Another "fabulous" outing by Neal Cotts tonight. Lefties are now hitting .333 with 3 HRs after this knucklehead gave up a 2-run bomb to Nate McLouth which gave the lead back to the Pirates. So three runs given up in the inning on 4 hits although 3 went for extra bases.
So I'm listening to the game on the radio and I just heard Ronny talking about the Pirates having 2 lefties in their rotation and three more in their pen. Could Hendry not get his "friends" the Bucs to trade one of them? Remember the Bucs "gave" Hendry and the Cubs Aramis Ramirez and Randall Simon in 2003.
So the Cubs FINALLY score some runs tonight, but get ZERO pitching! How about getting on the same page guys?!?
What was up with Reed Johnson batting 4th tonight? The guy has single syllable RBIs (8) for the season. Was he really the best option? It certainly wouldn't have been better with Micah batting 4th tonight. I guess I was WAY wrong on this guy as he didn't take as much advantage of his opportunity as he could/should have - left 6 on base by himself today.
Did anyone else feel better having Aaron Miles up there with 2 on, down by 2 in the bottom of the 9th than Mark DeRosa? BRUTAL trade which will only get worse if he ends up in Milwaukee. His 30 RBIs for a last place Indians team would lead the Cubs by 5 over our lead-off hitter, Soriano.
Well, the skid has now reached 8 and the Cubs are now below .500 for the first time since the end of April. They are 5 games out in 4th place behind Dusty's Reds. That says it all as far as I'm concerned.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Lefty-Lefty Advantage...for who?
Isn't there supposed to be some kind of advantage for a left-handed pitcher against a left-handed hitter? I'm not a big proponent of this philosophy which is one of the big reasons I wasn't at all impressed with Hendry's off-season. All he did was make the line-up more left-handed, but not necessarily better. That's not what this post is about though...
What is the point of a lefty in the pen if he CANNOT get left-handed hitters out...EVER? San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez had a HUGE series against the Cubs when they were in town a couple weeks ago. He hit 4 HRs and drove in all but 3 of the Padres runs in that series which the Cubs still swept. However, since that series Gonzalez had gone 3-for-25 and was 0-for-3 until coming up in the bottom of the 7th. So Lou brings in the lefty...the only one we have in the pen...Neal Cotts. On a 1-2 pitch, Cotts throws a 92mph 4-seam fastball right down the middle and Gonzalez hit a BOMB to the opposite field. Nobody hits HRs in Petco, but Gonzalez "miraculously" defied the odds as a lefty and hit it 30 ft farther than D-Lee's short-of-the-warning-track fly in the top of the 8th. Lefties are hitting .294 off our lefty with 6 BBs and 2 HRs. The 6 BBs are just an absolute killer although the bombs aren't helpful either. Lefties have a .500 OBA and slugging .467 which is nearly 100 points higher than against righties. Those numbers held true again tonight - 2 lefties, 1-for-2, 1 HR; 2 righties, 0-for-2.
GET COTTS OUT OF HERE - throw the Jeff Fasero tarp over this guy Lou!
What is the point of a lefty in the pen if he CANNOT get left-handed hitters out...EVER? San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez had a HUGE series against the Cubs when they were in town a couple weeks ago. He hit 4 HRs and drove in all but 3 of the Padres runs in that series which the Cubs still swept. However, since that series Gonzalez had gone 3-for-25 and was 0-for-3 until coming up in the bottom of the 7th. So Lou brings in the lefty...the only one we have in the pen...Neal Cotts. On a 1-2 pitch, Cotts throws a 92mph 4-seam fastball right down the middle and Gonzalez hit a BOMB to the opposite field. Nobody hits HRs in Petco, but Gonzalez "miraculously" defied the odds as a lefty and hit it 30 ft farther than D-Lee's short-of-the-warning-track fly in the top of the 8th. Lefties are hitting .294 off our lefty with 6 BBs and 2 HRs. The 6 BBs are just an absolute killer although the bombs aren't helpful either. Lefties have a .500 OBA and slugging .467 which is nearly 100 points higher than against righties. Those numbers held true again tonight - 2 lefties, 1-for-2, 1 HR; 2 righties, 0-for-2.
GET COTTS OUT OF HERE - throw the Jeff Fasero tarp over this guy Lou!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
What are these guys doing???
Not a great day for Chicago baseball! What in the world went on today? The Sox set the tone early with a 20-1 shellacking at the hands of their rival Twins AT HOME! Not to be "outdone" the Cubs put together another absolutely pathetic offensive effort losing 3-1. The Cubs have now lost 4 in a row after winning 5 in a row. Ah...consistency...gotta love it.
