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!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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.
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