have success against a RHP? I just don't get it. The Cubs struck out 8 times against the team that is 2nd to last in strikeouts in the NL this year. Brutal!
Well, now it's over and we can all focus on Jay Cutler and the Bears. Unfortunately, I still have tickets for 5 more Cubs games yet this year. Anyone want to buy them? Didn't think so...
Wait til next year! AGAIN!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Cubs - NOT Top 10
I thought about doing this even before the current disastrous west coast trip and pummeling the Cubs are taking right now, but now that the Cubs have dropped to 7 1/2 games behind the Cards NOW is the time. Anyway, I don't think it will be very difficult to come up with a Not Top 10 list for the Cubs...I could probably do a Not Top 20 this year, but I'll stick with 10 and try to choose the "best" individuals possible to fit the category.
The Cubs have the third highest payroll in all of MLB (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p4ew-fwu2XT3cpPRtt9qIGw); number 1 in the NL and yet while they remain in 2nd place in the NL Central, they are currently 7 1/2 games behind the Cards and only 1 lousy game over .500. That 7 1/2 game lead is the biggest division lead in all of MLB - nice work boys! You want to start thinking about the Wild Card...well it doesn't get any more promising over there for the Cubs either. While they are "only" 6 1/2 games back for the Wild Card, they would have to leap frog 4 other teams to do it - good luck boys.
I'll do this David Letterman style and count it down from the "best" worst individual (notice I didn't say player) to the worst worst individual. And while ranking them, I am ranking who has sabotaged this season the most and there is plenty of blame to go around. I tend to place most of the blame on guys making the big bucks too so while Theriot isn't the best SS in the league, he isn't paid like he is, so I don't really blame him for not being it.
10 - Aramis Ramirez - I said in my blog the other day that this guy's injury is the #1 reason the Cubs are struggling to stay in the playoff hunt. I hate to mention him in this list though because his was a freak injury and he got hurt diving for a ball during a game and it had nothing to do with being lazy and not getting himself in condition or anything like that. BUT his lack of presence in the lineup for all that time KILLED any chance for the offense to really get on track and score runs like they did last year. I also believe that his missing bat put more pressure on the other guys to pick up the slack and caused them to press and not get the job done.
9 - Geovany Soto - I mentioned in my intro that I don't like to blame the low budget guys but Geo was the Rookie of the Year last year and this year...well...he's been HORRIBLE. After hitting .285 with 86 RBIs as a rookie last year, he's hitting .217 with 29 RBIs this year. He's also spent some serious time on the DL playing in only 80 games out of the 121 the Cubs have played to date. It's difficult to score runs as a team when one of your more productive hitters is no longer producing and for that, Geo makes the list.
8 - Carlos Zambrano - when you are paid the amount of money as Big Z, shouldn't you come up with some big games to get your team back on track? I mean dominating games...the answer is YES. Well, where are those games this year? Sure, Z's numbers aren't terrible and he's got a nice ERA, but he just doesn't go out there and dominate like he needs to for a team struggling to score runs. And now he's letting his team down in a totally different way...by going on the DL with back problems that, by his own admission were caused by his lack of working on his core strength (i.e. doing his abdominal exercises). Really? That's what we get as fans from a guy making $91.5 million over 5 years?
7 - Kosuke Fukudome - I have never been much of a Fukudome fan. Really the only thing he does well that I like is throw guys out from the outfield. Other than that, his whirly-bird style at the plate really does NOTHING at all for me. But look at his OBA...if you stood up there and didn't swing as often as he doesn't, you'd get walked several times too...that doesn't make it a good thing. At $11.5 million, Fukudome is part of the highest paid and most under-achieving outfield in all of MLB.
6 - Kevin Gregg - maybe it's not his fault that Hendry chose to dump clubhouse and fan favorite Kerry Wood and instead picked Kevin Gregg to be the Cubs closer ever after blowing more saves than anyone in the NL last year for the Marlins, BUT he is still here and until this week, was still blowing Cubs games. This guy has been pretty awful all year and has finally lost his job as Grandpa Lou finally woke up and looked at Gregg's stats.
5 - Larry Rothschild - what has this guy done to deserve such high praise that I always seem to hear? What career has he helped resurrect or what prospect has he brought along to become elite? Sure, Ryan Dempster had his career resurrected, but no thanks to Larry...he was a good pitcher before getting injured and now he's back to being a good pitcher. Zambrano is the closest guy I can think of to being a prospect that became elite, but he's only been elite by the contract he signed. He's never come close to winning a Cy Young Award and has never won 20 games in a season. Instead I bring up Carlos Marmol, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gregg, and Neal Cotts. Why can't he get Marmol to throw strikes? How is Samardzija worse this year than last year? Why can't he get Gregg to focus more when he's out there in a tight spot? What happened to Neal Cotts? The guy walked like every lefty he came in to face! Let's face it, Rothschild is super over-rated and needs to go!
4 - Lou Piniella - this guy is just too old school and NEVER thinks outside the box...ever. Hendry brought Milton Bradley in to be a middle-of-the-order left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (isn't that what Fukudome was supposed to be last year?). So where does Lou hit MB in the Cubs lineup? Why 4th or 5th of course - isn't that where all your guys that are 8th on your team in RBIs (behind two guys that have played 50 less games!)? NOOOOO!!! And how many more times are you going to run Soriano out there to LF with his .240 BA and HORRIBLE defense? How long did he leave Soriano in the lead-off spot because that's the only spot Soriano wanted to hit? Who's running the team Lou? Speaking of which, I always go back to the incident earlier in the season with Milton Bradley. They got into it during a game, Lou sent Bradley home before the game was over and yet put him right back in the starting lineup the very next day. WHAT?!? Now that the Cubs are 7 1/2 games back, he's thinking about benching Soriano to play Sam Fuld who continues to impress both in the field and at the plate - leads the team in OBA and 4th in BA. And where's the fire in the manager that Hendry hired? "I'm not a dragon!" No, you're an old man Grandpa Lou! Now if you're one of those guys that says "managers just put the lineup together, the players win or lose the game", think about the Dodgers. They hadn't done anything under Grady Little and yet as soon as they hired Joe Torre, they won their division last year and lead it again this year by 5 games. What about the Rockies? They were 10 games under .500 when they hired Jim Tracey back in May and have since gone 50-26 to lead the Wild Card. Our Grandpa Lou does a terrible job of working the lineup, dealing with his bench and his bullpen. That's not a very good combination for success.
3 - Alfonso Soriano - this guy has been a bust from day one with the Cubs. After hitting 46 HRs, 41 doubles, stealing 41 bases and driving in 95 RBIs, this guys hasn't come close to that type of production since. He has stolen 47 bases in 2 1/2 season which is only 6 more than he stole during his contract year in Washington. His HR numbers have gone down from 46 in 2006 with Washington to 33, 29, and 19 so far this year. He is hitting a not-so-robust .240 for us this year too. His defense is probably the worst in all of MLB for left field with 9 errors and only 6 outfield assists (11 and 22 for the Nats in 2006). And now, because of his fat contract which the Cubs are stuck with until 2014 (my daughter starts high school next week and will be in college before his contract runs out!), the Cubs are hand-cuffed from really letting Sam Fuld take over out there and they can't just go out and get another guy to replace him either.
2 - Milton Bradley - this guy has been the epitome of being a TOTAL BUST in every single sense of the word. Everything we all KNEW about this guy but refused to believe has been dead-on accurate. He's been moody; he's been a hot dog; he's not been into the game (see throwing the ball into the stands with only 2 outs); and he has NOT hit or driven in runs (8th in RBIs on his own team). Just a TOTAL BUST! Don't forget the Cubs got rid of Mark DeRosa so they could "afford" to get this knucklehead (BTW - DeRo has driven in more than twice as many runs for half the cost and is now helping the rival Cardinals storm to a division crown).
1 - Jim Hendry - this guy is quite possibly the worst GM in all of professional sports. Don't believe me...let's talk about it. In three consecutive off-seasons, Hendry has succeeded to totally hand-cuff the franchise for the next few years with the WORST decisions ever for the outfield. Soriano was signed to a sickening 8-year $136 million contract before the 2007 season. Fukudome was signed to a 4-year $48 million deal before the 2008 season to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup. He's hit a total of 21 HRs in his 1 1/2 season Cubs career with 103 RBIs. Milton Bradley was signed to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (wait, didn't I just say that?) before this season. Lou finally moved him to #2 in the lineup to at least take some advantage of all the walks he gets as those don't come in too handy with runners at the corners and two outs where you need an RBI. What about the #1 starter money he gave to Zambrano for #3 starter production? I'll just list a few more mistakes Hendry has made this year...Aaron Miles, Mark DeRosa, Adam Dunn/Raul Ibanez/Bobby Abreu (why not sign ANY of these guys instead of Bradley?), Ryan Freel, Jason Marquis (didn't mind the thought of getting rid of him, but thought it would have been better to actually get a guy that would still be on the team going into May). That's why he is #1 on my list of Not Top 10. I hope the Ricketts family get rid of him ASAP because for $135 million, the Cubs shouldn't be struggling to stay in the playoff race especially after winning 97 games last year. Hey, at least they are more lefty this year!
Wait til next year (again)!
The Cubs have the third highest payroll in all of MLB (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p4ew-fwu2XT3cpPRtt9qIGw); number 1 in the NL and yet while they remain in 2nd place in the NL Central, they are currently 7 1/2 games behind the Cards and only 1 lousy game over .500. That 7 1/2 game lead is the biggest division lead in all of MLB - nice work boys! You want to start thinking about the Wild Card...well it doesn't get any more promising over there for the Cubs either. While they are "only" 6 1/2 games back for the Wild Card, they would have to leap frog 4 other teams to do it - good luck boys.
I'll do this David Letterman style and count it down from the "best" worst individual (notice I didn't say player) to the worst worst individual. And while ranking them, I am ranking who has sabotaged this season the most and there is plenty of blame to go around. I tend to place most of the blame on guys making the big bucks too so while Theriot isn't the best SS in the league, he isn't paid like he is, so I don't really blame him for not being it.
10 - Aramis Ramirez - I said in my blog the other day that this guy's injury is the #1 reason the Cubs are struggling to stay in the playoff hunt. I hate to mention him in this list though because his was a freak injury and he got hurt diving for a ball during a game and it had nothing to do with being lazy and not getting himself in condition or anything like that. BUT his lack of presence in the lineup for all that time KILLED any chance for the offense to really get on track and score runs like they did last year. I also believe that his missing bat put more pressure on the other guys to pick up the slack and caused them to press and not get the job done.
9 - Geovany Soto - I mentioned in my intro that I don't like to blame the low budget guys but Geo was the Rookie of the Year last year and this year...well...he's been HORRIBLE. After hitting .285 with 86 RBIs as a rookie last year, he's hitting .217 with 29 RBIs this year. He's also spent some serious time on the DL playing in only 80 games out of the 121 the Cubs have played to date. It's difficult to score runs as a team when one of your more productive hitters is no longer producing and for that, Geo makes the list.
8 - Carlos Zambrano - when you are paid the amount of money as Big Z, shouldn't you come up with some big games to get your team back on track? I mean dominating games...the answer is YES. Well, where are those games this year? Sure, Z's numbers aren't terrible and he's got a nice ERA, but he just doesn't go out there and dominate like he needs to for a team struggling to score runs. And now he's letting his team down in a totally different way...by going on the DL with back problems that, by his own admission were caused by his lack of working on his core strength (i.e. doing his abdominal exercises). Really? That's what we get as fans from a guy making $91.5 million over 5 years?
7 - Kosuke Fukudome - I have never been much of a Fukudome fan. Really the only thing he does well that I like is throw guys out from the outfield. Other than that, his whirly-bird style at the plate really does NOTHING at all for me. But look at his OBA...if you stood up there and didn't swing as often as he doesn't, you'd get walked several times too...that doesn't make it a good thing. At $11.5 million, Fukudome is part of the highest paid and most under-achieving outfield in all of MLB.
