Cubs travel to Baltimore, face old St. Louis team

It is sometimes difficult to come up with a great "hook" to lure fans with some of the interleague series. Baltimore/Chicago may not be as bad as Milwaukee/Tampa but I had to do some thinking to come up with any sort of compelling story line. Then it hit me. The Orioles are descendents of the old St. Louis Browns (and original Milwaukee Brewers for a season, in fact them moving to St. Louis probably broke the heart of Bud Selig's parents/grandparents). The Cubs hate all things about St. Louis in context of the baseball season, so there you go. This could be a pseudo rivalry. Ah, who am I kidding, there is nothing interleague play can offer that can top the Yankee series. Speaking of the Yankees, the Cubs will now become their biggest fans as they welcome in both Houston and St. Louis into the stadium this week.

Tonight Shawn Estes (5-5 5.67) will take on Pat Hentgen (1-3 5.25) at Camden Yards. Being in the midwest I have only been to a few stadiums in my life (Wrigley, Busch, Cinergy, Great American Ballpark, and old Tiger) Camden Yards is behind only Fenway on my list of parks I would like to see. One of these days, I will go on a massive east coast road trip myself and see both of them.

Sammy Sosa's appeal of his eight game suspension will be held today in Baltimore. The Cubs are looking to get an Albert Belle type reduction in the total number of games according to today's Tribune. One quote from the article struck me as funny:


The Cubs will be satisfied with a two-game reduction to six games. But look for an angry reaction if Sosa gets a token one-game reduction, and an explosion if the eight-game suspension stands as is.


The Cubs will explode if the suspension stands as is? Granted I don't know MacPhail and Hendry all that well, but they don't look like the exploding type. I think someone on the Tribune staff has seen one too many Hulk trailers (which by the way looks really bad, the CGI makes Hulk look like Shrek).

I have heard some media types talk about how Sammy should have not appealed the corking to begin with. Their argument was that since he admitted he corked his bat, he should just serve the time. Do these guys follow the game at all? Batters will routinely appeal suspensions after they charge the mound and are obviously guilty. Appeals are a perfectly acceptable part of the CBA and it is not uncommon for players to use the appeal process to "pick" which games they will miss. I think people are just piling on Sammy after his mistake. For my own selfish reasons (I have tickets to all four upcoming games in Cincy), I hope the decision on the appeal comes soon and that he gets his sentence reduced. The prospect of watching four games without Sammy or Hee Seop is not a good one.

Rob Neyer's picks for all-time lineups for the various major league teams are going up on espn.com over yesterday and today. The Cubs lineup isn't posted yet but you can sneak in the back door to it here. I have actually purchased his book, so I know the list unless he has had a change of heart between now and when he published. I am sure his lists will spark some debate. Jason Steffens over at the Clark and Addison Chronicle talks specifically about one of his picks.

posted by Dennis at 8:07 AM : |

 

Cubs take game, series from Yankees

Last night on national television the Cubs were able to score early and often against Yankee starter Andy Pettitte and then hold on in the 9th to win 8-7. Scott and I were both online and chatted throughout the game. I decided to take notes and will present our thoughts on the game diary style. Yes, this is a direct rip off of Bill Simmons from ESPN's Page 2 sans the Beverly Hills 90210, Karate Kid and NBA basketball references. It is a fun format though and could give some insight into the tortured mind of a Cub fan.

• 7:42 - I am sitting in my upstairs den with my favorite adult beverage getting ready for the game. Baseball Tonight is live at Wrigely and they send it to Jon and Joe for some pre-game talk. Morgan has a really large forehead. They show the lineups and Ramon Martinez is the third basemen du jour.
  
• 7:52 - I see the first ad for this year's ESPYs. I am now prepared to see them for the next 12 weeks.
  
• 7:59 - ESPN shows some memorable Cub and Yankee homeruns in a montage. I was looking away for part of it, but I don't think they included the Sandberg game. That is a shame.
  
• 8:02 - The wind is blowing out. Given Prior's control and lack of gopheritis I think the advantage goes to the Cubs.
  
• 8:10 - Prior just showed ESPN how he grips his pitches. He is holding the ball between his legs and we almost see way too much of young Mark. I am sure the ladies across the country loved this segment.
  
• 8:12 - Soriano got two strikes on him and flubbed a double to left center. That ball was not hit very hard at all. Lets see if the Yankees try and bunt
  
• 8:15 - Jeter looks pretty silly on a couple of sliders as Prior records his first punchout.
  
• 8:23 - After hitting Posada, Prior strikes out Ventura on fastballs. Prior got the side in the 1st as no runs score.
  
• 8:26 - Grudz works the count to 3-1 and rips one up the middle. He almost took Pettitte's head off with that one. I am wondering if Dusty will bunt like yesterday.
  
• 8:30 - Alex is up and they are showing most of the pitches from a high camera behind the catcher. Look, when people watch the games on TV, they want to see the game. This angle is terrible. Alex rips the ball but unfortunately it goes right to Giambi for a line drive double play. Tough break.
  
• 8:32 - Patterson takes his turn on trying to remove Pettitte's head with a sharp single. He almost gets picked off and the organist plays the theme music from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
  
• 8:37 - After a good Sammy Sosa PA that turned into a walk, Moises loses one onto Waveland for an early 3-0 Cub lead. There was a fan on the street that caught the ball in the air. Nice. Saying the fans are pumped up would be an understatement on the same level of saying Skip Bayless does not like Sammy.
  
• 8:45 - Prior lets the first two Yankees reach in the second inning. Good thing this is in a National League ballpark because we have their 8th place hitter and then the pitcher coming up.
  
• 8:47 - Umpire blows a strike three call to Rivera, but Prior does not mind as he later grounds into a double play.
  
• 8:49 - Prior blows away Pettitte and gets out of his mini-jam. I think he is just toying with them at this point.
  
• 8:53 - Mike who? Martinez hits his second homer of the series to put the Cubs up 4-0. After the homer they show Sandberg and Banks sitting next to each other in the seats. I wonder if they got their tickets at Wrigley Field Premium. Scott mentions that if the stadium sections engage in a pick-up softball game, his money is on that one.
  
• 8:58 - Gonzalez gets a hanger from Pettitte and knocks it against the ivy to knock in Miller and make it 5-0. Pettitte's night is done after 1 2/3 innings. He got five total outs, 2 of them on a crushed line drive that would up being a double play and 1 because the Cubs gave it to him on a sacrifice. Not good for him. The Yankees are brining in their 6th starter Weaver.
  
• 9:03 - We officially have a route developing as Patterson triples in Gonzalez. The Cubs hit for the cycle in the second inning and lead 6-0.
  
• 9:10 - Giambi puts the Yanks on the board with a solo homer. I guarantee if the Cubs were up by 3 runs or less, he does not get the fastball to start the AB. Prior is a smart guy and realizes that solo homers cannot do too much damage.
  
• 9:14 - I do not want to be gellin', have a vague memory of learning about Magelln, do not really like melon and have never been a felon.
  
• 9:18 - Jon Miller just wished Hee Seop Choi well in Korean. Lets hope that he did not pull a JFK and blow the translations and say something like "I have naked pictures of your mom" or something.
  
• 9:26 Tom Seaver at the moment. Morgan mentions that Seaver used more leg drive in his delivery to generate power. I just now noticed how huge Prior's calves are. I am guessing he has pretty strong legs as well.
  
• 9:32 - Ventura has been safe at second by about an inch two plays in a row, but he survives and lets Torre bring up Ruben Sierra for Weaver. Hitchcock is warming up, so the Cubs will see the Yankees 4th, 6th, and 7th starters all in the same game.
  
• 9:40 - Posada just took his second foul ball of the inning in a spot where you don't want to take a foul ball. I don't know who the Patron Saint of Plastic is but I imagine he is in Posada's thoughts at the moment.
  
• 9:44 - Jim Belushi is in the booth. Scott reminds me that he starred in the Mark Grace vehicle Taking Care of Business. I just know he has a show on ABC right now as well as John Ritter. I guess ABC is promoting the senior sitcom tour. Hey, the PGA has one, why not actors.
  
• 9:50 - Prior gives Jeter the hat trick.
  
• 9:55 - Patterson morphs into the 2002 Patterson and whiffs on a pitch that bounced. Sosa bats next and the crew states that Sammy has led the Cubs in homers for 10 straight seasons! The only other player to lead his team for that many consecutive seasons is Hank Aaron. If Sammy gets on a roll he could beat Hank's record this season. Of course, that is probably not the Aaron record he has his eye on.
  
• 10:05 - Mondesi sits on a 2-0 fastball and drives one into the bleachers to make it 6-2.
  
• 10:08 - 3 straight ball have been hit hard with 2 outs as the Yankees plate another run. Bubba bats for Hitchcock (that could have been a headline during the Clinton administration) and strikes out looking. Trammel is the 7th major leaguer to be named Bubba in case you were wondering.
  
• 10:13 - Future Columbus Clipper Juan Acevedo comes into the game and is greeted by an Eric Karros single.
  
• 10:15 - Soriano has had no luck getting on the Saturday Night Live in New York cast so he decides to audition for Second City instead. His audition consists of a perfect impersonation of Chevy Chase.
  