That has been the trick for the Cubs...consistency. I heard a startling stat today. The Cubs are hitting .294 in their wins while hitting .193 in their losses. Well, the 3 game sweep at the hands of their rival Cardinals didn't go against these stats. Tue night's game was a JOKE offensively. Joel Pineiro threw an MLB season low 92 pitches in his CG 3-hit shutout. Last night, at least they scored...although it was just once and lost again 2-1. Much the same tonight going down 3-1 so overall they completed their 3-game anti-sweep losing 8-2. YEP two whole runs in 3 games combined. Who were they facing? The 1965 Dodgers with Drysdale, Koufax, and Claude Osteen (all three had less than 2.80 ERA)? Nope...the 2009 Cardinals who do have Chris Carpenter although he was making his first start in a month, but Joel Pineiro and Adam Wainright? Unless you're a serious baseball fan, you probably never even heard of these guys and yet they were able to TOTALLY dominate our Cubbies. Wainright came within 2 pitches of pitching the second CG of the series, but D-Lee muscled a jam shot into short right to bring the tying run to the plate. Fortunately for the Cards, Milton Bradley was the supposed potential tying run. LaRussa brought in Franklin to throw those two pitches, Bradley who is on pace to drive in 38 runs this year in total (Pujols drove in his 38th today!) did hit the ball hard, but right at Schumaker in RF to end the "threat".
But which team had the worse day? That has to go to the White Sox. It started all well and good as Kenny Williams finally came off his LONG vacation (where was he all off-season?) to work a deal with the Padres for Jake Peavy. With Contreras struggling and Colon still kind of iffy plus Floyd and Danks struggling, adding Peavy would have been a HUGE lift for the pitching staff. Don Cooper seemed REALLY excited in an interview I heard this morning. After taking the first two games from the Twins in their 3-game series with their rival, the Peavy news just seemed to be the cherry on the top of a great week. So what happened after that? Well, they went out and got DESTROYED 20-1 in front of the home folks. Yikes! That's the worst home loss in a baseball game in my recollection and tied the worst in Sox history.
My daughter's baseball coach is a Sox fan. I asked him tonight if he had seen the Sox game or heard the result. In typical Sox "fan" fashion, he had no idea. When I told him they lost 20-1 to the Twins today, his next question was curious. "Who pitched?" he asked. I said "lots of guys!" Colon started and left after 2 innings and 8 runs although only 1 run was earned after a Betemit error on a sac bunt helped the Twins push 7 across in the 2nd inning including a bomb from former Sox Joe Crede.
But as bad as that was, it wasn't the worst thing to happen to the Sox on this day. Shortly after the game was over, the Sox learned that Jake Peavy had rejected the trade to the Sox (maybe he was watching the game). Peavy has a no-trade clause so he can choose his next team. In his statement he said "Right now, this [San Diego] is the best place for me and my family." Tough day Sox fans.
That has been the trick for the Cubs...consistency. I heard a startling stat today. The Cubs are hitting .294 in their wins while hitting .193 in their losses. Well, the 3 game sweep at the hands of their rival Cardinals didn't go against these stats. Tue night's game was a JOKE offensively. Joel Pineiro threw an MLB season low 92 pitches in his CG 3-hit shutout. Last night, at least they scored...although it was just once and lost again 2-1. Much the same tonight going down 3-1 so overall they completed their 3-game anti-sweep losing 8-2. YEP two whole runs in 3 games combined. Who were they facing? The 1965 Dodgers with Drysdale, Koufax, and Claude Osteen (all three had less than 2.80 ERA)? Nope...the 2009 Cardinals who do have Chris Carpenter although he was making his first start in a month, but Joel Pineiro and Adam Wainright? Unless you're a serious baseball fan, you probably never even heard of these guys and yet they were able to TOTALLY dominate our Cubbies. Wainright came within 2 pitches of pitching the second CG of the series, but D-Lee muscled a jam shot into short right to bring the tying run to the plate. Fortunately for the Cards, Milton Bradley was the supposed potential tying run. LaRussa brought in Franklin to throw those two pitches, Bradley who is on pace to drive in 38 runs this year in total (Pujols drove in his 38th today!) did hit the ball hard, but right at Schumaker in RF to end the "threat".