6 - Kevin Gregg - maybe it's not his fault that Hendry chose to dump clubhouse and fan favorite Kerry Wood and instead picked Kevin Gregg to be the Cubs closer ever after blowing more saves than anyone in the NL last year for the Marlins, BUT he is still here and until this week, was still blowing Cubs games. This guy has been pretty awful all year and has finally lost his job as Grandpa Lou finally woke up and looked at Gregg's stats.
5 - Larry Rothschild - what has this guy done to deserve such high praise that I always seem to hear? What career has he helped resurrect or what prospect has he brought along to become elite? Sure, Ryan Dempster had his career resurrected, but no thanks to Larry...he was a good pitcher before getting injured and now he's back to being a good pitcher. Zambrano is the closest guy I can think of to being a prospect that became elite, but he's only been elite by the contract he signed. He's never come close to winning a Cy Young Award and has never won 20 games in a season. Instead I bring up Carlos Marmol, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gregg, and Neal Cotts. Why can't he get Marmol to throw strikes? How is Samardzija worse this year than last year? Why can't he get Gregg to focus more when he's out there in a tight spot? What happened to Neal Cotts? The guy walked like every lefty he came in to face! Let's face it, Rothschild is super over-rated and needs to go!
4 - Lou Piniella - this guy is just too old school and NEVER thinks outside the box...ever. Hendry brought Milton Bradley in to be a middle-of-the-order left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (isn't that what Fukudome was supposed to be last year?). So where does Lou hit MB in the Cubs lineup? Why 4th or 5th of course - isn't that where all your guys that are 8th on your team in RBIs (behind two guys that have played 50 less games!)? NOOOOO!!! And how many more times are you going to run Soriano out there to LF with his .240 BA and HORRIBLE defense? How long did he leave Soriano in the lead-off spot because that's the only spot Soriano wanted to hit? Who's running the team Lou? Speaking of which, I always go back to the incident earlier in the season with Milton Bradley. They got into it during a game, Lou sent Bradley home before the game was over and yet put him right back in the starting lineup the very next day. WHAT?!? Now that the Cubs are 7 1/2 games back, he's thinking about benching Soriano to play Sam Fuld who continues to impress both in the field and at the plate - leads the team in OBA and 4th in BA. And where's the fire in the manager that Hendry hired? "I'm not a dragon!" No, you're an old man Grandpa Lou! Now if you're one of those guys that says "managers just put the lineup together, the players win or lose the game", think about the Dodgers. They hadn't done anything under Grady Little and yet as soon as they hired Joe Torre, they won their division last year and lead it again this year by 5 games. What about the Rockies? They were 10 games under .500 when they hired Jim Tracey back in May and have since gone 50-26 to lead the Wild Card. Our Grandpa Lou does a terrible job of working the lineup, dealing with his bench and his bullpen. That's not a very good combination for success.
3 - Alfonso Soriano - this guy has been a bust from day one with the Cubs. After hitting 46 HRs, 41 doubles, stealing 41 bases and driving in 95 RBIs, this guys hasn't come close to that type of production since. He has stolen 47 bases in 2 1/2 season which is only 6 more than he stole during his contract year in Washington. His HR numbers have gone down from 46 in 2006 with Washington to 33, 29, and 19 so far this year. He is hitting a not-so-robust .240 for us this year too. His defense is probably the worst in all of MLB for left field with 9 errors and only 6 outfield assists (11 and 22 for the Nats in 2006). And now, because of his fat contract which the Cubs are stuck with until 2014 (my daughter starts high school next week and will be in college before his contract runs out!), the Cubs are hand-cuffed from really letting Sam Fuld take over out there and they can't just go out and get another guy to replace him either.
2 - Milton Bradley - this guy has been the epitome of being a TOTAL BUST in every single sense of the word. Everything we all KNEW about this guy but refused to believe has been dead-on accurate. He's been moody; he's been a hot dog; he's not been into the game (see throwing the ball into the stands with only 2 outs); and he has NOT hit or driven in runs (8th in RBIs on his own team). Just a TOTAL BUST! Don't forget the Cubs got rid of Mark DeRosa so they could "afford" to get this knucklehead (BTW - DeRo has driven in more than twice as many runs for half the cost and is now helping the rival Cardinals storm to a division crown).
1 - Jim Hendry - this guy is quite possibly the worst GM in all of professional sports. Don't believe me...let's talk about it. In three consecutive off-seasons, Hendry has succeeded to totally hand-cuff the franchise for the next few years with the WORST decisions ever for the outfield. Soriano was signed to a sickening 8-year $136 million contract before the 2007 season. Fukudome was signed to a 4-year $48 million deal before the 2008 season to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup. He's hit a total of 21 HRs in his 1 1/2 season Cubs career with 103 RBIs. Milton Bradley was signed to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (wait, didn't I just say that?) before this season. Lou finally moved him to #2 in the lineup to at least take some advantage of all the walks he gets as those don't come in too handy with runners at the corners and two outs where you need an RBI. What about the #1 starter money he gave to Zambrano for #3 starter production? I'll just list a few more mistakes Hendry has made this year...Aaron Miles, Mark DeRosa, Adam Dunn/Raul Ibanez/Bobby Abreu (why not sign ANY of these guys instead of Bradley?), Ryan Freel, Jason Marquis (didn't mind the thought of getting rid of him, but thought it would have been better to actually get a guy that would still be on the team going into May). That's why he is #1 on my list of Not Top 10. I hope the Ricketts family get rid of him ASAP because for $135 million, the Cubs shouldn't be struggling to stay in the playoff race especially after winning 97 games last year. Hey, at least they are more lefty this year!
Wait til next year (again)!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Only Silver Lining - D-Lee
After giving D-Lee so much grief early in the season, I feel an obligation to give him some props for his more recent performance. If you have been following my blog, you know RBIs are THE stat for me especially for a middle-of-the-order player like the 3-4-5 hitters which is where D-Lee has been for his entire career with the Cubs. (Have you noticed that Bradley has been batting 2nd in recent games? Maybe Lou is reading my blog...)
I just read where D-Lee has 42 RBIs since July 1st which leads all of MLB. Not just the NL, but all of MLB. Now THAT is getting it done. He and the starting pitching are the only reasons the Cubs are still being mentioned in the playoff race. With that nice run, he has moved himself up to 7th in NL for RBIs. That is pretty darn good in my book especially with this lousy offense.
To me, the biggest issue is not the closer although Gregg has certainly blown his share of games. The bigger issue is the offense in my opinion. They have been so inconsistent all season long scoring 17 runs one day and then struggling to score 3 the next day. This certainly puts a lot more pressure on the pitchers. Take the fateful game on Monday that ended up costing Gregg his job...how many chances did they not take advantage to blow the game open rather than leaving it at a precarious 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. The same thing with last night's game. These are the Padres and they really aren't very good yet the Cubs have now lost all 5 games in San Diego and before you say "well, it's tough to score runs in that park" consider the Cubs have been outscored by a combined 24-7 so is the wind blowing out only when the Padres are batting? Don't think so. The Padres are dead last in runs scored this season and 3rd to last in runs allowed so what the??? Like I said...brutally, painfully, and frustratingly inconsistent.
The major missing piece for the offense is Aramis Ramirez and his shoulder problems since early in the season. When he's in there, he produces and the Cubs score runs...when he's not, the Cubs don't score very often. Of course, so many guys NOT producing even to their average productivity has been devastating as well. I'm going to do a "Not Top 10" list later in the week that will go through the other culprits associated with this ultra-underachieving team so stay tuned. Seriously...is there a more underachieving team in baseball right now than the Cubs? Maybe the Mets but as bad as the Cubs injuries have been, the Mets have had it much worse so I still say the Cubs are #1 on this unfortunate list.
I just read where D-Lee has 42 RBIs since July 1st which leads all of MLB. Not just the NL, but all of MLB. Now THAT is getting it done. He and the starting pitching are the only reasons the Cubs are still being mentioned in the playoff race. With that nice run, he has moved himself up to 7th in NL for RBIs. That is pretty darn good in my book especially with this lousy offense.
To me, the biggest issue is not the closer although Gregg has certainly blown his share of games. The bigger issue is the offense in my opinion. They have been so inconsistent all season long scoring 17 runs one day and then struggling to score 3 the next day. This certainly puts a lot more pressure on the pitchers. Take the fateful game on Monday that ended up costing Gregg his job...how many chances did they not take advantage to blow the game open rather than leaving it at a precarious 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. The same thing with last night's game. These are the Padres and they really aren't very good yet the Cubs have now lost all 5 games in San Diego and before you say "well, it's tough to score runs in that park" consider the Cubs have been outscored by a combined 24-7 so is the wind blowing out only when the Padres are batting? Don't think so. The Padres are dead last in runs scored this season and 3rd to last in runs allowed so what the??? Like I said...brutally, painfully, and frustratingly inconsistent.
The major missing piece for the offense is Aramis Ramirez and his shoulder problems since early in the season. When he's in there, he produces and the Cubs score runs...when he's not, the Cubs don't score very often. Of course, so many guys NOT producing even to their average productivity has been devastating as well. I'm going to do a "Not Top 10" list later in the week that will go through the other culprits associated with this ultra-underachieving team so stay tuned. Seriously...is there a more underachieving team in baseball right now than the Cubs? Maybe the Mets but as bad as the Cubs injuries have been, the Mets have had it much worse so I still say the Cubs are #1 on this unfortunate list.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Kevin Gregg SUCKS
I'm sorry, but there is really no other way to say it. In an absolute MUST WIN situation tonight against one of the worst teams in MLB right now, Gregg comes in with the Cubs leading 1-0 after BRILLIANT pitching efforts by Lilly (fresh off the DL), Grabow, and Marmol (no walks or hit batters!) this IDIOT comes in walks two, a double off the wall, and a 3-run HR by Kyle Blanks. WHO?!? Not Pujols or Howard or even Fielder or Braun...NOPE...the .252 hitting Kyle Blanks. That was the 12th HR given up and 6th blown save of the season by the Cubs closer. What a total JOKE!
I still say...what about Rich Harden as closer? Kind of like the Cubs did with Dempster and then Kerry Wood? He only pitches 5 innings when he starts, so why not just let him pitch one at a time a few times per week instead? He is just nasty and fewer innings may mean less stints on the DL. And with Lilly back and Z do back next week, you could go with Lilly, Z, Dempster, Wells, and Gorzelany as the rotation. I would seriously straight up release Gregg at this point. Does anyone have ANY confidence in this guy AT ALL in any situation?
The Cardinals pulled a rabbit out of their hat last night against these very same Padres with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 9th to steal victory away from the jaws of defeat. So how do the Cubs respond? By giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th the very next night to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't look now, but the Cubs are quickly fading from the playoff race at 6 games behind the Cards for the NL Central division lead and 4 games behind the Colorado and in 5th place for the Wild Card behind some pretty "formidable" foes including the $36 million payroll Florida Marlins...that's nearly $100 million LESS than Hendry's bumbling band of misfits. Just imagine what their GM could do with another $100 million... By the way, the Cubs are paying their starting OF $32.5 million this year not including signing bonuses.
Other signs that it is "wait til next year" time...did you read Zambrano's comments regarding his latest visit to the DL? He admits he's been lazy and hasn't been doing his abdominal work as he has been told which has caused his back problems. I'm sorry...WHAT?!? What if the Cubs were too lazy to write those RIDICULOUS paychecks to you Big Z? He's only making $17.75 million this season and he doesn't think he should have been working his abs? It may be too late now Carlos!
I still say...what about Rich Harden as closer? Kind of like the Cubs did with Dempster and then Kerry Wood? He only pitches 5 innings when he starts, so why not just let him pitch one at a time a few times per week instead? He is just nasty and fewer innings may mean less stints on the DL. And with Lilly back and Z do back next week, you could go with Lilly, Z, Dempster, Wells, and Gorzelany as the rotation. I would seriously straight up release Gregg at this point. Does anyone have ANY confidence in this guy AT ALL in any situation?
