This will be my last post on the Cubs this season. I wrote back at the end of August that NOW it was over after watching a lethargic effort at home against a woeful Nationals team. That was the only loss at Wrigley I witnessed although I have tickets for two more games yet this season. Of course, when I bought those tickets, the thought was these games would actually mean something...obviously not so much as the Cubs go for elimination tonight as the Cards can clinch the division with a win or Cubs loss tonight. The Cubs remain mathematically alive for the Wild Card but COME ON...it's over people! The White Sox are going for complete playoff elimination tonight after being swept at home by the rival Twins who remain alive for the division with some good baseball in the final month of the season.
So here we are...after a nice 2008 campaign with both home teams in the playoffs for the first time since 1906 to back to "normal" with both teams on the outside looking in. Well, the White Sox may be in better position to get back in than the Cubs but neither are looking great for 2010 at this point. The Sox have Peavy who will be adjusting to a much tougher AL not to mention coming back from a serious although non-arm-related injury. They also have Alex Rios who has looked pretty horrible since joining the Sox. But they also have Gordan Beckham who looks like the "real deal" to build around. They are aging though and it looks like this may finally be it for Konerko, Dye, and AJ although Dye is the only likely FA. Hey, from my perspective this is a GOOD thing and as a Cubs fan, I envy this position because the Cubs are locked in on many of their older players and are stuck with their limited production for several more years.
If you have followed my blog in the past, you are well aware of my feelings about Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella. The Cubs have a new owner although I guess that won't be 100% official until the owners meetings in November following another World Series without my Cubbies. I know the Ricketts family will only be taking over officially at that point but these guys have been watching and been very involved with this club for over a year. How do they feel about their investment now? I'm guessing a heck of a lot worse than they felt when they submitted their bid last year when the Cubs were on their way to 97 wins. Well, after playing three terrible games against a better managed Dodgers team, the Cubs GM overreacted and blew up a great deal of the team with the overall goal of "getting more lefty". What an overrated crock of you know what!
We looked it up today and while I agree that a lefty-lefty match-up certainly provides an advantage to the pitcher, the righty-righty match-up is nowhere near as big a disadvantage to the hitter. Lefties are hitting .013 higher against righties overall in MLB this season. That's roughly 1% higher or 1 more hit for every 100 ABs. Is that enough of a difference to blow up your team? The team that led all of the NL in runs scored? HECK NO!!! But that's exactly what Hendry did. Now whether it was Lou that told Hendry that's what he wanted or not doesn't make any difference to me. Hendry is the BOSS and has been around baseball long enough and should have a computer to be able to pull up some stats to figure out if he could justify dumping DeRosa in order to bring in Bradley. And Lou should be able to tell if playing Fontenot at 2B was a better option than Jeff Baker just by checking the dang numbers. While Fontenot definitely hit better against RHP than LHP at .245 vs. .220, Baker hit a combined .312 vs. RHP including his HORRENDOUS numbers as a Royal before the trade to the Cubs. That's nearly 70 points higher for you math-challenged folks. Conversely, you have Fukudome and Reed Johnson in a pretty good platoon situation with Fukudome hitting .270 vs. RHP and Johnson hitting .313 vs. LHP compared to .173 and .212 if they both had to hit against pitchers from the other side.
The entire scouting department needs to be replaced as well. When was the last time the Cubs picked up anyone of significance in the draft? Mark Prior? I'll give you that one but that was the biggest no-brainer in the history of the draft as the Cubs had the #2 pick and the small market Twins couldn't afford Prior and "had" to take Joe Mauer (boy are they kicking themselves now, huh?). Theriot is my favorite player on the Cubs these days, but he's hardly a star player. He's a serviceable SS that should probably be playing 2B with someone better at SS. OK - so anyone else? How about from a trade when there are minor leaguers involved? None that I can think of. Isn't that what the scouting department is supposed to do for you? Minor league players change hands all the time and the Cubs just never seem to find anyone.
Well, maybe it's not the scouting department...it could be player development (i.e. coaching). Let's revamp that area too! Is Jeff Samardzija better today than he was coming out of Notre Dame? The numbers would say NO! In 26 games last year, Jeff had a 2.26 ERA while in 20 games this year he has a 7.53 ERA which is more than TRIPLE last year's. What the heck happened? Oh ya, "coaching"!
Larry Rothschild has got to be THE most overrated pitching coach in the history of MLB. Name one guy this guy has developed into a stud pitcher. He has coached some of the best raw talents this town has ever seen and he couldn't help keep them healthy or keep their heads on straight so they could put together a run of domination. The names Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano all come to mind. There's a lot of talk about trading Zambrano but my fear is that he ends up with a pitching coach that can actually get through to him and he'll put it all together and come back to haunt the Cubs. Was Lou Brock that great a ball player when the Cubs made that infamous trade back in 1964? Or was the Cards coaching that much better that they were able to get the most out of his talent? I'm afraid the same thing will happen to Zambrano on another team. BUT if the Cubs don't get new coaching, then what's the point of keeping Zambrano?
Here's the BIG thing…this AIN'T working folks! You make the playoffs two years in a row for the first time since 1908. Both Chicago teams make the playoffs for the first time since 1906 and what happens the very next year? Right back to "normal" with both teams on the outside looking in. Something needs to change. While you're at it; EVERYTHING needs to change. Start at the top and finish at the bottom…Crane Kenney, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Larry Rothschild, Von Joshua, Matt Sinatro, Mike Quade, Alan Trammell…everyone with the big club.
Now, in my humble opinion, you don't really need to blow up the team at least as far as the players. Bradley absolutely MUST go…I don't think that's any secret regardless of what his mommy says. It will hurt financially, but what's it worth to make the playoffs or to have sellouts at the end of the season? Nobody wants to pay $50 for a ticket to see a guy making $10 million lose a ball in the sun in the middle of a summertime day because he didn't want to wear sunglasses or doesn't keep track of the number of outs or walks off the field without even seeing the trainer. And the manager absolutely MUST go too. How can you call out a player like he did with Bradley back in June and send him home in the middle of a game and then put him in the starting lineup the very next day? How many more pitchers is he going to let beat up a Gatorade machine without handing down some discipline? It's one thing to be a player's manager and another to be a total walk-over sap. Unfortunately Grandpa Lou is the latter.
GO BEARS!
GO BULLS!
GO BLACKHAWKS!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
NOW It's Over!
In case there was any doubt left in your mind that maybe they could pull a Rockies and come back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit, the Cubs proved last night that there just isn't going to be a comeback. Against the worst team in baseball, the Cubs lost 15-6 at HOME last night to prove they aren't going to prove anything to us. This debacle of a season is now complete and it's now time to say "Go Bears!"