But which team had the worse day? That has to go to the White Sox. It started all well and good as Kenny Williams finally came off his LONG vacation (where was he all off-season?) to work a deal with the Padres for Jake Peavy. With Contreras struggling and Colon still kind of iffy plus Floyd and Danks struggling, adding Peavy would have been a HUGE lift for the pitching staff. Don Cooper seemed REALLY excited in an interview I heard this morning. After taking the first two games from the Twins in their 3-game series with their rival, the Peavy news just seemed to be the cherry on the top of a great week. So what happened after that? Well, they went out and got DESTROYED 20-1 in front of the home folks. Yikes! That's the worst home loss in a baseball game in my recollection and tied the worst in Sox history.
My daughter's baseball coach is a Sox fan. I asked him tonight if he had seen the Sox game or heard the result. In typical Sox "fan" fashion, he had no idea. When I told him they lost 20-1 to the Twins today, his next question was curious. "Who pitched?" he asked. I said "lots of guys!" Colon started and left after 2 innings and 8 runs although only 1 run was earned after a Betemit error on a sac bunt helped the Twins push 7 across in the 2nd inning including a bomb from former Sox Joe Crede.
But as bad as that was, it wasn't the worst thing to happen to the Sox on this day. Shortly after the game was over, the Sox learned that Jake Peavy had rejected the trade to the Sox (maybe he was watching the game). Peavy has a no-trade clause so he can choose his next team. In his statement he said "Right now, this [San Diego] is the best place for me and my family." Tough day Sox fans.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
May 19th Update
I wanted to do an update on the most recent happenings associated with the posts on my blog. I'll go through each of the most recent posts one at a time here so read the ones that interest you and feel free to respond/comment as you see fit.
Well, I simply must start with the Blackhawks. Does anyone else feel like the Hawks have the Red Wings right where they want them? Even though the Hawks are down 2-0, I feel like they are really "right there" and could easily take the next 4 games to win the series in 6. After being a non-factor in Game 1, Towes obviously came to play tonight scoring both of the Hawks goals. Khabibulin stepped up pretty well tonight saving 35 shots. Unfortunately, he was only 1-for-2 in OT and the Hawks fell 3-2. My daughter was hoping the Hawks would duplicate her soccer team's performance over the weekend. They were down 2-1 late in the game but were able to tie it in regulation and were able to pull it out in OT. The Hawks got it half right. Now they come home to a rockin' UC and will take back the momentum from the Wings. This whole thing kind of reminds me of the 1980 Olympics with the Wings playing the role of the "unbeatable" Russians while the upstart Hawks are the USA.
Now on to the Cubs...what the heck was THAT tonight against a reeling Cardinals team? Weren't the Cards coming off a home sweep at the hands of the 1st place Brewers while the Cubs were coming off a 4-1 homestand? That's not what it looked like to me. Did they really get completely dominated by Joel Pineiro? 3 hits? Really? 3 lousy hits! Where was the patience at the plate this team has exhibited most of the year? Pineiro pitched his first complete game of the season while throwing only 92 pitches. He came in with an unremarkable 4.17 ERA but after 9 innings of shutout ball, dropped it to 3.48. On a good note, they only left 1 guy on base. Of course, it is easier to let only 1 guy on base when 3 guys reach base with no walks to go with their 3 measley hits. Bradley hit into a DP to eliminate one of the runners and then Soriano was picked off to eliminate another; hence "only" one runner LOB. Wow!
How can you explain such a lousy effort against your #1 division rival? I just don't get it. You can't blame Lou for the lineup this time either. Other than Aramis being out with his injury, the rest of the lineup would have to be considered their best lineup. You really need to take advantage of those rare days when Phat Albert doesn't do anything too. Pujols was 1-4 and left 3 runners on base tonight. Too bad.
Cubs fans vs. Sox fans update. CSN is advertising this week as rivalry week with the Cubs in St. Louis and the Sox home facing the Twins. Cubs vs. Cards drew 41,374 while the Sox vs. Twins drew all of 26,696 on a GORGEOUS Tuesday evening. Where's all the Sox fans? Too busy watching the Cubs lose on WGN tonight? Hey Sox fans, double-bonus as I'm sure you didn't even notice - the Sox won tonight! By the way, just to put that pretty pathetic attendance figure at The Cell last night in perspective...the Cubs drew 23,441 to Miller Park with 24-hour notice on a rescheduled game that was supposed to be played in Houston but was moved to Milwaukee due to the hurricane in Houston. The game date was September 14th so don't tell me how last night was a school night because the game at Miller Park was a school night too.