The Cardinals pulled a rabbit out of their hat last night against these very same Padres with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 9th to steal victory away from the jaws of defeat. So how do the Cubs respond? By giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th the very next night to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't look now, but the Cubs are quickly fading from the playoff race at 6 games behind the Cards for the NL Central division lead and 4 games behind the Colorado and in 5th place for the Wild Card behind some pretty "formidable" foes including the $36 million payroll Florida Marlins...that's nearly $100 million LESS than Hendry's bumbling band of misfits. Just imagine what their GM could do with another $100 million... By the way, the Cubs are paying their starting OF $32.5 million this year not including signing bonuses.
Other signs that it is "wait til next year" time...did you read Zambrano's comments regarding his latest visit to the DL? He admits he's been lazy and hasn't been doing his abdominal work as he has been told which has caused his back problems. I'm sorry...WHAT?!? What if the Cubs were too lazy to write those RIDICULOUS paychecks to you Big Z? He's only making $17.75 million this season and he doesn't think he should have been working his abs? It may be too late now Carlos!
Monday, August 17, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Miller Park (Milwaukee)
We visited Miller Park on Sunday to finish up our 9-day odyssey. I have been to games at Miller Park in the past and so has our family so I’m going to take some liberty and mix in my review from Sunday which was the least pleasant of my 5 or so trips there with the previous visits which will actually help the rating of Miller Park which is really only fair since I am trying to objectively rate each park as honestly as I can. I have sat in the outfield, in the third row behind the on-deck circle, behind home plate in the second deck and in a luxury box in my past visits to Miller. This time we sat in the 17th row just past 1st base out in short RF – very nice seats.
The weather was threatening in Milwaukee on Sunday, so they decided to close the roof which may have been a good idea to keep the rain out although I would have preferred the drizzle over the steamy hot atmosphere we were stuck with instead. I have been to Miller with the roof open and closed in the past and this was BY FAR the worst “weather” I have had to deal with. The temp had to be in the mid-80s with humidity at least that high. There was literally no air movement either so it was really quite uncomfortable which after a long final stretch of driving from Minneapolis was not the way we wanted to finish up our trip.
Anyway, so the temperature was a big strike against Miller at least for that day. The only other real negative was the video display which was really a bit too small as they used a mammoth area below the video for a super huge message board. Personally, I would have rather it been the other way around especially after our visit to KC and being spoiled by CrownVision. Although they did have the out-of-town scoreboard area, they only displayed 3 games at a time while we have seen other parks with more games.
They did copy a bit from Wrigley with some ivy growing on the back wall although the wall with the ivy is actually behind the actual outfield wall but it is still a nice affect. You just have to love the often copied, but never fully duplicated sausage races which are always fun too. The park itself is really nicely laid out with a lot of room in the concourses and a lot of hometown food like brats and Miller beer.
My oldest daughter was saying how we hadn’t seen any “nail biters” on this trip; well yesterday’s game came down to the final swing. The Brewers were facing the Stros and had won the first two games of the 3-game series. This game went back and forth a little bit as the Stros took a 4-2 lead on a 3-run jack by Blum and seemed to extend that lead to 5-2 when Pence went back-to-back. The Brewers came out to challenge and using instant replay, Pence’s HR was reversed to be a long foul ball. That seemed to shift the momentum to the Brewers even though they were still behind. The Brewers tied the score at 4 on a MAMMOTH bomb from Prince Fielder that hit just below the large message board and was measured at 457 feet. And later took the lead to make it 5-4 where the score remained until former Cub David Weathers came in fooling nobody allowing 3 runs and giving up the lead. The Stros pushed across an insurance run in the top of the 9th making it 8-5. If they could get the Brewers to go 1-2-3, they would escape facing Braun and maybe Fielder to earn the W. Nope – a ground rule double by Felipe Lopez extended the inning and Braun followed with a single bringing up Prince Fielder as the potential tying run. On a 3-2 pitch (I would have walked him at this point), Fielder crushed one to deep RF, Pence jumped up just in front of the wall to snag Fielder’s deep fly to ironically end the game (ironic since Pence had been “robbed” of an HR earlier in the game by instant replay). The crowd was going crazy as the ball seemed to be up in the air forever only to be followed by a loud, collective “aaaaaawwwwww!” when Pence came down with the ball for the final out.
With yesterday’s loss by the Brewers, we have ended our hometown winning streak at 8 games and are now 9-5 overall. There are only 13 ball parks listed below because we actually saw a double-header which my youngest was very nervous about during our first trip but was happy to learn that a double-header means two games, not two heads.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
8. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
9. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
10. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
11. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
12. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
13. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up…there is no next up; at least not this year. I just want to use this last little part here to thank my wife for setting this up again and really outdoing herself with a great trip plan. We did everything I think we could have possibly done bringing us to near exhaustion in the process…one more thing and I think we would have been pushed over that edge. I had a great time sweetie…THANK YOU!
The weather was threatening in Milwaukee on Sunday, so they decided to close the roof which may have been a good idea to keep the rain out although I would have preferred the drizzle over the steamy hot atmosphere we were stuck with instead. I have been to Miller with the roof open and closed in the past and this was BY FAR the worst “weather” I have had to deal with. The temp had to be in the mid-80s with humidity at least that high. There was literally no air movement either so it was really quite uncomfortable which after a long final stretch of driving from Minneapolis was not the way we wanted to finish up our trip.
Anyway, so the temperature was a big strike against Miller at least for that day. The only other real negative was the video display which was really a bit too small as they used a mammoth area below the video for a super huge message board. Personally, I would have rather it been the other way around especially after our visit to KC and being spoiled by CrownVision. Although they did have the out-of-town scoreboard area, they only displayed 3 games at a time while we have seen other parks with more games.
They did copy a bit from Wrigley with some ivy growing on the back wall although the wall with the ivy is actually behind the actual outfield wall but it is still a nice affect. You just have to love the often copied, but never fully duplicated sausage races which are always fun too. The park itself is really nicely laid out with a lot of room in the concourses and a lot of hometown food like brats and Miller beer.
My oldest daughter was saying how we hadn’t seen any “nail biters” on this trip; well yesterday’s game came down to the final swing. The Brewers were facing the Stros and had won the first two games of the 3-game series. This game went back and forth a little bit as the Stros took a 4-2 lead on a 3-run jack by Blum and seemed to extend that lead to 5-2 when Pence went back-to-back. The Brewers came out to challenge and using instant replay, Pence’s HR was reversed to be a long foul ball. That seemed to shift the momentum to the Brewers even though they were still behind. The Brewers tied the score at 4 on a MAMMOTH bomb from Prince Fielder that hit just below the large message board and was measured at 457 feet. And later took the lead to make it 5-4 where the score remained until former Cub David Weathers came in fooling nobody allowing 3 runs and giving up the lead. The Stros pushed across an insurance run in the top of the 9th making it 8-5. If they could get the Brewers to go 1-2-3, they would escape facing Braun and maybe Fielder to earn the W. Nope – a ground rule double by Felipe Lopez extended the inning and Braun followed with a single bringing up Prince Fielder as the potential tying run. On a 3-2 pitch (I would have walked him at this point), Fielder crushed one to deep RF, Pence jumped up just in front of the wall to snag Fielder’s deep fly to ironically end the game (ironic since Pence had been “robbed” of an HR earlier in the game by instant replay). The crowd was going crazy as the ball seemed to be up in the air forever only to be followed by a loud, collective “aaaaaawwwwww!” when Pence came down with the ball for the final out.
With yesterday’s loss by the Brewers, we have ended our hometown winning streak at 8 games and are now 9-5 overall. There are only 13 ball parks listed below because we actually saw a double-header which my youngest was very nervous about during our first trip but was happy to learn that a double-header means two games, not two heads.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
8. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
9. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
10. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
11. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
12. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
13. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up…there is no next up; at least not this year. I just want to use this last little part here to thank my wife for setting this up again and really outdoing herself with a great trip plan. We did everything I think we could have possibly done bringing us to near exhaustion in the process…one more thing and I think we would have been pushed over that edge. I had a great time sweetie…THANK YOU!
Friday, August 14, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minneapolis)
Well, I guess the Pirates are pretty good medicine even for the worst teams or at least teams playing their worst ball as the Cubs are far from being the worst team which of course is the problem with what they’ve been doing lately. Unfortunately, the Cards are playing the Padres who are the same type of medicine as the Pirates, just from the other coast. So yes, the Bears, I mean Cubs put up a couple TDs and a field goal to the Steelers, I mean Pirates safety in winning today 17-2. Nice to see the O come to life FINALLY and especially D-Lee with a career high tying 7 RBIs which actually occurred in the first 4 innings before he was pulled with the game completely out of hand already.
So we visited the Metrodome tonight for the Twins vs. Indians game. It was just plain odd to be going to a summertime baseball game inside. The first impression I had was “this is just weird”. Our ears popped as we entered through the revolving doors and looking inside to the field it reminded me of the Shamrox lacrosse game we saw at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates not too far from our home. We walked around a little bit and found our seats which were 12-16 which was in the middle of the row which had like 30 seats in it. I know the Twins have won two World Series in this stadium but it is TOTALLY setup for football viewing. All the seats were square to the field which was a problem for us as we were looking nearly straight right from our seats between 3B and LF. The pitch of the seats was way too shallow as well and with our horrible angle, anytime anyone would walk up the aisle, our view was substantially blocked which was pretty frustrating for someone like me that pretty much never leaves the seat and is there to watch the game. Another annoyance was the extreme volume from the loudspeaker – it was truly overwhelming as they were acting like they were talking over 50,000 screaming fans during a playoff game when there were only 30,000 for a Fri afternoon game against a weak, yet inter-divisional opponent. After visiting all the new stadiums we have seen the last 3 years, the “jumbotrons” were extremely weak although there were two with one in each end-zone (again, better designed for football).
We have been purchasing a couple souvenirs at each stadium during our trips – I get a home team hat and the kids get one of those little souvenir bats. Well, they didn’t have the red hat with the blue brim in any size smaller than 7 7/8 which is even too big for my head and they were out of bats for the season! WHAT?!? It’s mid-August and they’re out of souvenir bats for the season? We were planning a trip to Mall of America tomorrow so we’ll hopefully get a bat; I ended up buying the regular blue hat with the TC logo which is pretty cool, but not quite as cool as the red model.
They have a countdown display showing how many regular season home games remain before they open their new outdoor stadium next year – the countdown is now at 23. GOOD! I really disliked this place although the atmosphere and fans made it palatable so it stays out of the cellar in my rankings, but not by much.
By the way Cardinals fans, hardly any Twins fans left this game early even though the score was 11-0. The first mass exodus I saw was after the bottom of the 8th which was still a bit disappointing as Scott Baker finished off a 2-hit shutout. I don’t know how you could ever leave a Twins game too early when you get to watch Joe Mauer bat – this kid is AMAZING! He went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored and two walks including one in the 8th on a close 3-2 pitch by former Cub Kerry Wood during a 11-pitch AB. I admit it…serious man-crush on Joe Mauer…this guy is a line drive waiting to happen. Enjoy him while you can Minnesotans as he is going to command HUGE dollars when he becomes a FA in a couple years. And enjoy that new outdoor stadium next year too!
With tonight’s win by the Twins, we have extended our hometown winning streak to 8 games and are now 9-4 overall.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
9. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
10. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
11. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
12. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up is Miller Park in Milwaukee on Sunday when the Brewers will host the Houston Astros. I’m not too sure who to cheer for in this one. The Brewers are only 2 ½ games behind the Cubs while the Stros are 4 games behind.
