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I just flew in from Miami, and boy are my arms tired! Also my legs, back, eyes, and brain. Let's just say that spending the night in a chair in the Miami International Airport isn't the most refreshing thing you can do between midnight and sunup on a Sunday night.

Obviously the outcome wasn't what we were looking for yesterday, but its tough to be upset about taking two of three in Miami and coming home with our two aces on full rest. Actually, Mark Prior will be on five days rest tomorrow or slightly more than full rest. I read somewhere over the weekend that Dusty feels Prior benefits from the extra rest more than others, and since chugging some numbers helps calm my nerves I figured I'd check it out. Prior has had one start on 24 days rest (after the concussion) this year for a 0.00 ERA. He has had one start on six days rest for a 2.25 ERA. He had nineteen starts on regular four days rest and had an ERA of 2.69. Finally, he had eleven starts on five days rest and posted a 2.18 ERA. Its not much of a difference or much of a sample size, but I certainly don't see a reson to challenge Dusty's conclusions. There, see how relaxing some nice stats can be?

Anyway, I am confident we will end it tomorrow. It would be far better to not go to game seven, both to allow Dusty to set the rotation for the World Series and because a two-game losing streak would bring up all sorts of memories of the past. McKeon has bailed on Brad Penny and will instead be going with Carl Pavano as Dennis discussed earlier today. You may remember Carl Pavano from such performances as the 5-1 loss to the Cubs on July 9, the 6-4 loss to the Cubs on April 10 of last year, and the 5-4 loss to the Cubs on July 12 of last year. I look forward to adding October 14, 2003 to that storied resume.

posted by Scott at 11:18 PM : |

 

Cubs tip their caps and head home to win pennant

Not much to say about this afternoon's 4-0 victory by the Marlins in game 5 of the NLCS. Josh Beckett was dominant striking out 11 men, walking only one and only allowing two balls to be hit hard: one foul by Ramirez and one a base hit to center field by Alou. Carlos Zambrano did not pitch badly but then again he was not his normal self. He walked a bunch of batters but managed to only be touched up for two runs on a Mike Lowell homer. Dingers by IRod and Conine off of Veres and Remlinger were the only other tallies.

If a pitcher is going to shut down the Cubs, then I say let it be in a road game with the Cubs up 3-1 in a series. There are lots of good things to take from this weekend's games in Florida. Here is a list of reasons why fans should not fear doom and gloom despite Cub history..

• In a 162 game baseball season, there are 160 separate 3 game strecthes. Of those the Cubs only lost three in a row 4 times. 4 times!! That is pretty good.
  
• The Cubs got a chance to give an extra day of rest to Borowski and Sir Tightpants.
  
• Prior was not exactly dominant in game 2 and he still only allowed 2 runs.
  
• The Marlins are not even sure who they are going to start in games 6 and 7. They could stay in rotation and pitch Penny who got torched in game 2 and also pitched in relief in game 4. They could use Redman on 3 days rest which is never a good idea. They could also use Carl Pavano and his 4.30 ERA soft tossing right arm although he pitched in relief in game 4 as well.
  
• Since Fox and MLB want to squeeze every last dime out of playoff advertisements, having the series go one extra game will not affect the World Series rotation all that much. The first game is hard scheduled for Saturday night no matter when the League Championships Series end meaning Prior could pitch tomorrow and still pitch game 2 on Sunday with full rest.
  
• Beckett is the Marlins ace. Matching up Zambrano against him was actually a good thing. It is great to steal one of these games, but if not, just win all the games with your dominant pitchers and eventually the series. Having Clement cash in is just icing on the cake.
  
• The Marlins have the third best home record in the National League this season and the Cubs were able to win 2 of 3. They were five under .500 during the regular season on the road.
  

After looking at all of these facts, if one is still more swayed by Billy Goat curses than good play, I leave you with only one more thought. Have you ever seen Mark Prior pitch? Cubs in 6.

posted by Dennis at 8:09 PM : |

 

On the brink

I had a good feeling going into the game last night. Ever since the Cubs slayed my personal demons (the Braves), my nerves have dropped from "DefCon 8, prepared to upchuck at a moment's noice" to "Terror Warning Raw Umber, a bit queasy but generally optimistic." OIf course, I wasn't the most optimistic person in the group. That honor woul have to go to Chris's friend John. We picked him up from the Ft. Lauderdae Airport and as we headed from their to the game he announced that his pick to click was Aramis Ramirez. I think he was the winner for the night.