I had the unfortunate timing to be at the game last night and it was the worst game I have ever seen at Wrigley in my 40+ years of being a Cubs fan. I'm so glad I left work early to make the brutal drive from the NW burbs and paid $45 for parking to see THIS game. Just plain awful! The pariah for me on the Cubs' season, Milton Bradley was literally the only guy on the Cubs that showed up last night and it was just a totally painful thing to watch. Luckily I was there with my youngest daughter who helped me keep things in perspective and slightly distracted with her activity book provided by a nice usher at the game.
It was funny too, because she asked me if there was a slaughter rule in MLB and that was before the game. I joked with her during the game that it was too bad there wasn't a slaughter rule because the Cubs would have lost earlier rather than painfully going the full 9 innings.
I don't even really know what else to say at this point. How can you come out that flat against a HORRIBLE Nationals team with the worst record in all of MLB in an absolute MUST WIN situation? I mean, these guys make the Royals look good and yet they came into town with Cubs ex-manager Jim Riggleman (nice suicide squeeze in the 4th inning with the wind blowing out - what an idiot!) at the helm and just plain dominated early and often. I really felt Big Z needed to come out and dominate last night with a shutout or something close to leave no doubt that the Cubs were for real and wanted to battle to the end. Well, let's just say he didn't exactly dominate. He pitched 4 1/3 innings leaving with the bases loaded after walking in a run and having given up 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter (uh, that's 11 base runners in just over 4 innings - NOT GOOD!). Heilman was called into the game with the score "only" 5-1 at that point to try to stop the bleeding. Let's just say, while the patient needed stitches, Heilman decided amputation was quicker. While he struck out Belliard, he gave up a 2-out grand slam to Elijah Dukes who increased his season BA to .238 with his 2-for-3 performance last night - yep, a .238 hitter ended the Cubs season last night. Since Big Z had left the bases loaded when he exited, he was charged with 3 of the 4 runs on the grand slam to cap his night with 8 earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings. Wow!
Hey, at least the Cubs scored some runs...Ya, but the score was 9-1 after the grand slam and THEN the Cubs started scoring some runs. The final was 15-6 so even if it was 0-0 instead of 9-1, they still lost 6-5 after that point. They had some opportunities against Garrett Mock but just didn't get it done. D-Lee, who I praised in my blog has not had an RBI since I wrote it on 8/19. He left 4 guys on base while going 1-5. Jake Fox who I have been lobbying to get more playing time was absolutely AWFUL last night both at the plate and in LF going 0-4 leaving 4 on base and had an error in LF as well as a lackadaisical play allowing a runner to go from 1st to 3rd on a sharp hit to him in LF and without a throw! What the heck was that?!? I am now totally done with Fontenot who had a Jacques Jones throwing error on a ball that he basically spiked to the ground allowing a runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd. Why does Jeff Baker not start? Since joining the Cubs, he has hit .326 and leads the Cubs with a .558 SLG. This lefty/righty thing has pissed me off since day one. Fontenot is hitting .222 vs. righties (.224 vs. LHP which further proves my point) while even with Baker's lousy numbers with Colorado, he's still hitting .277. WHY do you have to be a lefty to have success against a RHP? I just don't get it. The Cubs struck out 8 times against the team that is 2nd to last in strikeouts in the NL this year. Brutal!
Well, now it's over and we can all focus on Jay Cutler and the Bears. Unfortunately, I still have tickets for 5 more Cubs games yet this year. Anyone want to buy them? Didn't think so...
Wait til next year! AGAIN!
I had the unfortunate timing to be at the game last night and it was the worst game I have ever seen at Wrigley in my 40+ years of being a Cubs fan. I'm so glad I left work early to make the brutal drive from the NW burbs and paid $45 for parking to see THIS game. Just plain awful! The pariah for me on the Cubs' season, Milton Bradley was literally the only guy on the Cubs that showed up last night and it was just a totally painful thing to watch. Luckily I was there with my youngest daughter who helped me keep things in perspective and slightly distracted with her activity book provided by a nice usher at the game.
It was funny too, because she asked me if there was a slaughter rule in MLB and that was before the game. I joked with her during the game that it was too bad there wasn't a slaughter rule because the Cubs would have lost earlier rather than painfully going the full 9 innings.
I don't even really know what else to say at this point. How can you come out that flat against a HORRIBLE Nationals team with the worst record in all of MLB in an absolute MUST WIN situation? I mean, these guys make the Royals look good and yet they came into town with Cubs ex-manager Jim Riggleman (nice suicide squeeze in the 4th inning with the wind blowing out - what an idiot!) at the helm and just plain dominated early and often. I really felt Big Z needed to come out and dominate last night with a shutout or something close to leave no doubt that the Cubs were for real and wanted to battle to the end. Well, let's just say he didn't exactly dominate. He pitched 4 1/3 innings leaving with the bases loaded after walking in a run and having given up 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter (uh, that's 11 base runners in just over 4 innings - NOT GOOD!). Heilman was called into the game with the score "only" 5-1 at that point to try to stop the bleeding. Let's just say, while the patient needed stitches, Heilman decided amputation was quicker. While he struck out Belliard, he gave up a 2-out grand slam to Elijah Dukes who increased his season BA to .238 with his 2-for-3 performance last night - yep, a .238 hitter ended the Cubs season last night. Since Big Z had left the bases loaded when he exited, he was charged with 3 of the 4 runs on the grand slam to cap his night with 8 earned runs in his 4 1/3 innings. Wow!
Hey, at least the Cubs scored some runs...Ya, but the score was 9-1 after the grand slam and THEN the Cubs started scoring some runs. The final was 15-6 so even if it was 0-0 instead of 9-1, they still lost 6-5 after that point. They had some opportunities against Garrett Mock but just didn't get it done. D-Lee, who I praised in my blog has not had an RBI since I wrote it on 8/19. He left 4 guys on base while going 1-5. Jake Fox who I have been lobbying to get more playing time was absolutely AWFUL last night both at the plate and in LF going 0-4 leaving 4 on base and had an error in LF as well as a lackadaisical play allowing a runner to go from 1st to 3rd on a sharp hit to him in LF and without a throw! What the heck was that?!? I am now totally done with Fontenot who had a Jacques Jones throwing error on a ball that he basically spiked to the ground allowing a runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd. Why does Jeff Baker not start? Since joining the Cubs, he has hit .326 and leads the Cubs with a .558 SLG. This lefty/righty thing has pissed me off since day one. Fontenot is hitting .222 vs. righties (.224 vs. LHP which further proves my point) while even with Baker's lousy numbers with Colorado, he's still hitting .277. WHY do you have to be a lefty to have success against a RHP? I just don't get it. The Cubs struck out 8 times against the team that is 2nd to last in strikeouts in the NL this year. Brutal!