So we visited the Metrodome tonight for the Twins vs. Indians game. It was just plain odd to be going to a summertime baseball game inside. The first impression I had was “this is just weird”. Our ears popped as we entered through the revolving doors and looking inside to the field it reminded me of the Shamrox lacrosse game we saw at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates not too far from our home. We walked around a little bit and found our seats which were 12-16 which was in the middle of the row which had like 30 seats in it. I know the Twins have won two World Series in this stadium but it is TOTALLY setup for football viewing. All the seats were square to the field which was a problem for us as we were looking nearly straight right from our seats between 3B and LF. The pitch of the seats was way too shallow as well and with our horrible angle, anytime anyone would walk up the aisle, our view was substantially blocked which was pretty frustrating for someone like me that pretty much never leaves the seat and is there to watch the game. Another annoyance was the extreme volume from the loudspeaker – it was truly overwhelming as they were acting like they were talking over 50,000 screaming fans during a playoff game when there were only 30,000 for a Fri afternoon game against a weak, yet inter-divisional opponent. After visiting all the new stadiums we have seen the last 3 years, the “jumbotrons” were extremely weak although there were two with one in each end-zone (again, better designed for football).
We have been purchasing a couple souvenirs at each stadium during our trips – I get a home team hat and the kids get one of those little souvenir bats. Well, they didn’t have the red hat with the blue brim in any size smaller than 7 7/8 which is even too big for my head and they were out of bats for the season! WHAT?!? It’s mid-August and they’re out of souvenir bats for the season? We were planning a trip to Mall of America tomorrow so we’ll hopefully get a bat; I ended up buying the regular blue hat with the TC logo which is pretty cool, but not quite as cool as the red model.
They have a countdown display showing how many regular season home games remain before they open their new outdoor stadium next year – the countdown is now at 23. GOOD! I really disliked this place although the atmosphere and fans made it palatable so it stays out of the cellar in my rankings, but not by much.
By the way Cardinals fans, hardly any Twins fans left this game early even though the score was 11-0. The first mass exodus I saw was after the bottom of the 8th which was still a bit disappointing as Scott Baker finished off a 2-hit shutout. I don’t know how you could ever leave a Twins game too early when you get to watch Joe Mauer bat – this kid is AMAZING! He went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored and two walks including one in the 8th on a close 3-2 pitch by former Cub Kerry Wood during a 11-pitch AB. I admit it…serious man-crush on Joe Mauer…this guy is a line drive waiting to happen. Enjoy him while you can Minnesotans as he is going to command HUGE dollars when he becomes a FA in a couple years. And enjoy that new outdoor stadium next year too!
With tonight’s win by the Twins, we have extended our hometown winning streak to 8 games and are now 9-4 overall.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
9. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
10. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
11. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
12. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up is Miller Park in Milwaukee on Sunday when the Brewers will host the Houston Astros. I’m not too sure who to cheer for in this one. The Brewers are only 2 ½ games behind the Cubs while the Stros are 4 games behind.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Field of Dreams (Dyersville, IA)
We are on our way north from St. Louis to Minneapolis to see the Twins on Fri night. So we stopped at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA today. I have to say this place was pretty cool. We were here on a Thu afternoon about 3pm and there were many people there in different parts of the area. There is a sign that talks about the movie and how the location was chosen and all of that. There used to be an ownership "squabble" as the field actually lay on two different farms with everything but LF and part of CF owned by one farmer and the other piece owned by another farmer but that has since been resolved. It isn't too touristy or commercial at all and it doesn't cost anything to be there although they do have a place where you can donate and there's also a souvenir area too but it is hardly the focus. In reading about it, the owners actually pay Universal Studios royalties on all the items they sell that say "Field of Dreams" which is interesting and sounds kind of bad for a big movie studio to be charging a farmer, but a copyright is a copyright I guess.
Of course, the focus is the FIELD since it is called Field of Dreams. When we got there, about 5-6 people were playing ball on the field so my son and oldest daughter joined in. There were a few other groups out in the outfield area and near the corn but they were hardly in any danger from the batters hitting a ball out that way. We were there 3 hours "having a catch" and nobody hit a ball within 50 feet of the corn as it is the size of a real MLB diamond although I don't know the actual dimensions. There were just as many adults there as kids and we even played with a father and two of his sons that were well into there 20s or 30s.
We had a blast and took some pics of our kids in action. If you're in the area or even if you're not but are a big baseball fan and/or a fan of the movie, I strongly recommend taking the trek out there to see it for yourself.
We'll be in the Metrodome tomorrow night watching the Twins take on Cleveland.
Of course, the focus is the FIELD since it is called Field of Dreams. When we got there, about 5-6 people were playing ball on the field so my son and oldest daughter joined in. There were a few other groups out in the outfield area and near the corn but they were hardly in any danger from the batters hitting a ball out that way. We were there 3 hours "having a catch" and nobody hit a ball within 50 feet of the corn as it is the size of a real MLB diamond although I don't know the actual dimensions. There were just as many adults there as kids and we even played with a father and two of his sons that were well into there 20s or 30s.
We had a blast and took some pics of our kids in action. If you're in the area or even if you're not but are a big baseball fan and/or a fan of the movie, I strongly recommend taking the trek out there to see it for yourself.
We'll be in the Metrodome tomorrow night watching the Twins take on Cleveland.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
MAN, the Cubs sure are making it hard on me (and us) this week. WOW – a 3-game sweep at home while the Cards take 2-of-3 from the Reds and following a very disappointing road trip. YUCK!
What made it even harder was the fact we were at Busch watching the Cards take game 3 of their series with the woeful Reds. It will be difficult for me to stay objective when talking about Busch for two reasons…first, this is the home of the hated Cards and second, I am bitter and insulted that the Cardinals’ fans are considered the best in MLB. While the park itself was very nice including comfortable seats and very good sight lines, I found myself more focused on the fans. The scoreboard, while nowhere near as nice as Kauffman Stadium was still pretty nice with lots of info readily available. One of my favorite features was also the biggest bummer of the night too as they had a nice out-of-town scoreboard where I was able to keep up with the Phillies pounding of the Cubs tonight as well as three other games that were “highlighted” including current batter, outs, and base runners (not names, but bases occupied). The other 10 MLB games had scores and inning number including top or bottom indications. All the seats were red which gives me a nice intro to talking about these supposed best fans in MLB. First off, where the heck were they tonight? The attendance game showed over 40,000 but unless the new Busch holds 80,000, there’s no way it was more than 25,000 there tonight. Wasn’t this a division game in the middle of a close division race? Second, do “real” fans still do the wave? And during a big spot in the ball game? I know I certainly wouldn’t. Carpenter fell behind 3-0 with runners at the corners and two outs but the fans hardly noticed as they were much more concerned with building a bigger and bigger wave. Wow! Third, most of these supposed best fans left after the 7th inning which not-so-coincidentally is when beer sales were suspended per MLB rules. The game was 5-2 at the time so I was totally taken aback by this development. The last thing that really struck me as NOT “best fans in MLB” were two pretty obvious calls that were booed mightily by the crowd. The hometown scorer was totally a homer early in the game as Pujols reached on a wild throw by the Reds starting pitcher after taking a liner off his foot. The throw would have beat Pujols by a step and a half, but he was still given a hit on the play although he didn’t get the RBIs for the 2 runs that scored on the error. The next play was a long fly ball that was dropped by Reds CF Taveras that was ruled a double for Holliday. Yes, Taveras dove for the ball, but it was right in the middle of his glove and then he dropped it – should have been E-8!
The good news if you can even call it that, is that we have extended our hometown winning streak to 7 games and are now 8-4 overall. Of course, we weren’t even cheering for the Cards, but it still goes in the W column.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
9. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
10. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
11. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up is the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (a.k.a. “hump dome” or “roller dome” – remember Ditka going in there with the Bears on roller skates to make his point?) in Minneapolis.
What made it even harder was the fact we were at Busch watching the Cards take game 3 of their series with the woeful Reds. It will be difficult for me to stay objective when talking about Busch for two reasons…first, this is the home of the hated Cards and second, I am bitter and insulted that the Cardinals’ fans are considered the best in MLB. While the park itself was very nice including comfortable seats and very good sight lines, I found myself more focused on the fans. The scoreboard, while nowhere near as nice as Kauffman Stadium was still pretty nice with lots of info readily available. One of my favorite features was also the biggest bummer of the night too as they had a nice out-of-town scoreboard where I was able to keep up with the Phillies pounding of the Cubs tonight as well as three other games that were “highlighted” including current batter, outs, and base runners (not names, but bases occupied). The other 10 MLB games had scores and inning number including top or bottom indications. All the seats were red which gives me a nice intro to talking about these supposed best fans in MLB. First off, where the heck were they tonight? The attendance game showed over 40,000 but unless the new Busch holds 80,000, there’s no way it was more than 25,000 there tonight. Wasn’t this a division game in the middle of a close division race? Second, do “real” fans still do the wave? And during a big spot in the ball game? I know I certainly wouldn’t. Carpenter fell behind 3-0 with runners at the corners and two outs but the fans hardly noticed as they were much more concerned with building a bigger and bigger wave. Wow! Third, most of these supposed best fans left after the 7th inning which not-so-coincidentally is when beer sales were suspended per MLB rules. The game was 5-2 at the time so I was totally taken aback by this development. The last thing that really struck me as NOT “best fans in MLB” were two pretty obvious calls that were booed mightily by the crowd. The hometown scorer was totally a homer early in the game as Pujols reached on a wild throw by the Reds starting pitcher after taking a liner off his foot. The throw would have beat Pujols by a step and a half, but he was still given a hit on the play although he didn’t get the RBIs for the 2 runs that scored on the error. The next play was a long fly ball that was dropped by Reds CF Taveras that was ruled a double for Holliday. Yes, Taveras dove for the ball, but it was right in the middle of his glove and then he dropped it – should have been E-8!
The good news if you can even call it that, is that we have extended our hometown winning streak to 7 games and are now 8-4 overall. Of course, we weren’t even cheering for the Cards, but it still goes in the W column.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
9. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
10. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
11. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up is the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (a.k.a. “hump dome” or “roller dome” – remember Ditka going in there with the Bears on roller skates to make his point?) in Minneapolis.
Monday, August 10, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Kauffman Stadium (KC)
I am trying to ignore the fact the Cubs have lost 3-of-4 to the Rockies while the Cards are taking care of business against the abysmal Pirates and Reds putting the Cubs 3 full games behind in the standings. I am also trying to ignore the fact that Milton Bradley ended his “streak” of 2 games with RBIs while the pitching staff has allowed 33 runs in the 4-game series at the newly tamed Coors Field (i.e. not supposed to be so HR friendly now that they have a humidor) and that Soriano was 0-5 tonight but surprisingly did not strike out but "led" the team with 4 LOB. I'm on vacation and trying not to let the Cubs bother me.
We have now started our 3rd annual baseball vacation. This year’s trip takes on a zig-zag journey through the Midwest starting in KC to see the Royals, then over to visit the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines, IA, then down to St. Louis to BOO the Cardinals, up to Minnesota to see the Twinkies, and back to Milwaukee to BOO the Brew Crew before heading back home. Not exactly shortest distance between two points, but that’s the only way we could get it to work with the teams’ home schedules.
So we started Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium to see the KC Royals score their most runs in a game this season. They beat the just-as-hapless A’s 12-6 even after their best pitcher Zack Greinke struggled a bit out of the box giving up 3 runs in the 2nd and cranking up his pitch count in the process. I think he was at 71 pitches through 3 innings although he buckled down and the KC offense flexed their muscles and Zack ended up going 7 innings just giving up those 3 runs for a quality start and his first win since the end of June. Our winning streak has now reached 6 games and we are 7-4 overall in 2+ years.
Unfortunately, due to a bit of a scheduling “snafu” we didn’t arrive to the game as early as we normally like to so we didn’t get much of a chance to explore the park. It was military appreciation day at the game so there were many stoppages to talk to either current military men and women and also mixed with some veterans as well. The game was being broadcast in Iraq and they kept cutting over to show them cheering on their hometown Royals. They had a giant flag in the outfield held by military men and women for the Star-Spangled Banner before the start of the game which was sung by another military man – very inspiring.
