Interstate 94

Brewers

2007-07-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhh, what a weekend series. Even if the Cubs were only able to take 2 out of 3, it should serve as some momentum as they head to the All Star Break.

Here's the Lineup:
Lee
Fontenot
DeRosa
Ramirez
Soriano
Bowen
Floyd
Pagan
Lilly

I know Soriano doesn't like to other places but if you flip flopped Lee and Soriano in the order, how many more RBIs would Soriano have? The analysis concludes that as well and likes DeRosa again in that 3 hole. Easy week schedule wise, but they should win 4 or 5 of them.

Great Weekend

2007-05-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today's game sucked, but two come from behind wins, late in the game will hopefully shoot some momentum into the Cubs as they go out west.

The Lineup:
1. Lee
2. Pagan
3. Soriano
4. DeRosa
5. Ramirez
6. Hill
7. Floyd
8. Barrett
9. Theriot

As always from Baseball Musings. Pagan was used for a higher OPS than Jones for CF. Floyd was used over Murton in rightfield for the same reason. Overall, Pagan should be where he should be. DeRosa should be a little higher. Barrett's OBP has slipped under .300. And Baseball Prospectus says bye bye to: Rangers, Marlins, Reds and Rockies.

As for this stuff with Dempster going back to start, please no. If I've added correctly, he's 61-68 in years before he came to the Cubs starting. It's not like Lilly coming to the National league with a .500 record. Dempster needs to stay in the bullpen.

Week Updates

2007-05-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the lineup:
1. Theriot
2. Lee
3. Soriano
4. Ramirez
5. DeRosa
6. Barrett
7. Floyd
8. Pie
9. Lilly

Not much has changed. Theriot has moved up. It looks like the Cubs could use one more on base guy in front of Soriano. Unfortunately, he will probably never move out of the lead-off spot. Floyd was used because he has the highest OPS. Lilly was used because he is pitching tommorrow.

The playoff predictor has now added the Cardinals to the list of teams most likely not getting to the playoffs. I would just like ot to be noted that the Cardinals bad fortune started when the St. Louis Dispatch had the "No Chance" article on the front page of their Sports Page. It basically poked fun at the Cubs' bad luck over the years. Don't mess with karma Cardianls.

Last question: Is it being racist if "white" Americans do not want Barry Bonds to break the home run record? Wouldn't he be passing another African-American? So again how is that racist?

Bill Simmons

2007-05-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

This article. Ughhhhhhhhh. How does Bill Simmons know what crowd is better? Well, he just knows. He really can't cite anything. For instance what's the Celtics home playoff record in the 1980s versus other teams? What was the decibel level in those games in the "lunchbox" versus those in the United Center or Chicago Stadium versus the Bulls? Does he give examples of what other players said about those arenas? Nope. For instance, last summer ESPN.com ran a huge preview of each big power basketball conference. They listed the toughest home courts. In the Big East, they polled coaches and found Pittsburgh to be a tough place to play with UConn citing Marquette has a hard place to play. Back it up with some facts Bill.

Mike North

2007-05-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I had to go into work early this morning so I was listening to the Score at 6:30 and heard a little tidbit from Mike North. He was talking about whether the Bulls were going to beat the Pistons and somehow got on the topic of Dwyane Wade. He said Kirk Heinrich was tougher than Dwayne Wade. That's debateable, simply because there is no real statistic to measure this. One of the reasons North gave was that Dwyane needed a wheelchair to leave the floor when he dislocated his shoulder. First Mr. North, you have never had your left humerus externally rotated so much that it pops out the front of your shoulder and tears your labrum. You have no idea what kind of pain that is. Second, Wade was in a ton of pain when that happened. However, I'm pretty sure he did not tell the trainers to get a wheelchair for him to be wheeled back to the locker room. I'm not sure how one can measure toughness of somebody based on decisions made by other people. It's kind of like measuring my driving ability on how many times I've been hit on their fault. Makes no sense.

Fun with Numbers

2007-04-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

Baseball Musings has a fun little line-up analysis that you can put in 9 guys and it spits out the lineup that will score the most runs. It's based on the players on-base and slugging percentage. Here's what it spit out for the Cubs.

1. Lee
2. DeRosa
3. Soriano
4. Ramirez
5. Barrett
6. Floyd
7. Theriot
8. Pie
9. Pitcher (Hill)

I used Floyd because of he has the highest OPS of the three remaining outfielders. I used Hill as the pitcher because he is pitching tommorrow's game. Obviously Lee is not going to bat lead off, but it does show that DeRosa and Theriot might switch spots while DeRosa is still hitting hot.

Baseball Prospectus plays the rest of the season 1,000,000 times to determine who will and gives them playoff odds. I generally like to eliminate teams with less than 10% of chance, so goodbye to: Devil Rays, Royals, Nationals, Pirates, and Diamondbacks. The last one kind of confuses me, but I guess the computers have not been convinced. The Cubs are at 38% right now, which is still pretty good considering that they have a 1/4 chance of making it at the start of the season. Really it's less than that with 6 teams in their division.

Crowds

2007-04-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

I had the chance last night to view some of the Mavericks Warriors game on ESPN. The crowd was awesome for the Warriors, chanting and coming through really loud on television. It reminded me of when the Tigers made the playoffs last year in baseball. I really like it when down teams suddenly make the playoffs. You really see only the true fans at the games. The fans are boisterous and only want their team to win.

Once a team becomes popular, things change within the game setting. Corporations are more interested in buying the tickets, making fans come for a different reason. Many more fans come for the entertainment or because it is cool or hip to do. I think Soldier Field will not be as loud next year for this reason. The Bears are cool again to the average fan in Chicago. They made the Super Bowl. All of the rich people that can afford the higher ticket prices will take up all of the seats. The Bulls are still running under the radar here in Chicago. They do not have a huge superstar that everybody identifies with the team, no Jordan or Sosa or Payton. The team quietly put a good season together during the Bears run and right before the popular baseball season in Chicago. Even now, I still think they are a little under the radar because of their seed and the Cubs and White Sox weird starts. That makes it nice for the Bulls, the United Center will be loud for whoever comes along next.

CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-03-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm excited. Right now, the Cubs are killing the Mariners 7-1. Aramis Ramirez just golfed one out on a broken bat. Derrek Lee got a stand up triple, etc.. This team has offense, that will keep them in most games. Everybody says pitiching wins championships, others say offense. If you have a good offense or defense you will be in most games. Now on for the rant, first off, I hear a lot of people talking about the injured prone Cubs, especially Derrek Lee. Because of his one injury where a dude ran into his wrist breaking it? For once this season, the Cubs are not relying on either Mark Prior (AAA) or Kerry Wood (DL).

Another thing I hear (Sox fans) is the Cubs party atmosphere at Wrigley Field, the Cubs don't have true fans, etc.. The Cubs lead the league in road attendance. The Cubs set a record this year for most fans ever to attend Spring Training. The Cubs led the league in road attendance for Spring Training. Anything else? Hey Chicago Whadya Say,...

The Crappyness of Our Basketball Program

2007-03-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

I had a ton to say on the basketball game against Michigan State the other night, but I've forgotten most of it by now. Marquette was way too nervous/ wound up to start the game and didn't play with any confidence or had any idea on what to do. Major reflections of their head coach. I thought a lot about all of the recruits that were watching the game and how they felt. How could any parents let their son play for a team that looked that bad in their biggest game of the season? I want our program to be one where recruits say, "they want to win" as a reason to go to Marquette. I don't want to be hearing things like, "they play in an NBA arena," or Dwyane Wade went there. Too many games lost where they played like crap in the NCAA tournament or any postseason tournament for that matter. It's a trend that has to stop. As for Crean, make no mistake about it, he inquired about both Illinois and Ohio State when they were open positions. By doing that and getting more money from MU, he openly accepted more responsibilty. I, in no way, want him fired at this point. It gets frustrating as a fan to see things that could be worked on as a head coach, but seem too egotistical for Crean to change. So Tom, stop taking things so seriously. Go back to the basics. Did you watch Michigan State tonight? Half the plays they ran, I ran in middle school. They executed perfectly on most of them and were able to hang with North Carolina. Recruit a post player that can rebound and if possible can create his own shot, if he gets the ball in the post. I saw many servicable big men on teams that's program prestige would be lower than Marquette today. You can do it, just change your mind set a little bit.

Big East Tournament

2007-03-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

It's time to win a conference tournament. Marquette has not won one since the 2002 Conference USA tournament when they beat Louisville and Houston before losing to Cincy in the final. Grrrrrrr, that one still hurts. After playing two terrific games against Cincy, Marquette laid an egg in a game I drove 6 hours to. My predictions, win against St. John's, loss to Pittsburgh. It's too bad MU did not have the 7 seed. A first round game with Providence, followed by a second round game against Louisville. I don't like the idea of playing Pittsburgh again 5 days later, after beating them twice this season. I would rather play Louisville again.

As for the NCAA tournament, this is a great site to see the different brackets matched up against each other. Right now, MU would play Virginia Commonwealth with a match up of Tennessee in the second round. I like MU's odds in both of those games.

Spring Training has started which is really nice to see. One lady was even making fun of the Cubs because of all the money they spent after the White Sox big win. Jason Marquis looked good today. One guy that didn't, was Mark Prior yesterday. As was brought up with Steve Stone and Boers and Bernstien, is what happens if Prior can't pitch? Does he really go to the Minor Leagues? Something to ponder.

Carlos Zambrano Signs

2007-02-20T20:16:00.000-08:00

I was glad to hear that the Cubs signed Carlos Zambrano, to a one year $12 million dollar contract. Both sides claimed they did not want to go to arbitration where the Cubs would spend time downplaying Zambrano's value. The Cubs offered $11 million while Zambrano's agent wanted $15 million. Did not the Cubs win by having the final number be more near to their number than Zambrano's? Why won't Zambrano have the same ill feelings for the Cubs that he had if it would have gone to arbitration? Either way, the Cubs should get a long term deal in place by Opening Day.

Ugh

2007-02-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

An ugly way to lose a basketball game like Marquette did to Louisville last night. The fact that a guy hits a 25 foot three does not bother me, especially when their guard brought the ball up the floor and then dribbled parallel to the baseline, before he made the past. Other things bothered me. 3 huge missed free throws in the last minute, one each by the sophomore trifecta. McNeal doubled his mistake by missing the front end of a one and one. Marquette should have blown Louisville out, especially with Padgett on the sidelines for so long with foul trouble and they didn't. As Dennis Green said, "We let them off the hook."

Much has been made over Jerry Smith's reaction after the game. He took off his jersey and ran to the opposite end of the floor/ bench and almost knocked over a MU fan sitting on that end of the floor. I really don't see anything wrong with that. We encourage students to come up with clever chants and to make fun of the other team. We can't get upset if an opposing player gives it right back, it would be hypocritical to demand this. The other team deserves to show as much class as we do as fans.

Spring Training
I'm excited again, although I don't know if I ever haven't been excited. One of the more interesting subplots has been Felix Pie and Alfonso Soriano hanging out all of the time. This is leading to a Pie July call up and Jones trade for some kind of help in July. I'm not guaranteeing it, but I could definately see it happening at this time.

The Trifecta

2007-01-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

After Marquette knocked off Pittsburgh, my old roommate called and wondered if he could pull of the trifecta today. Arsenal had already beaten Manchester United; Marquette beat Pittsburgh in OT; and the Bears were on their way to finishing off the Saints. And it all happened unbeleivably.