Lee vs. Hoffpauir update. Maybe watching Hoffpauir play well in his absence clicked something in D-Lee's head. Lee has gone 6-11 in his last 3 games since coming back to the starting line-up and has even drove in 3 runs in those 3 games. Of course, the Cubs are 1-2 in those games. Hmmm. I was hoping Hoffpauir would take a little more advantage of his opportunity than he actually did, but he still did pretty well while being thrown into the starting line-up like he was. I'd still like to see him play more consistently but if just the threat of his being there and ably fill in is enough to help D-Lee produce, that works too.
I hope you are all enjoying my posts. Please be sure to comment as much as you can so I know you're "listening". Thanks!
Well, I simply must start with the Blackhawks. Does anyone else feel like the Hawks have the Red Wings right where they want them? Even though the Hawks are down 2-0, I feel like they are really "right there" and could easily take the next 4 games to win the series in 6. After being a non-factor in Game 1, Towes obviously came to play tonight scoring both of the Hawks goals. Khabibulin stepped up pretty well tonight saving 35 shots. Unfortunately, he was only 1-for-2 in OT and the Hawks fell 3-2. My daughter was hoping the Hawks would duplicate her soccer team's performance over the weekend. They were down 2-1 late in the game but were able to tie it in regulation and were able to pull it out in OT. The Hawks got it half right. Now they come home to a rockin' UC and will take back the momentum from the Wings. This whole thing kind of reminds me of the 1980 Olympics with the Wings playing the role of the "unbeatable" Russians while the upstart Hawks are the USA.
Now on to the Cubs...what the heck was THAT tonight against a reeling Cardinals team? Weren't the Cards coming off a home sweep at the hands of the 1st place Brewers while the Cubs were coming off a 4-1 homestand? That's not what it looked like to me. Did they really get completely dominated by Joel Pineiro? 3 hits? Really? 3 lousy hits! Where was the patience at the plate this team has exhibited most of the year? Pineiro pitched his first complete game of the season while throwing only 92 pitches. He came in with an unremarkable 4.17 ERA but after 9 innings of shutout ball, dropped it to 3.48. On a good note, they only left 1 guy on base. Of course, it is easier to let only 1 guy on base when 3 guys reach base with no walks to go with their 3 measley hits. Bradley hit into a DP to eliminate one of the runners and then Soriano was picked off to eliminate another; hence "only" one runner LOB. Wow!
How can you explain such a lousy effort against your #1 division rival? I just don't get it. You can't blame Lou for the lineup this time either. Other than Aramis being out with his injury, the rest of the lineup would have to be considered their best lineup. You really need to take advantage of those rare days when Phat Albert doesn't do anything too. Pujols was 1-4 and left 3 runners on base tonight. Too bad.
Cubs fans vs. Sox fans update. CSN is advertising this week as rivalry week with the Cubs in St. Louis and the Sox home facing the Twins. Cubs vs. Cards drew 41,374 while the Sox vs. Twins drew all of 26,696 on a GORGEOUS Tuesday evening. Where's all the Sox fans? Too busy watching the Cubs lose on WGN tonight? Hey Sox fans, double-bonus as I'm sure you didn't even notice - the Sox won tonight! By the way, just to put that pretty pathetic attendance figure at The Cell last night in perspective...the Cubs drew 23,441 to Miller Park with 24-hour notice on a rescheduled game that was supposed to be played in Houston but was moved to Milwaukee due to the hurricane in Houston. The game date was September 14th so don't tell me how last night was a school night because the game at Miller Park was a school night too.
Lee vs. Hoffpauir update. Maybe watching Hoffpauir play well in his absence clicked something in D-Lee's head. Lee has gone 6-11 in his last 3 games since coming back to the starting line-up and has even drove in 3 runs in those 3 games. Of course, the Cubs are 1-2 in those games. Hmmm. I was hoping Hoffpauir would take a little more advantage of his opportunity than he actually did, but he still did pretty well while being thrown into the starting line-up like he was. I'd still like to see him play more consistently but if just the threat of his being there and ably fill in is enough to help D-Lee produce, that works too.
I hope you are all enjoying my posts. Please be sure to comment as much as you can so I know you're "listening". Thanks!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Cubs Fans vs. Sox "fans"
So what is the difference between Cubs fans and Sox fans? In my experience, it's all about the focus between the two fans. Cubs fans really only keep track of the Cubs with an outside interest in the Sox. Sox fans seem to have MUCH more interest and derive much more excitement from Cubs' losses with a little more than secondary interest in the Sox. I have had conversations with supposed Sox fans that don't even know all five if the Sox starters. Really? But you know what made it worse...they knew the Cubs rotation including the order they pitch. Regardless, there is definitely a rivalry between the two ball clubs, but I think the rivalry between the fans is even more intense.