• 10:18 - Career pinch hit leader Lenny Harris (if you ever talk about the Cubs you are contractually obligated to put that qualifying phrase in front of Harris) flies out weakly to right to end the inning. Prior's evening is done. Yankee fans rejoice.
  
• 10:21 - Dr. Tightpants comes into the game to face the top of the order. The Cubs have not scored since the 2nd and I can feel a little acid churning in my stomach.
  
• 10:25 - Farnsworth walks the unwalkable to start the inning. Walking Soriano is like dating Pamela Anderson and not getting at least a good night kiss. It just doesn't happen that often.
  
• 10:27 - Jeter is sick of striking out so he decided to hit into a double play. Nice choice. My stomach starts to feel better.
  
• 10:31 - Remlinger comes in to make Giambi look silly again. He has to be wondering how he hits so well in the AL. I was suprised Dusty went to Remlinger. He seems to have a slow hook for starters then a real quick one for relievers. Don't know if this is good or bad, just mentioning it.
  
• 10:37 - Acevedo decides to field a bunt and throw it into right field. See, it is the ballpark that is causing all the Cub pitcher errors and not the actual pitchers. Soriano decides that throwing the ball around is fun so he makes another error allowing Grudz to score all the way from first on a sacrifice. Acevedo will have a bus ticket waiting for him in his locker after the game.
  
• 10:40 - Sosa collects career hit number 2000 with an RBI single. The Cubs are now up 8-3. Sosa got his 2000th hit in his 15th season while Harris earlier in the homestand got his 1000th hit in his 16th season. Draw whatever conclusion you would like out of that.
  
• 10:50 - With the game not on the line anymore, Remlinger decides to give up a walk and a Ventura homer. The game is back to 8-5. Ventura took a close pitch and then homered on the next one. That has happened about 5 times to the Cubs this series. Alfonseca is coming in as the stomach acid is coming back.
  
• 10:52 - ESPN is showing more footage of Ruth's "called" shot. I have no idea what he was pointing at, but it sure as heck does not look like center field from that footage. The outside of his shoulder is facing center field because he was taking his batting stance. If his arm was also pointing to center, it would have to form a near 180 degree straight line angle with his shoulder. The angle of his arm is closer to perpendicular. To me, he is clearly pointing toward the dugout. Considering that he makes more gestures toward the dugout as he is rounding the bases, I say he was yelling at the Cubs rather than calling his shot.
  
• 10:58 - Alfonseca walks a guy and goes to 2-0 on the next one. My dog wakes up and smells her butt. Coincidence? Scott is pulling for a strong Alfonseca showing so we can peddle him to the Yankees as they leave town.
  
• 11:06 - David Kelton gets his first major league PA. I am glad Dusty got him in the game. If I ever make the bigs, I would want my first PA to be against a change up specialist. I see he took over Brown's number 24. Hopefully the number will have more hits and more importantly more opportunities in it this time around. Kelton hits the ball hard but right at Rivera. He gets a great hand as he trots back to the dugout.
  
• 11:11 - Joe Borowski is in the game in the easiest of save situations. He does have to face the top of the order though.
  
• 11:16 - After getting 2 strikes on Jeter, Borowski gives him the walk. I start to look for Pepto.
  
• 11:19 - After getting 2 strikes Giambi doubles to the right center field gap. The tying run is coming to the plate and I need a stonger medicine. I will be happy to see Giambi leave town.
  
• 11:24 - After getting 2 strikes (seeing a theme yet) Posada grounds a hit up the middle to cut the Cubs lead to one. The winning run is now at the plate. I am wondering if Dusty will demote Borowksi in game and bring in Guthrie for Ventura. One more hit and I will need this. If the Yankees tie the game the Cubs are in trouble because Alex ended the 8th.
  
• 11:25 - Borowksi stays in and gets Ventura to fly out. It looks like the ball just missed the sweet spot on the bat. Ventura did not wait until 2 strikes. Silly Yankee. Charles Gipson is now pinch running for Posada.
  
• 11:28 - Mondesi gets 2 strikes on him and is poised to get a game winning hit. Instead Gipson, deciding he would like to spend time in Columbus as well, gets caught leaning the wrong way and is picked off to end the game. Unbelievable! Borowski slams the door shut with his pick off move. Joe's totals for the series: 2 games, 2 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 1 HR, and 1 save. Rivera eat your heart out.

The Cubs take two of three from the Yanks and stay within a game of the first place Astros. They also finish the homestand 6-6.
posted by Dennis at 9:33 AM : |

 

Cubs close out series in prime time

Sunday night the Cubs will play the third and decisive game against the Yankees. The game pits Mark Prior (6-2 2.76) against Andy Pettitte (5-5 4.71) on ESPN's game of the week. Usually the thought of listening to an entire game of Joe Morgan would cause me to gouge my eyes out, but they are already gone because I had to listen to McCarver and Buck this afternoon. At least Morgan works with Jon Miller, who I think is very good. Dusty shuffled his pitchers earlier in the homestand to ensure Prior would get this start against the Yankees. The Cubs would not only like to win this game because of the extraordinary amount of hype involved, but winning gives them a 6-6 homestand. Yeah 6-6 is not all that good when all is said and done, but it is not a bad recovery considering they started 2-4.

Pettitte is a lefty so we will probably see Ramon Martinez get the start instead of Bellhorn. At least Lenny Harris will be available to pinch hit in the later innings for Damien Miller. Luckily for the Cubs Pettitte is a lefty so the loss of Choi will not be noticed immediately as Karros would have started anyway. Of course, this will weaken the bench quite a bit. The Choi injury just looked absolutely horrific. I hope that he is alright, but I imagine a trip to the disabled list could be in order. With Sosa getting ready to spend 8 days on suspension can the Cubs afford to keep Choi active but unavailable for a few games? I think we will need to get a bat from AAA as we head to the AL parks. More will be known tomorrow about Choi for sure.

Quick hit thoughts for today

I actually had to tape the game this afternoon because I was umpiring three little league games. To be quite honest, three of the worst little league games I have ever umpired. The pitchers could not find the strikezone all afternoon and that is saying something because I give pretty generous corners to 12 year olds. By the 4th inning of the third game, I could not see straight, but coming home and watching a Cubs victory made it all worth while. After spending some time watching the game and re-watching some of the better parts, here are some random thoughts after the Cubs first ever victory against the Yankees.

• The best part about Karros' homer was that it prompted 2 minutes of silence from Joe Buck
  
• I am watching Baseball Tonight at the moment and they are showing an interview with Yankee pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre after the game and he has wet hair. You mean to tell me that pitching coaches take showers. What in the world for?
  
• Did you notice when the ambulance came in to take Choi off, Cubs personnel would not let it drive over the infield? It had to perform a three point turnaround to avoid the infield.
  
• Isn't it great to not only have baseball dominating the sporting world, but Cubs baseball.
  
• I don't ever remember Remlinger getting pumped up and gyrating after big outs in Atlanta, but he has done it a couple of times for the Cubs. He might have the biggest set of family jewels in the world to drop a 3-2 changeup on Giambi. What a pitch.
  
• How funny is it that Clemens got the lose because he was responsible for the first two runners that scored on the homer allowed by Acevedo. Funnier still (in a baseball sort of way, not for a Cubs fan) would have been if Giambi would have taken Remlinger deep then Acevedo would have been in line for the win.
  
• Wood was absolutely electric this afternoon. Maybe this will be the catalyst that brings him to the next level. He always flirts with greatness but always seems one inning or one batter away from dominating. He flat out dominated the Yankees today and hopefully he can remember this into his future starts.
  
• The crowd at Wrigely was absolutely electric again this afternoon. Cubs fans get a bad rap as cell phone toting, sun bathing yuppies with no real knowledge of baseball. People clamour that Wrigley is the attraction and not the Cubs. Well, that is usually because the Cubs stink. Given a good team and a marquee match-up the fans stepped up and proved they are some of the most passionate, intelligent fans in the game. I would have given a lot to have been there today.
  

posted by Dennis at 10:35 PM : |

 

The cleaning crew is here, could someone ask Roger to move?

If you missed it, you missed one of those games that we will remember even if we don't manage to contend for the division in September. Kerry pitched magnificently, Remlinger had the clutch strikeout of the year, and Eric Karros (about whom I take back 75% of the bad things I have said this year) hit the critical three-run bomb. Just a marvelous win.

Despite the huge win, the major concern is the status of Hee Sop Choi. He was apparently knocked unconcious in a collision with Kerry Wood on a pop-up in the third inning. He was fitted with a neck brace, put on a stretcher, and loaded into an ambulance. I havve heard rumors that WGN reported him as being awake, talking, and moving in the hospital, but I haven't heard that myself. ESPN News is saying only that he is in "serious" condition. All of our thoughts are with him as we hope he is hale and hearty again in no time.

posted by Scott at 4:43 PM : |

 

Chasees become chasers

Winning eight of their last eighteen has dropped the Cubs into a tie with the Cardinals (winners of five straight), one game behind the Astros (ditto). There is way too much season left to say we have to win today, but it would do a lot for my stress level if we could right the ship and get things moving in the right direction again.

