Cubs 2- Brewers 0

Another 2-0 win tonight. Derrek Lee added a home run while Jerry Hairston got a 2 out hit to drive in the other run. In other better news, Ronny Cedeno was called up and Enrique Wilson is back in AAA. I checked the recent Perez/ Patterson experiment and I think they are combined 7/50 with 2 walks since last Wednesday. It's time to end this, please Dusty. I can only dream that Walker leads off and Cedeno bats second while Patterson moves down to 6th, 7th, or 8th and Perez is on the bench. It won't happen.


Congrats to Travis Diener for his selection in the NBA draft. Nobody worked harder than Travis for his selection tonight, so he deserves it.

Cubs 2- White Sox 0

Finally, a great pitching performance gives the Cubs a victory. Some amazing facts: 1. 3 pitchers combined for a one hitter. Mark Prior went six innings allowed a hit in 71 pitches. This was under a month when he was hit in the elbow with ball and had a compression fracture. 2: This was the first loss the White Sox had when they had an oppurtunity to win a series on the final game. They were 4-0 previously. A great win for the Cubs, even scoring a unearned run to make 2-0.

Injury Update: It's official Kerry Wood will come back on Wednesday from his muscle strain/ torn rotator cuff. Supposedly the mechanics are better and he has retaught his muscles how to pitch. I hope that all of his starts are still monitored closely in order to keep his mechanics correctly. The Cubs rotation is back intact, so they have no excuses now to start winning series and maybe come back to the Cardinals. I really like this team's attitude (except for the manager sometimes) and I can't wait for the second half.

Finally a Marquette update

I went to Indy tonight and watched Indiana smoke Kentucky again. Dominic James is for real. Here's what I posted on Rivals.

If you haven't heard it before, James is terrific. He would have started this season with Diener in the backcourt. I don't like Wade comparisons either, but his one-on-one skills are like Wade's and I think he could have taken anybody to the hole on Kentucky's team. That's something we were really missing last year. What else? Oh yeah, he dunked over a "seven-footer" from Kentucky. The guy was listed at seven-one but he didn't look as big as Zeller (6'11"). He put on a dunking exhibition in warm-ups, trying twice to throw it up and put in between legs before dunking. That kind of reminds me of Nate Robinson, although Robinson is shorter. A good defender for Marquette. He's always active and always trying to steal something from the weak side.

The only problem I saw was the free throw shooting. He was 0-5 tonight. He kind of pauses as he comes up to the top, instead of going all in one motion towards the rim. The MVP was Zeller but I think 90% in attendance would have picked James.

I'll add tommorrow if I think of anything else. Otherwise, Go Cubs and Go Mark Prior.

White Sox 12- Cubs 2

Don't want to talk about this game either. The White Sox were hot and got a lot of breaks, like a home run off of a foul pole (opposite field) and a single that hit off of a base and went straight up into the air. The local newspaper ran a spot today where Cub fans could say why they hate White Sox fans and vice versa. Pretty interesting what both sides had to say. Then I tuned into 720 while I was driving around and listening to some drivel by White Sox fans. Geez, they haven't won anything yet except beat the Cubs three times this season. And here I give you the biggest difference between White Sox and Cubs fans. If the White Sox do sweep this series, this is all we will hear about for the next week, about how much better the White Sox are doing, stuff we already know. The Cubs did sweep the Sox last year, and all I heard was complaining about how easy the Cardinals schedule was (playing the Royals 6 times) and how much better they still needed to play to outlast the Cardinals. Ever since the Cubs have become actually good and have put something on the field (I'll contend since Sosa), the White Sox fans have gone out to prove that they are better than the Cubs. The Cubs fans have played off the importance of the Sox series and focused on the Cardinals. I could almost guarantee the die-hard fans of both teams would say they would rather want to beat the Cardinals/Twins. But the casual Cub fan is an elitist and they don't really care about that other team that plays in Chicago. Instead of embracing the hard-working, bring your lunch to work, the Chicago mentality, the White Sox fans have turned into a bunch of whiners and have tried to prove they are better than the Cubs. Be yourself White Sox fans. You have a terrific team with a great manager who doesn't take BS from anybody. If the current Cubs manager continues his ways, the casual baseball fan in Chicago could really take to the Southside team. Just quit whining.