This whole cross-town rivalry thing for me dates back to 7th grade. I took a bus to my new Catholic school in 7th grade where I met several new kids. One of them lived in a different subdivision and it turns out he was a Sox fan while all of my friends all cheered for the Cubs so this was the first time I ever had to deal with someone like that. I was picked up before he was so I was on the bus when we picked him up. I took great pleasure letting him know that the Cubs won their game the day before and he did the same when the Sox won. I would have the whole bus yelling "Cubs WON!" and he was primarily on his own countering us. Even when the Cubs lost, it was nearly as fun if the Sox lost as we would all yell "Sox LOST!" and doubly fun when both happened. I still remember his name...weird.
As I increased my base of friends, I expanded to know more Sox fans. When I was in high school, my best friend had another friend that was a Sox fan. The year was 1983 and if you know much Chicago baseball, you know the Sox crushed the competition on their way to a 20-game division victory over the Royals. At the same time, the Cubs were scuffling along to "just miss" the playoffs by 19 games. That was a long summer at my friend's house. I remember this particular kid was pretty handy (actually worked at Handy Andy - remember that store?) and he had built himself a light kind of in the shape of a wagon wheel. In each of the spaces between the spokes (there were 20), he had different White Sox pennants. It was pretty cool even though they were Sox pennants.
In high school I befriended a guy who turned out to be a Padres fan. Really? A Padres fan in the NW Chicago burbs...how does that even happen. Well, the year was 1984 which ended up not being a good time to have a friend who was a fan of the Padres. The night Sutcliffe struck out Joe Orsulak and the Cubs clinched their first playoff berth in 39 years, I wrote the names of all the Cubs' players, numbers, and a Cubs logo in permanent marker on my Levis for school the next day - I didn't care if I got a detention (which I didn't). Our Homecoming Dance was Saturday night during Game 4 of that fateful playoff series. I spent more time walking out to my car checking the score (no internet cell phones back then!) on the radio than I did with my date (don't remember her name - must not have been a baseball fan).
In college, I again expanded my friend base and ended up becoming friends with more Sox fans. They weren't fanatical and they also didn't despise the Cubs so it wasn't much of a problem. I did get to know even more Cubs fans in college too and they were fanatical - I remember their names. When the Cubs clinched the division in 1989, I remember all of us were dialing the phones like crazy trying to get tickets not that we had the money to pay for them, but what's a couple days worth of food compared to a Cubs playoff game? I picked up my girlfriend (now my wife) at the Amtrak station at school. There was a whole bank of pay phones and the TicketMaster number was toll-free so I had two phones going at the same time. No luck however and neither did my friends.
Now I get to deal with my adult friends and neighbors and their kids. Just as I was brought up as a Cubs fan thanks to my father, my friends' kids are growing up as Sox fans based on their own father. Nothing wrong with that I guess. But here's the question...how did these guys end up as Sox fans instead of Cubs fans to start with? A couple of the guys I know that are Sox fans grew up on the north side which would logically mean they "should" be Cubs fans so what happened? Either they switch alliances just to be different or they had some other reason. I have heard Sox fans argue that most of the people attending Cubs' games are not true Cubs fans...rather they are only interested in the exerience. While I agree there are plenty of people there to get the experience...particularly the Friendly Confines which many people refer to as the biggest beer garden in the US. That may be true, but most of the people in the stands do pay attention to the game as you can tell by watching the game - they know when there is a big spot in the game; when to stand up and cheer. The Cubs continue to draw more and more people each year, but where are the Sox fans? Even in their World Series season, they still hardly drew more than average and couldn't even sell out their final regular season homestand. Does anyone think that could have happened with the Cubs at Wrigley? Didn't think so.