I missed most of the 3rd quarter of the Bears game watching the last 5 minutes and the OT of the Marquette game. After MU lost to Syracuse a couple of weeks ago, I was very unhappy by the lack of progress, especially in attacking the zone and the free throw shooting. They have started to shoot 3 pointers better. That has allowed teams to throw different looks and have allowed the trifecta to get to the basket. For some reason, I do not know why teams do not just stand in a zone and force MU to make everything from the outside. UConn played man to man, both Louisville and West Virginia played attacking zones, and Pittsburgh was playing a mix today. As MU plays less athletic teams, I'm assuming they will see more zone and less man to man. I think the next couple of games will be just as hard as the last few were. I thought they would be 4-2 at this point, and they are 4-2, so congratulations to Coach Crean.

The Bears played well today after Reggie Bush taunted them on his way to the endzone, making it 16-14. After that play, the Saints did not score a point the rest of the game and the Bears scored 23. I did not want to see the Colts in the Super Bowl. The Patriots were a team that the Bears should have beaten in November. I'm thinking of Manning picking apart the Bears secondary on their way to a 35-17 victory at this point. I do want the Bears to win to shut up all of my friends from Northwest Indiana who are Colts fans. Move to Bloomington or Indy and become a Colts fan. That's crappy. I moved to Milwaukee and didn't become a Packer fan, thank God.

Andre Dawson

2007-01-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

A resounding yes for Hall of Fame. So he only gets two of the Hall of Fame measurements on Baseball Reference. If you look at who Dawson is compared most to, he is compared to 5 Hall of Famers and 5 who are not. I think he deserves to see who the Hall would match up with the Expos or the Cubs. I think it might be cool to see an individual make the Hall of Fame from a franchise that doesn't exist anymore.

As for 2007, the Cubs should and will contend. I'm very statistical and it makes sense that the Cubs should make it back in the playoffs every 4 years. There are 16 teams in the National League and with 4 teams making the playoffs, you should get in the playoffs once every four years. It just makes too much sense to me. And it would be funny to see the Cubs win it 99 years after their last championship. It would be the baseball gods laughing to say, you thought we would make it 100, but we stopped it at 99. I plan on going to many Thursday afternoon games this summer, and I only wish for a winner.

Lee Smith, Hall of Fame?

2006-12-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm going to say no. Baseball Reference has great statistics that put an individual in place against other hall of famers. Lee Smith only has one out of four possible stats that could put him the Hall of Fame. For that reason, I would vote no. I'm already skewed by my Cubness anyway.

The Most Unnecessary Cubs Story Ever

2006-12-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

I went to Cubs.com today, as I always do and I read the main story by Marc Jimenez. Jimenez wrote of the Cub prospects in the Winter Leagues and how they are doing. Answer: Not so hot. Six of the Cubs mentioned in the article have not played in the month of December. Long story short: Angle Guzman- OK, Felix Pie- Brian Anderson.

Ted Lilly in the Fold with Daryle Ward

2006-12-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

I already commented about Ted Lilly, but today it was made official. The Cubs showed good financial judgement for once by giving him more many down the line, making the contract look less now and probably more in line with other starting pitchers in 4 years. I like this deal for the fact that they are not blocking somebody in the minor leagues that is potentially as good as him now. They also did not outbid many other teams seeing that Miguel Batista got $9 million from Seattle.

I also like the Daryle Ward signing for $1 million. He is a major upgrade over Todd Hollandsworth and at least provides a left handed bat against the right handed closers in the National League (Lidge, Wainright).

Give it to Jim

2006-12-07T20:45:00.000-08:00

Jim Hendry signed a starting pitcher just before he got an angioplasty. Cub fans should not be poking fun at this guy for a long time. He has delivered a bunch of talent while batteling a heart ailment. I haven't commented on any of the Cubs offseason moves, so I will start with Ted Lily. The Cubs paid a lot for Lily, but the contract is backloaded so more will be paid in the future when his salary might be in line with his previous production. I don't know if I should be happy or dissapointed that they outbid the Yankees for him. I'm happy because the Cubs put together a better package than the mighty Yankees. I'm dissapointed that the Cubs were competing with the Yankees seeing the pitchers the Yankees have gone after the past couple of years (Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown). What the Cubs have proved is that this offseason they were willing to overspend to get players that they wanted. They should be given some recognition for doing something different.

5. Can the Cubs compete next year without signing Aramis Ramirez?

2006-10-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

5. Can the Cubs compete next year without signing Aramis Ramirez? The Cub Reporter.

Yes, but they have to sign or trade for somebody to make up for his bat. I think they have to find another bat somewhere with Aramis coming back anyway. I think Aramis should be the number one priority for the Cubs in terms of their own players next year, before Kerry Wood or Juan Pierre.

4. There were far too many things that went wrong with the club to address in this space, was there anything that went right?

2006-10-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Question #4: There were far too many things that went wrong with the club to address in this space, was there anything that went right?

I will list them: Michael Barrett having another good off-season, Ryan Theriot, Aramis's second half, Jacques Jones playing about as good as he could have, Matt Murton, Angel Pagan as a backup outfielder, Carlos's good pitching performance, Rich Hill's second half, Bob Howry and Scott Eyre.

3. At what point did you give up your playoff aspirations for the 2006 Cubs?

2006-10-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

3. At what point did you give up your playoff aspirations for the 2006 Cubs? The Cub Reporter.

I did not give up initially after the Lee injury. I think they went into St. Louis and won one out of three, not too bad and then won two out of three from Florida. However, after that they got smoked in back to back days by Milwaukee, I think by a combined score of 25-2 and then didn't win a game in Arizona or San Diego when they didn't have any offense. I think I gave up right around then.

Assuming Dusty joins the unemployment line, what do you want out of the next Cubs manger in terms of personality and qualities. Is there an individual

2006-10-06T21:22:00.000-07:00

Question #2

The Cub Reporter. Assuming Dusty joins the unemployment line, what do you want out of the next Cubs manger in terms of personality and qualities. Is there an individual you have in mind?

I would like a manager that can manager both the team and the players. I think that a good manager can be an excellent motivator but at the same time sacrfice his players for the team. I want a manager that makes good lineup decisions (no Bynum or Perez batting second or first). I want a manger who "tells it like it is." Blames himself before anybody else, but is not afraid to let the team know that they are not playing up to their expectations. I do not expect the manager to call out a player publicly, but privately, I hope they do.

I think Joe Girardi is the best person for this position. Macdonough is right, the Cubs need someone that's been with the organization before.

Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, sum up his tenure in 2 sentences or less

2006-10-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Again, like last year, I'll follow The Cub Reporter and their end of the season questions.

It was great, it was fun, and it's over.

I think I saw that quote in of those Brady Bunch movies that my little sister loved growing up. 2003 was great, all of Dusty's quotes were fun, and I'm glad it's finally over.

Bye Bye Andy

2006-10-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, the 2006 Cubs season ended this afternoon with a win over the Rockies. I can't say I watched a lot of this season, because I started work and other excuses. The Cubs did something extraordinary after the game, when they let team president Andy Macphail go. It's obvious that changes needed to be made and Macphail was exactly right when he said two playoffs in his 12 years was unacceptable.

I know what many people may disagree with me, but I really like the choice of John McDonough as choice for new team president. I saw McDonough's press conference and his two main points were: 1. the World Series championship is the only goal for this team, and anything else should be working towards that. 2. He emphasized the fans as being a focal point and they deserved much more than the Cubs have given him. McDonough was a marketing genius for this team and it showed in the attendance numbers for this sucky team, including this year. I don't know how much control he will have over personnel decisions or salaries, but I think he has the right attitude to allow the Cubs to progress towards that elusive championship.

Adam LaRoche vs. Jason Johnson

2006-09-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

Outside the Lines, one of the few non-game good shows on ESPN, had an interesting topic today on Adam LaRoche, 1st baseman of the Atlanta Braves. Apparently, LaRoche has Attention Deficit Disorder. It affected him to the point this season, where he forgot to cover 1st base on a dropped 3rd strike and instead just stared at the bat that had been thrown accidently by the batter. LaRoche was prescribed a drug that is on the MLB banned list as a stimulant. The argument can be made in both cases. LaRoche should not be on the drugs because it is a performance enhancement and his performance has definately benefited. They showed a graphic where LaRoche was hitting about one hundred points higher after going on the medication. Dwight Stone, the US Track and Field President, said that LaRoche should not be allowed to be on this medication simply because it has been banned. And it makes sense, the medication is a performance enhancing drug. I think Stone missed the point in that there is a big difference between track and baseball. I did both and can safely say that baseball requires some thinking. Track requires some thinking, but it never really changes, where baseball can change from pitch to pitch.

The other side of the argument is that LaRoche needs the medication to perform his job. This is also true, but where does baseball draw the line? I space out all of the time at work, do I need medication? I thought more about this while watching the Cubs game today. Jason Johnson, from the Reds, was wearing and Insulin pump. I don't think that anyone would argue that Johnson needs to use this pump during the game, otherwise he could slip into a diabetic coma. However, how close are Johnson and LaRoche? LaRoche certainly would not die if he didn't take his medication, however it still helps, just as much as it helps Johnson and his insulin. So where is the difference? This will be a bigger issue as drugs become more prevalent with more options.

Braves 2- Cubs 1

2006-09-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

The Cubs offense was pathetic again today, losing 2-1 to the Braves. In one inning, Henry Blanco led off with a triple, only to have the next three guys fail to get him in. Tommorrow Rich Hill goes to save a second sweep from Atlanta. The last time the Cubs won in Atlanta was April of 2004. Hill has been much better lately. I think he deserves to have a spot in the rotation next season with Zambrano, Marshall, and hopefully Prior. The Cubs also need to possibly go out and spend free agent money on another starter to fill out the rotation.

Bears 26- Packers 0
Geez, maybe I should have out of Milwaukee this summer. It would have been awesome seeing all of the Packer fans at the Annex today. Much like the Cubs look like a little league team against the Braves, the Packers looked like the JV against the varsity Bears. The Packers were outplayed and outcoached in about every aspect of the game. To think, I actually picked against the Bears this week, whoops.

The ABC Sunday Night Movie
I can understand why individuals would be upset that they were being inappropriately portrayed in a very sensitive subject of a movie. The thing about this movie though, was that it sucked. I applaud anybody who watched more than 15 minutes of in a row. The Democrats should have not wasted their time, because I will almost guarantee when the ratings come out, they will suck, especially against the NFL opening weekend, and the first primtime Sunday night public television broadcast maybe ever.

The Cubs Failures

2006-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

In the past month, this Cubs team has turned into one of the worst I have ever seen. One of my roommates asked me the other day, "Why do you still watch the games?" I told him I don't know, but I secretly believe that it's my secret duty or something. Tonight they couldn't pitch or hit or play good defense, same old same old. It seriously looks the Cubs are the really bad little league team who is playing all of the good teams right now.

The Cubs Really Suck

2006-09-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

But I don't want to dwell on that failure. I'll dwell on another failure the United States Baseketball team. First, the fact that this championship got one tenth the coverage of the World Cup, shows America how signficant soccer really is. But I hate how everybody is poo- pooing the United States as if their loss was somehow premediated. Huh? America is the best basketball country in the world, by far. We should not be beating any country by less than 20 points. All this stuff about how other countries are catching up is BS. Look at the NBA draft, 90% of the players are from the US. Has any foriegn player ever won MVP or the NBA Finals MVP? I don't think so. The US was a failure in this World Championship.

Now many people wonder why they were so bad, no team game, can't shoot, blah, blah, blah. I knew this team wouldn't win anything when I got up at 5:30 to go to work and Dwyane was not starting. The NBA Finals MVP, one of the top two best players in the NBA was on the bench. Did this make sense to anybody at all? The US media and Coach K played this off as Dwyane being a team player and a nice guy, which he is. I have no idea why Coach K didn't laugh at Dwyane and say, that is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. He should have said "Dwyane, seriously, you are one of the best players in the world, you will be starting for our team." But Coach K took it seriously and BENCHED the NBA Finals MVP.