Brewers 9- Cubs 4

Probably Zambrano's worst performance in a couple of years, so let's just put that in the back pocket and shoot for a win on getaway day.

Tonight Corey Patterson batted lead-off, voluntarily according to Dusty (according to Len and Bob) and Cubs.com. He started off his lead off experience by going 0-5, with 2 strikeouts and 4 LOB. His OBP this season is .290 with a career OBP of .301. This is not a lead off hitter. I like Corey. I think he plays hard defensively which is where I generally judge baseball players. He needs to develop patience which many have been saying for years. I like that he came to Dusty and told him that he wanted to bat lead-off to get out of whatever funk he was in. Fact is, the league leader in swinging at the first pitch does not belong in the lead-off spot in front of All-World Derrek Lee and and a pretty good hitter in Rami (as my sister likes to call him). I longer how long this experience will last. Grrrrrr.

Cubs 5- Milwaukee 4

All right a win. I admit it, I turned over a couple of times to see the Good Guys win the Inferno II, but I got to see most of this victory.

Highlight of the Game: In the 7th inning, Corey Patterson singled on a pitch outside that he sent to left field for a hit. Patterson tried to steal second base as Derrek Lee singled to CF. Patterson went around second base and headed to third as Brady Clark bobbled the ball. Patterson continued around third and scored easily as Lee moved to second. I firmly believe that Patterson's speed had something to do with Clark bobbling that ball in centerfield. As Ron said on the radio tonight, Patterson has such acceleration that if he ever got on base he would be such a bigger asset to the team. The Cubs try to take another from Milwaukee tommorrow night with the debut of Jerome Williams.

Injury Update: New rumors are that Prior will pitch one more simulated game and start Sunday versus the White Sox. This would come as a huge surprise to me, but if he can go and he is new pain free, I'm all for it. This would be huge if Prior would be able to come back this soon.

Yankees 6- Cubs 3

Just a terrible series overall for the Cubs. Really, none of the breaks went their way and I was glad to get of there. Now they have to go another House of Horrors (the 2004 and 2005) in Milwaukee the next two days. Mike Riley the umpire was first and I was glad Brenly called him out on it during the game. Hopefully the Neifi! experiment is coming to a close with Nomar coming back (I can only hope), because I hang the L today solely on Neifi!. He had the error that led to the unearned run. He also should have made a play on a ball that allowed two more to score. He also grounded into a double play with the bases loaded. That also might be a record. Two times Neifi has come up with the bases loaded beyond the seventh inning this season and both times that I remember, he has grounded into a 1-2-3 double play. The other was May 11th against the Mets in then 9th inning, when the Cubs needed a run to win. Ugghhhhhh, anyway tommorrow they go back to Milwaukee without me for once, so maybe they can win a game or two.

Go Cubs.

New York 8- Chicago 1

Derek Jeter. That was about it this afternoon as the Cubs were pounded. The Yankees have a solid line up with a lot of good hitters and that has showed the last couple of days. I know they haven't had a great record this season, but that lineup is terrific. Lowlight of the day came when Joe Borowski let up a grand slam to Derek Jeter. It was no short right field porch grand slam either. This was a straight away centerfield job that gave Jeter his first grand slam ever. Borowski still isn't back yet and I think every Cub fan is rooting for him. Tommorrow Sergio Mitre goes for 16+ straight scoreless innings against Mike Mussina. Go Cubs go, avoid this sweep.

In other news, I purchased "This Old Cub" for my dad last month for his birthday and sat down to watch it tonight. It's a terrific movie if you are a Cub fan. It was especially nice for me, since I have no Cub memories pre- Andre Dawson. For one, I had never seen video (except for Ernie Banks' 500th homer) of the bleachers without the screen on. The one moment that they missed and it would have been especially good right after the "Hall of Fame scene," was when they first announced Santo's number retirement at Wrigley. Santo had no idea they were going to do it and in between innings they announced at a night game. The packed stadium stood and gave Ron a stading ovation for 5 minutes. Santo just stood and acknowledged. Any true Cub fan knows what that moment meant to Santo and for all Cub fans. It's a must for any Cub fan.