The short version of the Kerry Wood story is that he is a great talent who throws too many pitches to be a great pitcher. He is currently fifth in baseball with 4.1 pitches thrown per batter faced. The Yankees, with a reputation for seeing a lot of pitches, would seem like grease on the Wood-pitch-count fire. I haven't been able to dig up team-by-team pitches-seen stats for hitters, but I can tell you that the Yankees see more than their share. The top teams in baseball usually see about 3.9 pitches per plate appearance. By comparison, the Yankees lineup features such patient fellows as Jason Giambi (4.1), Raul Mondesi (3.9), Robin Ventura (3.9), and Jorge Posada (3.9), as well as less patient folks like Hideki Matsui (3.6) and Alfonso Soriano (3.5). In summary, Kerry needs to work more efficiently if he is going to get far into games, a fact that may be even more key today against the Yanks.

Roger Clemens is actually eighth on the P/PA list, but goodness knows our collection of hackers won't test him in that department. I don't see any other obvious weaknesses in Clemens splits, unless you count the fact that he has been generally ineffective for the last month or so. I mean, if the Tigers can put six across in six inning against him, surely we can do some damage.

A confidential note from me to the Atlanta Police. Next time I call you with a report of two guys hammering on a car in the parking deck outside my window, try to get here in less then twelve minutes. Experience I gained this morning tells me that they usually stick around from ten to eleven minutes after I call it in. Another thing that might be helpful is if you provide your officers with the gate codes to local gated apartment complexes. I mean, I am no master crime analyst or anything, but it seems to me that a barrier that is impenetrable to police but allows two car thieves to walk right in and out isn't going to help matters much.

Last but not least, I teased a Baylor/Baker breakdown yesterday, but Doug made me feel guilty so I am going to keep it inside until the next time Baker ticks me off. I've got my eye on you, Dusty... Edited at 1:38 EDT to add:Dusty just sacrificed with the second hitter of the game. I am going through with the breakdown.

posted by Scott at 11:39 AM : |

 

Yanks run streak to nine

The visitors got to Carlos Zambrano early, tallying two in the first and three more in the third en route to a 5-3 victory at Wrigley this afternoon. Zambrano got tougher as the day wore on, but the damage was done as the Cubs offense couldn't come back against David Wells, Antonio Osuna, and Mariano Rivera. Martinez and Patterson homered for the Cubs, and Sosa flirted with one but came up shy.

Mariano Rivera
Year	OPS vs L	OPS vs R
2000	.565	.555
2001	.435	.583
2002	.473	.605
2003	.370	.929

The Cubs tried to rally in the ninth, and were faced with a two-on one-out situation for Damian Miller. Mariano Rivera's L/R OPS splits the last four years are on your right. A quick glance tells you that despite the fact that he is right-handed, righties have as good or better a shot against him than lefties.

For simplicity's sake, let's ignore the rest of the bench, and just focus on Miller and Baker's choice Lenny Harris. Miller's OPS is .668, Lenny's is .550. Miller's OPS against righties is .723, Lenny's is .584. In fact, Harris hasn't out-hit Miller since Miller's rookie season of 1997. I can see no conceivable reason to think Harris is a better choice than Miller in that situation even before you consider you are wasting a pinch-hitter if the game should go further. Anyway, Lenny smashed a mighty ten MPH grounder to the pitcher who tossed to first for the putout- rally killed. Can anyone either A) point out to me a reason to use Harris in place of Miller there or B) explain to me why the Cubs can't get a manager who can make simple tactical decisions correctly?

Check back for a preview of tomorrow's game and an answer to the question "Don Baylor and Dusty Baker- which one is which again?"

posted by Scott at 8:03 PM : |

 

Wrevenge at Wrigley?

The much-anticipated return of the Yankees to Wrigley Field finally comes this afternoon at 2:20 CDT. Before today's game, we are tied with Houston and just a game ahead of the Cardinals. Both of our competitors have to be salivating as they see us taking on the pinstriped dynasty while they face the Devil Rays and the Orioles respectively.

Today's game pits 22 year-old righty Carlos Zambrano (5-4, 2.69) against the 40 year-old lefty David Wells (7-2, 3.35). Despite their differences, both have pitched very well this year. Wells has had a pretty severe reverse platoon split this year (.856 OPS allowed versus lefties as opposed to .620 versus righties), but that hasn't been the case in previous years so I wouldn't read too much into it. Wells has owned most of the Cubs he has faced before, with only Alex Gonzalez managing an OPS of more than .700 against him. In particular, I'll be shocked if Dusty let's Bellhorn see Wells given Bellhorn's 0-4 with 4 strikeout career record against him.

Let's leave Joe looking like this.

I doubt the Cubs are sitting around the locker room reading this site, so I'll have to give this motivational speech to you guys instead. We haven't played the Yankees in my lifetime, but I still see this as a rivalry. A game against the Yanks ought to be a rivalry game for every team in baseball. The Yankees are the older kid who beat you up and took your lunch money in elementary school. Their fans are generally relentless bandwagoners who will sit there and tell you to your face that Derek Jeter is the best shortstop in baseball. Fans of 29 teams in baseball will be checking Sportscenter tonight hoping to see those arrogant good-for-nothings knocked off their pedestal. I mean really, Googling for "hate the Yankees" gives 2240 matches, while "hate the Cubs" gives 97. Our mission is clear. Our cause is just. Let's beat these punks... for America!

posted by Scott at 10:57 AM : |

 

Cubs romp, await Yankees

Despite using Lenny Harris (no, seriously) as a leadoff hitter, the Cubs rode a strong performance from Matt Clement and a seven-run third inning to an 8-1 win. Clement struck out seven D-Rays while walking only two and even got out with less than 100 pitches in his seven innings. Its been said once or twice before, but this offense stinks. Even with a healthy Sosa, we don't have a pennant winner if we don't get some punch in the lineup. Hendry needs to get busy sooner rather than later.

Come back tomorrow morning we'll have a preview of tomorrow afternoon's matchup between David Wells and Carlos Zambrano.

posted by Scott at 5:18 PM : |

 

Bloody Wednesday

If you guys are anything like me, you aren't having a very good day. Maybe you got a midnight call on your cellphone from a man with a fake Hispanic accent saying "Cheating has been berry berry good to me!" Perhaps you arrived at work to find three voicemails from people, each of them laughing their asses off and using the term "cork" to excess. Maybe you came back from a lunch meeting to find the exploding bat cartoon on espn.com's front page blown up to a lifesize color poster and taped to your cubicle wall. Or maybe, like me, you got to experience all of the above along with a dissertation comparing and contrasting Pete Rose, Bill Clinton, Adolph Hitler, and Sammy Sosa.

Logically, all of this teasing doesn't make much sense. I didn't core out a bat and put cork in it. I didn't take a corked bat out to face Tampa Bay last night, and yet I find myself gritting my teeth, taking the abuse, all with a sick feeling of shame in my stomach.

I have chosen my various favorite teams and players over the years for lots of reasons. No matter how I chose them though, any guy I have taken as my own goes out on the field representing me. If he hits a homerun, I feel pride. If he makes an error that costs the team the game, I feel guilty. If we win, I am happy. If we lose, I am sad.

I realize in my head that it doesn't make a lot of sense. Still, I choose to let these players and teams represent me because I want to feel something. I want to put part of myself on the line with the Cubs. If one of our guys hits the walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth in Game Seven that we have each imagined thousands of times, I am going to be the happiest man in the world. The tradeoff is suffering through days like today.

Come back strong, Sammy. Show them all. I'll be right there with you.
posted by Scott at 2:52 PM : |

 

Rays uncork wild pitch, umpires uncork Sosa

The Cubs snatched victory from the jaws of defeat last night winning 3-2 on a walk off wild pitch - which has to be the second worst walk off event for the defense behind only the walk off balk. Ramon Martinez was batting with men on second and third and one out when the Devil Rays tried to unintentionally, intentionally walk him. Levine either did too good of a job of missing the strike zone or too bad of a job of making it close and threw one to the backstop to plate the winning run. The really eerie thing was that Steve Stone predicted the game might end that way right before it did. He seems really good at predicting things like that - of course my memory only remembers the things he gets right and not the hundreds he probably misses.

The Cubs continue their series with Tampa his evening at 8:05 on Fox Sports (and Extra Innings) Shawn Estes and Victor Zambrano are the scheduled starters. Estes has pitched much better at home this season. Hopefully the Cubs can sweep out the Rays before the Yankees come to town.

Oh yeah, there was also a little incident involving Sosa last night. If you have not heard then thanks for using The Northside Lounge as your primary Cubs news source and also get out from under than rock. We will be posting more on the Sosa situation as the day progresses so make sure to check back.

posted by Dennis at 8:08 AM : |

 

Paging Jason Grimsley...

In case you have not heard the story, Jason Grimsley was a fringe pitcher with the Indians a few seasons back. Albert Belle was accused of corking his bat one night at Comisky Park. The umpires stored the bat in their room to send it off to the league office after the game. When the game was over, they found a Paul Sorrento bat instead of the Belle bat. It seems Mr. Grimsley crawled through the ceiling tiles and pulled off the switch during the game. He replaced it with the Sorrento bat instead of another Bell bat because he suspected all of Belle's bats were corked. This story was taken from Baseball, Chicago Style: A Tale of Two Teams, One City by Jerome Holtzman and George Vass.