The real US failure is the fact that they have not taken the NBA game to international game. Many people are right, in that traveling is called, you are less likely to get a call when barrelling down the lane. Here's the thing about the US team, there are too MANY good players. And instead of one dominting, they all pass off to each other. It's good team play, but none of them are used to it. What they should do is designate one guy each game to be their go to guy and dominate, set the offense around them and play. I hope Coach K told Dwyane at the start of the 4th quarter to do whatever he wanted to do against Argentina. That's why Dwyane dominated and the US won. The US has to figure out how to balance all of the good players with the aspect of somehow being a team.

Cubs 11- Brewers 4

2006-07-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

I got to attend both last night and this afternoon's games in Milwaukee. Last night the Cubs looked the 2006 Cubs and won, while today they looked like the 2003 Cubs. The 3 game winning streak was a breath of fresh air, however it should not change the Cubs position as sellers. I almost think that the Wood injury finally told this team that they have to rely on themselves, not some guy coming off the DL to help them win games. As for Wood, I would only sign him to a hugely incentive laden contract for 2007, so we'll just have to see. Go Cubs.

Brewers 2- Cubs 0

2006-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

The Cubs lost again tonight, this time behind the offense "pitching blaming" Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez himself cost the Cubs a possible great inning, when he tried to stretch a double into a triple, while jogging to first base. You know you're not hustling when Bob Brenly groans at you. Greg Maddux pitched well again tonight and some believe that he will get traded to a contender. Maddux only deserves to get traded if he wants to be traded and that's it. The guy is a Hall of Famer and deserves to do things on his own terms and not let the Cubs screw him for the second time. I'm headed to Milwaukee this weekend for Saturday and Sunday's games. Go Cubs.

Tigers 12- Cubs 3

2006-06-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

After a succesful road trip, the Cubs went 0-6 at home. I got to witness yesterday's 9-3 loss and there wasn't much to say about that one, just like there was nothing to write about today's game. Even if the Cubs pitching lets up 5 runs, they still lose this game, because the offense really sucks. Mark Prior pretty much looked like Glendon Rusch the guy he replaced on the roster when Rusch went on the DL before the game. Hopefully Rusch can get back to showcase his skills for a possible July trade. His back spasms sound like something he's had and played with for a while. Now a tough road trip to Cleveland and Minnesota, two teams that really scare me, but just about any team scares me these days, besides Pittsburgh and Kansas City and maybe Baltimore.

Czech Republic 3- USA 0

2006-06-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Wow. That's about all I could think watching this game. As I talked to the Puget Hound (former roommate and soccer expert), his reaction was, "Well, it didn't really surprise me." I kind of felt the same way. It wasn't as if the US got cheated by the Czech or anything. All three goals were awesome shots and executed perfectly. I wish the US had done more with their possessions, but they couldn't connect at all. If you didn't see Bruce Arena's interview today, it was basically nobody showed up including Donovan and Beasley, although Oneywu, Convey and Eddie Johnson played pretty well. The US has a huge hill to climb, but they still "control their destiny" so to say. We'll see if it happens.

Cubs 9- Reds 3

2006-06-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

The Cubs got a bunch of things right today: 1. Hit home runs with guys on base. They did that 3 times while the Reds hit 3 solo home runs. 2. Bat Neifi Perez 8th when he plays, and look how he responded. 3. Play Phil Nevin. With a team starving for offense, I have no idea why he doesn't play against right handers. He would be the leading home run hitter with his AL home runs. I know that his splits against right handers aren't very good, but neither are Jaques Jones's against left handers and he's been run out there a bunch this week against left handers. 4. Bring up a pitcher that will throw strikes. It was a great debut for Carlos Marmol, a guy that likes to challenge hitters. That being said, I hope he does not stay in the rotation, meaning Kerry Wood and/ or Mark Prior are back in their every day situations. A great road trip, even with the hick up in Houston Wednesday.

The Heat
The Heat lost Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight, getting blown out by the Mavericks. Really nobody on the Heat had a good game, sans James Posey, even Wade. Antoine Walker for as good as he was on the offensive end, was awful defensively. He was always out of position, making poor decisions running at shooters or helping. In the middle of the 4th as the Heat were making a decent run, Antoine decided to double whoever was bringing the ball up, leaving his man, Jerry Stackhouse wide open for a 3, putting the real end to the game. The Heat are in real trouble if Udonis Haslem cannot come back from whatever shoulder injury he has. The Heat do not have anybody his size to guard Nowitzki or rebound. Speakin gof Nowitzki, I still don't see it. He has been awful defensively the last two games. For a guy his size, he should at least challenge shots. Tonight on a Wade break, he looked way to European, when Dwyane turned him around twice. Dwyane's going to try to score, you need to go to the basket, not spin away from it. I can see it now, if the Mavericks win. It will be all about how Dirk is such a great player that he defers to his teammates when he needed to win a title. Whatever.

Cubs 4- Reds 2

2006-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Michael Barrett's grand slam in the 7th inning won the game for the Cubs tonight. That and Carlos Zambrano's great pitching performance. Both of these individuals are good possibilities for the All-Star team, although Barrett may have a tough time after he slugged AJ. As Bob Brenly pointed out tonight, the Cubs drew 6 walks as a team tonight, most after the 5th inning. Juan Pierre also used his speed to keep the seventh inning alive, forcing an errant throw to first. The Cubs did leave the bases loaded twice after that however, oppurtunites that would could have busted the game wide open. Tommorrow, I am very interested to see Carlos Marmol make his major league starting debut. The one thing that I liked about him in his two appearances was the ability throw first pitch strikes. That will almost always make a pitcher succesful.

Season Over

2006-05-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

It was official two weeks ago but the Cubs season is over. There will be no playoffs this season and the World Series drought will hit 99 years. So what is left to do this season. If I was GM, here is what I would do:

1. DFA both Neifi Perez and Tony Womack. Both serve no purpose on this team. Perez is supposed to be a defensive whizz and has made three huge critical errors this season. Womack is terrible at bat and in the field. They should not be around next season and the Cubs can probably get more production with a lot less money by somebody in the minors. Also it doesn't allow Dusty to play them over Cedeno or Murton (3-4 today by the way).

2. Trade Juan Pierre. Al suggested this a couple of weeks ago. Again Juan and his .280 OBP will get out of the leadoff spot and he serves no purpose for this team. If you want to bring up Felix Pie, this might be the season to do it. There is no pressure on the young players to do stuff this year, with no need to win anymore.

3. Hold on to Scott Williamson and Glendon Rusch and then trade them in mid to late July when teams are looking for extra pitching help. Jerome Williams could take Rusch's spot as the long man, and the Cubs have two very good set up men along with a good closer. I will not include the last two Dempster outings in his assessment. He has been awesome the last two years.

4. Do NOT trade Todd Walker, unless he asks for it. He was jerked around all last winter and finally stayed here and he has been a great asset in moving to first base when Lee got injured. He deserves to spend the rest of the season here if he asks for it.

Those are my ideas along with changing the batting order. Juan Pierre is pulling a Corey Patterson (Cub days) at the leadoff spot. He needs to get out there. I plugged the Cubs lineup into the Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis and got this lineup:
1. Todd Walker
2. Michael Barrett
3. Aramis Ramirez
4. Matt Murton
5. Jacques Jones
6. Juan Pierre
7. Ronny Cedeno
8. Jerry Hairston (whoever plays 2B)
9. Pitcher

Better than anything Dusty has run out there recently.

Lost Series/ Season?

2006-05-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

The Cubs lost again today to be swept by the Padres. It marks the first time the Cubs have ever not won a game versus a national league team during the course of the season. They were 0-7 versus the Padres. Today the Cubs brought out some pink bats to help breast cancer, however it didn't help the hitting as the Cubs logged a great two hits the entire game. They also allowed two runs to score on wild pitches on the same batter by Scott Williamson. Brian Giles walked 5 times today, tying a major league record. There were no positives about the game today. Even Jae Kuk Ryu made his major league debut walking two and hitting one while allowing an earned run in one inning of work. There is still time to turn this season around, but it is running out, quickly. They have the Nationals coming into town, so now is the time to start winning series and turning the season around.

The Cubs

2006-05-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a long time for various reasons, but the last week has been dissapointing for the Cubs to say the least. I was at the game last Sunday when they looked listless against a very good Brewer team. Since then they have played 7 more games and have won one of them, Monday against the Pirates. And according to many statistics, they are lucky to even have this many wins. It's not that the Cubs are unlucky, at this point they just are not very good. But what can you do as a fan, except take one game at a time starting with another Maddux start tommorrow night.

If you haven't heard, help is on the way. 12 strikeouts in 5 innings is impressive at any level. If anything, he might be able to hit left handed pitchers better than Jones or Pierre.

Mike North
If you are not from Chicago, Mike North is the morning radio host on the main Chicago sports radio station, the Score. Like many radio hosts, North has a big mouth and I really only listen to him while I'm getting dressed. But in that short amount of time, he has some real astounding things the past couple of days. So I'll try and report those more here and then report why he's wrong.

#1 Joe Crede compared to Ron Santo and Brooks Robinson

Granted, Mike North did say that he wasn't comparing them, but said Crede is approaching their abilities. I don't understand the obsession over Crede. One of the Score's commercial's has North saying that he would rather have Joe Crede over Aramis Ramirez, because of defense. North is entitled to that opinion, but I would tend to believe that 29 general managers in baseball would choose Ramirez ove Crede. Back to my point, here are Crede's numbers for his career before this season: OPS+ of 91. Ran Santo in his 15 year career: 125. Brooks Robinson in his 23 year career: 104. In fact his storied defense is ranked 12th in Range Factor this season, behind even, you guessed it, Aramis Ramirez. I think Joe Crede is a great 3rd baseman for the White Sox, he just isn't great. As baseball reference points out, he's more like Pedro Feliz, Casey Blake and Russ Davis.

Prior Injured

2006-03-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard the news, which I'm sure most of you have, Mark Prior has a strained subscapularis muscle which has shut him down for the time being. The subscapularis is a muscle that sits on the bottom side of your shoulder blade (the same side as the ribs). Its main action is to internally rotate the shoulder. If you held your elbow at your side at a 90 degree angle, an internal rotation motion would be to keep this elbow angle and bring your hand from your side to your stomach. Right now Prior is pain free with this motion at his side, but still has some pain with the motion at shoulder height. The Cubs have much more knowledgeable people working on this than me, so I trust them to do the right thing. Just another dissapointing Spring Training for the Cubs, hopefully they can turn it around.

Marquette
I didn't get to much of the game Thursday because I was at work, so I don't have much to comment on. This article appeared in the Journal Sentinel this morning about the loss of Novak for next season. Nobody will replace Novak next season. The three freshmen, Mortenson, and Fitzgerald along with the new recruits will be better shooters, but Steve was automatic this season and that will be sorely missed.

Big Sports Day

2006-03-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

Congrats first to Arsenal who by tying Real Madrid today advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. In soccer they play a best of 2 and the tie-breaker goes like this: 1. number of wins, 2. goal differential, 3. away goals. Arsenal was able to win at Real Madrid with an away goal, so they won today even with the tie. Congrats to them (and my old buddy Sean) after a rough Premiere League season.