Well, now it's over and we can all focus on Jay Cutler and the Bears. Unfortunately, I still have tickets for 5 more Cubs games yet this year. Anyone want to buy them? Didn't think so...
Wait til next year! AGAIN!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Cubs - NOT Top 10
I thought about doing this even before the current disastrous west coast trip and pummeling the Cubs are taking right now, but now that the Cubs have dropped to 7 1/2 games behind the Cards NOW is the time. Anyway, I don't think it will be very difficult to come up with a Not Top 10 list for the Cubs...I could probably do a Not Top 20 this year, but I'll stick with 10 and try to choose the "best" individuals possible to fit the category.
The Cubs have the third highest payroll in all of MLB (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p4ew-fwu2XT3cpPRtt9qIGw); number 1 in the NL and yet while they remain in 2nd place in the NL Central, they are currently 7 1/2 games behind the Cards and only 1 lousy game over .500. That 7 1/2 game lead is the biggest division lead in all of MLB - nice work boys! You want to start thinking about the Wild Card...well it doesn't get any more promising over there for the Cubs either. While they are "only" 6 1/2 games back for the Wild Card, they would have to leap frog 4 other teams to do it - good luck boys.
I'll do this David Letterman style and count it down from the "best" worst individual (notice I didn't say player) to the worst worst individual. And while ranking them, I am ranking who has sabotaged this season the most and there is plenty of blame to go around. I tend to place most of the blame on guys making the big bucks too so while Theriot isn't the best SS in the league, he isn't paid like he is, so I don't really blame him for not being it.
10 - Aramis Ramirez - I said in my blog the other day that this guy's injury is the #1 reason the Cubs are struggling to stay in the playoff hunt. I hate to mention him in this list though because his was a freak injury and he got hurt diving for a ball during a game and it had nothing to do with being lazy and not getting himself in condition or anything like that. BUT his lack of presence in the lineup for all that time KILLED any chance for the offense to really get on track and score runs like they did last year. I also believe that his missing bat put more pressure on the other guys to pick up the slack and caused them to press and not get the job done.
9 - Geovany Soto - I mentioned in my intro that I don't like to blame the low budget guys but Geo was the Rookie of the Year last year and this year...well...he's been HORRIBLE. After hitting .285 with 86 RBIs as a rookie last year, he's hitting .217 with 29 RBIs this year. He's also spent some serious time on the DL playing in only 80 games out of the 121 the Cubs have played to date. It's difficult to score runs as a team when one of your more productive hitters is no longer producing and for that, Geo makes the list.
8 - Carlos Zambrano - when you are paid the amount of money as Big Z, shouldn't you come up with some big games to get your team back on track? I mean dominating games...the answer is YES. Well, where are those games this year? Sure, Z's numbers aren't terrible and he's got a nice ERA, but he just doesn't go out there and dominate like he needs to for a team struggling to score runs. And now he's letting his team down in a totally different way...by going on the DL with back problems that, by his own admission were caused by his lack of working on his core strength (i.e. doing his abdominal exercises). Really? That's what we get as fans from a guy making $91.5 million over 5 years?
7 - Kosuke Fukudome - I have never been much of a Fukudome fan. Really the only thing he does well that I like is throw guys out from the outfield. Other than that, his whirly-bird style at the plate really does NOTHING at all for me. But look at his OBA...if you stood up there and didn't swing as often as he doesn't, you'd get walked several times too...that doesn't make it a good thing. At $11.5 million, Fukudome is part of the highest paid and most under-achieving outfield in all of MLB.
6 - Kevin Gregg - maybe it's not his fault that Hendry chose to dump clubhouse and fan favorite Kerry Wood and instead picked Kevin Gregg to be the Cubs closer ever after blowing more saves than anyone in the NL last year for the Marlins, BUT he is still here and until this week, was still blowing Cubs games. This guy has been pretty awful all year and has finally lost his job as Grandpa Lou finally woke up and looked at Gregg's stats.
5 - Larry Rothschild - what has this guy done to deserve such high praise that I always seem to hear? What career has he helped resurrect or what prospect has he brought along to become elite? Sure, Ryan Dempster had his career resurrected, but no thanks to Larry...he was a good pitcher before getting injured and now he's back to being a good pitcher. Zambrano is the closest guy I can think of to being a prospect that became elite, but he's only been elite by the contract he signed. He's never come close to winning a Cy Young Award and has never won 20 games in a season. Instead I bring up Carlos Marmol, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gregg, and Neal Cotts. Why can't he get Marmol to throw strikes? How is Samardzija worse this year than last year? Why can't he get Gregg to focus more when he's out there in a tight spot? What happened to Neal Cotts? The guy walked like every lefty he came in to face! Let's face it, Rothschild is super over-rated and needs to go!
4 - Lou Piniella - this guy is just too old school and NEVER thinks outside the box...ever. Hendry brought Milton Bradley in to be a middle-of-the-order left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (isn't that what Fukudome was supposed to be last year?). So where does Lou hit MB in the Cubs lineup? Why 4th or 5th of course - isn't that where all your guys that are 8th on your team in RBIs (behind two guys that have played 50 less games!)? NOOOOO!!! And how many more times are you going to run Soriano out there to LF with his .240 BA and HORRIBLE defense? How long did he leave Soriano in the lead-off spot because that's the only spot Soriano wanted to hit? Who's running the team Lou? Speaking of which, I always go back to the incident earlier in the season with Milton Bradley. They got into it during a game, Lou sent Bradley home before the game was over and yet put him right back in the starting lineup the very next day. WHAT?!? Now that the Cubs are 7 1/2 games back, he's thinking about benching Soriano to play Sam Fuld who continues to impress both in the field and at the plate - leads the team in OBA and 4th in BA. And where's the fire in the manager that Hendry hired? "I'm not a dragon!" No, you're an old man Grandpa Lou! Now if you're one of those guys that says "managers just put the lineup together, the players win or lose the game", think about the Dodgers. They hadn't done anything under Grady Little and yet as soon as they hired Joe Torre, they won their division last year and lead it again this year by 5 games. What about the Rockies? They were 10 games under .500 when they hired Jim Tracey back in May and have since gone 50-26 to lead the Wild Card. Our Grandpa Lou does a terrible job of working the lineup, dealing with his bench and his bullpen. That's not a very good combination for success.