Why recount it now? Well, as most have probably heard Sammy Sosa was ejected from the first inning of tonight's game for having cork in his bat. Obviously details are sketchy as the game is still being played. Unfortunately this is not the last we will hear of this case. If it was indeed cork the Cubs are looking at upwards of 10 more games without Sammy. More important will be how the Cubs and Sammy handle what will be a massive PR fallout from this incident. We will wait and see.

posted by Dennis at 9:15 PM : |

 

The draft continues...

The Cubs have selected Michigan catcher Jake Fox (sliding into your screen in a Cape Cod League game on the right) with their third round pick. He's a 5-11, 210 pound junior said to have an average glove but a good deal of pop in his bat. He hit .357 this year with a .696 SLG. He didn't walk much (7.7% of plate appearances) but he didn't strike out much either (9.4% of PAs). This was said to be a draft without much catching talent, but Fox looks to have been one of the better players available so the Cubs may have simultaneously gotten a value and need pick here.

Update- Round 4- The Cubs select Florida State catcher Tony Richie, a 6-1, 215 pound junior. He is said to have a very good arm and was Baseball America's first team All-American catcher as a sophomore. His line was .373/.462/.621 this year, and for comparison to the numbers I gave on Fox above Richie walked in 13.8% of PAs and struck out in 11.1%. Catcher is certainly an organizational need, but two in the first three picks is a bit surprising (to me at least).

Update Round 5- The Cubs take one of the much-maligned high school pitching set. This one is Darin Downs, a lefty out of Santa Luces HS listed at 6-3. The scout comments on mlb.com all look good, but who knows if that means anything?

Update Round 6- This time its Sean Marshall, a lefty from Virginia Commonwealth University. He struck out a little over a man per inning with a 3/1 K/BB ratio, and allowed only 4 homers in 86 innings.

Update Round 7 & 8- Kyle Boyer, a corner outfielder or maybe third baseman from Cal State in round seven. Matthew Lincoln, a lefty from Santa Ana College in the eighth. Boyer hit .338/.406/.511 with 23 steals in 27 tries. Lincoln struck out a little over a man an inning with a K/BB ratio right around 4.
posted by Scott at 3:38 PM : |

 

And the next Cub superstar is...

1- Tampa Bay Devil Rays- Delmon Young
2- Milwaukee Brewers- Ricky Weeks
3- Detroit Tigers- Kyle Sleeth
4- San Diego Padres- Tim Stauffer
5- Kansas City Royals- Christopher Lubanski

A brief interlude from your hosts:

Dennis says:
Mike Aubrey, 1B/OF, Tulane University- .505 OBP and .733 SLG. Does not walk as much as the other guys but OBP is good because he has been plunked around 20 times. Steals some bases at a high success rate (19 of 21). If the Kelton experiment in left does not work, we need someone to take Alou's place in a couple of seasons.

Scott says:
Ryan Harvey, OF, Dunedin HS, FL- Dennis wisely looks askance at drafting high school players, but in this case I am going to make an exception. There probably isn't any high school pitcher that could tempt me into taking him, but high school position players at the top of the draft go on to become top level stars at a very comprable rate to college players. Harvey is a 6-5 CF with speed and power. John Sickels calls him a "tools monster", and the scouts consensus seems to be that he has every physical ability you could ask for. Sickels does question his plate discipline, but he is (obviously) far too young to rule out improvement in that area. Ultimately, when you have one guy left on the board who would have been a plausible #1 overall pick you've got to go for it.

Jim Hendy says:
Ryan Harvey, OF, Dunedin HS, FL

Before the draft, the word was that the Cubs would go for the best player available. With most of these players at least a couple years away, and a trade always an option in the event of a logjam, that's a strategy that makes sense. This is who Hendry wanted, and this is who he gets. I guess it puts the pressure on me since they took my guy!

We'll be back with more when the Cubs pick in the third round (having lost their second round pick to Atlanta for signing Remlinger) and beyond later in the day.

Also, more coverage at The Cub Reporter.
posted by Scott at 1:37 PM : |

 

Sandberg comes to Wrigley

OK, not that Sandberg, but Ryno's nephew Jared is a member of the Devil Rays. Tampa comes to town for the first time in its team history for a three game interleague series. Former Cub Jemeri Gonzalez makes his return to Wrigley Field to face the struggling Matt Clement (on FoxSports 8:05 in the east). Tampa is 9-18 on the road this season, so hopefully the Cubs can get pull off a little winning streak before the Yankees come calling. The Cubs need some home cooking because they are only 14-13 at home this season. This is over .500 but under average. The cumulative winning percentage for teams at home since 1901 is near 54% with good teams being much better that that. It would serve them well to get to 60% at home since their road record is a very respectible 16-12.

Clement will look to right his ship as he went 0 for May. His last victory came April 18th. In his four May starts he gave up 5,6,2, and 7 earned runs plus he had that terrible start start against the Cardinals taken off the board. Being stung by homers all season, he did at least keep the ball in the park during his last outing. Of course, he gave up 9 hits and only struck out 2 men. Facing Tampa Bay cannot hurt as they are 11th in the AL in runs scored averaging 4.35 runs per game.

[Update 2:56 EST: MLB.com is now reporting that Prior will take the ball tonight]

On the offensive side, the Cubs need to find a way to wake the bats up. The Astros outscored them 18 to 5 and the Pirates outslugged them 23 to 9 during the first two series of the homestand. Six games, 14 runs, or about 2.3 a game so far at home. They had better spike the steaks at Harry Caray's with HGH. I have talked at length about the Cubs offense recently, but suffice to say if Harris keeps on getting more and more ABs, I think the Cubs will continue to struggle. The Cubs have played 28 games since May 1st. In 11 of those game Harris has gotten 3 or more plate appearances. The Cubs have scored 30 runs in those games (2.73 runs/game). Comparatively they have scored 79 runs in the other 17 games (4.65 runs/game). The difference is statistically significant (p=.0368). I realize their could be a slew of covariates, but on the surface it appears that our sub .300 OBP "starting" third basemen is hurting the offense.

Draft Day

Today at 1:00 PM in the east, the major league first year player draft takes place. Major League Baseball's website will let you listen to the draft as it happens. The Cubs pick 6th and then will not pick again until the third round. The Braves get the Cubs second round pick as compensation for losing Remlinger. They would have lost their first round pick, but it was in the top half of the draft. The Cubs have been one of the teams to take the leap to grabbing college pitchers of late and hopefully that will continue. The draft preview for the Cubs quotes the scouting director saying they will take the best player available at 6 with no regard to filling a need. Everyone knows the Cubs are stocked with arms, so they can either get more and use them as trade bait or switch horses and get some bats especially behind the plate. Scott and I will recap the draft later on in the week.

And after alllllll, I read Moneyballlll

If anyone gets that comment, you are either really up on 90s music or really sad like me (or both). Anyways, I finished the book over the weekend. There have been numerous (google Moneyball and it lists 1480 pages) reviews, comments, critiques, and praises for this book, so anything I say will not do it justice. If you are still on the fence though, I say purchase it. You won't be disappointed.

Two main ideas came across to me while reading the book. First, why in the heck don't all teams think like the A's. Some scouts never look at numbers when drafting a player. They look only at tools. This creates a system where the A's can draft good hitters and pitchers while the other teams draft men with good legs or arms that cannot hit or pitch. Some organizations think they can teach baseball ability if players have certain natural attributes. It would be akin to marrying a woman beecause she looks like a supermodel and then "teaching" her to be a wife. Their ability to assess baseball playing prowess at lower risk (by not drafting high school pitchers for instance) have made them into a winning ballclub without the financial means of other clubs.

Second, I was struck by Billy Beane's personality. Of course, some parts of the book were probably exaggerated to some degree by the author, but he comes off as some tortured genius who cannot figure out what he wants. He is in constant struggle between being recognized for his brilliant work or demonized as being lucky. He wants to point out how stupid other teams are to allow him to win, but preaching that gospel might make the other team's change focus therefore making him lose his competitive advantage. The stigmas that make it possible for him to succeed also leaves his success underappreciated. Of course, the impact of this book might be that he is finally recognized outside of SABR circles for his amazing work. This could also mean in 15 years the A's system will be the standard until some other bright people have the courage to challenge it with something better.

posted by Dennis at 8:47 AM : |

 

Cubs continue to struggle at home

Kerry Wood looked as dominant as Nolan Ryan at times and as helpless as Micah Bowie in others as the Astros routed the Cubs 9-3 yesterday to take two of three in their weekend series. Wood struck out 11 Astros and only gave up six hits and 3 walks in his 6 innings. Unfortunately four of the six hits and 2 of the three walks all came in the 4 run Astro 4th.

An Eric Karros homer in the bottom of the seventh pulled the Cubs to within 2 runs at 5-3, but Mike Remlinger, feeling left out, decided to blow up and give up 2 homers and 4 runs in the top of the 8th to secure the final margin. Alfonseca, Norton, Cruz and now, Remlinger have all decided to play gasoline man to opponents fire during this homestand. Mark Bellhorn doubled in the ninth inning, so that should earn him another week on the bench. Of course if Matt Williams comes over Bellhorn might not ever play again. Yuck!

On the plus side to this little spurt of mediocrity, no one wants to come and take first place from the Cubs. Over the last 10 games, 5 of the 6 division teams are 5-5 with the Reds going 3-7. Also, the Cubs can no longer claim that they should have the best record in the division. The Cardinals are outscoring their opponents by a greater margin, but Cub secret agents Jeff Fassero and Joe Girardi have conspired to make them 3-14 in one run games. They are still the team that worries me above all others in the Central. Of course, if Dusty would give up on the notion that Harris as an everyday player I would like our chances better.