I have to say the new Royals ball park was pretty sweet. We had pretty good seats in Row N just past 3rd base (not hard to get good seats for such a perennial losing team like the Royals) so the binoculars weren’t really necessary. The park looked pretty sweet from our vantage point with the Royals Hall of Fame in the LF corner (there was a big line so we didn’t get in there). As KC, MO is the city of fountains, there are big fountains in the outfield with accompanying waterfalls. The crown jewel (pun intended) of the stadium has to be CrownVision which is a GIANT video screen behind the CF wall. They showed all the military videos, replays of close plays or hometown HRs, but the coolest part was just during a regular AB. Being that the video screen is so HUGE, they are able to put a TON of info on there for the fans including current batter’s picture with a little snip-it about them, player bio as well as his full stats, lineups for the team at bat including BA for each player, what the last batter did (e.g. single by DeJesus), defensive fielding positions and next three batters up for them including BA, pitch speed, line score for the game including inning-by-inning scoring, total runs, hits, errors and LOB (nice touch!). There were plenty of other smaller scoreboards located throughout the stadium including one over each bullpen showing pitching stats for the current pitcher for each team as well as toggling to stats of anyone throwing in the bullpen. In case you went to the bathroom and missed an inning, you could always figure out what each batter did the next time they came up as they showed an inning-by-inning scoring.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
9. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
10. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next MLB park up is Busch Stadium III in St. Louis. BOO Cardinals!!!
We have now started our 3rd annual baseball vacation. This year’s trip takes on a zig-zag journey through the Midwest starting in KC to see the Royals, then over to visit the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines, IA, then down to St. Louis to BOO the Cardinals, up to Minnesota to see the Twinkies, and back to Milwaukee to BOO the Brew Crew before heading back home. Not exactly shortest distance between two points, but that’s the only way we could get it to work with the teams’ home schedules.
So we started Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium to see the KC Royals score their most runs in a game this season. They beat the just-as-hapless A’s 12-6 even after their best pitcher Zack Greinke struggled a bit out of the box giving up 3 runs in the 2nd and cranking up his pitch count in the process. I think he was at 71 pitches through 3 innings although he buckled down and the KC offense flexed their muscles and Zack ended up going 7 innings just giving up those 3 runs for a quality start and his first win since the end of June. Our winning streak has now reached 6 games and we are 7-4 overall in 2+ years.
Unfortunately, due to a bit of a scheduling “snafu” we didn’t arrive to the game as early as we normally like to so we didn’t get much of a chance to explore the park. It was military appreciation day at the game so there were many stoppages to talk to either current military men and women and also mixed with some veterans as well. The game was being broadcast in Iraq and they kept cutting over to show them cheering on their hometown Royals. They had a giant flag in the outfield held by military men and women for the Star-Spangled Banner before the start of the game which was sung by another military man – very inspiring.
I have to say the new Royals ball park was pretty sweet. We had pretty good seats in Row N just past 3rd base (not hard to get good seats for such a perennial losing team like the Royals) so the binoculars weren’t really necessary. The park looked pretty sweet from our vantage point with the Royals Hall of Fame in the LF corner (there was a big line so we didn’t get in there). As KC, MO is the city of fountains, there are big fountains in the outfield with accompanying waterfalls. The crown jewel (pun intended) of the stadium has to be CrownVision which is a GIANT video screen behind the CF wall. They showed all the military videos, replays of close plays or hometown HRs, but the coolest part was just during a regular AB. Being that the video screen is so HUGE, they are able to put a TON of info on there for the fans including current batter’s picture with a little snip-it about them, player bio as well as his full stats, lineups for the team at bat including BA for each player, what the last batter did (e.g. single by DeJesus), defensive fielding positions and next three batters up for them including BA, pitch speed, line score for the game including inning-by-inning scoring, total runs, hits, errors and LOB (nice touch!). There were plenty of other smaller scoreboards located throughout the stadium including one over each bullpen showing pitching stats for the current pitcher for each team as well as toggling to stats of anyone throwing in the bullpen. In case you went to the bathroom and missed an inning, you could always figure out what each batter did the next time they came up as they showed an inning-by-inning scoring.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
9. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
10. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next MLB park up is Busch Stadium III in St. Louis. BOO Cardinals!!!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review Recap
As some of you may know, my family has been doing an annual trip in an effort to eventually visit all the different MLB ballparks. Of course, if a team replaces their stadium after we have visited there are no promises to revisit the new one. For example, last year we visited both NY parks - Yankee and Shea Stadiums. This year, both parks have been replaced. Shea was the pit I had always heard it was while Yankee Stadium was the shrine I thought it would be - all that history, all those great past Yankee players, all those rings, etc.
Just to recap for those that don't know me...I have three kids that are now 14, 12, and 7 and a wife that plans these trips (yep! How totally LUCKY am I?). Our pilgrimage started 2 years ago when we drove from our Chicago area home to see the Comerica (Tigers), Great American Ball Park (Reds), PNC Park (Pirates), Jacobs Field (Indians), and Cubs at Wrigley Field. Last year, we spent 9 days on the east coast visiting the Shea Stadium (Mets), Citizens Bank Park (Phillies), Fenway Park (Red Sox), and Yankee Stadium. After starting out with a 1-4 record for the home teams, our trip to Wrigley started our current 5-game winning streak making us 6-4 overall.
I have to say, the new "old school" ball parks (notice I didn't call them stadiums - football is played in a stadium; baseball is played in a park) have REALLY turned my opinion quite a bit. Again, for those that know me, I am totally old school when it comes to baseball and I have always called it sacrilege to say Wrigley Field should be torn down and replaced, BUT after visiting Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland in that first trip, I am all for a new Wrigley even if the Cubs have to outdraw the White Sox and blow away all the Sox fan excuses that Wrigley draws most of the people to the Cubs home games by playing a year or even two in The Cell. These new ball parks are just awesome. You still get the old school ball park feel but you also get all the amenities without being overwhelmed with commercialism. Very cool!
OK, so here is my ball park ranking to date including a couple parks not yet visited on our vacations:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Fenway Park (Boston)
6. Turner Field (Atlanta)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
9. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
10. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
I have little doubt that Shea will just continue to move down the list as we visit more parks each year. There was just very little to like about it. We sat towards the back of the lower level and I could literally stand and touch the ceiling which was the upper deck with my hands without jumping. The site lines were HORRIBLE from there. I have similar issues with Wrigley Field as well due to many seats directly behind poles and seats towards the back of the lower sections have limited views. These new ball parks have no such issues; the seats are bigger and seem to be much more comfortable too.
Next MLB park up is Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Just to recap for those that don't know me...I have three kids that are now 14, 12, and 7 and a wife that plans these trips (yep! How totally LUCKY am I?). Our pilgrimage started 2 years ago when we drove from our Chicago area home to see the Comerica (Tigers), Great American Ball Park (Reds), PNC Park (Pirates), Jacobs Field (Indians), and Cubs at Wrigley Field. Last year, we spent 9 days on the east coast visiting the Shea Stadium (Mets), Citizens Bank Park (Phillies), Fenway Park (Red Sox), and Yankee Stadium. After starting out with a 1-4 record for the home teams, our trip to Wrigley started our current 5-game winning streak making us 6-4 overall.
I have to say, the new "old school" ball parks (notice I didn't call them stadiums - football is played in a stadium; baseball is played in a park) have REALLY turned my opinion quite a bit. Again, for those that know me, I am totally old school when it comes to baseball and I have always called it sacrilege to say Wrigley Field should be torn down and replaced, BUT after visiting Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland in that first trip, I am all for a new Wrigley even if the Cubs have to outdraw the White Sox and blow away all the Sox fan excuses that Wrigley draws most of the people to the Cubs home games by playing a year or even two in The Cell. These new ball parks are just awesome. You still get the old school ball park feel but you also get all the amenities without being overwhelmed with commercialism. Very cool!
OK, so here is my ball park ranking to date including a couple parks not yet visited on our vacations:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Fenway Park (Boston)
6. Turner Field (Atlanta)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
9. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
10. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
I have little doubt that Shea will just continue to move down the list as we visit more parks each year. There was just very little to like about it. We sat towards the back of the lower level and I could literally stand and touch the ceiling which was the upper deck with my hands without jumping. The site lines were HORRIBLE from there. I have similar issues with Wrigley Field as well due to many seats directly behind poles and seats towards the back of the lower sections have limited views. These new ball parks have no such issues; the seats are bigger and seem to be much more comfortable too.
Next MLB park up is Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Most embarrassing loss of the year???
Was last night's loss to the lowly and ultra-pathetic, Dusty-led Reds the most embarrassing loss of the season? A 4-hit complete game shut-out by a 32-year old making not only his second start of the season but second start of his career...REALLY? Lehr earned his first W since 2006! Boys, we HAVE to do better than that. I know you can't win them all, but that one you HAD to win. Now the Cubs go to visit a red-hot Colorado Rockies team for 4 games only to come home and face the defending World Series champion Phillies. How can you lose that game last night knowing you have an off day today and then 7 against tough opponents? It would seem the boys in blue took their off day a little too early.
This guy Jason Lehr was topping out on the radar gun at 85mph and yet, the Cubs just couldn't figure him out. Bob Brenly was simply amazed at how ineffective the Cubs bats really were against a guy throwing a straight fastball at 85. I just kept waiting for them to kick it into gear...surely the second time through the lineup would be better...OK, how about the third time? One extra base hit all night and that was Rich Harden's bloop double (I still say he's the fastest Cub). Soriano beat out an infield hit off Lehr's glove only to get picked off as he wandered off 1st base with his hands on his hips. Lehr looked over there like 3-4 times before whipping it over there so I don't get what Soriano was doing. Personally, I would have sent him to the locker room after that and try to get some kind of reaction or spark from the rest of the team. But, nope, Grandpa Lou just sent his lazy butt back out to LF.
It wasn't like the Reds were crushing the ball all over the park. They had only 1 more than the Cubs 4 hits, but took advantage on the bases stealing 3-of-4 on the night including ANOTHER missed tag by Fontenot at 2B. I would have yanked him off the field too as the throw beat Phillips by at least a full second.
It was "nice" (i.e. NOT nice) to see Aaron Miles back in the lineup after being on the DL since June 20th. WHY is this guy still here? Oh ya, another fabulous off-season move by Hendry. Wasn't this guy supposed to semi-replace Mark DeRosa? Not so much - he's hitting .198 with 4 RBIs in 47 games. Yuck! Is Andres Blanco really hurt or was that just some move to bring Miles back? Cut Miles and bring back Blanco - at least he's young and has a future. Miles is TERRIBLE (insert your best Charles Barkley impersonation).
This was also a prime opportunity to jump into 1st place by a full game as the Cardinals lost yesterday too. Let's hope the Cubs pull it together and finish up this road trip at .500 or better.
This guy Jason Lehr was topping out on the radar gun at 85mph and yet, the Cubs just couldn't figure him out. Bob Brenly was simply amazed at how ineffective the Cubs bats really were against a guy throwing a straight fastball at 85. I just kept waiting for them to kick it into gear...surely the second time through the lineup would be better...OK, how about the third time? One extra base hit all night and that was Rich Harden's bloop double (I still say he's the fastest Cub). Soriano beat out an infield hit off Lehr's glove only to get picked off as he wandered off 1st base with his hands on his hips. Lehr looked over there like 3-4 times before whipping it over there so I don't get what Soriano was doing. Personally, I would have sent him to the locker room after that and try to get some kind of reaction or spark from the rest of the team. But, nope, Grandpa Lou just sent his lazy butt back out to LF.
It wasn't like the Reds were crushing the ball all over the park. They had only 1 more than the Cubs 4 hits, but took advantage on the bases stealing 3-of-4 on the night including ANOTHER missed tag by Fontenot at 2B. I would have yanked him off the field too as the throw beat Phillips by at least a full second.
It was "nice" (i.e. NOT nice) to see Aaron Miles back in the lineup after being on the DL since June 20th. WHY is this guy still here? Oh ya, another fabulous off-season move by Hendry. Wasn't this guy supposed to semi-replace Mark DeRosa? Not so much - he's hitting .198 with 4 RBIs in 47 games. Yuck! Is Andres Blanco really hurt or was that just some move to bring Miles back? Cut Miles and bring back Blanco - at least he's young and has a future. Miles is TERRIBLE (insert your best Charles Barkley impersonation).