World Baseball Classic
I got to see the US- Canada game today and was pleasantly surprised with the quality and intensity of the play. The US lost 8-6, but I'm a firm believer that if you have decent pitching which Canada did today, the playing field ends up being pretty level. In baseball, you have limited oppurtunities to score unlike other major sports like basketball or hockey. You only have so many oppurtunities to score, making it hard for a team to come back from an 8-0 deficit like the US had to today. Hopefully Canada can knock off Mexico and the US will beat South Africa to move to the semi-finals.

Cubs
This article appeared on cubs.com and basically states the Cubs mission this year: stay healthy and they have the ability to do a lot of good things. The Cubs had excellent health in '03 sans Prior running into Marcus Giles, and Sosa getting hit in the head, and lead them to the playoffs. If Wood can come back May 1st and stay healthy and Prior stays healthy, they have the ability to win the division. Both the Astros and the Cardinals took steps back last year and the Brewers are still a little young, but scary. The bullpen is improved. The offense should be better with Pierre and Murton/ Walker hitting in front of Lee and Ramirez. It all comes back to health and the Cubs have been unlucky the last two years; they should be luckier this year.

Marquette
Tommorrow is MU's first Big East conference tournament game ever. I'm hoping we start out better in the Big East than we finished in Conference USA. Our record since '00-'01 in Conference USA was 3-4, 1-3 if you take out the '01-02' tournament when MU went to the championship game. Unfortunately, MU plays Georgetown which will give them problems like they did on February 16th. Georgetown has a great frontcourt that MU will struggle with. Fortunately, Georgetown is/was an awful shooting team from the outside. It will be close, but Georgetown 66- Marquette 65.

More Injuries

2006-03-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

Kerry Wood could not last two weeks in Spring Training this year before having surgery for a torn right medial meniscus. This injury orginally concerned me, because the right leg is the plant/ rotation leg during the pitching motion. However Wood only complained of symptoms while running, not pitching. All along I believed that he would be back around April 15th, now I'm thinking May 1st with the knee not allowing him to throw for 10 days.

Olympics

2006-02-26T20:57:00.000-08:00

So what's the big deal with the lack of medals for the US in the Winter Olympics? The United States has a serious superiority complex where we have to win in everything, including medal counts. Well I hate to break it to you US, but we suck at the Winter Olympics and we pretty much always have. Back in 1994, just 12 years ago, the US finished 5th in the medal count with a paltry 13 medals. In 1998, we finished 5th again with again 13 medals. Only in 2002 when all of the American sports (snowboarding) got put into the Olympics did the US actually start doing well.

So as you can see, the US (Bode Miller, Michelle Kwan) were pretty much a bust this year, didn't win enough medals, blah, blah blah..., don't let people tell you that. It's a lie.

Middle of the Big East

2006-02-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

My computer access has been limited lately by my moving into another new place, and the fact I work 42+ hours a week. I did get to sit down and watch the Villanova game. I wish the foul shot discrepancy was a little closer to see who would have won then, but oh well.

In a post before the Big East season, I thought we would go 5-11 and now we stand at 6-4 with 6 games left, 3 at home and 3 away. If the tournament would start today, I think MU would be in. They still need to play well in the last six to get in. Here's how I think it will go:

@ Rutgers L
Georgetown W
Pittsburgh W
@ Notre Dame L
@ Louisville L
Providence W

The first five are all games that could go either way. I think if MU finishes 3-3 and 9-7 they will go to the NCAAs. As I said before the season started, this team is much better than last year's. They just need to play under control at times. When they do, they look terrfic. I really enjoy this team; just wish more of the away games were on television.

MU 94- UCONN 79

2006-01-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a game. I'm happy to say that I was dead wrong with the post I wrote below. A couple of things stood out to me.

1. UConn played and acted as if they were the #2 team in America and that alone would carry them to victory. When they came out for warmups before the game, the MU student section booed. One UConn player put his hand up to his ear as if to say, "I can't hear you." I thought that was really arrogant. The play that defined the game happened in the second half. Rudy Gay made an athletic rebound/ put back and screamed and pounded his chest at the MU student section. Promptly, he lost Novak through a screen on the other end and Novak hit a 3. With all of the negatives of UConn in the media, I would like to add that I do not want to see them again until the championship of the Big East tournament. They are big and athletic.

2. Marquette is really benefitting from the athletic freshmen. James and McNeal can get to the basket and also see the floor for the shooters (last Novak and Chapman as well). No offense to Diener, but he couldn't create the space that those two did last night to dish after they got in the lane.

3. The crowd was great, I really enjoyed the game. I still think we need one more big win to solidify our chances for the NCAA. Marquette was awesome last night and hopefully they can carry it on to Saturday's matchup.

The Big East Begins

2006-01-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Tommorrow, I'm headed up to Milwaukee for the UConn game. I'm not expecting much from MU, especially with the Wes Matthews injury, but who knows what can happen. I hope the atmosphere can match some of great C-USA games of the Wade/Diener seasons. I thought I would put down what I thought MU would do in their conference games and their chances of getting to the tournament.

UConn. L
Cincy L
@ Seton Hall L
@ West Virgina L
@ Depaul L
ND W
Depaul W
@ Pittsburgh L
St. John's W
@ Villanova L
@ Rutgers L
Geogetown W
Pittsburgh L
@ ND L
@ Louisville L
Providence W

5-11. I don't see us playing well on the road, obviously. I think that can improve though and they will be better at the end of the season. To make the tournament though, I really think they only need to go 8-8 with that schedule and make the tournament. We shall see. As for tommorrow night, UConn. 75- MU 64.

Sportsnation

2005-12-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

I got the ESPN the Magazine and saw that it was the annual review of sports organizations. I like it because it ranks teams across sports comparing the Spurs to the Packers, etc.. I don't like it, because most of the time the Chicago teams are ranked pretty low. I know that these rankings do not reflect the fan bases of various teams, but it feels like a slap in the face. This study looked at 1529 fans. Huh? You could find 1529 Cubs fans to take this survey. There are 70 million? people that watch the Super Bowl and you can only find 1529 people to take the survey. Whatever. I started to read through the teams and I got to this quote about the Braves, "fans pay bit more than half as much as those at Wrigley- and they're still paying in October." There are a couple of things that are assumed with this statement that are wrong. 1. The article makes it sound like the Braves sell out as much as the Cubs do, which is completely false. The Braves ranked 18th in home attendance percentage between Detroit and Florida. That's pretty poor for a playoff team. 2. The prices are low because the owners want to keep their fans happy. That's wrong too. If the Braves had the same fan base as the Cubs, they could jack up the prices just as high. And they would do it, it's all about supply and demand.

Bottom line: Don't compare the Braves and the Cubs in terms of fan bases. Leave it to championships if you want to make the Braves look good.

Juan Pierre/ MU-Wisconsin

2005-12-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

Juan Pierre is officially a Cub as of Wednesday. I really like him as a player. He scared the crap out of me when he was on the Marlins. You knew anytime a ball was hit into the outfield, he was first to third, or second to him, automatically. Any ball in the gap, he can score from first. That's why he's scary. Now if he can get on base with the pace of Furcal, his defense can be forgotten about. I like this move and I think another big one has to be made to be a serious contender in the Central.

MU-Wisconsin
As I did for Louisville last year, I will countdown the four MU-Wisconsin games I have been to in my six years at Marquette.

#4- December 23, 2000#16 Wisconsin 52- Marquette 47

This game was a pretty poor affair. I think it was the last time that Marquette did not make a 3-pointer in a game. The Bradley Center was a major pro-Wisconsin crowd. My dad sat in the balcony and we were in the minority. There were no student tickets for this game and I remember I saw a red shirt sitting in my seat. Grrrrrr. This was the last game of the Final Four class for Wisconsin: Kelly, Vershaw, Boone and they were definately the better team. I didn't think the score was that close looking back on it.

#3- December 22, 2001 Wisconsin 86- Marquette 73

I did the eight hour round trip to Madison and back in one day. I brought my best friend who was at West Point to the game. He wore my Cincy middle finger shirt, but taped over the Cincy and wrote Wisconsin. I don't think my skinny ass could have worn that shirt, but he definately could have. So we get to the game and are waiting to enter. There is a younger MU fan in front of us in line with a MU flag on a stick. The ushers at the Kohl Center made him take the flag off. My friend and I started "you suck" chants at the usher and kept yelling stuff like, "You ruined his Christmas." The game was okay. Kirk Penny went for 33? Wade was stuck on the bench with 2 early fouls, the infamous "wipe-away" calls. MU made a couple of second half runs that kept in close, but this game was a blowout.

#2- December 14, 2003- Marquette 63- Wisconsin 54

This was MU's "hump" game. Crean had never beaten Ryan. We were the better team in '02 and lost. MU needed this game. This was also Todd Townsend's most famous moment ever at MU. He hit 3 threes, including one late in the game, off balance, with the shot clock running down. After the game, MU's players stormed the court, like it was a huge win. My dad's quote: "They haven't won anything yet." But that was the first of many big wins that season.

#1- December 11, 2004- Marquette 63- #22 Wisconsin 54

I was in clinical six hours away from Milwaukee but still made the trip for this one. MU, behind Diener and Novak, jumped out early and Wisconsin did not recover. The highlight of last season by far. I still remember the front page of the Journal-Sentinel with a huge picture of a smiling Diener. It looked like Diener was thinking, "Screw you Wisconsin, I came to Marquette and we just kicked your ass."

As for tommorrow, MU does not need as much as Wisconsin. Wisconsin at home should win and I think they will 68-61.

Overpaying for Production?

2005-12-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

Rafeal Furcal turned down the Cubs five year deal and instead signed with the Dodgers for 3 years and $39 million. Many across the CBA were upset over the fact that the Cubs did not sign him, while many were putting their faith behind Hendry to work some magic at the Winter Meetings. I'm torn between all this. I'm dissapointed that the Cubs did not sign Furcal. At the same time, I thought 3 years and $39 million was way too much, just like I thought last year's deal with Beltran was way too much. But at what point, does being thrifty not pay out? The Beltran deal looks pretty good right now. Hopefully, it will work out for the Cubs, in their favor again.

Improving the Bullpen?

2005-11-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

Well if you asked who were the first two guys the Cubs should sign in the off-season, my answer would not have been Scott Eyre and Bob Howry. These are the two guys Hendry got however to improve one of the weakest bullpens in the National League last year. If anything, the Cubs will not be one of the teams in the middle of July trading prospects for middle relief, like they did in 1998 (Garland for Karchner). If Dusty uses these guys properly, like having Howry face left handed hitters, this will be a terrfic bullpen, especially for the price. BJ Ryan got $47 million while Billy Wagner got $43 millon. Ryan Dempster for $15 million is a steal. I love it when the Mets spend ridiculous amounts of money, just to overpay somebody.

Big MU game tommorrow. We'll see what happens in Lincoln on their first true road test.

Long Time No Post, MU GAS Champions!!!!!!!!

2005-11-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a terrific game as MU pulled out a 92-89 victory over South Carolina. This team already plays with some type of "flair" that makes them more fun to watch than both of the last two seasons. Amoroso was spectacular and did what he was supposed to do, although I was surprised by all of the 3's. If the big guys want to foul out going hard on both defensive boards, that's fine with me. Amoroso was aggressive all over the floor tonight and it paid off. Novak as well, did a nice job of picking his spots and ended up with a boatload of points as well. An awesome Marquette win for sure.

MVP= Shamockery

2005-11-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here was my post on Bleed Cubbie Blue tonight:

A couple of months ago there was a guy on 60 minutes who had the misfortune of giving the money away to WTC victims from the government I think. He talked a lot about how hard it was to hear stories from families. Unfortunately, he said there was nothing he could do about, he had to look at everything objectively. How you can put one who had called before the tower came down over a firefighter? He said you can't. It was tough for people to realize that, but he had to be objective.