3 - Alfonso Soriano - this guy has been a bust from day one with the Cubs. After hitting 46 HRs, 41 doubles, stealing 41 bases and driving in 95 RBIs, this guys hasn't come close to that type of production since. He has stolen 47 bases in 2 1/2 season which is only 6 more than he stole during his contract year in Washington. His HR numbers have gone down from 46 in 2006 with Washington to 33, 29, and 19 so far this year. He is hitting a not-so-robust .240 for us this year too. His defense is probably the worst in all of MLB for left field with 9 errors and only 6 outfield assists (11 and 22 for the Nats in 2006). And now, because of his fat contract which the Cubs are stuck with until 2014 (my daughter starts high school next week and will be in college before his contract runs out!), the Cubs are hand-cuffed from really letting Sam Fuld take over out there and they can't just go out and get another guy to replace him either.
2 - Milton Bradley - this guy has been the epitome of being a TOTAL BUST in every single sense of the word. Everything we all KNEW about this guy but refused to believe has been dead-on accurate. He's been moody; he's been a hot dog; he's not been into the game (see throwing the ball into the stands with only 2 outs); and he has NOT hit or driven in runs (8th in RBIs on his own team). Just a TOTAL BUST! Don't forget the Cubs got rid of Mark DeRosa so they could "afford" to get this knucklehead (BTW - DeRo has driven in more than twice as many runs for half the cost and is now helping the rival Cardinals storm to a division crown).
1 - Jim Hendry - this guy is quite possibly the worst GM in all of professional sports. Don't believe me...let's talk about it. In three consecutive off-seasons, Hendry has succeeded to totally hand-cuff the franchise for the next few years with the WORST decisions ever for the outfield. Soriano was signed to a sickening 8-year $136 million contract before the 2007 season. Fukudome was signed to a 4-year $48 million deal before the 2008 season to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup. He's hit a total of 21 HRs in his 1 1/2 season Cubs career with 103 RBIs. Milton Bradley was signed to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (wait, didn't I just say that?) before this season. Lou finally moved him to #2 in the lineup to at least take some advantage of all the walks he gets as those don't come in too handy with runners at the corners and two outs where you need an RBI. What about the #1 starter money he gave to Zambrano for #3 starter production? I'll just list a few more mistakes Hendry has made this year...Aaron Miles, Mark DeRosa, Adam Dunn/Raul Ibanez/Bobby Abreu (why not sign ANY of these guys instead of Bradley?), Ryan Freel, Jason Marquis (didn't mind the thought of getting rid of him, but thought it would have been better to actually get a guy that would still be on the team going into May). That's why he is #1 on my list of Not Top 10. I hope the Ricketts family get rid of him ASAP because for $135 million, the Cubs shouldn't be struggling to stay in the playoff race especially after winning 97 games last year. Hey, at least they are more lefty this year!
Wait til next year (again)!
The Cubs have the third highest payroll in all of MLB (http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p4ew-fwu2XT3cpPRtt9qIGw); number 1 in the NL and yet while they remain in 2nd place in the NL Central, they are currently 7 1/2 games behind the Cards and only 1 lousy game over .500. That 7 1/2 game lead is the biggest division lead in all of MLB - nice work boys! You want to start thinking about the Wild Card...well it doesn't get any more promising over there for the Cubs either. While they are "only" 6 1/2 games back for the Wild Card, they would have to leap frog 4 other teams to do it - good luck boys.
I'll do this David Letterman style and count it down from the "best" worst individual (notice I didn't say player) to the worst worst individual. And while ranking them, I am ranking who has sabotaged this season the most and there is plenty of blame to go around. I tend to place most of the blame on guys making the big bucks too so while Theriot isn't the best SS in the league, he isn't paid like he is, so I don't really blame him for not being it.
10 - Aramis Ramirez - I said in my blog the other day that this guy's injury is the #1 reason the Cubs are struggling to stay in the playoff hunt. I hate to mention him in this list though because his was a freak injury and he got hurt diving for a ball during a game and it had nothing to do with being lazy and not getting himself in condition or anything like that. BUT his lack of presence in the lineup for all that time KILLED any chance for the offense to really get on track and score runs like they did last year. I also believe that his missing bat put more pressure on the other guys to pick up the slack and caused them to press and not get the job done.
9 - Geovany Soto - I mentioned in my intro that I don't like to blame the low budget guys but Geo was the Rookie of the Year last year and this year...well...he's been HORRIBLE. After hitting .285 with 86 RBIs as a rookie last year, he's hitting .217 with 29 RBIs this year. He's also spent some serious time on the DL playing in only 80 games out of the 121 the Cubs have played to date. It's difficult to score runs as a team when one of your more productive hitters is no longer producing and for that, Geo makes the list.
8 - Carlos Zambrano - when you are paid the amount of money as Big Z, shouldn't you come up with some big games to get your team back on track? I mean dominating games...the answer is YES. Well, where are those games this year? Sure, Z's numbers aren't terrible and he's got a nice ERA, but he just doesn't go out there and dominate like he needs to for a team struggling to score runs. And now he's letting his team down in a totally different way...by going on the DL with back problems that, by his own admission were caused by his lack of working on his core strength (i.e. doing his abdominal exercises). Really? That's what we get as fans from a guy making $91.5 million over 5 years?
7 - Kosuke Fukudome - I have never been much of a Fukudome fan. Really the only thing he does well that I like is throw guys out from the outfield. Other than that, his whirly-bird style at the plate really does NOTHING at all for me. But look at his OBA...if you stood up there and didn't swing as often as he doesn't, you'd get walked several times too...that doesn't make it a good thing. At $11.5 million, Fukudome is part of the highest paid and most under-achieving outfield in all of MLB.
6 - Kevin Gregg - maybe it's not his fault that Hendry chose to dump clubhouse and fan favorite Kerry Wood and instead picked Kevin Gregg to be the Cubs closer ever after blowing more saves than anyone in the NL last year for the Marlins, BUT he is still here and until this week, was still blowing Cubs games. This guy has been pretty awful all year and has finally lost his job as Grandpa Lou finally woke up and looked at Gregg's stats.
5 - Larry Rothschild - what has this guy done to deserve such high praise that I always seem to hear? What career has he helped resurrect or what prospect has he brought along to become elite? Sure, Ryan Dempster had his career resurrected, but no thanks to Larry...he was a good pitcher before getting injured and now he's back to being a good pitcher. Zambrano is the closest guy I can think of to being a prospect that became elite, but he's only been elite by the contract he signed. He's never come close to winning a Cy Young Award and has never won 20 games in a season. Instead I bring up Carlos Marmol, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gregg, and Neal Cotts. Why can't he get Marmol to throw strikes? How is Samardzija worse this year than last year? Why can't he get Gregg to focus more when he's out there in a tight spot? What happened to Neal Cotts? The guy walked like every lefty he came in to face! Let's face it, Rothschild is super over-rated and needs to go!