Weekend Movie

For the first time in a long time, the wife and I took in a movie this weekend. We saw The Italian Job with Marky Mark (come on feel it, feel it!!) Edward Norton and others. Pretty good popcorn flick. Lots of car chases and heist scenes with the required gadgets and cool stuff that criminals can always find. I wish they would sell this stuff at Wal-Mart. Also, I would hate to be an insurance agent for a gangster pulling off "one last job". It is probably easier to get coverage if you are a 300 pound diabetic with a three pack a day habit.

Most of the chase scenes in the movie involved the Mini Cooper. What is the fascination with these cars? I think all cars should have a mini version especially the Winnebago. If it were made by the same company as the other Mini, they could call it the Winnie Cooper...Thank you, I'll be here all week.

Finally, a personal note

Today is my wedding anniversary. The Cubs were in first place the day I got married which is something a lot of fans cannot claim. It cannot be easy living with a Cub fan given their bi-polar nature during the summer months. Just this weekend I literally jumped for joy when Sammy got his game winning hit on Saturday and then threw the remote and left the room in a tiff after Remlinger blew up Sunday. Through it all, Kara maintains an even keel and has even grown to become a fan of the team. I am a lucky guy.

posted by Dennis at 8:41 AM : |

 

Pitcher's Duel

The Cubs held the Astros scoreless for sixteen innings yesterday, just long enough for Sammy Sosa to punch a single past a drawn-in five-man infield for a 1-0 win. Check out the Cub Reporter for a great recap of the game. Also, can someone explain to me why a guy who has hit 300 homers in the last six seasons with a 1.000+ OPS deserves to be booed for going 0 for his first 10 coming off the DL? What on earth are you people thinking?

The Cubs have lost eight of fourteen but continue to cling to a two game lead in the Central. They try to extend that lead to three games today as Kerry Wood (4-3, 2.78) takes on the southpaw rookie Jeriome Robertson (3-3, 6.46). Robertson's overall line is ugly, but he is 2-0 with a 3.06 in his last three starts. The Cubs (with the exception of Paul Bako) have never seen him, so let's hope the advance scounts have given our hitters a good report.

Finally, I don't want to be a corporate shill, but do yourself a favor and scroll down for Dennis's review of the Cubs hitters performances this year. The witty putdowns of Tom Goodwin's hitting abilities are just the start!

posted by Scott at 7:12 AM : |

 

And now, the rest of the story

Scott took care of the pitchers earlier this week, so I am here to talk about the bats. Again, I will be looking at some numbers that are not traditional and indexing them to the NL average. My statistics are current as of yesterday's game. I am covering anyone on the team who has more than 10 at bats, so that includes the starters. Here are some of the stats I am using::

• OBP - On base percentage indexed to league average (.335)
  
• SLG - Slugging percentage indexed to league average (.415)
  
• OPS - On base plus slugging indexed to league average (.749)
  
• Eye - Ratio of walks to strikeouts indexed to league average (.536)
  
• Walk % - Percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk indexed to league average (9.5%)
  
• Contact % - Percentage of at bats not resulting in a strikeout indexed to league average (80.5%)
  
• RARP - Runs above replacement player, a Baseball Prospectus metric
  
• Rank- Major League rank within position based on RARP.
  

Enough with the set-up, lets get this ball rolling starting with the team as whole.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Cubs	101	100	101	91	103	97	n/a	n/a

The Cubs have been pretty average in terms of offensive production. Given the pitching staff, average will be enough to win a lot of ballgames. They are 8th in the league in runs scored. The only statistic that is far from the league average is eye meaning that they don't walk as much as they strikeout compaed to the league. If this ratio comes up it not only means that the Cubs are putting the ball in play more which leads to easy RBIs, but they are walking more. Both could turn into more runs.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Moises Alou	112	112	112	177	95	111	11.3	9

Quietly, Moises Alou is putting up a pretty good season. He is in the top ten of RARP for left fielders, above average in nearly all facets of the game. The most amazing thing is that he has only struck out 20 times compared to 19 walks. Those kind of numbers are not put up too often. The only annoying thing about Alou is the occasional half swing dribbler. He also still has a surprisingly good arm in the field as well.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Paul Bako	100	74	85	100	132	91	0.6	41

Offensively he is just barely above replacment level, but his job is not to put up Mike Piazza numbers. His job is to make sure Miller does not wilt in the August heat and not be an automatic out when he bats. Plus, he catches a decent game when he is in there. Walks quite a bit when he plays and gets on base right at the league average. His hit against the Reds was responsible for Griffey missing some time plus he had 6 RBIs that day. Not a bad guy to have on your bench.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Mark Bellhorn	106	78	91	123	194	82	3.4	18

Bellhorn, oh Bellhorn you had the chance to keep third base all to yourself and struggled. Now, you are in Dusty's doghouse and I cannot figure out why. He still controls the strikezone and gets on base better than the league average. The only puzzling thing from my standpoint has been the lack of power. Going into the season, his biggest asset was the ability to walk and that has continued as he has walked 18% of the time. He does strike out a bit but this does not make him an invaluable player. He ranks 18th in RARP, imagine what that would be if some balls in play fell for hits. I fear we may never know.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Hee Seop Choi	118	126	122	117	198	79	11.0	10

A checklist I would want for a ballpayer: good OBP, good SLG, commands the strikezone, and walks a bunch. For Choi that is check, check, check and check. He is the 10th most productive first sacker in the majors all while seeing a lot of the league for the first time. He still whiffs quite a bit, but I believe that a) this is not the biggest deal in the world and b) he will improve as he ages. He has gotten almost 62% of the PAs in the first base "platoon" although he has sat against some righties. Baker does not seem to like strikeouts, so hopefully this number does not drop because Karros turns into Joe Girardi against righties. Easily a chance to beocme a big time producer in the bigs.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Matt Clement	53	42	47	0	0	51	0	n/a

To quote Bill James, "Pass."

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Shawn Estes	60	38	48	27	53	78	-0.1	n/a

Estes is the only Cub starting pitcher to draw a walk this season, so he has that going for him, which is nice.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Alex Gonzalez	94	94	94	77	77	100	3.8	19

A player much like Damien Miller in that he is here for his defense and what you get out of the bat is gravy. There is not really a stellar part of his offensive game, but there are no huge weaknesses. Sure some more walks and a better command of the zone would be great, but he is not supposed to be an offensive leader. Known for his clutch hits this season. The funny thing is that his OBP in late and close situations is actually worse that his overall OBP. Of course, he is slugging .645 in those situations.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Tom Goodwin	55	59	57	17	20	98	-4.0	n/a

Let's see, a player who does not make contact as a league average rate, does not get on base enough, does not walk enough and has no command of the strike zone, how about we bat him leadoff once a week. I have lamented on just how bad he is before, so I won't go through all the numbers again here. Suffice to say I think he should be a sunk cost. There are better players for even cheaper than the $635,000 we are paying him. The n/a in the rank column is because he plays more than one defensive spot and I did not want to scroll down the page far enough to find his name.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Mark Grudzielanek	105	93	98	82	55	109	4.6	20

Mark came into to spring training and stole the job from Bobby Hill. He then proceeded to play his little heart out and put up some decent numbers. His performance this season looks nothing like his previous three. He does not walk much, but the high batting average is keeping his OBP above the league average. I think this is the perfect Dusty Baker player, someone who has a high batting average and puts the ball in play, the anti-Bellhorn. He is also the type of player that scares the death out of me. His performance is built on a foundation of cotton candy and could come crashing down at any moment. You can get lucky and hit to 18 in blackjack a few times in a row and win some money, but I would not bet the mortgage payment on it happening the next time.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Lenny Harris	85	68	76	187	100	111	--2.6	41

Lenny Harris has successfully taken his pinch hitting mentally into his new everyday job. That means he swings early if it is a strike to avoid whiffing thus making his eye percentage great even though he only has seven walks. Nevermind that once he makes contact the ball is hit with the same power as when my sister strikes it. He has a lower OBP, SLG, OPS, and walk % than Bellhorn yet he has started more recently. But he does make contact and maybe that is what Dusty likes. When and if the Cubs go out and get a third basemen, remember it was Baker's insistence to use Harris that forced Hendry's hand and not Bellhorn's play.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Eric Karros	111	116	114	373	119	116	4.2	22

Chalk Eric Karros up as my biggest surprise for 2003. I have given Baker some grief in earlier comments, but here I will give him some credit. To me, the most vital part of managing is putting players in a role where they can succeed. For Goodwin it is selling ice, cold Budweiser and for Karros it is hitting lefties. His OPS against southpaws this season is 1.135. I would love to see Choi get 90% of the PAs at first, but I cannot really compain if Karros continues to hit this way. He is doing everything from commanding the strikezone to hitting with power. Ever have a girlfriend that had a pretty cool roommate? While the girlfriend was getting ready it was nice to know you could kill some time talking with the roommate. You never wanted anything much just something to hold your attention until the main attraction was ready. Well consider Karros Choi's roommate.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Ramon Martinez	105	92	98	124	111	102	2.7	n/a