A long story, but that's how I feel about the MVP. You can't judge how good a player is "in the locker room" or how hard he "hustles", although they are making better base running stats now. I think you have to look at things objectively. And objectively, Andruw Jones should have finished about 10th.

Marquette Exhibition #2

2005-11-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

I posted this reflection on Ring Out Ahoya.

1. Lott reminds me of David Robinson in a way. Of course, I'm not saying he's nearly as good, but he runs the floor well and he just looks like Robinson. Robinson was my favorite player growing up, maybe that's why I'm comparing the two.

2. Novak was a beast tonight offensively. After his blocked shot, I turned to my friend and asked, "As Novak turned a corner?" It looks a little like a Wardle senior year.

3. Something has to be done about James's muscle cramps. If it takes the guy an hour to stretch before a game, he needs to do it. From impressions tonight, we need the maximum amount of minutes from at the PG position. Obviously I'm not working with him, but there are studies that say many cramps are neuromuscular related and a good stretching program can help to prevent them.

Coaching Football 101

2005-11-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

I was studying most of the morning-early afternoon so I missed most of the 11 start games. However, I did get to see some of the Auburn- Georgia game tonight. I was flipping between that and the Bulls. Anyway, in the 4th quarter tonight, Georgia scores a touchdown to go up 26-21 before the PAT. They lined up going for 2 and got called for back to back delay of games moving them back to the 13 yard line. So one would think, they would just try again with a longer play? Nope, they kicked a PAT to make it 27-21. Huh? Did that make sense to anybody? I guess if Auburn is able to kick 2 field goals they would 27-26, but go for it. You have nothing to lose. If Auburn scores a touchdown (which they did), the score is 28-26. You can still kick a field goal to go ahead, which Georgia did. Unfortunately, Auburn drove the ball down and kicked basically an extra point to go up 31-30. If Georgia had gone for 2 and gotten it the game would have been tied. The chances of that happening were probably pretty slim from the 13, but there is really no point not to.

Neifi?

2005-11-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard the news, Neifi Perez is back with the Cubs with a 2 year deal for around $5 million dollars. This one doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, except for one reason and I'll get to it in a second. Here's what we have learned about Neifi, he's a no-hit, terrfic glove player. He deserves to be in as a defensive replacment late in games and that's it. Your Cub short stop options right now for next year seem to be Furcal and Ronny Cedeno. You have signed Todd Walker for next year to play second or to trade him. If you keep Cedeno, Furcal, and Walker you have 3 terrific middle infielders right there. Walker isn't great defensively, but Cedeno and Furcal are pretty good. So where does Neifi fit into this? If Walker needs to come at the end of games, Cedeno can play second. Neifi has no place on this team if you keep the guys you have now and sign Furcal. The signing of Furcal is the only reason to keep Neifi. Supposedly, he was quoted as saying that Neifi was one of his friends. So signing Neifi, helps the Cubs get Furcal. Makes sense, otherwise we're stuck with the same bench players playing in roles that aren't good for them.

Sports Reporters/ BCS

2005-11-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite shows on TV on Sunday morning is Sports Reporters on ESPN. It's about the only thing I watch before church. They basically sit around and yell about crap that they have no idea about. Today's topic: the BCS. Jeez, the BCS is not perfect by any means, but it is better than about any other system that's out there without a playoff. For one thing, the season has about 4 weeks left to sort more things out. As everyone saw this weekend with Virginia Tech and UCLA, any team is vulnerable. John Saunders, the only sane one, brought up an excellent point that regular season games would not mean as much with a playoff and of course everyone else disagreed with him. Tommorrow night the Colts play the Patriots in about as big as a regular season game as possible in the NFL. And it's getting maybe a quarter of the coverage that the ND-USC game. Saunders is right. Without a playoff, the NCAA gets a free pass on cashing in on their regular season games. College Gameday is a huge hit because everyone is drawn to the game that the crew is working towards. The other Sports Reporters would disagree of course. Their arguments consist of yelling about a playoff system that inevitably turns into universities using players for money which has little to do with determining a national champion in college football. For fun, I put the 3 big remaining undefeateds and where they would play in the old system:

Texas, winners of the Big 12, would play in the Orange Bowl.
USC, winners of the Pac 10, would play in the Rose Bowl.
Alabama, winners of the SEC, would play in the Sugar Bowl.

The BCS is good for something.

MU Scrimmage/ Cubs Question

2005-10-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had the oppurtunity take in MU tonight at "Haunted Hoops." I saw them also at Marquette Madness a couple of weeks ago, but didn't have time to report anything much because of an job interview the next day. But I did go tonight to check the team out. I got there at 9 with about 5 minutes left in the first half. I kind of guessed right again. MU always has these things "start" but they don't actually play for a half hour or an hour. The team overall looked tired and kind of beat up. Lots of noticable limps for the team overall. James looked frustrated overall in the offensive sets. It was hard for him to penetrate against the taller Fitzgerald and his shot was noticably long. It also looked like he had some kind of trunk/hip injury that was affecting his running. Mortensen has a nice stroke, but I didn't see much outside of that. Fitzgerald is really good and is probably one of our top 5 players. He's probably the second best ball handler at this point. We'll see if that translates to a starting postion. Burke is active, but smaller than I remember him. Novak had a typical night. I think he will have better this season simply because James sees the floor so well and is a great penetrator. McNeal was obviously limited by his ankle. I was wincing everytime I saw him run. I think he's still in some pain. Matthews was one of the best players tonight. However, he will have a tough time being the point guard as seen when James picked him clean and went in for an easy lay-up. Chapman looks to have an improved stroke, but looks to be limited on the left? knee. Grimm was Grimm. He's very vocal on the defensive end. Kinsella is out until December. Barro looked kind of lost at times tonight. Amoroso hit a lot of 3's from other reports I saw, but I think he's our best post player at this time. And finally Lott is very active, offensively and defensively. He's a little smaller than Marcus Jackson, but has more movement. That's my report for now.

Cubs
The Cubs have reportedly picked up the options on Walker, Williamson and declined the option on Burnitz. My dream would be to have Walker back to play second base. I hope Hendry did not do this to trade him. Todd deserves to start somewhere. Willamson showed promise out of the bullpen and will hopefully be one of the main set-up men in front of Dempster. And as for Burnitz, 7 million is too much, but if we would be willing to be a pinch hitter and a glove off of the bench I hope the Cubs would welcome him back.

Let’s talk specific players. Should Baker and Hendry give the keys to left field to Matt Murton or do they look for other options? (Cub Reporter)
I think Murton should be given a starting job next year. He should bat 2nd in front of Lee, although Dusty will probably bat him seventh. The Cubs have to start playing the young guys and the best of them should play LF or RF for the Cubs next season.

Question #9

2005-10-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

What are 3 things the Cubs MUST NOT DO this off-season? (Cub Reporter)

1. Overpay for some old outfielder for a multi-year deal. Preston Wilson and Matt Lawton are two players that come to mind that I hope the Cubs DO NOT sign.

2. Worry about what "others" are doing and when I say "others" I mean the team on the other side of town. I hope the Cubs are too money hungry to spend money just to match what the "others" did this season.

3. Spend big money for middle relief. Big money goes to closers or BJ Ryan, not to LaTroy Hawkins and Mike Remlinger.

Question #8

2005-10-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

What are 3 things the Cubs MUST DO this off-season? (Cub Reporter)

1. Figure out how to get more baserunners in front of Lee and Ramirez. Whether that means Walker and Murton or Juan Pierre or Ronny Cedeno, whatever. This would help win some games next year.

2. Figure out the health problems. Kerry Wood's mechanics have to be changed, according to Steve Stone anyway. Give Nomar a leg workout program that works, etc..

3. Improve the bench. I would like to see Abraham Nunez and maybe Juan Gonzales. He can't possibly get hurt if he doesn't play everyday right?

Question #7

2005-10-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

The free agent market is one of the weakest in years, but the Cubs look to have plenty of cash to spend on it. Should they spend, spend, spend, and if so what should their targets be? Or should they hold on to it until next year or use it to take some garbage contracts off other teams? Should they spend it on extensions for any current players? (Cub Reporter)

I don't think the Cubs should spend, spend, spend simply because the free agent marked isn't that good. According to Al's recent rumors, the Cubs are targeting both Brian Giles and BJ Ryan. I think Giles would be a good addition in a 2, maybe 3 year deal. Ryan should be about a 3 year deal as well. Otherwise, I think they should hold onto the money for next year. I don't know whose bad contracts will be available, maybe Ramirez or maybe A-Rod after all of the negative articles after the post-season. I think both of those players should be looked at seriously, but not taken for a crap load of prospects. I would like to see extensions for both Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano.

It's been a long time

2005-10-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

So I've been stuck the last ten days studying going to Chicago for job fairs or coming back to Valparaiso for fall break. My take on the White Sox: blah. I did watch most of Game 1 tonight. It was good baseball and was definately nice to hear some real baseball fans. I've always had this theory that an underdog or a team that hasn't been there before has a different kind of sound from their fans. I could say it's more masculine, but I think that's stereotyping too far. Anyway, good for the White Sox, but I don't really care what happens from here on out.

Question #7 (Cub Reporter)
How about three things that went right, besides Lee’s breakout?

1. Dempster- He provided a much needed back of the bullpen stopper that helped the other pitchers feel comfortable in tight games.

2. Murton- I liked how when he got the at-bats, not too many at first and made the most of them. He was terrfic in August and September and hopefully earned himself a starting spot next year.

3. The other bullpen guys- I liked Wuertz, Ohman, and Novoa in the other bullpen spots. As you can currently see with the White Sox, they patched together their stellar bullpen with journeymen (Polite, Cotts, Hermanson, and in my opinion Jenks). Bullpens are crap shoots and these three guys are solid bases in front of Dempster next year hopefully.

Question #6

2005-10-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

What are the top three things that went wrong for the Cubs this year, foreseeable or not? (Cub Reporter)

1. Injuries. Nomar, Wood, Prior, some really freaky like Nomar's and Prior's. If all three are healthy, the Cubs I don't think ever flirt with a .500 record and contend for a wildcard.

2. Bullpen. LaTroy should have never been the closer. Dempster should have been and Rusch should have been a starter. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I was never sold with Dempster being the closer before he was installed. But, LaTroy has always been a set up guy, Rusch has always been a better starter, and Borowski was injured at the start of the season. Dempster was the best option then.

3. Tie- Patterson vs. Neifi and Macias. Corey Patterson's decline was dumbfounding and dissapointing. Neifi and Macias got too many at-bats not allowing the rookies to pinch hit or play every day.

Question #5

2005-10-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

What about Jim Hendry — should McPhail and the Trib re-up him or is his fate tied with Dusty’s? (Cub Reporter).

I think Jim Hendry's contract should be renewed. Many people have been down on Hendry because of the bullpen and the bench. I look at the players he's brought it. Basically, the Cubs would have no offense if Hendry's trades had not happened: Choi for Lee, Hill for Ramirez, and Miller for Barrett. I think you are rolling your dice every year with a bullpen, see Donnelly, Brendan. I think Hendry deserves to stay in the Cubs organization than Baker does at this point. He even made the biggest deal at the all-star break when he got Matt Lawton. It didn't work out, but at least he tried.