So what about Wrigley Field? I have been visiting ballparks throughout the country over the last few years with my family. All 5 of us are headed to the Midwest ballparks this August for our 3rd annual baseball vacation. Two years ago, we visited Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. Last year, we saw the end of Shea and Yankee Stadium as well as Philadelphia and Boston. So we saw some old and saw some new parks. I know it might be blasphemy and before my visits to the new "old school" parks I would have agreed, but I think it may be time to knock down the Friendly Confines and build us a new old school park similar to those in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We haven't made it to Baltimore yet, but we will eventually and I know Camden Yards is where it all started back on the right track after all the lousy cookie-cutter artificial turf stadiums built in the 70s. I've also been to Turner Field in Atlanta which I also really liked. Tough to beat the locationin Wrigleyville so they'd have to tear it down and put the new park up in its place. I'd be willing to sacrifice a season of playing ball at The Cell on the southside; heck, maybe two seasons. THEN we could put to rest all the talk about how the Cubs only draw more fans than the Sox because of Wrigley. Would anyone like to make that bet if both teams played at The Cell? Didn't think so. Did you see how many butts were in the seats for that make-up game against Houston last year that was held in Miller Park in Milwaukee? The Cubs drew 25,000 there with 24-hour notice. Not bad, huh? Those are Cubs fans my friend.
This whole cross-town rivalry thing for me dates back to 7th grade. I took a bus to my new Catholic school in 7th grade where I met several new kids. One of them lived in a different subdivision and it turns out he was a Sox fan while all of my friends all cheered for the Cubs so this was the first time I ever had to deal with someone like that. I was picked up before he was so I was on the bus when we picked him up. I took great pleasure letting him know that the Cubs won their game the day before and he did the same when the Sox won. I would have the whole bus yelling "Cubs WON!" and he was primarily on his own countering us. Even when the Cubs lost, it was nearly as fun if the Sox lost as we would all yell "Sox LOST!" and doubly fun when both happened. I still remember his name...weird.
As I increased my base of friends, I expanded to know more Sox fans. When I was in high school, my best friend had another friend that was a Sox fan. The year was 1983 and if you know much Chicago baseball, you know the Sox crushed the competition on their way to a 20-game division victory over the Royals. At the same time, the Cubs were scuffling along to "just miss" the playoffs by 19 games. That was a long summer at my friend's house. I remember this particular kid was pretty handy (actually worked at Handy Andy - remember that store?) and he had built himself a light kind of in the shape of a wagon wheel. In each of the spaces between the spokes (there were 20), he had different White Sox pennants. It was pretty cool even though they were Sox pennants.
In high school I befriended a guy who turned out to be a Padres fan. Really? A Padres fan in the NW Chicago burbs...how does that even happen. Well, the year was 1984 which ended up not being a good time to have a friend who was a fan of the Padres. The night Sutcliffe struck out Joe Orsulak and the Cubs clinched their first playoff berth in 39 years, I wrote the names of all the Cubs' players, numbers, and a Cubs logo in permanent marker on my Levis for school the next day - I didn't care if I got a detention (which I didn't). Our Homecoming Dance was Saturday night during Game 4 of that fateful playoff series. I spent more time walking out to my car checking the score (no internet cell phones back then!) on the radio than I did with my date (don't remember her name - must not have been a baseball fan).
In college, I again expanded my friend base and ended up becoming friends with more Sox fans. They weren't fanatical and they also didn't despise the Cubs so it wasn't much of a problem. I did get to know even more Cubs fans in college too and they were fanatical - I remember their names. When the Cubs clinched the division in 1989, I remember all of us were dialing the phones like crazy trying to get tickets not that we had the money to pay for them, but what's a couple days worth of food compared to a Cubs playoff game? I picked up my girlfriend (now my wife) at the Amtrak station at school. There was a whole bank of pay phones and the TicketMaster number was toll-free so I had two phones going at the same time. No luck however and neither did my friends.
Now I get to deal with my adult friends and neighbors and their kids. Just as I was brought up as a Cubs fan thanks to my father, my friends' kids are growing up as Sox fans based on their own father. Nothing wrong with that I guess. But here's the question...how did these guys end up as Sox fans instead of Cubs fans to start with? A couple of the guys I know that are Sox fans grew up on the north side which would logically mean they "should" be Cubs fans so what happened? Either they switch alliances just to be different or they had some other reason. I have heard Sox fans argue that most of the people attending Cubs' games are not true Cubs fans...rather they are only interested in the exerience. While I agree there are plenty of people there to get the experience...particularly the Friendly Confines which many people refer to as the biggest beer garden in the US. That may be true, but most of the people in the stands do pay attention to the game as you can tell by watching the game - they know when there is a big spot in the game; when to stand up and cheer. The Cubs continue to draw more and more people each year, but where are the Sox fans? Even in their World Series season, they still hardly drew more than average and couldn't even sell out their final regular season homestand. Does anyone think that could have happened with the Cubs at Wrigley? Didn't think so.