Martinez is a great guy to have on the ballclub. He gets on base, has a little power, walks some, controls the zone, and can play all the infield positions. If Baker has completely given up on Bellhorn, then Martinez should be starting at third. At least he does not have a negative RARP value. He is the guy that comes to your party with a 12 pack, but he won't steal the girl you have your eye on. His rank is n/a since he plays so many positions. Good 25th man.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Damien Miller	99	94	96	96	139	87	4.4	20

Miller has slumped of late and seen his batting average get down into the .220s, but his above average walk rate puts his OBP near the league average. I had my reservations about Miller, but I am pleased. He catches a good game, has the pitchers' respect, and does not embarass himself with the stick. I like the fact that he can turn a fastball around every now and then. Along with Gonzalez, he has hit some of the biggest homers of the season thus far. He is the type of guy that will fly under the radar until October and then get a huge hit in the world series. Javier Vazquez would have one more victory if not for a Miller homer earlier in the season.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Troy O'Leary	75	76	76	109	83	106	-3.8	n/a

Another guy that makes contact but nothing else. Noticing a trend yet? O'Leary was basically signed to be a left handed bat off the bench. He was thrust into action with the Sosa injury and basically proved why he was a bench player. Anyone who thinks this team can win without Sosa should look only at the above stats. His rank is n/a for the same reason as Goodwin.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Corey Patterson	99	135	119	24	30	96	13.7	7

Patterson is hacking his way to a fine season. Some of his balls that were doubles when he was a younger man are finding the seats this season. He still has no concept of the strikezone as shown by pretty terrible walk and eye numbers, but when he makes contact he scorches the ball. Hackers can really only be successful if they have speed to beat out Texas Leaguers and power to make sure the ball is hit hard. Patterson has both so like Soriano of the Yankees he can have some value even as he hacks. If he ever develops some patience and strikezone judgement watch out. Without it he is the 7th best center fielder, with it there is no limit to how good he can be.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Mark Prior	97	124	112	0	0	84	4.5	1

Are you kidding me? A freaking pitcher with an above league average slugging percentage. He has more doubles than Lenny Harris, Paul Bako and Tom Goodwin. He has as many homers as Harris and Goodwin and more than Bako. He is not only the best pitcher on the staff, but he is one of the best pinch hitting options off the bench. I don't think Baker would ever use him above the other guys - but he should.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Sammy Sosa	129	126	128	124	192	83	13.8	6

If this is a slump, I feel sorry for pitchers when he gets on track. Sammy is the former holder of the most famous big toenail in all the midwest. A toenail that landed him on the DL. He is now back and it is only a matter of time before he starts crushing the ball. The bar is raised so high for Sammy that these numbers look poor. Don't fall into that trap, his slugging percentage is still high, he is taking more walks, he is controlling the strike zone and now he is healthy. The Cubs offense receives a huge boost with him in the lineup.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Kerry Wood	52	73	64	0	0	86	0.8	23

Wood would be the best hitting pitcher on most staffs. On the Cubs he is third. Still good for the occasional homer and has surprising power the other way. I like the fact that he is not an automatic out.

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Name	OBP	SLG	OPS	Eye	Walk %	Contact%	RARP	Rank
Carlos Zambrano	50	90	72	0	0	72	1.3	14

The third Cub starter to hit a homer his season. He has also a couple of doubles in his ledger. Reminds me more of a guy that just swings hard in case he makes contact, but he can actually switch hit. It is great that the Cubs have three starters in the top 25 of all pitchers in RARP

---

Well, that is all of the sticks. The Cubs are strongest comapred to other teams at first, the outfield and on the mound. As a team they are average and need to work on their strikezone command and judgement. Mainly, they just need to score a few each night as their pitching will keep them in most games. With Slammin' Sammy back, that should not be difficult. They play the Astros this afternoon at Wrigley on WGN (4:00 EST). Oswalt, in his first start off the DL, will take on Zambrano.


posted by Dennis at 1:36 PM : |

 

Sosa returns; scoring doesn't

Wade Miller mowed down the Cubs last night as the Astros won 9-1 and moved within a game of the Cubs in the Central. In his return to the lineup, Sammy struck out on four pitches in the first, struck out on four pitches in the fourth, struck out on four pitches in the seventh, and fouled out to the catcher to end the game. Not to worry though, June is here tomorrow so I predict twenty homers for the month starting tomorrow.

Roy Oswalt (3-4, 3.68) returns from a stint on the disabled list this afternoon to face Carlos Zambrano (5-4, 3.02) at Wrigley. Oswalt was pitching well but not quite as well as he has in past years when he strained his right groin sliding into second two weeks ago. The Cubs could really use a new win streak, so wear your lucky talismans and for God's sake let's get some runs.

CAPTURED!

On a personal note, I was ecstatic this morning to see that Eric Robert Rudolph has been apprehended by sheriff's deputies in Murphy, NC. I am intensely proud of my hometown, Atlanta, GA, and the best summer of my life was our Olympic summer of 1996. Rudolph tried to ruin that summer by committing an act of terror back before terror was "cool" (that's sarcasm). He failed, thanks to the resilience of Atlantans and our Olympic guests, but he did murder two people and injure many more in the Olympic Park bombing and subsequent attacks in Atlanta and Birmingham. It does my heart good to see trash like him in jail where he belongs. On behalf of Matt Ghaffari, Carl Lewis, Kurt Angle, Amy Van Dyken, Michael Johnson, Tiffeny Milbrett, and all the other heros of the 1996 Olympics (athletes and otherwise), thank you law enforcement. Here's to justice.

posted by Scott at 10:46 AM : |

 
With May ending and the summer kicking off, we figured now was a good time to look over the Cubs roster and see what we could find. We will try to use some less traditional numbers and maybe shed some light on things that you may not have been aware of about the Cubs players. I'll be handling the pitchers, and Dennis will follow in day or so with the batters.I am indexing most of my stats to the National League averages. In other words, 100 means league average while 110 is 10% above league average and 200 is double league average. Here are the numbers I'll be presenting that might not be obvious:

• BF- Batters faced
• Strike%- the percentage of strikes thrown, indexed to league
• G/F- Ground ball to fly ball ratio, indexed to league.
• K%- Strikeouts per batter faced, indexed to league
• BBHB%- Walks and hit batters per batter faced, indexed to league
• HR%- Homers allowed per batter faced, indexed to league

Before we get into it, a word about defense. Current research suggests that the rate a team turns balls in play (basically plate appearances minus BB, HBP, K, and HR) into outs is a pretty good measure of team defense. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Cubs have turned 71.87% of balls in play into outs. That's just a smidge better than the league average of 71.19%. I am sure all the guys I am about to talk about appreciate it. Now let's get on with it.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Antonio Alfonseca	51	4.39	83	90	102	81	91	57	147

After missing April due to a spring training hamstring injury, Alfonseca has returned to pitch very well for the first two weeks of May. He struggled in mid-month, and got hammered his last time out against the Bucs. Overall, he has pitched about like he always does- like an average major league reliever. Of course, that doesn't mean he isn't still campaigning to reclaim his birthright no matter how much better Borowski has been.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Alan Benes	36	2.17	117	88	98	126	145	163	0

Alan Benes pitched well in his three outings for the Cubs, but when Alfonseca came off the DL Jim Hendry elected to send him to Texas to clear a roster spot. The Cubs are scheduled to receive a PTBNL who remains TBNL to this day.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Joe Borowski	92	1.88	62	50	106	66	177	64	41

Other than Eric Gagne, there has been no reliever in baseball tougher on opposing hitters than Joe Borowski. He has only been hit hard in one outing all year, that in an 11-7 win in Colorado. His numbers are strong across the board, with a nasty strikeout rate complementing good control. Although he said today he may change his mind at some point, Dusty deserves credit for sticking with Borowski rather than handing the "experienced closer" the job.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Matt Clement	261	4.99	96	102	101	150	109	108	144

What's wrong with Matt Clement? He hasn't looked like the same guy who had a breakthrough season last year, and instead has fallen to become the least effective Cubs starter. His OBP and SLG rates are about league average, but his strikeout rate has fallen and batters are finding him much easier to take out of the yard than in 2002. A return to form would be a huge boost for the Cubs going forward.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Juan Cruz	107	7.14	104	91	100	95	136	109	105

Juan Cruz, dangled as trade bait much of the year, hasn't taken the step forward many had hoped after last years solid performance. His strikeout rate remains strong, but balls in play have been falling in resulting in too many runs crossing the plate. Despite the ugly ERA, Juan Cruz has faced more hitters than anyone else in the Cub pen.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Shawn Estes	248	4.88	114	97	99	170	75	94	45

Despite not getting much support from the defense behind him (a team high .354 batting average allowed on BIP) Shawn Estes has been a pleasant surprise in the fifth starter slot. He was hit hard in his first start Cincinnati, and then again later in April in Colorado, but for the most part he has kept the Cubs in games which is all we could have expected. He has the highest G/F ratio of his career, so if the defense can pick it up a bit behind him he may well pitch even better from here on out.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Kyle Farnsworth	86	2.49	81	70	100	89	169	114	87

Kyle has pitched very well this year, showing signs of a return to the dominant form of 2001. His strikeout rate is excellent, and with a little better control we could be seeing great things from him again. For a reason I am not aware of, Dusty hasn't been using him much lately as he has only pitched twice since three scoreless innings on May 13th.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Mark Guthrie	49	3.54	86	103	96	151	142	139	230

Before going on the DL with tendonitis a couple weeks ago, Guthrie was playing with fire even if his ERA didn't show it. His walk rate was high and his homer rate higher. He gave up three homers in only twelve innings, including a game-winning shot by the less than Bondsesque Sean Casey, another game-winner for Preston Wilson, and a less meaningful bomb by Richie Sexson. Hopefully the rest will do him some good.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Phillip Norton	14	5.45	108	44	92	114	0	209	0

Norton has filled in respectably since being called up to take Guthrie's left-handed spot in the pen. I presume he'll be headed back to Iowa as soon as Guthrie is ready to return.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Mark Prior	317	2.82	83	76	109	99	152	74	47

Oh, Mark. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways: 1) You've got a homer rate less than half league average. 2) You've got a walk rate less than three-quarters league average. 3) Your strikeout rate is sky-high once again. 4) Neither righties not lefties are managing even a .600 OPS against you. 5) You allowing a lower OPS with runners on than with the bases empty, and lower still with men in scoring position.