Cubs 14- Marlins 0

Let's focus on the good, shall we? Last night, in front of a packed house and myself, the Cubs trounced on the Marlins 14-0. The atmosphere was electric and the Cubs matched that intensity offensively and pitching wise. Derrek Lee was 4-5 a triple away from the cycle. His HR at-bat was proceeded by this conversation:
Dad: 3-0 green light?
Me: Nah, too early.
Lee smacks one over the wall.

Josh Beckett also got a little arrogant with Aramis in the 4th. After Burnitz got an RBI on an infield single, you could almost see Beckett seething out on the mound. First pitch was a 96 MPH fastball that Aramis fouled straight back. The next pitch Aramis belted 397 feet for a home run to centerfield, another fastball.

My other favorite moment came when Sergio Mitre came to the plate in the 9th. I thought Sergio would get a nice ovation by the crowd. Unfortunately, Michael Barrett had hit a 3 run home run right before he came up. The whole crowd was standing for Barrett so Mitre got a great ovation, but it would have been a lot better if he hadnt' followed a home run. Most were hoping that Mitre would get an out in the field somewhere so he could run off with a standing ovation. Nope, he lined a single into left. Most were then hoping that he got forced out somewhere so he could get an ovation. Nope, he scored when Jerry Hairston tripled. It was really an unbelievable game. So thanks to my dad for turning 60 and getting the tickets to take us.

My Own Study of Loyalty

Cubs.com had a video up today, comparing Red Sox fans to Cubs fans, in terms of "loyalty." One guy even said that Red Sox fans are "everywhere" and that's why they are more loyal/ better fans. Instead of dwelling on opinions, let's get right to the facts.

Home Attendance Percentages: Using ESPN.com and Baseball Reference, the Red Sox have had a better home attendance every year since 1985, except for this year (Cubs are actually higher) and 1999, when they tied.

Road Attendance Percentages: Using ESPN.com, the Cubs have had a higher road percentage in every season, since 2001, except for this season where the Red Sox are two percentage points higher than the Cubs. The Yankees have been first every year since 2001, except for this season. And the Cubs have been second every year. If I spent a couple of more days, I could do this for every season since 1985 to see if the Cubs uptick might be due to Sammy Sosa or the advent of Milwaukee in the National League.

So using my statistics, they are about the same. Todd Walker will tell you that in Chicago they take the team much less seriously than in Boston. If that makes team one team more loyal than the other, oh well.

World Series What?

Some Boston fan was in the crowd with a "clever" sign that simply said "1908." Appartently that was just a juvenile attempt to feel better about his team as the Cubs won again today 7-6. The sign was also on an 8.5*11 sheet of paper that he picked up in the office of the downtown hotel he stayed at. And yet Fox kept showing this guy. Hollandsworth had another great game, going 3 for 4. In his AB without a hit, he drove a run in. I like to ride what's hot, so keep playing Hollandworth of Dubois. As seen by posts below, I'm a huge Dubois supporter, but he hasn't picked it up since Holly got benched.

I haven't wanted to sweep a team not named St. Louis as much as I want to the beat the Red Sox tommorrow. This whole offseason was devoted to Red Sox nation, and how they are somehow connected to the Cubs, because they both hadn't won a World Series in a long time. The White Sox had a longer drought than the Red Sox by a year anyway. I don't like the fact that the Red Sox fans now have pity for some reason on Cubs fans. I just don't like being connected with Boston at all. Chicago and Boston are two different cities with different fan bases, so let's just keep it that way.

Injury Update: Oh Carlos Zambrano. All over Chicago they were worrying about this injury on the radio shows. I know, I listened during my 3.5 mile rollerblade trip. I'm that much of a nerd. I wouldn't be too worried about this injury. It's not on his pushoff foot, so that helps. I was interested on the diagnosis of "turf toe." Turf toe, I thought was associated with the adductor ligament on the 1st digit. I guess it could be stressed by a severe flexion injury, I'm not for sure. But I would bet he would be back for his next start, especially since it shouldn't be until Friday in New York.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