Question #4

2005-10-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

All signs point to Dusty Baker returning for the final year of his contract in 2006. But what lies ahead for Dusty? Is an extension on the way this off-season? Is he in any danger of losing his job in 2006? Should he be? Any other coaching changes on the horizon? (Cub Reporter)

I'm torn on this. For one thing, I have always kind of believed that if a person is above .500 in their coaching profession, they are succesful. Dusty as a Cub has been over .500, however his decisions are maddening. I don't think an extension is on the way this off-season. There were too many distractions last season, like the interest in the Dodgers job, etc.. I don't think he will be in danger unless the Cubs really suck right out of the gate. As for other coaching changes, I don't pay attention enough to notice things. Speier was better than Kim. I would have liked to seen better progress with the hitters, specifically Patterson. Again, I'm not there on a day to day basis so I don't know if new coaches are needed or not.

Question #3

2005-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

At what point did you give up on the Cubs this year? (Cub Reporter)

Well, if you read this, I think this was about the game I kind of felt like it was over. This Mets was the make or break series for the Cubs. Wood, Nomar and Williamson were all back in uniform and couldn't stop an 8 game losing streak that eventually knocked the Cubs out of the playoffs. Like in '69 or '04, the Cubs luck turned crappy in New York, pretty much ending the season.

Question #2

2005-10-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

From Cub Reporter: If you had a disposable time machine that could only travel back as far as October 4th, 2004 and was good for only one trip, plus the superhero power to change people’s minds and actions - what one move, moment, play or decision from this past season would you alter?
The one thing I would do would have Dempster be the closer from day one. That was really the only thing that I feel could have started at the beginning of the year and been successful. Obviously the Nomar injury hurt a ton, but injuries happen all of the time. Could Nomar's injury prevented Wood's injury or the Hawkins woes? Who knows if the Cubs would have been a better team? I would also have traded Sammy earlier, as Hendry said it really handcuffed him on what he wanted to do in the off-season.

Lee for MVP?

2005-10-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Over on Cub Reporter, they are doing a roundtable discussion with their main writers on the 2005 season. They do such a great job, that I thought I would just use their questions and answer them here. The first was on Derrek Lee's season and whether he should be the MVP. Here are some stats of contenders.

Player A: .306/.402/.559
Player B: .323/.385/.561
Player C: .263/ .347/ .575
Player D: .335/ .418/ .662
Player E: .330/ .430/ .609

The Answers
Player A: Jason Bay
Player B: Miguel Cabrera
Player C: Andruw Jones
Player D: Lee
Player E: Albert Pujols

Derrek Lee has had the best offensive season of anybody in the league. Unfortunately, he played for a bad team who stuck two bad OBP guys ahead of him in the lineup all season. Lee is the MVP. However, he probably won't get it, because his team isn't in the playoffs. That should count for something, so if Lee doesn't get it, Albert Pujols should. The writers will be enamored with Jones's HR totals, however his slugging percentage was almost 100 points less than Lee's. If we compare to Lee to Bonds's last 4 seasons:

Lee '05: 1st BA, 4th OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '04: 1st BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '03: 3rd BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '02: 1st BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '01: 7th BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG

As you can see Lee is not far off from what Bonds did the last 4 MVP seasons in the NL compared to his peers. But he will probably not win the award.

Season Over

2005-10-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been to write about the last couple of weeks, and I have been busy with the start of tests and stuff and beer. The Cubs 2005 season is over and unfortunately it ended dissapointingly. There will be a ton to think about this off season, so I'll wait before I comment on anything. So I'll stick to one of my other passions: The Amazing Race.

The Amazing Race, this season, has gone to 10 families. We'll see how this plays out. I don't know how the show will turn out entertainment wise, but I'm going to tell you what I think about the teams anyway. Ok, here we go. In Week 1, the Black family was unable to complete their water house in time and they were eliminated. On a side note, the Detour last week was ridiculous in terms of time and effort. I hope CBS does a better job of that. I don't think the Gaghan family has what it takes either. Little kids are little kids, what happens when they come to a Roadblock? In the end, they will be beaten on a task like the Black family was last week. The Schroeder family has already been annoited as the evil team that comes through every year. The evil team always loses, so they are out. The Weavers are intriguing, but the sentimental team usually doesn't win either. I see that trend continuing this time. The Paolos fight way too much. You have to have some chemistry. The Godlewskis won't win either, too many women. I'm not trying to be offensive, many of my female friends agreed with me. You have to have a male influence at some point to settle things down. There is a reason the males won "Battle of the Sexes" twice. I just don't see them winning.

That was teams that I don't think will win. Here are the ones I think have a chance. The Aiello family are a good team but they lack a female. There will be one event where that will come in handy. I still think they have a chance. I didn't see much of the Rogers family, but I think they could be pretty good, a good family. The Linz family could also be very good. Many people think that the one girl with 3 guys would be troublesome. Normally, I think this would be, however they are siblings. By the time, you reach the age of 18, you have dealt with every little battle with your siblings and you can get along with each other. Plus, they are young, a definite plus to the two teams above. Then there is the wildcard, the Bransens. The father was actually a former roommate of mine's little league coach. I don't see a father not sacrificing everything for his 3 daughters, so expect them to do well.

We'll see how Tuesday goes. Until then, "they still play the blues in Chicago, when baseball season comes around"- Steve Goodman.

Bullpen Implosion

2005-09-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the Brewers batting record after Prior left in the 7th.

7th Inning
Walk, Strike Out, Single, Walk, Line Out, Single, Line Out

8th Inning
Double, Strike Out, Single, Sacrafice Bunt, Fly Out, Fly Out

9th Inning
Walk, Ground Out (Bad Call), Pickoff Error, Intentional Walk, Strike Out, Single

Just for kicks here's the ball strike count for the Cubs relief pitchers
Wuertz 5 Balls 3 Strikes
Ohman 1 Ball 2 Strikes
Novoa 12 Balls 17 Strikes
Mitre 6 Balls 7 Strikes
Van Buren 9 Balls 2 Strikes
Dempster 4 Balls 6 Strikes

So ends my Cubs season, 2-4. The Cubs will also probably finish below .500.

Typical

2005-09-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to watch the Cubs in person last night and about the only thing I can say towards the game itself, was it was a typical Cubs loss. Let's go inning by inning.

Brewers 1st
JJ Hardy pops up behind first behind which Lee and Walker both can't get to/ are afraid of running into each other. I thought it was Walker's ball and it was okay that they couldn't get to it. But at least Walker could have thrown a strike to Neifi at second to get Clark, who was obviously tagging. Nope, Walker three bounces and Clark scores a batter later on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Lee.

Brewers 5th
Clark lines a pitch to right, to which Jeromy Burnitz looks like he catches cleanly. The ball pops out of his glove, I think as he tried to stand up. Tim Maclellan (a great umpire) I think ruled that since he wasn't taking the ball out of his glove, it doesn't count as a catch. So the Brewers got an extra out there. Then with Clark on third, Lee again flies to centerfield. Corey Patterson waits under it and fires a one-hopper to home plate, to which Michael Barrett cannot field cleanly and Clark scores. Two defensive miscues cost the Cubs a run in that inning.

Cubs 7th
This was probably the worst/weirdest inning for the Cubs in a long time. Patterson led off with a double, after he tried to bunt his way on. Barrett walked. Dusty brought in Ryan Theriot to pinch hit/ bunt. He tried to bunt but failed to twice. But he did something that the veteran players on the Cubs never do. He came back and actually walked as well, I think from 0-2. When else has that happened this season? Neifi comes up with bases loaded and predictably swings at the first pitch and fouls it off. The last two guys had walked and Neifi hacks at the first pitch. Neifi grounds out, which I thought at the time was a poor play by Bill Hall. He had a chance to get two outs and let in a run and he also guranteed that Derrek Lee would bat that inning, unless a double play. But predictably Todd Walker popped out and then Lee struck out for the fourth time to end the inning.

Brewers 7th
Michael Wuertz came in and got the first two outs with Overbay up. Ohman was warming up, I'm not for sure he was warm or not, but Overbay hit a home run, putting the game out of reach. After Wuertz got Lee to end the 7th, Ohman came in for ONE batter, Jenkins, who struck out. If there is one guy you bring the LOOGY for, it's the number 3 batter, not the number 5 batter. I don't know their splits, but that makes more sense to me.

Cubs 9th
Barrett led off and struck out. Ben Grieve WAS on deck, until Dusty brought him down for who else, Jose Macias and his sub .300 on base percentage. Again, predictably Macias struck out on 3 pitches.

Brewers 5- Cubs 3. 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. I'm convinced that managerial decisions mean a heck of lot more in late inning situations and the Brewers clearly have a better manager. I was watching the White Sox situation closely this week. They reminded me of the 2004 Cubs, a team supposed to roll into the playoffs and suddenly sputtering in September. The White Sox had to come back from leads both nights and won last night. Their manager is not afraid to put pitchers back into situations that they failed in the night before, like Jenks last night. And that's why they will be in the playoffs this season and the Cubs didn't make it last year: the leadership of the manager.

Please

2005-09-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

I knew a weekend couldn't go by without me criticizing Dusty Baker. I didn't get to see much of the game today, because I was watching the Bears smoke the Lions, 38-6. I did see the 2nd inning when the Cubs got 4 runs and saw the bizarre play when Baker got into an argument with Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter. I read on cubs.com tonight what happened. Let's have Dusty tell us: "I had talked to one of their players the last time when we were leaving St. Louis and he took exception to one of [the Cubs] pitchers looking at him, kind of staring him down after he got a hit," Baker said. "Carpenter was doing the same thing to Nomar after he got that hit and punched out Murton. So I asked him, 'What are you looking at? Why are you staring at the guys?'
"When [Carpenter] went to back up home plate, he came over to the dugout and said, 'If you've got something to say to me, then come to the mound,'" Baker said. "That's when I got a little [ticked] off and that's when I cursed. Maybe I shouldn't have cursed.
So basically our manager got into argument with an opposing player about staring at each other. I would hope that our manager would be mature enough to focus on other things than stuff like this. Certainly Murton didn't care when he hit a 450 foot HR to give the Cubs the lead. Let's please try and focus on playing baseball next season.

Sports Health Coverage
I have been biting my tongue on this all summer. ESPN has had certain segments they have heard on mechanics and injuries by athletes who really have no idea what they were talking about. This summer Jeff Brantley gave a talk on back injuries which included a basic Mackensie exercise. He did not all mention strengthening abdominal musculature which is just as important. Last week Steve Young, gave a throwing mechanics lecture. Steve is a wrist thrower, which made me believe that he flicks his wrist and the ball flies down the field, leaving his elbow and shoulder in the same position. Trust me you can't throw a ball without having good strength and motion in your shoulder. I would just like these commentators to stick to things they did to keep themselves healthy and how they made their backs/arms strong. Please do not mention mechanics. There are experts out in the real world (sports mechanics) who watch thousands and thousands of athletes that know so much more than you. Stop, you are giving the wrong information to the public, please.

Today, I watched the Outside the Lines special before church on the use of echocardiograms on athletes and prevention. I thought the view was a little one sided and made it sound like echocardiograms could save everyone if every athlete received one before the season. I am NOT a cardiologist. I do feel that team physicians always have the best idea of what their players need and want. An echocardiogram could not have detected my arrthymia that landed me in the hospital five and a half years ago. What upsets me is that ESPN has totally ignored the so called "white elephant" in the room. You have 300+ pound athletes, many of whom are African American (a higher risk for cardiovascular disease) playing a sport everyday that puts stress on your whole cardiovascular system. Something needs to be done about the health of players before an echocardiogram can be called a "lifesaver."

St. Louis 6- Cubs 1

2005-09-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

As I am writing this, the Cubs are in a rain delay in the 9th inning. But predictably with Jose Macias up, they will lose 6-1 when the game is restarted. See Dusty took out Matt Murton in another infamous double switch. The same Matt Murton who is outslugging every other NL rookie (that includes Ryan Howard), except for Jeff Francoeur. Oh well, this is one of those season's that you can't wait for the post-season to get here to figure out who is going to be a part of the debacle next season. I think Michael Barrett should take at least the next week off as he recovers from being nailed in the head. I have not personally performed any concussion checks or have checked out Barrett, but with nothing really to gain from him being in there, he should stay out at least until his head clears. Check that, he can hit tonight for Macias, if this game every gets started again.