I could go on all evening, but there is still a ways to go on this article. Besides, I know everyone feels the same way I do so why belabor the point? Suffice to say I am reconsidering my insistence that Mark Teixera was the right man for that draft pick.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Mike Remlinger	92	2.54	95	75	95	36	164	159	122

Remlinger was brought in to be the ace lefty from the pen and so far he has done the job. He has walked some people and given up three homers in just 24 innings, but he is striking out a ton of guys and thus keeping his overall numbers under control.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Dave Veres	26	7.89	116	120	102	89	89	75	144

Veres got knocked around for the first couple weeks then hit the DL. Reports from rehab say his velocity has been up and down, indicating an ongoing problem.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Todd Wellemeyer	18	0.00	34	27	110	30	291	0	0

Todd Wellemeyer was called up in mid-May, and took to a major league mound like Mike Tyson to an inappropriate comment. He has pitched far too few innings to accurately make a judgement about how he will pitch the rest of the way, but his memorable 17th inning mowing down of the Brewers in his debut will stick with us for a while.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Kerry Wood	305	2.78	94	76	97	78	170	141	74

Every passing year seems to bring Kerry closer to what we all hoped he would be when he burst on the scene in 1998. Heck, he might actually be there now. The only bugaboo boils down to pitch counts. Dusty has worked him awfully hard, but the thing that Dusty and the pitch-counters can agree on is that Kerry would be better off if he could achieve the same results with less pitches per batter (he is fifth highest in the majors at 4.1). Until he gets that figure down, he is not going to be able to develop into the Cy Young pitcher he is capable of being.

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Name	BF	ERA	OBP	SLG	STRIKE	G/F	K%	BBHB%	HR%
Carlos Zambrano	276	3.01	95	74	98	140	124	113	41

Now that's what I am talking about. On paper, the Cubs looked like a .500 team coming into this season. Those kind of teams can become contenders in a hurry if a couple of guys step up and deliver star turns, and that's exactly what we are getting from Zambrano. His strikeout rate has been very good and he has kept the ball on the ground and in the park. His control could use some improvement, but so far he has been a big reason for our success.

posted by Scott at 11:00 PM : |

 

Pirates plunder chance at sweep

The Cubs gained a little bit dignity back this afternoon in a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh ball club. Mark Prior pitched 7 2/3 stong innings giving up only 4 runs on 8 hits while striking out 8 and walking no one. He brings his record to 6-2 on the season. The offensive stars of the game were Damian Miller and Alex Gonzalez. Their homers led to all 5 Cubs runs. Bellhorn got the start this afternoon and responded with a hit and a run scored. Joe Borowski earned his 10th save in a somewhat more exciting than Dusty would liked 9th inning appearance. The Cubs actually get the day off tomorrow before Houston comes calling on Friday. Friday also marks the expected return of Sammy Sosa to the lineup.

Today's Lineup

I can understand that players need rest from time to time. Rest can help to make players fresh down the stretch especially in the case of older players like Moises Alou. But, if you insist on giving Tom Goodwin the start, you should not bat him in the leadoff spot thus giving the opposition 4 free outs instead of three. His OBP is .185 for goodness sakes. If your OBP is less than my weight it is debatable whether you should even have a major league job let alone bat in the most important position in the lineup.

The following is a table of expected runs by all 24 base/out combinations (I found it at the public website of TangoTiger (of Baseball Primer fame) and he got it from play-by-play data):

RE 99-02	0	1	2
Empty	0.555	0.297	0.117
1st	0.953	0.573	0.251
2nd	1.189	0.725	0.344
3rd	1.482	0.983	0.387
1st_2nd	1.573	0.971	0.466
1st_3rd	1.904	1.243	0.538
2nd_3rd	2.052	1.467	0.634
Loaded	2.417	1.65	0.815

Basically, if you have no runners on and no one out, you will be expected to score 0.555 runs. If you have a runner on 1st and no outs, the expected runs jumps to 0.953. These tables are a lot of fun to play with if you are so inclined.

When dealing with a finite distribution, you can find the expected value by summing over the probability of the events times their respective weights. For the first batter of the game, we can take the probability that a player will make an out times the expected number of runs that will score with one out and no on on, add that to the product of the probability a player will make a single (or walk) times the expected number of runs that will score with a man on first and no one out so on and so forth to figure the expected number of runs a leadoff batter will produce.

I realize that might have sounded confusing, so here is an example. Tom Goodwin makes an out 81.4% of the time, reaches 1st 14.8% of the time, second 0.19% of the time and hits a homer 0.19% of the time based on his numbers so far in 2003. His expected runs would be .814*.297+.148*.953+.019*1.189+.019*1.555 or 0.434 (the 1.555 for the homer is from adding the state at no on and no out (0.555) to the 1 run that scored on the homer). Running the same numbers for Grudz leads to 0.54 runs. Starting Goodwin already places the Cubs in a .106 run hole before we even consider the other times they come up during the game with runners on.

I will fully admit that using this season's numbers leave me open to sample size criticisms, but harping on that misses the point. It is simply foolish to put someone in a spot in the lineup just because they happen to have a certain quality - Goodwin being fast for example. Results are what matters and given his performance this season and throughout their careers, Grudz should always bat before Goodwin.

posted by Dennis at 6:34 PM : |

 

Cubs drop second straight game of homestand

This isn't the way it was supposed to happen. The Cubs were supposed to go on the road, come back in first place while playing .500 or better ball and then clean up at home. Unfortunately, no one let the Pirates in on the plan and for the second night in a row they destroyed the Cubs. The final score was 9-4, but it did not even seem that close. The Cubs have been an exciting team this season and most of the time I feel as if they are always in the game. Last night was one of the first times I felt they could not come back.

Clement struggles continued last night as he went only 5 innings and allowed 7 runs. He was able to keep the ball in the park this time, but did allow 9 hits while striking out only 2. He has lost 5 straight decisions. He has also given up 5 or more earned runs in 4 of his last 5 starts. Good thing that game against the Cardinals was rained out or his ERA would be above Levis.

The reason for my supreme pessimism about last night's comeback chances centered around Baker's choice of starting lineups. Harris started again for Bellhorn and went 1 for 4 while stranding 3 runners. I hate to harp on this point because all of the other bloggers are doing it as well, but there has to be some reason while Bellhorn is getting the bench. Baker has to be smart enough to realize that Bellhorn is a better player, right? I can think of only a handful of reasons to annoit Harris the starter: 1.) Bellhorn has some sort of attitude thing that Baker does not like and is paying for it 2.) Baker simply believes in his mind that Harris is better than Bellhorn (and Martinez) because he does not strike out as much 3.) Baker, who has been labeled as thin skinned even though I don't know how writers can make this assertion, would rather play Harris than constantly take questions about Bellhorn struggles. Mainstream media and fans have been pretty brutal to Bellhorn while the SABR types have pined for his inclusion in the lineup. Although the SABR types dominate the blog world, they represent a small fraction of the general baseball public so maybe Dusty is taking the path of least resistence. Too bad it is also the path of least runs.

Today is the last game of the Pirates series. It features starters Mark Prior versus Jeff D'Amico. Prior is coming off a bad outing at Paper Shredder field and is looking to not only rebound personally but keep the Cubs from getting swept for the first time all season. Today ends a brutal stretch for the Cubs. If rain had not cancelled a game against St. Louis and one at Pittsburgh it would have been 20 games in 20 days with 14 of them on the road. Right now they are 9-8 with 2 rain outs in this strecth. I believe you would have to be happy with 10-8 considering Sosa has been out for the majority of these games.

The sad Cubs game did give me a chance to read some more of Moneyball last evening. I read the chapters on James, the 2002 amateur draft, how the A's look for players and how they tried to plug Giambi's hole last evening. I would love to be the one to blast the book and not follow the other sheep out there singing this book's praises, but it is quite good. I literally laughed out loud at some of the sections thus far and have been amazed at the A's philosophy in others. I will write more as I finish it.