4 - Lou Piniella - this guy is just too old school and NEVER thinks outside the box...ever. Hendry brought Milton Bradley in to be a middle-of-the-order left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (isn't that what Fukudome was supposed to be last year?). So where does Lou hit MB in the Cubs lineup? Why 4th or 5th of course - isn't that where all your guys that are 8th on your team in RBIs (behind two guys that have played 50 less games!)? NOOOOO!!! And how many more times are you going to run Soriano out there to LF with his .240 BA and HORRIBLE defense? How long did he leave Soriano in the lead-off spot because that's the only spot Soriano wanted to hit? Who's running the team Lou? Speaking of which, I always go back to the incident earlier in the season with Milton Bradley. They got into it during a game, Lou sent Bradley home before the game was over and yet put him right back in the starting lineup the very next day. WHAT?!? Now that the Cubs are 7 1/2 games back, he's thinking about benching Soriano to play Sam Fuld who continues to impress both in the field and at the plate - leads the team in OBA and 4th in BA. And where's the fire in the manager that Hendry hired? "I'm not a dragon!" No, you're an old man Grandpa Lou! Now if you're one of those guys that says "managers just put the lineup together, the players win or lose the game", think about the Dodgers. They hadn't done anything under Grady Little and yet as soon as they hired Joe Torre, they won their division last year and lead it again this year by 5 games. What about the Rockies? They were 10 games under .500 when they hired Jim Tracey back in May and have since gone 50-26 to lead the Wild Card. Our Grandpa Lou does a terrible job of working the lineup, dealing with his bench and his bullpen. That's not a very good combination for success.
3 - Alfonso Soriano - this guy has been a bust from day one with the Cubs. After hitting 46 HRs, 41 doubles, stealing 41 bases and driving in 95 RBIs, this guys hasn't come close to that type of production since. He has stolen 47 bases in 2 1/2 season which is only 6 more than he stole during his contract year in Washington. His HR numbers have gone down from 46 in 2006 with Washington to 33, 29, and 19 so far this year. He is hitting a not-so-robust .240 for us this year too. His defense is probably the worst in all of MLB for left field with 9 errors and only 6 outfield assists (11 and 22 for the Nats in 2006). And now, because of his fat contract which the Cubs are stuck with until 2014 (my daughter starts high school next week and will be in college before his contract runs out!), the Cubs are hand-cuffed from really letting Sam Fuld take over out there and they can't just go out and get another guy to replace him either.
2 - Milton Bradley - this guy has been the epitome of being a TOTAL BUST in every single sense of the word. Everything we all KNEW about this guy but refused to believe has been dead-on accurate. He's been moody; he's been a hot dog; he's not been into the game (see throwing the ball into the stands with only 2 outs); and he has NOT hit or driven in runs (8th in RBIs on his own team). Just a TOTAL BUST! Don't forget the Cubs got rid of Mark DeRosa so they could "afford" to get this knucklehead (BTW - DeRo has driven in more than twice as many runs for half the cost and is now helping the rival Cardinals storm to a division crown).
1 - Jim Hendry - this guy is quite possibly the worst GM in all of professional sports. Don't believe me...let's talk about it. In three consecutive off-seasons, Hendry has succeeded to totally hand-cuff the franchise for the next few years with the WORST decisions ever for the outfield. Soriano was signed to a sickening 8-year $136 million contract before the 2007 season. Fukudome was signed to a 4-year $48 million deal before the 2008 season to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup. He's hit a total of 21 HRs in his 1 1/2 season Cubs career with 103 RBIs. Milton Bradley was signed to be a left-handed bat for the middle of the Cubs lineup (wait, didn't I just say that?) before this season. Lou finally moved him to #2 in the lineup to at least take some advantage of all the walks he gets as those don't come in too handy with runners at the corners and two outs where you need an RBI. What about the #1 starter money he gave to Zambrano for #3 starter production? I'll just list a few more mistakes Hendry has made this year...Aaron Miles, Mark DeRosa, Adam Dunn/Raul Ibanez/Bobby Abreu (why not sign ANY of these guys instead of Bradley?), Ryan Freel, Jason Marquis (didn't mind the thought of getting rid of him, but thought it would have been better to actually get a guy that would still be on the team going into May). That's why he is #1 on my list of Not Top 10. I hope the Ricketts family get rid of him ASAP because for $135 million, the Cubs shouldn't be struggling to stay in the playoff race especially after winning 97 games last year. Hey, at least they are more lefty this year!
Wait til next year (again)!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Only Silver Lining - D-Lee
After giving D-Lee so much grief early in the season, I feel an obligation to give him some props for his more recent performance. If you have been following my blog, you know RBIs are THE stat for me especially for a middle-of-the-order player like the 3-4-5 hitters which is where D-Lee has been for his entire career with the Cubs. (Have you noticed that Bradley has been batting 2nd in recent games? Maybe Lou is reading my blog...)
I just read where D-Lee has 42 RBIs since July 1st which leads all of MLB. Not just the NL, but all of MLB. Now THAT is getting it done. He and the starting pitching are the only reasons the Cubs are still being mentioned in the playoff race. With that nice run, he has moved himself up to 7th in NL for RBIs. That is pretty darn good in my book especially with this lousy offense.
To me, the biggest issue is not the closer although Gregg has certainly blown his share of games. The bigger issue is the offense in my opinion. They have been so inconsistent all season long scoring 17 runs one day and then struggling to score 3 the next day. This certainly puts a lot more pressure on the pitchers. Take the fateful game on Monday that ended up costing Gregg his job...how many chances did they not take advantage to blow the game open rather than leaving it at a precarious 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. The same thing with last night's game. These are the Padres and they really aren't very good yet the Cubs have now lost all 5 games in San Diego and before you say "well, it's tough to score runs in that park" consider the Cubs have been outscored by a combined 24-7 so is the wind blowing out only when the Padres are batting? Don't think so. The Padres are dead last in runs scored this season and 3rd to last in runs allowed so what the??? Like I said...brutally, painfully, and frustratingly inconsistent.
