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!

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