Murderball

2005-09-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

This post has a double meaning. First, I got to see "Murderball" the movie tonight. If you haven't seen it, it is about the wheelchair sport "Quad Rugby." It's old name was Murderball, the name given before wheelchair rugby wanted sponsors. The premise of the movie was followling around a couple of the players, especially Captain Mark Zupan. Zupan was actually on campus tonight to speak after the movie showing. What comes across in the movie and during the speech, how regular a person Zupan is. I don't want to offend anyone, but he wasn't that great of a speaker. He did hold the attention of the audience which was the best part. Zupan seemed, as the cliche goes "one of us." He's someone you could easily see at one of the campus bars. I think that his personality goes further for his "disability" than any testimony about overcoming odds or anything like that. This movie is also a terrific sports movie. The two scenes in the championships when Canada plays the US are emotional and nerve-wracking (sp?). A great, great movie for anybody, especially those who are wanting to find out more about spinal cord injured individuals.

Cubs
Part 2, belongs to Dusty Baker and his use of Jose Macias. Somehow, Macias pinch hit for Zambrano last night, even though most statistics show Zambrano out hitting Macias in every category this year. Tonight Macias was somehow brought into the game again, as a defensive replacement, I think. This article pretty much sums up my opinion and should Dusty's.

8-2 Road Trip

2005-09-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Cubs won again this afternoon to finish off their 8-2 road trip. It is kind of amazing because before that the Cubs were 3-6 on a homestand. Ryan Dempster saved seven of the eight games on the trip if I am correct. Dempster has been THE brightspot in the Cubs bullpen this season. After the Hawkins experiement part II, failed again, Dempster was moved to the closer spot and has flourished there. One can even argue that his two blown saves this season created two of the most exciting Cub victories this season (Lee walk-off and the Neifi grandslam). Next year he deserves to come back in the same role and have some form of a raise. He is striking out about 8 per nine innings while walking 5. Any pitcher would like to have that strikeout total and the walk total is okay for a closer. His personality seems to fit well with the Cubs and all of the "pressure" that is on them. Face it, Kerry Wood is coming back to start next year, and I believe he should. Dempster is the best option right now for closer for 2006, something that the Cubs have lacked going into the season in a long time.

Bears
I didn't get to see much of the game today. If the defense can continue to allow 9-17 points a game, I think the Bears have the potential to make the playoffs. Orton and Benson will get better with more playing time and will face less dangerous defenses, than Washington's was today. The key thing is to take care of business at home. That starts next week with Detroit.

Cubs Win, College Football Starts

2005-09-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

School, my last semester of classes, is back in session so I have less time to do things like waste time writing here. Also the move back to Milwaukee, means less Cubs without Comcast Sports Net. But I am excited to see the rookies playing, i.e. Cedeno, Murton, and Van Buren. I think a good goal for this team would be to get back to .500 by the end of the season and have a 3rd straight season of .500 ball. I did get to see the Ryne Sandberg number retirement and the Cubs fans amazed me again. Besides Sandberg, the second biggest cheers of course came for Ron Santo. The third biggest cheers went for Yosh Kowano, the clubhouse manager, not Williams or Banks, who were both at the ceremony. Andy Macphail got booed by played it off by bowing to the crowd. The Hall of Fame guy could hardly get a word in, as the Cubs fans chanted Santo, Santo. It seemed like most of the fan sentiment was for Santo to get into the hall, not to honor Ryno. Oh well, 4 weeks left and they can still help eliminate Houston, boo yah.

College Football
I had the oppurtunity to watch a bunch of different games today, not feeling well. Here's my impression of a couple of teams.
Ohio State- Not that great. Their starting quarterback was out, but they still didn't run the ball very well, which they need to do to compete against Michigan or Texas.
Wisconsin- Awesome running game. I think it will keep them in a lot of games this year, even if their defense is terrible like they were today.
Notre Dame- A great performance tonight in the debut of Charlie Weis. The offense looked unstoppable at many points during the game. I'm sure some of that had to do with the Pitt defense, but ND looked good either way. Hopefully they can keep it up against Michigan next week.

The Hurricane
I know this has been all over the news this week, so I thought I would comment on it. I have been to New Orleans a couple of times when I was a little kid. I actually recognize more places in Biloxi/ Gulfport where I spent 3 or 4 spring breaks from when I was seven to 10 years old. I was reading through many articles when I found this: "Fun Time USA left with only bumper boats, pool and go-cart track." Fun Time USA was the miniture golf course that my family always went to on Spring Break. My cousin at one point was so frustrated that he hit a ball as hard as he could that bounced across a car on US-90 and onto the beach, the same beach and US-90 that was destroyed this week. This week was one that was very surreal and at the same time depressing. As always, there will be lessons learned so if something happens in the future, people will be more prepared.

California 6- Florida 2

2005-08-24T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to comment about the Cubs game, because I didn't get to see much of it, except for the Kyle Farnsworth performance at the end. I think it's safe to say that Kyle did not kick a fan down the Wrigley tunnel. It's pretty bad when Kyle Farnsworth makes your hitters look pretty bad.

Anyway, my title tonight refers to the Little League World Series game I watched tonight. Here's an article about it. Basically there were bad calls that went against both teams. As a former umpire, that's a horrible situation. Both sides team up against you, the umpire, and you're in the doghouse the rest of the game. But this game turned real ugly. At one point, one coach accused the other team of having an extra player out of the dugout. Please. At another point, one coach accused the other team of "bad sportsmanship." Again, please. I was happy to hear Gary Thorne say, "Well, this game has turned, to well Little League." It was a pretty good statement to describe the constant arguing between the COACHES of both teams. The pitcher for California, I thought was real cocky, but he kept his cool on the mound and I never saw him saw a single word to the umpire. My dad, if we would have watched the game, would have said it reminded him of me when I was younger. And that isn't good. It means that there was a lot of complaining and not enough playing and actually enjoying the game.

Cubs 10- Braves 1

2005-08-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Playoffs baby, not really. This win does nothing to change the fact that Baseball Prospectus Playoff Odds dropped the Cubs under 1%. This season is basically over, so I have a list of things that I would like to see to help things for next season:

1. Ronny Cedeno comes up and playes EVERY day at shortstop. He should get a chance to play shortstop next season and it could start in September.

2. Nomar plays a couple of games in left field. This is about the only thing that would keep Nomar in Chicago for about $5 million. Anything more, see you later. If he wants to play shortstop, I would give him $2 or $3 million. Basically I'm saying that I hope Neifi doesn't get to play as much as he did last year.

3. Back to #1, if you read this article, Dusty doesn't want to take Neifi out because he has been playing so well. Neifi's offense has put him squarely between Adam Everett and Royce Clayton, not two superstars. Neifi deserves another defensive bench spot, nothing else in my opinion.

4. Matt Murton plays more.
Ben Grieve gets to pinch hit.
Adam Greenberg gets to actually hit.
Jermaine Van Buren pitches in key 8th inning situations.

5. The Cubs beat the Cardinals and the Brewers and the Astros every game. And every Cub fan boos Lance Berkman unmercifully.

Ready to Put the Nail In

2005-08-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

Another loss, 4-2 tonight from the Braves. I like how Dusty Baker talks about this being his favorite time of the year. Well this year is just about over. You absolutely cannot lose 2 out of 3 to freaking Colorado and expect to compete for a Wildcard. Thankfully next week class starts again so I can have that to distract me from everything.

Go Cubs.

Cubs 4- Astros 2

2005-08-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Carlos Zambrano was the man tonight. He even hit a homer to cap off his amazing pitching performance. Nomar was injured during a botched double play attempt. This is what I wrote on Cub Reporter: "1. Lower back stiffness could be related to the groin injury. If you remember from the surgery, Nomar had some abdominal problems too. The adductor longus and rectus abdominus insert into the same pelvic bone. His abs. probably became weaker due to underuse after the surgery. One of things physical therapists will always tell you to do for your back is to work on your abdominal muscles. They work together to keep your pelvis in a good alignment. One run would have scored on that play anyway. There was nobody out." Just my opinion.

And in other news, Mark Prior says he has pitched better after getting hit in the elbow. Huh? Whatever that means. Honestly when I saw that injury, I thought his career might be over, but good for Mark. Go Cubs.

Cubs 4- Astros 1

2005-08-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

A good win in really a must win situation tonight. Maddux came up terrific, which he has been the last 3 starts to grab his team leading 10th win. As many have said in the Chicago media market, Greg Maddux deserves to do just about whatever he wants to do, in terms of retirement and all of that. He definately deserves to stay around next year.

In other news, Glendon Rusch will stay in the rotation in the time being. I agree with this decision if it means that Rich Hill will not be a starter again this season. Rusch was lights out at the end of May, early June. The one thing that doesn't make sense is skipping Jerome Williams' spot in the rotation. They could have pitched Williams on his regular spot on Friday and skipped Rusch this weekend. One of the things talked about last night, was the limited pitch count that Rusch had. Oh well. I guess that's why I don't make these decisions. Another must win tommorrown night.

Astros 12- Cubs 4

2005-08-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to get upset these days, when you find out your best friend of 10 years won't be headed to Iraq anytime soon. So tonight, instead of watching the rest of the 5th inning fiasco, I went out to his place and had a couple of Miller Lites around a fire. It was a much better time than the game.

Kerry Wood as closer? He definately looked good on Sunday against the Cardinals. Here's my position and one of the problems I have had with Dusty. For your bullpen to work, you need defined roles. Ryan Dempster is the closer and if he wants to walk 4 guys in a row, he still has the right to be the closer by his performance this season. Kerry Wood is perfect for the 8th inning for now. In 2006, after he has the shoulder arthroplasty and gets everything cleaned up, he goes back to being the Cubs #3 starter as he goes injury free to the World Series. That's my wish anyway.

Mets 9- Cubs 5

2005-08-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

What a crapper this game was. I haven't posted much lately because I've either been in Milwaukee, like last weekend or trying to get a bunch of things done during my last week at work. Anytime I do leave, see July 4th weekend or last weekend, things go to crap for this team. So we'll try again next week as I take a week away from the Cubs in Wisconsin.

The game tonight was just disheartening (sp?). Poor defensive plays, no heart, sans Lee and Ramirez. Freaking Neifi smiling with Carlos Beltran in the 8th. The same Carlos Beltran who stole second up 4 runs in that same 8th, followed by David Wright who did the same thing. Was Lee even holding these runners on?

Tommorrow is a new day and Greg Maddux can put together one last great stand to show this team what it takes to play good major league baseball. Let's throw inside to Beltran and Wright. This might have been the thing to light a fire under their butts, we'll just have to see.

Go Cubs, hopefully we're still playing in 2005.

3000 Strikes- One Weird Night

2005-07-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

When Maddux was 2 K's short of 3000, my father and I mutually agreed that we should try and see the game on Tuesday night. I logged on to Stubhub on Sunday and found 2 in the Upper Deck. I left work a little after 4 and drove home. We left the house at 4:45. As we approached the Skyway, it started to rain. It didn't stop raining until about 9:00. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to go from the Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park all the way to the stadium, a ridiculous amount of time. Lucky for us, the rain kept falling and the game got delayed. We decided to wait it out and see what would happen. We found a Burger King on the corner of Clark and Irving Park and just sat there in the Parking Lot for a good hour and a half. All of a sudden it stopped raining about 9-9:15. We drove back to our old Parking Lot on the corner of Addison and Broadway. By that point, there was nobody charging, so we pulled right in, free of charge. We decided to walk to the stadium. We walked with a father and his two sons and another youngish male who had also decided to wait it out outside the park to see what would happen. We even joked that we were staying for 2 strikeouts and then leaving. Lucky for us, as we got to our seats, the players were being introduced and the National Anthem was about to be played.