The major missing piece for the offense is Aramis Ramirez and his shoulder problems since early in the season. When he's in there, he produces and the Cubs score runs...when he's not, the Cubs don't score very often. Of course, so many guys NOT producing even to their average productivity has been devastating as well. I'm going to do a "Not Top 10" list later in the week that will go through the other culprits associated with this ultra-underachieving team so stay tuned. Seriously...is there a more underachieving team in baseball right now than the Cubs? Maybe the Mets but as bad as the Cubs injuries have been, the Mets have had it much worse so I still say the Cubs are #1 on this unfortunate list.
I just read where D-Lee has 42 RBIs since July 1st which leads all of MLB. Not just the NL, but all of MLB. Now THAT is getting it done. He and the starting pitching are the only reasons the Cubs are still being mentioned in the playoff race. With that nice run, he has moved himself up to 7th in NL for RBIs. That is pretty darn good in my book especially with this lousy offense.
To me, the biggest issue is not the closer although Gregg has certainly blown his share of games. The bigger issue is the offense in my opinion. They have been so inconsistent all season long scoring 17 runs one day and then struggling to score 3 the next day. This certainly puts a lot more pressure on the pitchers. Take the fateful game on Monday that ended up costing Gregg his job...how many chances did they not take advantage to blow the game open rather than leaving it at a precarious 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. The same thing with last night's game. These are the Padres and they really aren't very good yet the Cubs have now lost all 5 games in San Diego and before you say "well, it's tough to score runs in that park" consider the Cubs have been outscored by a combined 24-7 so is the wind blowing out only when the Padres are batting? Don't think so. The Padres are dead last in runs scored this season and 3rd to last in runs allowed so what the??? Like I said...brutally, painfully, and frustratingly inconsistent.
The major missing piece for the offense is Aramis Ramirez and his shoulder problems since early in the season. When he's in there, he produces and the Cubs score runs...when he's not, the Cubs don't score very often. Of course, so many guys NOT producing even to their average productivity has been devastating as well. I'm going to do a "Not Top 10" list later in the week that will go through the other culprits associated with this ultra-underachieving team so stay tuned. Seriously...is there a more underachieving team in baseball right now than the Cubs? Maybe the Mets but as bad as the Cubs injuries have been, the Mets have had it much worse so I still say the Cubs are #1 on this unfortunate list.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Kevin Gregg SUCKS
I'm sorry, but there is really no other way to say it. In an absolute MUST WIN situation tonight against one of the worst teams in MLB right now, Gregg comes in with the Cubs leading 1-0 after BRILLIANT pitching efforts by Lilly (fresh off the DL), Grabow, and Marmol (no walks or hit batters!) this IDIOT comes in walks two, a double off the wall, and a 3-run HR by Kyle Blanks. WHO?!? Not Pujols or Howard or even Fielder or Braun...NOPE...the .252 hitting Kyle Blanks. That was the 12th HR given up and 6th blown save of the season by the Cubs closer. What a total JOKE!
I still say...what about Rich Harden as closer? Kind of like the Cubs did with Dempster and then Kerry Wood? He only pitches 5 innings when he starts, so why not just let him pitch one at a time a few times per week instead? He is just nasty and fewer innings may mean less stints on the DL. And with Lilly back and Z do back next week, you could go with Lilly, Z, Dempster, Wells, and Gorzelany as the rotation. I would seriously straight up release Gregg at this point. Does anyone have ANY confidence in this guy AT ALL in any situation?
The Cardinals pulled a rabbit out of their hat last night against these very same Padres with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 9th to steal victory away from the jaws of defeat. So how do the Cubs respond? By giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th the very next night to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't look now, but the Cubs are quickly fading from the playoff race at 6 games behind the Cards for the NL Central division lead and 4 games behind the Colorado and in 5th place for the Wild Card behind some pretty "formidable" foes including the $36 million payroll Florida Marlins...that's nearly $100 million LESS than Hendry's bumbling band of misfits. Just imagine what their GM could do with another $100 million... By the way, the Cubs are paying their starting OF $32.5 million this year not including signing bonuses.
Other signs that it is "wait til next year" time...did you read Zambrano's comments regarding his latest visit to the DL? He admits he's been lazy and hasn't been doing his abdominal work as he has been told which has caused his back problems. I'm sorry...WHAT?!? What if the Cubs were too lazy to write those RIDICULOUS paychecks to you Big Z? He's only making $17.75 million this season and he doesn't think he should have been working his abs? It may be too late now Carlos!
I still say...what about Rich Harden as closer? Kind of like the Cubs did with Dempster and then Kerry Wood? He only pitches 5 innings when he starts, so why not just let him pitch one at a time a few times per week instead? He is just nasty and fewer innings may mean less stints on the DL. And with Lilly back and Z do back next week, you could go with Lilly, Z, Dempster, Wells, and Gorzelany as the rotation. I would seriously straight up release Gregg at this point. Does anyone have ANY confidence in this guy AT ALL in any situation?
The Cardinals pulled a rabbit out of their hat last night against these very same Padres with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 9th to steal victory away from the jaws of defeat. So how do the Cubs respond? By giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th the very next night to steal defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't look now, but the Cubs are quickly fading from the playoff race at 6 games behind the Cards for the NL Central division lead and 4 games behind the Colorado and in 5th place for the Wild Card behind some pretty "formidable" foes including the $36 million payroll Florida Marlins...that's nearly $100 million LESS than Hendry's bumbling band of misfits. Just imagine what their GM could do with another $100 million... By the way, the Cubs are paying their starting OF $32.5 million this year not including signing bonuses.
Other signs that it is "wait til next year" time...did you read Zambrano's comments regarding his latest visit to the DL? He admits he's been lazy and hasn't been doing his abdominal work as he has been told which has caused his back problems. I'm sorry...WHAT?!? What if the Cubs were too lazy to write those RIDICULOUS paychecks to you Big Z? He's only making $17.75 million this season and he doesn't think he should have been working his abs? It may be too late now Carlos!
Monday, August 17, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Miller Park (Milwaukee)
We visited Miller Park on Sunday to finish up our 9-day odyssey. I have been to games at Miller Park in the past and so has our family so I’m going to take some liberty and mix in my review from Sunday which was the least pleasant of my 5 or so trips there with the previous visits which will actually help the rating of Miller Park which is really only fair since I am trying to objectively rate each park as honestly as I can. I have sat in the outfield, in the third row behind the on-deck circle, behind home plate in the second deck and in a luxury box in my past visits to Miller. This time we sat in the 17th row just past 1st base out in short RF – very nice seats.
The weather was threatening in Milwaukee on Sunday, so they decided to close the roof which may have been a good idea to keep the rain out although I would have preferred the drizzle over the steamy hot atmosphere we were stuck with instead. I have been to Miller with the roof open and closed in the past and this was BY FAR the worst “weather” I have had to deal with. The temp had to be in the mid-80s with humidity at least that high. There was literally no air movement either so it was really quite uncomfortable which after a long final stretch of driving from Minneapolis was not the way we wanted to finish up our trip.