I probably will not have too many television thoughts during the summer as most shows are in repeats. Besides it is sunny until about 9:00, so I am usually playing frisbee with the dog unless the Cubs are on the tube. I would love to have some movie thoughts, but I have not been to the theatre in quite awhile. Weekends are usually spent on the road going to a wedding or at the house doing work. I actually like doing those things though. One upbeat note for summer is the beginning of the Amazing Race tomorrow on CBS. This has probably become my favorite reality show. Check it out if you have not seen any of the previous three seasons.

posted by Dennis at 7:57 AM : |

 

Cubs Try to Even Series This Evening

Tonight at the confines Matt Clement takes on Kris Benson in the second game of a long homestand. Gametime is 8:05 in the east which could spell a late night for this working man. Of course, if the Cubs play like they did yesterday, I will turn off the television in frustration and hit the sack early.

There is really nothing left to say about the team's performance yesterday. Wood was great but followed his MO of racking up high pitch counts and was pulled after 113 pitches and seven innings. The bullpen decided they would try their luck with the vaunted "no strike" strategy and gave up nine runs. Baker played it cool and just stated is was a "bad day at the office". I like the way Baker handles the media after the Cubs seemingly weekly bad game. He does not dwell, just gets them ready to play the following day. Hopefully they can leave this one in the rear view mirror and get a strong performance again from Clement against the Pirates to even the series.

The Hot Corner

I was gone for Memorial Day weekend and my mom's birthday (happy b-day again mom) so I have not weighed in on the Harris/Bellhorn fiasco (although Scott has mentioned it some in his posts). It will come as no surprise that I am troubled by the fact that Harris is taking up some of Bellhorn's starts. Overall, Harris is batting .217 with a terrible .288 OBP and .300 SLG. Bellhorn is batting .216 with a respectable .358 OBP and a putrid .328 SLG. Of course his OBP and SLG are both higher than Harris' and I would wager that he plays better defense. Bellhorn has been down from last year, but Harris has been the equivalent of a Girardi at the plate. Over the coure of the monster road trip - where apparently Dusty annoited Harris as a starter - Harris was 5 for 26 with 1 extra base hit and 5 walks. Bellhorn over the same stretch was 7 for 27 with three extra base hits and 5 walks as well. Even recently Bellhorn has been better than Harris!

No matter how much Bellhorn struggles there is no conceivable way to think that Harris is better. Maybe Dusty does not like the strikouts, or maybe there is something in Bellhorn's attitude that he does not like, or maybe Goodwin gave Harris some of his naked Dusty pictures with MacPhail's wife, but the bottom line is that Harris is no more productive and should not be playing more than Bellhorn at third. Martinez at least has a similar OBP and a higher SLG along with arguably better defense. If you have to bench Bellhorn (which I say you don't), then play Ramon.

I think I have figured out Bellhorn's problem though. He somehow inherited the Todd Hundley gene. He sloppily unbuttons his top two uniform buttons. Maybe Dusty does not like this?

Books, Books and More Baseball Books

Over the course of the last two weeks I have finished The Great Amercian Novel and Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lists. Neyer's book is a good, fun read and destined to start debates. I found it is fun to have fans of other teams try and guess the lineups he came up with. One of the better parts is the chart at the end showing the starters and manager for each team in each season. I have a feeling I will be using this book for reference quite a bit. For under $15 it is a good buy. As for Roth's novel, well, I have never been the biggest fan of fiction, but there were parts that made me laugh out loud. I would describe it as a successful parody of the game. A lot of stereotypes, superstitions, and other ballplayer traits are encompassed. There is also a little sabermetrics in there.

The new book I am reading is Moneyball. I am reading this for two reasons: 1.) it sounds pretty interesting and 2.) as a card carrying member of the sabermetric thought club and a blogger on top of that, I am obligated by contract to read it. Or at least that is the way it seems. A lot has been written about this book in the major media since it came out. I got through the first two chapters last night and it is very good so far. I will keep you posted.

Question for the Blogspot Users Out There

Is anyone else having trouble accessing their templates? Until this is fixed, the NOTD will remain the same. If you have encoutered this problem a quick email on how you resolved it is appreciated.
posted by Dennis at 9:25 AM : |

 

Pirates abuse Cubs pen in rout

The Pirates exploded for nine runs in the eighth inning as the Cubs were routed on Memorial Day at Wrigley. Kerry Wood was babied to the tune of 109 pitches, and fought Josh Fogg nearly pitch for pitch. Pittsburgh clung to a one-run lead (scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch) until Wood left the game, then lit up Norton, Cruz, and Alfonsca to blow the game open.

Kerry Wood, who had received three runs of support per game in his last six starts, was the victim once again as Tom Goodwin and Lenny Harris led the Cubs offense to a sterling zero-run performance. Don't blame Dusty Baker though- Mark Bellhorn simply isn't outhitting Lenny Harris by enough to justify letting Bellhorn play. There is a reason Lenny has the most pinch-hits in history- he isn't good enough to start. Actually, to be precise, he wasn't good enough to start ten years ago when he was in his prime. Now he isn't good enough to hit fungoes in batting practice.

No bitterness here though. No, I am looking forward to tomorrow when Matt Clement faces Kris Benson in a rematch of last Thursday's 3-2 Cubs win. Do you think we might give Clement a few more runs to play with this time? No, me neither.

posted by Scott at 5:28 PM : |

 

Cubs wrap road trip with win

While I was canoeing up and down the Chattahoochee River yesterday, the Cubs managed their first win by more than one run since the Milwaukee series, 7-3 over the Astros. Moises Alou was 3-4 with three RBIs as the Cubs put another game between them and all three of their closest competitors in the Central.

Today the Cubs return home to face the Pirates. Josh Fogg (1-2, 4.35) will make his first start since suffering a strained oblique muscle against the Cubs in April. He made his second rehab start for the Nashville Sounds on Wednesday, allowing a walk, a homer, and striking out four in six innings. Fogg has always had a large platoon differential, so you can cringe a little less than you normally would when you see Goodwin and Harris take the field. The Cubs answer with Kerry Wood (4-2, 2.94) who is the subject of trade speculation in the Trib today. Clark & Addison shreds the writer's logic so I'll let Jason speak for me on this one.

posted by Scott at 9:25 AM : |

 

Estes has the cure

Corey takes to the air to deny Jeff Bagwell in the sixth.

Just when it seems like the wheels are going to come off this jalopy, the Cubs pull out another win. Tonight it was six solid innings from Shawn Estes, three shutout innings from the pen, and just enough support from the bats. The Cubs broke open a scoreless game in the sixth with a bunt single and steal from Corey and an RBI double from Alou, then added two more in the seventh on RBI doubles from Gonzalez and Patterson. Houston put two across against Estes in the bottom of the seventh, forcing him out of the game with two on and nobody out. Dusty called on Mike Remlinger to put out the fire and he did, getting three outs while stranding both inherited runners right where they were when he entered the game.

Corey's penchant for first-pitch hitting continued, as he went 2-2 when putting the first pitch in play and 0-3 with a pair of strikeouts when not doing so. Unfortuantely, Mark Bellhorn's bench banishment also continued. As good as our pitching can be, we are going to have to be able to win some games where we allow more than two runs. I don't think we need Mike Lowell when we've got Bellhorn, but if Dusty simply isn't going to use Bellhorn then we'd be a better ballclub if a trade were made.

Tomorrow afternoon the Cubs conclude the road trip as Carlos Zambrano (4-4, 2.88) takes on Wade Miller (2-5, 5.01). Despite the numbers next to his name, Wade Miller hasn't been hit all that hard this year- a .730 OPS allowed compared to a .701 and .705 each of his last two strong years. His major problem has been pitching with men on base- his OPS goes from .641 to .885 when men are on base. Hopefully the Cubs can put some leadoff runners on and spur a big inning or two.

posted by Scott at 12:01 AM : |

 

Big inning fells Cubs

A favorable pitching matchup ended in a dissapointing result for the Cubs tonight as they fell 7-5 in Houston. Mark Prior gave up six runs in an ugly first inning. He pitched very well the rest of the way, and the Cubs offense tried to get back in it led by Ramon Martinez's 4-4 with a walk. It wasn't destined to be enough though, as the Cubs got the winning run to the plate in the ninth but couldn't get that last big hit.

With the Prior start by the boards, the Cubs turn to Shawn Estes (4-3, 5.11) to get a new win streak started. He will face the young Tim Redding (3-3, 3.47), a right-hander in the midst of his best season to date.

posted by Scott at 12:08 AM : |

 

Cubs win on 9th inning homer from Goodwin

Tom Goodwin took Scott Sauerbeck out to right field to give the Cubs a 3-2 win and a split of the abbreviated series in Pittsburgh. Wins are always welcome, but this one particularly so as it breaks a three-game skid and sends the Cubs to 6-4 on the death march. Clement was once again vulnerable to the longball, but he managed to have the bases empty for the two Pirate home runs. Goodwin was the star of the game, with two singles and an additional run scored before his ninth inning heroics.

But you know what? It doesn't change a thing. Tom Goodwin is still a lousy hitter. Lenny Harris is still a truly horrible hitter. At this point in his career, Eric Karros is still a lousy hitter for a first baseman (even if he has a had a decent start.) This team has a good, maybe great pitching staff, but no staff in baseball is good enough to win with a lineup like the one on Dusty's lineup card tonight.

Injuries to players like Sosa and perhaps (as alluded to by Steve Stone tonight) Choi would thin anyone's bench, but injuries are part of the game and you have got to be prepared to deal with them. Jim Hendry needs to give Dusty