This was also a prime opportunity to jump into 1st place by a full game as the Cardinals lost yesterday too. Let's hope the Cubs pull it together and finish up this road trip at .500 or better.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Kudos to Kenny and Jerry!
As a lifelong Cubs fan, it kind of pains me to say this, but I think the White Sox are setup for a far better "run" than the Cubs. The White Sox have built smart using less money and younger players while the Hendry-led Cubs are hand-cuffed with overpriced unproductive "talent" for the next few years. The Cubs seem to have a lot of young talent but given the salaries of Bradley, Soriano, and Fukudome, you just "can't" get these guys on the field.
While the Josh Fields experiment was a total disaster this year, it paved the way for what Ozzie basically called worst-case scenario at the beginning of the year, but could pay HUGE dividends. At the beginning of the season, Ozzie said that if Gordan Beckham was playing for the Sox, they were probably out of the race. Well, BECAUSE Gordan Beckham is up playing for the Sox, the Sox are IN the race. This kid is amazing and reminds me of Evan Longoria of the Rays - solid with EVERYTHING and acts like he's been up in MLB for 10 years rather than as a cocky rookie which he has every right to be. Don't forget the kid is actually a SS playing out of position at 3B after Fields proved he was NOT the guy to replace Joe Crede. This Beckham kid can just flat out play.
OK - but that's not why I am giving kudos to Kenny and Jerry. How about these guys pulling off THE trade of the deadline? To me, this is ANOTHER slap in the face of Cubs GM Jim Hendry as he couldn't pull the trigger on the deal for Jake Peavy as everyone reported as a done deal at the winter meetings. Well, after the Sox were somewhat embarrassed when Peavy turned down a trade to the south side earlier this year, he saw the walls crumbling around him in San Diego and decided to jump ship to a very competitive Sox team in a very winnable AL Central division. OK, so he won't really join the rotation until the end of August, but who cares? Who wouldn't want to add a former Cy Young winner in late August? The guy isn't even your typical "rental player" as he is signed through 2012 with a club option in 2013. AND he's only 28 years old! Ya, the Sox gave up a lot to get him, but do any of those guys project to be Cy Young winners? Don't think so! So kudos to Jerry for opening up the checkbook and kudos to Kenny for getting Jerry to do that AND pull off this trade and adding a #1 starter to the Sox for the next 3-4 years. You just don't see that everyday. The other factor here is what this type of move does to energize the rest of the guys in the dugout. When you see your organization pull off a deal like that, it just has to tell you they are serious about winning NOW so let's play some ball. They are 3-1 against the then hottest team in baseball NY Yankees and the now hottest team in baseball the LA Angels. Ya, they're beating them at home, but they're still beating them.
The Cubs have Sam Fuld who I just LOVE as the future lead-off guy on this team. The kid is hungry and plays hard ALL the time - remember that catch he made running full speed into the ivy to catch a ball in late September last year? Jake Fox has NOT been the horrible defensive liability we have been told he is so that is just an excuse to play these overpaid wastes of money ahead of him. The kid can just plain HIT and for a team struggling to score runs consistently, I don't understand why he isn't in the lineup every day. Randy Wells could give the north and south siders two Rookies of the Year in the same season. This kid has been amazing going 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA and could easily be 12-2 with some early offensive support and upheld leads by the bullpen. And they still have last year's Rookie of the Year in Geo Soto who comes back later this week.
So it's not like the Cubs are dead or anything; they're just stuck with some high-priced non-productive players that will seemingly continue to play ahead of younger, cheaper, and more productive players because of their big contracts. Although maybe the mentality is starting to change a little bit as Bradley was given the day off again yesterday in favor of Jake Fox after also having the day off on Sun. I have harped on Bradley in particular all season as the guy just doesn't drive in any runs - 9 in 24 games in July which was actually triple what he drove in during the month of June. How can your #5 hitter be 9th on your team in RBIs behind two guys (Aramis and Fox) that have played less than half as many games? Seriously! He's behind such non-RBI guys as Theriot, Fukudome, and Fontenot too! Let's get Fox in there more and sprint to the finish as we're no longer in the "it's still early" phase of the season here. It's time to drive to the playoffs.
While the Josh Fields experiment was a total disaster this year, it paved the way for what Ozzie basically called worst-case scenario at the beginning of the year, but could pay HUGE dividends. At the beginning of the season, Ozzie said that if Gordan Beckham was playing for the Sox, they were probably out of the race. Well, BECAUSE Gordan Beckham is up playing for the Sox, the Sox are IN the race. This kid is amazing and reminds me of Evan Longoria of the Rays - solid with EVERYTHING and acts like he's been up in MLB for 10 years rather than as a cocky rookie which he has every right to be. Don't forget the kid is actually a SS playing out of position at 3B after Fields proved he was NOT the guy to replace Joe Crede. This Beckham kid can just flat out play.
OK - but that's not why I am giving kudos to Kenny and Jerry. How about these guys pulling off THE trade of the deadline? To me, this is ANOTHER slap in the face of Cubs GM Jim Hendry as he couldn't pull the trigger on the deal for Jake Peavy as everyone reported as a done deal at the winter meetings. Well, after the Sox were somewhat embarrassed when Peavy turned down a trade to the south side earlier this year, he saw the walls crumbling around him in San Diego and decided to jump ship to a very competitive Sox team in a very winnable AL Central division. OK, so he won't really join the rotation until the end of August, but who cares? Who wouldn't want to add a former Cy Young winner in late August? The guy isn't even your typical "rental player" as he is signed through 2012 with a club option in 2013. AND he's only 28 years old! Ya, the Sox gave up a lot to get him, but do any of those guys project to be Cy Young winners? Don't think so! So kudos to Jerry for opening up the checkbook and kudos to Kenny for getting Jerry to do that AND pull off this trade and adding a #1 starter to the Sox for the next 3-4 years. You just don't see that everyday. The other factor here is what this type of move does to energize the rest of the guys in the dugout. When you see your organization pull off a deal like that, it just has to tell you they are serious about winning NOW so let's play some ball. They are 3-1 against the then hottest team in baseball NY Yankees and the now hottest team in baseball the LA Angels. Ya, they're beating them at home, but they're still beating them.
The Cubs have Sam Fuld who I just LOVE as the future lead-off guy on this team. The kid is hungry and plays hard ALL the time - remember that catch he made running full speed into the ivy to catch a ball in late September last year? Jake Fox has NOT been the horrible defensive liability we have been told he is so that is just an excuse to play these overpaid wastes of money ahead of him. The kid can just plain HIT and for a team struggling to score runs consistently, I don't understand why he isn't in the lineup every day. Randy Wells could give the north and south siders two Rookies of the Year in the same season. This kid has been amazing going 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA and could easily be 12-2 with some early offensive support and upheld leads by the bullpen. And they still have last year's Rookie of the Year in Geo Soto who comes back later this week.
So it's not like the Cubs are dead or anything; they're just stuck with some high-priced non-productive players that will seemingly continue to play ahead of younger, cheaper, and more productive players because of their big contracts. Although maybe the mentality is starting to change a little bit as Bradley was given the day off again yesterday in favor of Jake Fox after also having the day off on Sun. I have harped on Bradley in particular all season as the guy just doesn't drive in any runs - 9 in 24 games in July which was actually triple what he drove in during the month of June. How can your #5 hitter be 9th on your team in RBIs behind two guys (Aramis and Fox) that have played less than half as many games? Seriously! He's behind such non-RBI guys as Theriot, Fukudome, and Fontenot too! Let's get Fox in there more and sprint to the finish as we're no longer in the "it's still early" phase of the season here. It's time to drive to the playoffs.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Who's your Closer?
Did you get your blood pressure pill prescription renewed before this weekend? I sure hope so or you're probably not reading this right now. I've NEVER been a fan of the Cubs offseason move to sign last year's league LEADER in BLOWN saves. Did Hendry misread the leader stats from 2008? Why would you not resign a guy that was a lifelong Cub in order to sign this guy? I didn't get it then and I sure don't get it now either.
The Cubs went 1-2 this weekend but let's see why that happened. Marmol came in for the 8th inning on Fri night with the game tied at 2-2. Two walks, a hit and hit batter led to 3 Marlins runs and a Cubs loss. Sat didn't go much better for the late inning relief core. Gregg came in for an "easy" single inning save with the Cubs up by 3. The first two outs were easy enough so now he's down to a single out with a 3-run lead. Not so fast Cubs fans - 3 runs later and the Cubs are in extra innings. Gregg gets the blown save and the W (what's up with that?) but D-Lee saved the day with a bomb in the 10th. Sun was the real heartbreaker though. Dempster went 6 innings without giving up a run only to see Heilman give up the 1-0 lead keeping Dempster from getting the W. This time it was Jake Fox to the rescue to put the Cubs back up 2-1. Unfortunately, Lou is stuck bringing Gregg in and after getting the first out, 2 pitches, 2 bombs, Cubs lose.
I'm just wondering how some teams can seem to turn anyone into a closer while the Cubs have a guy that has all the tools but can't get over the hump. LaRussa has turned a better than average starter into a Hall of Fame Closer in former Cub Dennis Eckersley, then took a hugely disappointing starter and turned him into a darn good closer in Jason Isringhausen and now a journeyman starter is arguably the best closer in the game in Ryan Franklin. Of course, it probably has more to do with LaRussa's longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan, but that isn't my point. His teams always seem to come up with guys out of nowhere to be pretty darn good closers and yet, the Cubs go after and sign the NL league leader in blown saves and he's who we, the fans are stuck with this year.
Based on Lou's comments after yesterday's second consecutive blown save against Kevin Gregg's former team (this time for a loss after the Cubs came back in the 10th Sat night to "earn" Gregg a W after blowing a 3-run lead on Sat), Gregg is going to stay in his current role. When Piniella was asked if he had plans to change his closer, he responded with "Why should I?" Uh...were you watching the games this weekend Lou? Gregg is now second in all of MLB with 5 blown saves but has the MLB lead in HRs allowed (uh, Hendry, that's NOT a good thing either!).
It's not like Gregg has been dominating hitters this season. Has there ever been a comfortable enough lead when he's in there? His fastball has no movement and is only coming in at about 91mph. His secondary pitch isn't all that special either.
But I can understand Lou's dilemma...what are his alternatives? Carlos Marmol was supposed to be the closer-in-training but after the Gregg signing and his decision to play for the DR in the WBC, was never even given the chance to become the closer. Well with the way he's been performing this year with his way LESS than dazzling WHIP of nearly 1.5 even though his BAA is only .159. He not only averages nearly a walk per inning, but he leads the league in hit batters too. When the guy is throwing strikes, he is amazing...unfortunately that just isn't close to being a given.
So what's Lou to do? How about starting with a pitching coach that can help this guy get his filthy stuff over the plate? If Marmol can effectively take over as the closer, the Cubs do have to then come up the 8th inning setup guy. Would you trust Gregg in this role? Ya, me either.
The Cubs went 1-2 this weekend but let's see why that happened. Marmol came in for the 8th inning on Fri night with the game tied at 2-2. Two walks, a hit and hit batter led to 3 Marlins runs and a Cubs loss. Sat didn't go much better for the late inning relief core. Gregg came in for an "easy" single inning save with the Cubs up by 3. The first two outs were easy enough so now he's down to a single out with a 3-run lead. Not so fast Cubs fans - 3 runs later and the Cubs are in extra innings. Gregg gets the blown save and the W (what's up with that?) but D-Lee saved the day with a bomb in the 10th. Sun was the real heartbreaker though. Dempster went 6 innings without giving up a run only to see Heilman give up the 1-0 lead keeping Dempster from getting the W. This time it was Jake Fox to the rescue to put the Cubs back up 2-1. Unfortunately, Lou is stuck bringing Gregg in and after getting the first out, 2 pitches, 2 bombs, Cubs lose.