Anyway, so the temperature was a big strike against Miller at least for that day. The only other real negative was the video display which was really a bit too small as they used a mammoth area below the video for a super huge message board. Personally, I would have rather it been the other way around especially after our visit to KC and being spoiled by CrownVision. Although they did have the out-of-town scoreboard area, they only displayed 3 games at a time while we have seen other parks with more games.
They did copy a bit from Wrigley with some ivy growing on the back wall although the wall with the ivy is actually behind the actual outfield wall but it is still a nice affect. You just have to love the often copied, but never fully duplicated sausage races which are always fun too. The park itself is really nicely laid out with a lot of room in the concourses and a lot of hometown food like brats and Miller beer.
My oldest daughter was saying how we hadn’t seen any “nail biters” on this trip; well yesterday’s game came down to the final swing. The Brewers were facing the Stros and had won the first two games of the 3-game series. This game went back and forth a little bit as the Stros took a 4-2 lead on a 3-run jack by Blum and seemed to extend that lead to 5-2 when Pence went back-to-back. The Brewers came out to challenge and using instant replay, Pence’s HR was reversed to be a long foul ball. That seemed to shift the momentum to the Brewers even though they were still behind. The Brewers tied the score at 4 on a MAMMOTH bomb from Prince Fielder that hit just below the large message board and was measured at 457 feet. And later took the lead to make it 5-4 where the score remained until former Cub David Weathers came in fooling nobody allowing 3 runs and giving up the lead. The Stros pushed across an insurance run in the top of the 9th making it 8-5. If they could get the Brewers to go 1-2-3, they would escape facing Braun and maybe Fielder to earn the W. Nope – a ground rule double by Felipe Lopez extended the inning and Braun followed with a single bringing up Prince Fielder as the potential tying run. On a 3-2 pitch (I would have walked him at this point), Fielder crushed one to deep RF, Pence jumped up just in front of the wall to snag Fielder’s deep fly to ironically end the game (ironic since Pence had been “robbed” of an HR earlier in the game by instant replay). The crowd was going crazy as the ball seemed to be up in the air forever only to be followed by a loud, collective “aaaaaawwwwww!” when Pence came down with the ball for the final out.
With yesterday’s loss by the Brewers, we have ended our hometown winning streak at 8 games and are now 9-5 overall. There are only 13 ball parks listed below because we actually saw a double-header which my youngest was very nervous about during our first trip but was happy to learn that a double-header means two games, not two heads.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
8. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
9. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
10. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
11. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
12. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
13. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up…there is no next up; at least not this year. I just want to use this last little part here to thank my wife for setting this up again and really outdoing herself with a great trip plan. We did everything I think we could have possibly done bringing us to near exhaustion in the process…one more thing and I think we would have been pushed over that edge. I had a great time sweetie…THANK YOU!
The weather was threatening in Milwaukee on Sunday, so they decided to close the roof which may have been a good idea to keep the rain out although I would have preferred the drizzle over the steamy hot atmosphere we were stuck with instead. I have been to Miller with the roof open and closed in the past and this was BY FAR the worst “weather” I have had to deal with. The temp had to be in the mid-80s with humidity at least that high. There was literally no air movement either so it was really quite uncomfortable which after a long final stretch of driving from Minneapolis was not the way we wanted to finish up our trip.
Anyway, so the temperature was a big strike against Miller at least for that day. The only other real negative was the video display which was really a bit too small as they used a mammoth area below the video for a super huge message board. Personally, I would have rather it been the other way around especially after our visit to KC and being spoiled by CrownVision. Although they did have the out-of-town scoreboard area, they only displayed 3 games at a time while we have seen other parks with more games.
They did copy a bit from Wrigley with some ivy growing on the back wall although the wall with the ivy is actually behind the actual outfield wall but it is still a nice affect. You just have to love the often copied, but never fully duplicated sausage races which are always fun too. The park itself is really nicely laid out with a lot of room in the concourses and a lot of hometown food like brats and Miller beer.
My oldest daughter was saying how we hadn’t seen any “nail biters” on this trip; well yesterday’s game came down to the final swing. The Brewers were facing the Stros and had won the first two games of the 3-game series. This game went back and forth a little bit as the Stros took a 4-2 lead on a 3-run jack by Blum and seemed to extend that lead to 5-2 when Pence went back-to-back. The Brewers came out to challenge and using instant replay, Pence’s HR was reversed to be a long foul ball. That seemed to shift the momentum to the Brewers even though they were still behind. The Brewers tied the score at 4 on a MAMMOTH bomb from Prince Fielder that hit just below the large message board and was measured at 457 feet. And later took the lead to make it 5-4 where the score remained until former Cub David Weathers came in fooling nobody allowing 3 runs and giving up the lead. The Stros pushed across an insurance run in the top of the 9th making it 8-5. If they could get the Brewers to go 1-2-3, they would escape facing Braun and maybe Fielder to earn the W. Nope – a ground rule double by Felipe Lopez extended the inning and Braun followed with a single bringing up Prince Fielder as the potential tying run. On a 3-2 pitch (I would have walked him at this point), Fielder crushed one to deep RF, Pence jumped up just in front of the wall to snag Fielder’s deep fly to ironically end the game (ironic since Pence had been “robbed” of an HR earlier in the game by instant replay). The crowd was going crazy as the ball seemed to be up in the air forever only to be followed by a loud, collective “aaaaaawwwwww!” when Pence came down with the ball for the final out.
With yesterday’s loss by the Brewers, we have ended our hometown winning streak at 8 games and are now 9-5 overall. There are only 13 ball parks listed below because we actually saw a double-header which my youngest was very nervous about during our first trip but was happy to learn that a double-header means two games, not two heads.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Miller Park (Milwaukee)
8. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
9. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
10. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
11. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
12. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
13. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up…there is no next up; at least not this year. I just want to use this last little part here to thank my wife for setting this up again and really outdoing herself with a great trip plan. We did everything I think we could have possibly done bringing us to near exhaustion in the process…one more thing and I think we would have been pushed over that edge. I had a great time sweetie…THANK YOU!
Friday, August 14, 2009
MLB Ball Park Review - Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minneapolis)
Well, I guess the Pirates are pretty good medicine even for the worst teams or at least teams playing their worst ball as the Cubs are far from being the worst team which of course is the problem with what they’ve been doing lately. Unfortunately, the Cards are playing the Padres who are the same type of medicine as the Pirates, just from the other coast. So yes, the Bears, I mean Cubs put up a couple TDs and a field goal to the Steelers, I mean Pirates safety in winning today 17-2. Nice to see the O come to life FINALLY and especially D-Lee with a career high tying 7 RBIs which actually occurred in the first 4 innings before he was pulled with the game completely out of hand already.