So what about Wrigley Field? I have been visiting ballparks throughout the country over the last few years with my family. All 5 of us are headed to the Midwest ballparks this August for our 3rd annual baseball vacation. Two years ago, we visited Detroit, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. Last year, we saw the end of Shea and Yankee Stadium as well as Philadelphia and Boston. So we saw some old and saw some new parks. I know it might be blasphemy and before my visits to the new "old school" parks I would have agreed, but I think it may be time to knock down the Friendly Confines and build us a new old school park similar to those in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We haven't made it to Baltimore yet, but we will eventually and I know Camden Yards is where it all started back on the right track after all the lousy cookie-cutter artificial turf stadiums built in the 70s. I've also been to Turner Field in Atlanta which I also really liked. Tough to beat the locationin Wrigleyville so they'd have to tear it down and put the new park up in its place. I'd be willing to sacrifice a season of playing ball at The Cell on the southside; heck, maybe two seasons. THEN we could put to rest all the talk about how the Cubs only draw more fans than the Sox because of Wrigley. Would anyone like to make that bet if both teams played at The Cell? Didn't think so. Did you see how many butts were in the seats for that make-up game against Houston last year that was held in Miller Park in Milwaukee? The Cubs drew 25,000 there with 24-hour notice. Not bad, huh? Those are Cubs fans my friend.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tom Verducci - irresponsible journalism
I have been a long-time SI subscriber and I coincidentally just renewed for another year earlier this week (free t-shirt and Bears fleece - cool!). Well after reading some of Tom's article in this week's SI, I may be asking for a refund (after I get the free t-shirt and fleece). Tom linked Sammy Sosa in with all the other TRULY busted MLB steroid users in his article on Manny Ramirez. Here's the quote from Tom's article:
Of the 15 players who hit the most home runs from 1993 through 2004, Ramirez is the 10th to be connected to performance-enhancing drugs by positive tests, the Mitchell Report or news reports, joining Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, Gary Sheffield, Juan Gonzalez and Mo Vaughn in the rogues' gallery. (The five not associated as such are Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Jeff Bagwell and Carlos Delgado.)
Does he know something none of the rest of us know? And when I say "know", I mean KNOW, not guessing or speculating. Sammy was not involved in BALCO, was not in the Mitchell Report other than being included in a list of players that didn't respond to a questionnaire sent to his lawyer by Sen Mitchell, and has not been linked in any way, shape or form to any doctors, clinics, clubhouse attendants, or even Jose Canseco. So what's up with including him in this list of dirty players in the cover story for a major sports magazine?
I remain baffled as to why the Cubs organization treats Sammy the way they do. Sammy helped bridge the gap between lovable losers and playoff contenders. He carried the Cubs for 10 years when they had NOBODY else. He had arguably the greatest single season ever that was not performance enhanced by drugs (1998 and heck, what about 2001?). He brought in HUGE revenue for this franchise that helped get them over the hump of a big market team with a small market mentality.
Since he left so unceremoniously following that final game in 2004, he has hardly been mentioned in this town. He hit more HRs than Mr. Cub himself and yet, his number remains to be given away to the weakest of ball players including a former 5th starter that has never made a playoff roster (Jason Marquis) and now to the latest knucklehead free agent (Milton Bradley).
As much as I love Ryne Sandberg and begged for his inclusion in the HOF, his numbers are NO WHERE NEAR what Sammy's numbers were. Yet nobody (I'm not positive as I cannot find a way to check) ever wore Sandberg's #23 following either of his two retirements. It's a travesty that the Cubs are treating Sammy with so little love. If no love, how about at least a little respect?
Of the 15 players who hit the most home runs from 1993 through 2004, Ramirez is the 10th to be connected to performance-enhancing drugs by positive tests, the Mitchell Report or news reports, joining Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Rodriguez, Mike Piazza, Mark McGwire, Gary Sheffield, Juan Gonzalez and Mo Vaughn in the rogues' gallery. (The five not associated as such are Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Jeff Bagwell and Carlos Delgado.)
Does he know something none of the rest of us know? And when I say "know", I mean KNOW, not guessing or speculating. Sammy was not involved in BALCO, was not in the Mitchell Report other than being included in a list of players that didn't respond to a questionnaire sent to his lawyer by Sen Mitchell, and has not been linked in any way, shape or form to any doctors, clinics, clubhouse attendants, or even Jose Canseco. So what's up with including him in this list of dirty players in the cover story for a major sports magazine?