I'm just wondering how some teams can seem to turn anyone into a closer while the Cubs have a guy that has all the tools but can't get over the hump. LaRussa has turned a better than average starter into a Hall of Fame Closer in former Cub Dennis Eckersley, then took a hugely disappointing starter and turned him into a darn good closer in Jason Isringhausen and now a journeyman starter is arguably the best closer in the game in Ryan Franklin. Of course, it probably has more to do with LaRussa's longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan, but that isn't my point. His teams always seem to come up with guys out of nowhere to be pretty darn good closers and yet, the Cubs go after and sign the NL league leader in blown saves and he's who we, the fans are stuck with this year.
Based on Lou's comments after yesterday's second consecutive blown save against Kevin Gregg's former team (this time for a loss after the Cubs came back in the 10th Sat night to "earn" Gregg a W after blowing a 3-run lead on Sat), Gregg is going to stay in his current role. When Piniella was asked if he had plans to change his closer, he responded with "Why should I?" Uh...were you watching the games this weekend Lou? Gregg is now second in all of MLB with 5 blown saves but has the MLB lead in HRs allowed (uh, Hendry, that's NOT a good thing either!).
It's not like Gregg has been dominating hitters this season. Has there ever been a comfortable enough lead when he's in there? His fastball has no movement and is only coming in at about 91mph. His secondary pitch isn't all that special either.
But I can understand Lou's dilemma...what are his alternatives? Carlos Marmol was supposed to be the closer-in-training but after the Gregg signing and his decision to play for the DR in the WBC, was never even given the chance to become the closer. Well with the way he's been performing this year with his way LESS than dazzling WHIP of nearly 1.5 even though his BAA is only .159. He not only averages nearly a walk per inning, but he leads the league in hit batters too. When the guy is throwing strikes, he is amazing...unfortunately that just isn't close to being a given.
So what's Lou to do? How about starting with a pitching coach that can help this guy get his filthy stuff over the plate? If Marmol can effectively take over as the closer, the Cubs do have to then come up the 8th inning setup guy. Would you trust Gregg in this role? Ya, me either.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
First Place Cubs!
How does that sound? Pretty good, right? I agree and yes, they are now 8-2 since the All-Star break...Aramis is REALLY back and Soriano is starting to hit too...Harden looked good again and how about doing so at home and during a day game? Fukudome is doing very well from the lead-off spot although he's not exactly your prototypical lead-off hitter as he won't steal you a base although he certainly does the job getting on base which is more important now that Aramis is here.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has bit the North Siders again. While Dempster is supposed to come off the DL and pitch this week, Ted Lilly (the Cubs lone All-Star rep) was placed on the DL yesterday. Soto is still on the DL keeping the pressure on Koyie Hill to perform every day. I think today was the 14th straight Hill has started and he has done well defensively, but is struggling with a .200 BA. And the latest is D-Lee and his back spasms although a DL stint is not supposed to be forthcoming for him. Jake Fox stepped in today and went 1-5 with an RBI although he hit two more balls to the warning track as well. The guy can flat out hit, but with D-Lee hitting the way he has been, I'd rather leave Fox on the bench unless he's spelling Aramis at 3B or playing RF for Bradley.
The good news is that the farm hands have REALLY done the job. That includes Hill, Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld, Jake Fox, Jeff Samardzija, Andres Blanco, and of course Randy Wells. They have each done their part to keep this team afloat while we all await the return of the big guys.
Bradley continues NOT to drive in any runs although he's getting on base with some serious regularity. He went 1-2 today with 2 walks and 2 runs scored including scoring from 1st on Aramis' double to the LF corner that finished with a very nice slide to avoid the tag. Other than the lost balls in the sun and the one he threw into the stands with only 2 outs, he has done more than just a solid job in arguably the toughest RF in baseball. He's got a ridiculous .465 OBA in July and I say ridiculous in a good way and it's also kind of nuts too since he's only hitting .269 for the month which means he is walking 20% of the time...crazy! So what I still don't get is why Lou has him batting 5th which is typically an RBI spot. He's got 23 RBIs on the year and only 6 in July. I love Theriot at the top of the lineup, but considering he has more than 50% more RBIs with 37 than Bradley, shouldn't Bradley be hitting #2? I've been against the signing of Bradley from the beginning, but he's here and he is what he is...why not embrace it and go with it? He has averaged only 50 RBIs per year over his career so you just can't leave him in the #5 spot. Why not put Soriano there since he's starting to get hot and you need someone to protect Aramis when Lee gets back in the lineup? I know it sounds a little goofy, but what about this lineup once everyone is back and healthy?
1-Fukudome
2-Bradley
3-Lee
4-Aramis
5-Soriano
6-Soto
7-Fontenot
8-Theriot
I was at today's game; well, I was not officially at the game, but I was on a rooftop for the first time ever which was pretty cool. I have now attended 5 games this season including today and Fri afternoon's W against the Reds. The Cubs are 5-0 in my visits and I have tickets for 4 more games yet this season. I am thrilled they have made it to 1st place which is where we all thought they should be anyway. But the pessimist in me is trying to keep it in perspective. Yes, they are now 8-2 since the All-Star break, but they are 7-0 against the Nats who are the worst team/organization in baseball and Dusty's ultra-struggling Reds while going a fairly respectable 1-2 against the Phils who do have the best home record in the NL. Let's see how they do against the surging Astros in this week's 4-game set. The Cards host the NL-best Dodgers so both teams will have some solid tests this week.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has bit the North Siders again. While Dempster is supposed to come off the DL and pitch this week, Ted Lilly (the Cubs lone All-Star rep) was placed on the DL yesterday. Soto is still on the DL keeping the pressure on Koyie Hill to perform every day. I think today was the 14th straight Hill has started and he has done well defensively, but is struggling with a .200 BA. And the latest is D-Lee and his back spasms although a DL stint is not supposed to be forthcoming for him. Jake Fox stepped in today and went 1-5 with an RBI although he hit two more balls to the warning track as well. The guy can flat out hit, but with D-Lee hitting the way he has been, I'd rather leave Fox on the bench unless he's spelling Aramis at 3B or playing RF for Bradley.
The good news is that the farm hands have REALLY done the job. That includes Hill, Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld, Jake Fox, Jeff Samardzija, Andres Blanco, and of course Randy Wells. They have each done their part to keep this team afloat while we all await the return of the big guys.
Bradley continues NOT to drive in any runs although he's getting on base with some serious regularity. He went 1-2 today with 2 walks and 2 runs scored including scoring from 1st on Aramis' double to the LF corner that finished with a very nice slide to avoid the tag. Other than the lost balls in the sun and the one he threw into the stands with only 2 outs, he has done more than just a solid job in arguably the toughest RF in baseball. He's got a ridiculous .465 OBA in July and I say ridiculous in a good way and it's also kind of nuts too since he's only hitting .269 for the month which means he is walking 20% of the time...crazy! So what I still don't get is why Lou has him batting 5th which is typically an RBI spot. He's got 23 RBIs on the year and only 6 in July. I love Theriot at the top of the lineup, but considering he has more than 50% more RBIs with 37 than Bradley, shouldn't Bradley be hitting #2? I've been against the signing of Bradley from the beginning, but he's here and he is what he is...why not embrace it and go with it? He has averaged only 50 RBIs per year over his career so you just can't leave him in the #5 spot. Why not put Soriano there since he's starting to get hot and you need someone to protect Aramis when Lee gets back in the lineup? I know it sounds a little goofy, but what about this lineup once everyone is back and healthy?
1-Fukudome
2-Bradley
3-Lee
4-Aramis
5-Soriano
6-Soto
7-Fontenot
8-Theriot
I was at today's game; well, I was not officially at the game, but I was on a rooftop for the first time ever which was pretty cool. I have now attended 5 games this season including today and Fri afternoon's W against the Reds. The Cubs are 5-0 in my visits and I have tickets for 4 more games yet this season. I am thrilled they have made it to 1st place which is where we all thought they should be anyway. But the pessimist in me is trying to keep it in perspective. Yes, they are now 8-2 since the All-Star break, but they are 7-0 against the Nats who are the worst team/organization in baseball and Dusty's ultra-struggling Reds while going a fairly respectable 1-2 against the Phils who do have the best home record in the NL. Let's see how they do against the surging Astros in this week's 4-game set. The Cards host the NL-best Dodgers so both teams will have some solid tests this week.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
How about that slap in the face Hendry?
Just in case you were still questioning whether the Cubs GM screwed up with his big free agent signing this off-season, just look at today's game with the defending champion Phillies. No Milton Bradley in the lineup as it seems it is going to take special efforts from the manager to try to get this knucklehead to start producing runs. His BA is on the rise, but you all know my opinion that BA is one of the most over-rated offensive stat ever. The Cubs were reportedly looking for a run producer that can hit left-handed and our **** GM decided to pinpoint Milton Bradley as the person to fill this need. Well, he's hitting about .200 left-handed and as Steve Stone reported on The Score this morning, both Chicago teams have 8 guys each that have more RBIs than MB including White Sox rookie Gordon Beckham who has only been up with the Sox since the beginning of June.
So what happened tonight to really slap Hendry and all of us Cubs fans in the face? How about the #1 guy Hendry should have targeted belting a 3-run, 2-out HR in the bottom of the 1st inning that initiated the onslaught. Raul Ibanez now has more than 3 times as many RBIs as Milton Bradley with 68 vs. MB's absolutely paltry and pathetic 21. What a total joke!
It was interesting listening to John Kruk talking about how the Cubs completely screwed up the 1st inning defensively. Lou pulled in Aramis at 3B to try to prevent a bunt from Victorino that inning when Kruk said that Phillies manager NEVER bunts in the 1st inning (would you if you had his offense?). So Victorino hit what would have been a pretty easy double-play ball to a regular depth Aramis but instead turned into a double down the line ahead of the 2-out 3-run bomb by Ibanez.
My stomach turns every time I watch highlights from All-Star Ibanez, Adam Dunn, and Bobby Abreu thinking about what could have and really should have been. News flash for Jim Hendry, Milton Bradley has average 50 RBIs a year for his entire career so he was NEVER a run producer. Even in his career and contract year last season, he still only drove in 77 runs for a high octane Rangers offense. This is supposed to be the guy to make the difference? Don't think so Jim!
So what happened tonight to really slap Hendry and all of us Cubs fans in the face? How about the #1 guy Hendry should have targeted belting a 3-run, 2-out HR in the bottom of the 1st inning that initiated the onslaught. Raul Ibanez now has more than 3 times as many RBIs as Milton Bradley with 68 vs. MB's absolutely paltry and pathetic 21. What a total joke!
It was interesting listening to John Kruk talking about how the Cubs completely screwed up the 1st inning defensively. Lou pulled in Aramis at 3B to try to prevent a bunt from Victorino that inning when Kruk said that Phillies manager NEVER bunts in the 1st inning (would you if you had his offense?). So Victorino hit what would have been a pretty easy double-play ball to a regular depth Aramis but instead turned into a double down the line ahead of the 2-out 3-run bomb by Ibanez.
My stomach turns every time I watch highlights from All-Star Ibanez, Adam Dunn, and Bobby Abreu thinking about what could have and really should have been. News flash for Jim Hendry, Milton Bradley has average 50 RBIs a year for his entire career so he was NEVER a run producer. Even in his career and contract year last season, he still only drove in 77 runs for a high octane Rangers offense. This is supposed to be the guy to make the difference? Don't think so Jim!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Mid-Season Grades
The All-Star break seems to be as good a time as any to do mid-season grades for our Chicago Cubs. I'm going to grade and comment on some the team's offense, defense, pitching, coaches, organization, and front office. I won't be grading individual players, but of course they will be mentioned in the comments for each piece.