So we visited the Metrodome tonight for the Twins vs. Indians game. It was just plain odd to be going to a summertime baseball game inside. The first impression I had was “this is just weird”. Our ears popped as we entered through the revolving doors and looking inside to the field it reminded me of the Shamrox lacrosse game we saw at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates not too far from our home. We walked around a little bit and found our seats which were 12-16 which was in the middle of the row which had like 30 seats in it. I know the Twins have won two World Series in this stadium but it is TOTALLY setup for football viewing. All the seats were square to the field which was a problem for us as we were looking nearly straight right from our seats between 3B and LF. The pitch of the seats was way too shallow as well and with our horrible angle, anytime anyone would walk up the aisle, our view was substantially blocked which was pretty frustrating for someone like me that pretty much never leaves the seat and is there to watch the game. Another annoyance was the extreme volume from the loudspeaker – it was truly overwhelming as they were acting like they were talking over 50,000 screaming fans during a playoff game when there were only 30,000 for a Fri afternoon game against a weak, yet inter-divisional opponent. After visiting all the new stadiums we have seen the last 3 years, the “jumbotrons” were extremely weak although there were two with one in each end-zone (again, better designed for football).
We have been purchasing a couple souvenirs at each stadium during our trips – I get a home team hat and the kids get one of those little souvenir bats. Well, they didn’t have the red hat with the blue brim in any size smaller than 7 7/8 which is even too big for my head and they were out of bats for the season! WHAT?!? It’s mid-August and they’re out of souvenir bats for the season? We were planning a trip to Mall of America tomorrow so we’ll hopefully get a bat; I ended up buying the regular blue hat with the TC logo which is pretty cool, but not quite as cool as the red model.
They have a countdown display showing how many regular season home games remain before they open their new outdoor stadium next year – the countdown is now at 23. GOOD! I really disliked this place although the atmosphere and fans made it palatable so it stays out of the cellar in my rankings, but not by much.
By the way Cardinals fans, hardly any Twins fans left this game early even though the score was 11-0. The first mass exodus I saw was after the bottom of the 8th which was still a bit disappointing as Scott Baker finished off a 2-hit shutout. I don’t know how you could ever leave a Twins game too early when you get to watch Joe Mauer bat – this kid is AMAZING! He went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored and two walks including one in the 8th on a close 3-2 pitch by former Cub Kerry Wood during a 11-pitch AB. I admit it…serious man-crush on Joe Mauer…this guy is a line drive waiting to happen. Enjoy him while you can Minnesotans as he is going to command HUGE dollars when he becomes a FA in a couple years. And enjoy that new outdoor stadium next year too!
With tonight’s win by the Twins, we have extended our hometown winning streak to 8 games and are now 9-4 overall.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
9. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
10. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
11. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
12. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up is Miller Park in Milwaukee on Sunday when the Brewers will host the Houston Astros. I’m not too sure who to cheer for in this one. The Brewers are only 2 ½ games behind the Cubs while the Stros are 4 games behind.
So we visited the Metrodome tonight for the Twins vs. Indians game. It was just plain odd to be going to a summertime baseball game inside. The first impression I had was “this is just weird”. Our ears popped as we entered through the revolving doors and looking inside to the field it reminded me of the Shamrox lacrosse game we saw at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates not too far from our home. We walked around a little bit and found our seats which were 12-16 which was in the middle of the row which had like 30 seats in it. I know the Twins have won two World Series in this stadium but it is TOTALLY setup for football viewing. All the seats were square to the field which was a problem for us as we were looking nearly straight right from our seats between 3B and LF. The pitch of the seats was way too shallow as well and with our horrible angle, anytime anyone would walk up the aisle, our view was substantially blocked which was pretty frustrating for someone like me that pretty much never leaves the seat and is there to watch the game. Another annoyance was the extreme volume from the loudspeaker – it was truly overwhelming as they were acting like they were talking over 50,000 screaming fans during a playoff game when there were only 30,000 for a Fri afternoon game against a weak, yet inter-divisional opponent. After visiting all the new stadiums we have seen the last 3 years, the “jumbotrons” were extremely weak although there were two with one in each end-zone (again, better designed for football).
We have been purchasing a couple souvenirs at each stadium during our trips – I get a home team hat and the kids get one of those little souvenir bats. Well, they didn’t have the red hat with the blue brim in any size smaller than 7 7/8 which is even too big for my head and they were out of bats for the season! WHAT?!? It’s mid-August and they’re out of souvenir bats for the season? We were planning a trip to Mall of America tomorrow so we’ll hopefully get a bat; I ended up buying the regular blue hat with the TC logo which is pretty cool, but not quite as cool as the red model.
They have a countdown display showing how many regular season home games remain before they open their new outdoor stadium next year – the countdown is now at 23. GOOD! I really disliked this place although the atmosphere and fans made it palatable so it stays out of the cellar in my rankings, but not by much.
By the way Cardinals fans, hardly any Twins fans left this game early even though the score was 11-0. The first mass exodus I saw was after the bottom of the 8th which was still a bit disappointing as Scott Baker finished off a 2-hit shutout. I don’t know how you could ever leave a Twins game too early when you get to watch Joe Mauer bat – this kid is AMAZING! He went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored and two walks including one in the 8th on a close 3-2 pitch by former Cub Kerry Wood during a 11-pitch AB. I admit it…serious man-crush on Joe Mauer…this guy is a line drive waiting to happen. Enjoy him while you can Minnesotans as he is going to command HUGE dollars when he becomes a FA in a couple years. And enjoy that new outdoor stadium next year too!
With tonight’s win by the Twins, we have extended our hometown winning streak to 8 games and are now 9-4 overall.
OK, so here is my updated ball park ranking to date:
1. Comerica Park (Detroit)
2. PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
3. Jacobs Field (Cleveland)
4. Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
5. Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
6. Fenway Park (Boston)
7. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati)
8. Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
9. Yankee Stadium (NY Yankees – pre-2009)
10. Wrigley Field (Chicago)
11. Metrodome (Minneapolis)
12. Shea Stadium (NY Mets)
Next up is Miller Park in Milwaukee on Sunday when the Brewers will host the Houston Astros. I’m not too sure who to cheer for in this one. The Brewers are only 2 ½ games behind the Cubs while the Stros are 4 games behind.
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