I remain baffled as to why the Cubs organization treats Sammy the way they do. Sammy helped bridge the gap between lovable losers and playoff contenders. He carried the Cubs for 10 years when they had NOBODY else. He had arguably the greatest single season ever that was not performance enhanced by drugs (1998 and heck, what about 2001?). He brought in HUGE revenue for this franchise that helped get them over the hump of a big market team with a small market mentality.
Since he left so unceremoniously following that final game in 2004, he has hardly been mentioned in this town. He hit more HRs than Mr. Cub himself and yet, his number remains to be given away to the weakest of ball players including a former 5th starter that has never made a playoff roster (Jason Marquis) and now to the latest knucklehead free agent (Milton Bradley).
As much as I love Ryne Sandberg and begged for his inclusion in the HOF, his numbers are NO WHERE NEAR what Sammy's numbers were. Yet nobody (I'm not positive as I cannot find a way to check) ever wore Sandberg's #23 following either of his two retirements. It's a travesty that the Cubs are treating Sammy with so little love. If no love, how about at least a little respect?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Lee vs. Hoffpauir
So does D-Lee have compromising pictures of Lou or what? Why did the Cubs rush D-Lee back into the lineup even following the negative MRI? Hoffpauir was doing a FINE job filling in for D-Lee while he was out. In less than 2/3 of Lee's ABs, Hoffpauir has the same amount of hits, doubles and HRs and is only 4 behind in RBIs. Hoffpauir has struck out half as many times, has a BA over 100 points higher, and an OBA 83 points higher than Lee. Hoffpauir is nearly 200 points higher than Lee in SLG and considering Lee has hit 3rd or 4th all year, his pathetic .337 SLG is KILLING the team chances to score runs and/or have the big innings they are capable of having.
I just don't know what else Lou has to see from Hoffpauir to get him in there more and rest Lee more. Check out the comparison for yourself at this link.
I have to give it up for Milton Bradley. He is really starting to hit the baseball. After that mammoth HR he hit on Tue night, he motioned to his ear to try and hear some cheers for a change. It was a bit of a hot dog move, but I had no problem with it as he has been hearing a lot of BOOS thus far and should have heard some cheers after that bomb gave the Cubs the lead for good on Tue against the formidable Jake Peavy. He increased his modest hitting streak to 7 games last night with a bunt single although he did break his RBI streak at 5. You have to give D-Lee some "credit" there as he went 0-for-4 batting ahead of MB limiting his RBI chances as he left no runners on base last night.
Is Geo Soto coming out of his season long slump? Soto was 2-3 with 3 2-out RBIs last night to be the latest Cub to steal the show. Last night's 3 RBIs gave Soto 7 for the season after he had 86 last season. Again, the Cubs are now 5 games over .500 and they have done it with smoke and mirrors thus far. Lee, Bradley, and Soto have all sucked thus far with each hitting below .200 and Aramis has missed 15 games so how are they scoring ANY runs? Theriot and Fukudome have been amazing so far and Soriano is, well, Soriano - a lead-off hitter that's tied for 2nd in the NL for HRs. Even the bullpen has started throwing strikes and getting people out. Maybe this team can be as good as everyone thought if the other guys pick it up too.
GO CUBS!
I just don't know what else Lou has to see from Hoffpauir to get him in there more and rest Lee more. Check out the comparison for yourself at this link.
I have to give it up for Milton Bradley. He is really starting to hit the baseball. After that mammoth HR he hit on Tue night, he motioned to his ear to try and hear some cheers for a change. It was a bit of a hot dog move, but I had no problem with it as he has been hearing a lot of BOOS thus far and should have heard some cheers after that bomb gave the Cubs the lead for good on Tue against the formidable Jake Peavy. He increased his modest hitting streak to 7 games last night with a bunt single although he did break his RBI streak at 5. You have to give D-Lee some "credit" there as he went 0-for-4 batting ahead of MB limiting his RBI chances as he left no runners on base last night.
Is Geo Soto coming out of his season long slump? Soto was 2-3 with 3 2-out RBIs last night to be the latest Cub to steal the show. Last night's 3 RBIs gave Soto 7 for the season after he had 86 last season. Again, the Cubs are now 5 games over .500 and they have done it with smoke and mirrors thus far. Lee, Bradley, and Soto have all sucked thus far with each hitting below .200 and Aramis has missed 15 games so how are they scoring ANY runs? Theriot and Fukudome have been amazing so far and Soriano is, well, Soriano - a lead-off hitter that's tied for 2nd in the NL for HRs. Even the bullpen has started throwing strikes and getting people out. Maybe this team can be as good as everyone thought if the other guys pick it up too.
GO CUBS!
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