So let's start with the Cubs Front Office... It starts at the top in my mind as these are the guys that put the team together. How much of this was demanded by Grandpa Lou is up for debate, but these guys write the checks and are ultimately responsible. My disappointment with Hendry is no secret on this blog. Since he hasn't done anything recently and his acquisitions have done even less, I have to give the Front Office a big fat F. Considering the ownership issues (i.e they don't have one AND they're considering filing Chapter 11), I don't see anything happening in the next couple of weeks either but it didn't seem like that was an issue this off-season when he was wasting all that money on Milton Bradley. The fact that the team has so vastly underachieved under Grandpa Lou's "guidance" with no talk of a potential managerial change to spark something in this club is also disheartening. The Rockies fired their manager pretty early on and now Jim Tracy is a manager-of-the-year candidate for turning them around quite a bit. What about Brenly as manager? You know he's ready!
Cubs Manager - Grandpa Lou...It continues near the top with the manager. This guy has ZERO control of this team and isn't a dragon either in reference to his response when asked if he should show some fire to get the guys going. How many Gatorade machines have they lost this year? How many other tantrums have we witnessed by these spoiled brats? How many times have these guys not known how many outs there are? What abous losing a ball in the sun at a day game while not wearing sunglasses? Don't these issues transfer to the coaches? When your team is dead last in hitting and RISP, that means your whole team is not getting it done and since you can't fire 25 players and the only other common denominator is the coaching staff. There just doesn't seem to be any control there of the team. One day you get Lou calling Milton Bradley a "piece of ****" and sending him home in the middle of a game and the guy is right back in the starting lineup the next day??? What the heck is THAT? It is my opinion that Grandpa Lou does a so-so job handling a pitching staff but a POOR job running the bench. He seems to sit guys to "rest" them the day after they go 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Don't get me started on this whole lefty/righty thing either - Milton Bradley is hitting .200 as a lefty which is worse than Reed Johnson's .222 against righties. The whole sending Sam Fuld back to AAA after he ignited the team like a REAL lead-off hitter was also a joke. I could go on and on, but my grade for Lou and the rest of the coaches is also a big fat F. Let's pick it up guys!
Cubs Starting Pitching...I wanted to get to something positve in here so we'll skip the offense for the moment. Cubs starters lead the MLB with quality starts so what else can you say there. The quality start stat came into being to give starters a more objective stat that would help show how often a starter did his job and kept his team in the game. Well, the Cubs starters have been doing that better than any other rotation in MLB. Unfortunately, the reason for the stat in the first place has been proven by the Cubs as their overall record should be much better by leading the league in that stat. So even though the #1 and #2 starters at the beginning of the season have pulled some real idiotic acts this year with Zambrano "ejecting" after bumping an umpire earning himself a suspension and now Dempster breaking a toe jumping over the dugout railing after a win last week. What else can go wrong? At least Randy Wells has REALLY stepped up - I think he should have been the Cubs All-Star representative. Considering they have zero shutouts as a staff and only one complete game which means the bullpen is working a little too hard, I'll give them a B.
Overall, the Cubs have tremendously underachieved this season. Yes, there is a lot of baseball left and they are certainly not out of it by any stretch of the imagination. Their pitching has been well above average; their defense hasn't hurt them; but their hitting is a joke as they are 14th in the NL in overall hitting, 15th in runs scored, 15th in productive outs (this is how you KILL an inning!), and LAST in MLB with RISP. Nobody seems to come through with that big hit to drive in two with the bases loaded. The non-productive outs keeps them from squeaking across even one run at a time as they seem to have trouble doing...the big K or pop-up with runners at 1st and 2nd and one out. They are middle-of-the-pack in double plays so they aren't killing themselves too much there, but with no speed you just have to advance the runners even when you make an out and they don't do that. So overall, I'll give the Cubs a pretty generous and injury-adjusted C-. If they can just get a B in the second half, they'll make the post-season for a club record-tying 3rd straight time and you just never know what can happen when you get there. Remember, the Cards won the World Series just 3 years ago after posting a record low 83 wins. The Cubs tried the whole "win the most games" thing last year and were 0-3 in the playoffs. Maybe struggling to get in will work out better this year.
In conclusion, I think both teams have potential to make the post-season but right now, I just don't know how well they will do if they get there. Ironically, both clubs sit 3 1/2 games back in their respective divisions. But both teams are in different situations in my mind. The Cubs have their $135 million payroll and plenty of fan support filling Wrigley for just about every game; but they don't have an owner which will more than likely keep them from making any moves before the trade deadline. The White Sox allowed their payroll to drop over $25 million from last year and dropped them below $100 million for the first time since 2005 and we all know what happened that year. Based on this comment from the Sox GM "Money is more of an issue now because we expected a little more [fan] support than we've gotten," it doesn't seem like the Sox will be making any moves this month either. The Sox have only sold out 4 games so far this season including all 3 with the Cubs so I have to say Kenny is right - where are you Sox fans? So it seems, barring some big and very surprising change in philosophy, we are looking at the teams that will or won't bring Chicago's baseball teams to the post-season or not.
So let's start with the Cubs Front Office... It starts at the top in my mind as these are the guys that put the team together. How much of this was demanded by Grandpa Lou is up for debate, but these guys write the checks and are ultimately responsible. My disappointment with Hendry is no secret on this blog. Since he hasn't done anything recently and his acquisitions have done even less, I have to give the Front Office a big fat F. Considering the ownership issues (i.e they don't have one AND they're considering filing Chapter 11), I don't see anything happening in the next couple of weeks either but it didn't seem like that was an issue this off-season when he was wasting all that money on Milton Bradley. The fact that the team has so vastly underachieved under Grandpa Lou's "guidance" with no talk of a potential managerial change to spark something in this club is also disheartening. The Rockies fired their manager pretty early on and now Jim Tracy is a manager-of-the-year candidate for turning them around quite a bit. What about Brenly as manager? You know he's ready!
Cubs Manager - Grandpa Lou...It continues near the top with the manager. This guy has ZERO control of this team and isn't a dragon either in reference to his response when asked if he should show some fire to get the guys going. How many Gatorade machines have they lost this year? How many other tantrums have we witnessed by these spoiled brats? How many times have these guys not known how many outs there are? What abous losing a ball in the sun at a day game while not wearing sunglasses? Don't these issues transfer to the coaches? When your team is dead last in hitting and RISP, that means your whole team is not getting it done and since you can't fire 25 players and the only other common denominator is the coaching staff. There just doesn't seem to be any control there of the team. One day you get Lou calling Milton Bradley a "piece of ****" and sending him home in the middle of a game and the guy is right back in the starting lineup the next day??? What the heck is THAT? It is my opinion that Grandpa Lou does a so-so job handling a pitching staff but a POOR job running the bench. He seems to sit guys to "rest" them the day after they go 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Don't get me started on this whole lefty/righty thing either - Milton Bradley is hitting .200 as a lefty which is worse than Reed Johnson's .222 against righties. The whole sending Sam Fuld back to AAA after he ignited the team like a REAL lead-off hitter was also a joke. I could go on and on, but my grade for Lou and the rest of the coaches is also a big fat F. Let's pick it up guys!
Cubs Starting Pitching...I wanted to get to something positve in here so we'll skip the offense for the moment. Cubs starters lead the MLB with quality starts so what else can you say there. The quality start stat came into being to give starters a more objective stat that would help show how often a starter did his job and kept his team in the game. Well, the Cubs starters have been doing that better than any other rotation in MLB. Unfortunately, the reason for the stat in the first place has been proven by the Cubs as their overall record should be much better by leading the league in that stat. So even though the #1 and #2 starters at the beginning of the season have pulled some real idiotic acts this year with Zambrano "ejecting" after bumping an umpire earning himself a suspension and now Dempster breaking a toe jumping over the dugout railing after a win last week. What else can go wrong? At least Randy Wells has REALLY stepped up - I think he should have been the Cubs All-Star representative. Considering they have zero shutouts as a staff and only one complete game which means the bullpen is working a little too hard, I'll give them a B.
Cubs Relief Pitching...Again, it is no secret that I was not a big fan of letting Kerry Wood walk away like they did. Now the Angels let K-Rod go to the Mets via free agency and their new guy Brian Fuentes leads the entire
Cubs Offense...There's more to scoring runs than just hitting so I'm calling this category offense instead of just hitting. Of course hitting is a BIG part of it, and while they are last in MLB for hitting, the Cubs are primarily struggling with the timely hitting. Again, they are last in MLB with RISP. Remember folks, you don't win games by having the most hits; you win games by having the most RUNS. That means RBIs and the Cubs SUCK at that as they are 15th of 16 NL teams ahead of only the NL West last place Padres. I have hammered D-Lee in this blog earlier in the season but he has clearly been carrying the team lately. We all know the story - Aramis has been out for 2 months with an injury, "prized"free agent Milton Bradley has 9 less RBIs than Ryan Theriot and under 25% of the NL-leading Pujols (21 vs. 85 - that's a TOTAL JOKE!), Soriano STILL hasn't done anything since April, and Fukudome has been ultra-inconsistent. The Cubs must have the most unproductive outfield in MLB especially if you factor in the money these guys are getting paid. The loss of DeRosa has been well chronicled on this blog so I won't rehash all of that. When your entire club is NOT hitting, you have to manufacture runs and the Cubs don't do this either. Their 13th in the NL in sac flies and sac bunts and 14th in SBs. Soriano had 41 SBs for the Nats in his contract year...he has 45 SBs in 2 1/2 years with the Cubs. Did he really get that old that quickly or is he just not running? I know he's running to the bank to cash those HUGE checks though. My grade for the Cubs offense is an offensive D. The only reason it is not an F is because of D-Lee and Theriot and the injury factor with Aramis.
Cubs Defense...The Cubs defense has been a bit spotty thus far with a mixture of nice plays, web gems, balls lost in the sun or just straight up dropped. They are 12th in the NL in turning the "pitcher's best friend" - the double play. Of course, this has a lot to do with the pitchers too so that's not exactly a telling tale. They're also 12th in outfield assists which is a little surprising as Soriano is usually up there and Fukudome has a good arm too. The Cubs are 6th in the NL in defensive efficiency which is pretty good as it measures the percentage of balls in play that are turned into outs. The Cubs have one guy that could potentially get a Gold Glove in D-Lee, so they are far from extraordinary. I'll give the Cubs defense a solid, but nothing fancy C+.
Overall, the Cubs have tremendously underachieved this season. Yes, there is a lot of baseball left and they are certainly not out of it by any stretch of the imagination. Their pitching has been well above average; their defense hasn't hurt them; but their hitting is a joke as they are 14th in the NL in overall hitting, 15th in runs scored, 15th in productive outs (this is how you KILL an inning!), and LAST in MLB with RISP. Nobody seems to come through with that big hit to drive in two with the bases loaded. The non-productive outs keeps them from squeaking across even one run at a time as they seem to have trouble doing...the big K or pop-up with runners at 1st and 2nd and one out. They are middle-of-the-pack in double plays so they aren't killing themselves too much there, but with no speed you just have to advance the runners even when you make an out and they don't do that. So overall, I'll give the Cubs a pretty generous and injury-adjusted C-. If they can just get a B in the second half, they'll make the post-season for a club record-tying 3rd straight time and you just never know what can happen when you get there. Remember, the Cards won the World Series just 3 years ago after posting a record low 83 wins. The Cubs tried the whole "win the most games" thing last year and were 0-3 in the playoffs. Maybe struggling to get in will work out better this year.
In conclusion, I think both teams have potential to make the post-season but right now, I just don't know how well they will do if they get there. Ironically, both clubs sit 3 1/2 games back in their respective divisions. But both teams are in different situations in my mind. The Cubs have their $135 million payroll and plenty of fan support filling Wrigley for just about every game; but they don't have an owner which will more than likely keep them from making any moves before the trade deadline. The White Sox allowed their payroll to drop over $25 million from last year and dropped them below $100 million for the first time since 2005 and we all know what happened that year. Based on this comment from the Sox GM "Money is more of an issue now because we expected a little more [fan] support than we've gotten," it doesn't seem like the Sox will be making any moves this month either. The Sox have only sold out 4 games so far this season including all 3 with the Cubs so I have to say Kenny is right - where are you Sox fans? So it seems, barring some big and very surprising change in philosophy, we are looking at the teams that will or won't bring Chicago's baseball teams to the post-season or not.
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