A dissapointment on two ends tonight. First the Cubs. I didn't get to see that much of the game, but I saw the lineup and that was pretty much enough for me. Hairston led off and played CF, where he manged to drop a fly ball that he took a bad break on. Arizona Phil has implored all season that Hairston is a liability in CF, and Dusty sticks him out there. And the great Jose Macias starts at 2B and bats eighth. This makes no sense. If you are going to stick him in the 8 hole, is it that big of a difference that he plays or Walker plays? The 8th spot in the National League is not a big run producing spot, so just stick Walker out there against the LH. Oh by the way, since May 22nd Macias was 0-4 in that span, so Dusty gives him that at bats tonight. Don't mess with good things, stick with Macias on the bench please. Another thing that upset me was that this game is the most important of the series. If anything, the starters should have been given a rest tommorrow, with the off day Thursday. You need to win the first game back after a long road trip in my opinion, just dumb to bring that lineup out. I'm totally forgetting that you need your good offense the days that your pitchers aren't as good, although Koronka was okay tonight.

The Heat lost, I hate Detroit, that's about it. Dwyane gutted it out, and I think they will be the favorites next year for the NBA title. Dwyane needs to stay more healthy.

Cubs 4- Padres 0

Cubs win again and amazingly go 6-1 out west on their road trip.

Highlight of the Game: The pitching was superior today. Zambrano (after a shaky first inning), Ohman and Dempster combined for a shut out with only 5 hits.

Injury Update: Length Prior article. Like I've said before this one still scares me. It's a fracture in his elbow. I hope he can pitch pain free, with proper mechanics, but I still have doubts if this can happen this season.

Next up is Toronto and Gustavo Chacin. Baseball Prospectus has him ranked the best rookie pitcher in all of baseball.

Cubs 11- Padres 5

A big sports day for me as two of other favorite teams were in action. First, the US Men's Soccer team was able to pretty much dominate the entire game with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica. They comfortably sit in second place by a point, behind Mexico in World Cup qualifying. The Miami Heat, without Dwyane Wade, were blown out by the Pistons. The Pistons are beginning to be as disliked as their early 90's team that walked out on Jordan and the Bulls when the Bulls swept them. So much complaining to the officials. They were killing the Heat everywhere tonight and Wallace and Hamilton got Technical fouls in the Second Half! Just shut up and play, especially when you're up like 30. Wallace got in some good digs against the officals after Game 5. I have to wonder about the annoucers who took the NBA line way too far, by even suggesting that that they suspend Wallace. The NBA officiating, as Sports Guy notes, has been awful all season for many season now. I don't think that they are at all fixing games, but it is still pretty bad. My favorite call might have been tonight. Eddie Jones got an unintentional elbow and had blood coming down the right side of his face. He had trouble finding Shaq on the defensive end after his rebound. Anyway, things led to an 8-second violation on the Heat. I didn't like the fact that Jones has blood on his face and the officials wouldn't stop play and then when the violation happened Jones had to be taken to the locker room and the officials still wouldn't change the call. I just hope the Heat win Game 7, so we can stop hearing all of the complaining by the Pistons and the phony Larry Brown.

On to the Cubs.
Highlight of the Game: A 7-run inning without a home run in the 5th, is really remarkable the way that the team hit through the first two months of the season. So a terrific job by the offense and even the pitching tonight.

Injury Update: Remlinger is supposed to come off the DL tommorrow. I'm indifferent to that one. Novoa vs. Remlinger is a toss up right now, unless Dusty puts Remlinger against LHs again. Prior almost has full range back, next is pain free range, than normal strength, and then pitching pain free after that. I really still have no clue to when he will be back, but I have been impressed by his progress so far.

Padres 6- Cubs 2

A bunch of streaks ended tonight. 1. Obviously the Cubs lost. 2. Lee didn't get a hit, ending his 8 straight/AB streak. 3. The Cubs stopped getting breaks and played like they did most of May.

Lowlight: The 5th inning right before the "should have been" inning ending double play. Perez made a bad throw, which is not good by any means. Mitre compounded that by walking the next two guys on 9 pitches. You have to settle down there and get the next guys. In this series there has been ONE home run, so just chuck the thing up there, see if they can hit it out.

Sorry for the light blogging lately. I have early mornings and can't stay up for the midnight finish for most of the games this week. Tommorrow night is personally one of my biggest sports nights. 1. US World Cup Qualifier. 2. Heat-Pistons- Game 6. 3. Cubs-Padres. My biggest worry is what T-shirt jersey do I wear- DeMarcus Beasly or Dwyane Wade?