Onto the game. Maddux got the first K the very first batter of the game. Anytime, someone came up with 2 strikes, everybody (probably 65% full) stood up. Finally, in the 3rd, he struck out Omar Vizquel for #3000. Maddux took little time on to be applauded on the field. He did come out for a curtain call though. My favorite Maddux quote: "It was different," Maddux said of the crowd reaction. "I don't try to strike guys out, I never have. I've always tried to just make a pitch, but I found myself trying to strike somebody out and it took me out of my game a little bit. It was pretty cool on the mound pitching with that. You hear it -- believe me, you hear it. This is a great place to pitch and tonight was a big reason why. The fans here are super." Another reason why the Cubs have some of the best fans anywhere.

The strangest part of the night came in the bottom of the 8th inning. My dad and I had moved down from the Upper Deck onto the lower level and found 2 seats very easily. LaTroy Hawkins came into the game with lots of boos and chanting of his name. I didn't participate in either of them. He really got a raw deal by the fans near the end of his career with the Cubs. But I would say at least half of the 8,000 or so were heckling the guy. I looked at my watch: 12:15 AM. There were still 8000 people at this game, most of them still in to it, like it was a playoff game. Except for the fact it was July 26th. I kind of liked being at the game at that moment. Only the die-hards were left. Vocal or not, it made a much more fun experience at the point in the night.

Then I opened up the paper and read this. Sometimes people just don't get it.

Cubs 3- Giants 2

2005-07-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, another good win tonight. The Cubs fought back hard in the 8th inning to tie the game and then won in the ninth very methodically. The best part of the game was the solid 5 innings that Rich Hill was able to provide. If you haven't heard the Kerry Wood news, someone has to be the 5th the rest of the season, whether that's Hill, Rusch or Mitre. I'll be there tommorrow night with everyone else rooting on Maddux for 3,ooo K's.

Injury Update: Wood's shoulder is feeling better, but he'll be put on the DL anyway. He will go back down to Iowa, in their bullpen and then come back up to the Cubs bullpen if he's healthy. This decision really puts things into perspective from the Cubs standpoint. I really beleive bullpen/ starting are equally as hard on someone's arm and body. The Cubs may just be throwing something out there to see if it works. If not, the offseason and the shoulder scope will be coming to see what is exactly wrong. I think that the acromion is mishaped a little and that causes all of the impingement, but we'll just have to see.

Wowwwwwww, Cubs 8- Cardinals 4

2005-07-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

What can I say about that game? Unbelievable. This game might have described the Cubs season in full so far. Poor start, work their way back in, climb over the .500 mark with a bang, lose the lead (thanks to a bogus call) and then pull a WTF moment that makes you actually think this team has a chance for the playoffs.

Highlight: If you don't know what it is, I guess you're not a Cub fan.

Lowlight: Phil Cuzzi strikes back with his bad behind the plate umpiring Friday by prolonging the game tonight. Luna was OUT at second, even if Joe Morgan says that "the tie goes to the runner." There was not tie, Luna was OUT. And there is no rule, "the tie goes to the runner." Look it up. Umpires get paid to make decisions on these types of plate. If you break time down to infinity, there is no possible way that two things happen at the exact same time.

Injury Update: Wood looks to be headed to the DL for sure, although his arm is looking better according to the trainer. Don't believe Dusty though. The surgery that Wood would have is way different from Morris's. Wood's surgery would be rotator cuff, not labral tear, although you can do both at the same time. Nomar will be in Peoria this week. Neifi did terrfic in one AB tonight, but I can't wait for Nomar to get back.

Go Cubs.

Cubs 6- Cardinals 5

2005-07-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well this game might have been the opposite of last night. Instead of DPs going against the Cubs, Neifi is able to make two terrific plays to get two double plays, including one to end the game with Pujols up. While the Cubs offense was better today, the pitching left something to be desired. Jerome Williams walked the lead-off batter twice, only to see him come around and score, twice. Michael Wuertz actually struck out the first batter in the 7th, only to see him get to first anyway, when the ball bounced past Barrett to the backstop. The best moment of the game had to be when Pujols came up in the bottom of the ninth. The Cardinal fans immediately started their own, "MVP, MVP" chant. I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or something like that. But the MVP ended the game with the DP as told above. The Cubs try and win the series tommorrow.

Injury Update: Kerry Wood through on the side today, with still a little bit of pain. I still don't like the cortisone shot, but we'll see what happens. Either way, it's Rusch or Rich Hill, hopefully Rusch. Garciaparra might play with Peoria this week on a rehab. assignment. His infield single was definatly a positive sign for his adductor longus tear. Hopefully he can play some defense as well.

Cardinals 2- Cubs 1

2005-07-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

As I told my mom in about the 8th inning tonight, this a game the Cubs never seem to win. It held true as David Eckstein was able to squeeze home the winning run. This was after John Mabry hit a ball that richoted so badly for the Cubs, it turned a maybe single, probably double, into a stand up triple. The Cubs, other than Carlos Zambrano, had no business winning the game anyway. They wasted oppurtunity after oppurtunity. This includes the "was-hot" Todd Walker, with his 2 GIDP and another ground out with Hairston on 3rd and an out in the 10th. I thought that play in general was poor baserunning. Hairston is a fast guy. It's not like Aramis and his 50 MVP Baseball speed is standing on 3rd. I really thought Hairston should have gone home on the grounder. Here are the situation's that you have: 1. Hairston scores, Walker is out at first. 2. Hairston is thrown out at home, Walker's at 1st with 2 outs. Remember then first base is not open for Lee and the Cardinals might be more inclined to pitch to him. 3. The situation that happened. 4. Hairston scores, Walker is safe at 1st. The Cubs obviously took the least aggresive approach to this situation. Lee was going to be intenionally walked either way, if first base was open.

I have to give good comments to Baker for pitching to Pujols in the ninth. I would have walked him. He also used Murton against Reyes in the 11th, instead of the switch-hitting Macias. Hopefully both of these situations are continued in the future.

Injury Update: Kerry Wood is going to get a cortisone injection. A fellow student therapist and I were talking about this subject today at work. He had been instructed that no eccentric muscle activation should follow a cortisone shot for six weeks. Cortisone basically destroys collage, the stuff that makes up tendons. I remember hearing our Orthopaedics teacher describe this very thing vaguely. I looked up and the results online are mixed. I should do a better literature search, but it's too late. I do, however, feel that there are some major risks for tendon rupture, especially with all of the arm problems that Wood has had and the fact he is a major league pitcher. I'm assuming the Cubs doctors know this and are taking every precaution to get him back to the field soon.

Here We Go Again

2005-07-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Cubs pretty lousy loss tonight was overshadowed by another early exit from Kerry Wood. It set the Cubs blogging world in a frenzy. Let's see what happens. People really don't know what's going on, so let's just settle down. Here was my opinion on Cub Reporter.

Listen, before everybody jumps to conclusions about being out for months and all of that.
Here's why I don't think it's serious:1. It's stiffness, not irritation. In my opinion stiffness indicates tightness, irritation indicates pain.
2. He faced at least two batters, AFTER the trainer came out to look at him.
Here's what I think happened: Somewhere in the game Kerry told Rothchild that his arm felt tight tonight. If you watched the game, he was all over the strike zone. After the home run to Griffey, they came out and talked to him to see how he was doing. At this point, it's already 3-0, he's thrown 66 pitches after being taken out with 75 the week before. I know you're trying not to lose games, but this game might already be out of hand (I know, it's 3-0), but all of the factors added together might point to bringing Wood out of the game.
Just my opinion.

Cubs 8- Pirates 1

2005-07-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

All Righhttttttttttttt. This year has been some roller coaster. Oh well. Another good victory today. The bats came alive with 5 straight hits in the 3rd. A great win overall. Hopefully they can continue this into Cincy and then St. Louis. I have 6 family members going to Monday and Tuesdays games, so hopefully they can pull them out. As for me, I have been busy with work and other stuff which kept me from watching every inning.

The key team for the Cubs right now is the Washington Nationals. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Cubs have the 5th most chance of making the playoffs at this moment. In fourth place, the Washington Nationals. As it stands right now, the Cubs would be about 7 games behind the Nationals in the standings. A pretty big margin. Fortunately, the Nationals should be about 44 -48 right now, so hopefully they fall back to the mean and the Cubs can catch them. This week the Nationals host Colorado, so maybe the fall will start right there.

The Home Run Derby

2005-07-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

I could write a post about Joe Morgan and his Pujols for MVP because the Cardinals will be in the playoffs or LaRussa's starting Carpenter over: Clemens, Willis, and Oswalt, three more deserving pitchers. I could, but I'll write on the Home Run Derby which I avoided tonight. Frankly, the HR Derby has become boring to me. I did like the International format, if only it avoided having Lee stand out there and take about 50 hard cuts on his bum shoulder. But man, how can you watch home run after home run for 3 and a half hours, like it took tonight? So here are some ideas that I think could spice things up:

1. This is the most obvious, but have an umpire back there calling strikes. Any strike could be an out, or three strikes could be an out. I swear Pudge stood up there and took about 7 pitches. 7 pitches??? These things should have some skill to them. Every pitch does not need to be grooved right down the middle for these guys.

2. Mark off a line across the outfield. Any ball hit that doesn't land beyond this line is an automatic out. After this line, we put 3 OFs out there who try and catch the balls not hit out. Who wouldn't want to see Ichiro and Torii Hunter trying to climb walls and bring balls back? This would be especially good if they brought the NL vs. AL contest back. Any balls that they don't catch aren't outs. This wouldn't be a lot of balls, because the little kids catch most of them anyway.

3. My most radical idea: Either make the first round, or the last round, or the losers (the guys who didn't make the finals), play a special "whiffle ball" round. They put out a shorter fence and make these guys hit against some kid/ adult with "whiffleball" experience and they try hitting those out. I think that would spice things up a bit.

So there you have it. As Sports Guy tries to implement HORSE at the NBA All-Star game, which is a fantastic idea in my opinion, I try and spice the HR Derby. Something has to change, for me ever to watch again.

I make it easier

2005-07-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Seriously, act like you don't really care about the 8 game losing streak and you feel a lot better. There's always tommorrow. In some ways, I'm drawing conclusions to my other favorite team: Rotations/ lineups that don't make a lot of sense sometimes; a coach that is drawing some heat from fans, although many will defend them; even an injury to a key player.

I don't know what's going on right now, but the Cubs have never played well in Florida and I think that trend will hold true this weekend, if its actually played (see hurricane).

Braves 4- Cubs 0

2005-07-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

Since last Tuesday, I have not seen an inning of a Cubs game. Reasons: Work, Work, Work, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, so that covers those five. Lucky for me, they lost 4 of them.

Highlight Tonight: None, except for the pitching staff let up 1 HR after the 1st inning, so that was pretty good.

Lowlight: The offense sucked tonight, but I'll give it to two individual plays. 1. Burnitz getting picked off of 2nd base in the 8th on the single. Jones really sucked him to making that mistake, a great play by the CF. 2. Patterson grounding into a double play to end of the game. Seriously, can the dude get a break sometime? He didn't help things thought by swinging at the first pitch.

Cubs 2- Brewers 0

2005-06-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

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

2005-06-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

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.