Before the game we got to watch Pedro hammer Zim to the ground on a TV in the back of someone's SUV. I have a bit of a bias I suppose, but I thought Zim was the guilty party there. Suspensions all around would be fine though, since we may hgave to face them in a few days. We met up with Al, who was fruitlessly trying to make his money back on a few extra tickets he had. I also played washer toss with some Cub fanswho hgad driven in fronm Illinois. I don't want to brag, but I may be the greaetst washer toss player in washer toss history.,

I won't go into too may gam details since I am sure you probably saw it. We sat in the bleachers just to the fair side of the right field foul pole. Unfortunately, that put us exacty one row in front of Pudge's Posse, probably the rowdiest Marlins fans in the building. They had whistles that they blew at ear-pircing volumes throughout most of the game. They did show a bit of mercy at least- they agreed to warn Chris before blowing when he made that request late in the game. On the brigh side, I have to take issue with reports that ter are't many Cub fans here. Perhaps its just where we are stting, butthe outfield seemed to me to be at least 25% Cub fans and simillary loud as in Atlanta. If the is a difference, it is taht the Florida fans are putting up a bit more resistance than the wee little indians did.

We just realised checkout time is now, so I need to go. Not even any time to clean up the hotel-tv-internet induced typos. We are one gam away from our first NL pennant in more than two of my lifetimes. Bring it home, Cubbies!

posted by Scott at 10:36 AM : |

 

Clement shows true trade value

Imagine being Matt Clement for a moment. You scoff at all Mach 3 commercials and pitch for the Chicago Cubs. You put up a career high totals in wins this season and go greatly unnoticed for three reasons: Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Dontrelle Willis. Everyone with a pulse who listened to the FOX pregame show knows that Clement was traded for Willis before last season. Pundits were quick to point out how bad of a deal this was for the Cubs bringing up Brock for Broglio all the time. Clement had the chance to face the man he was traded for in game four of the NLCS this evening and prove his worth. He did just that.

The Cubs jumped all over Willis on route to a dominating 8-3 victory over the floundering fish. The home plate umpire had a consistent but really small strike zone and Dontrelle could not adjust early on. He walked three of the first four batters in front on Aramis Ramirez's first inning grand slam. It was the first grand slam in the history of Cubs postseason play.

Given the early cushion Clement just went out and retired Marlin hitters with little flair. He only struck out 3 men but walked only 2. He scattered 5 hits in 7.2 innings before giving way to Sir Tightpants to blow away the Marlins to secure the win. I loved watching Farns pitch with a large lead in the ninth. I think he has the tendency to use his curve too much in key situations. Tonight not wanting to walk anyone he just threw the heat and had a pretty easy go of it.

Lots of good things left from this victory. First and foremost the Cubs won a game that was not started by Prior or Wood. They also went ahead 3-1 with 2 games remaining at Wrigley. The Marlins have to beat Zambrano, Prior and Wood all in a row to advance to the World Series. If they should by chance finish the series tomorrow, they would have ample resting time to set the rotation anyway they like before the Series. Just a great game and a great performance when it mattered most.

Tomorrow the Cubs have the chance to erase years of pain and complete the third step in a four step process. It would be nice to clinch up at Wrigley for the party, but I would rather them not mess around. Plus, if they win tomorrow Northside Lounge Scott Lange would get to see another clincher. Scott was also there tonight, so stay tuned for a recap using hotel internet access.

posted by Dennis at 11:51 PM : |

 

We're in a car, driving down the Florida Turnpike somewhere between Gainsville and Orlando. The atmosphere has grown desperate as the Cubs have let a lead slip away late in thegame. We have a printedlist of every radio affiliate for MLB on ESPN, the Marlins, andthe Cubs (did you know there is one in Valley, AL?), and we are methodically moving between them as atmospheric conditions dictate.

As we move through a particularly underinhabited secton of Florida, we are not finding any local stations and are relying on WGN to carry Pat Huges voice to us from some thousand-odd miles away. We enter a wooded section of highway as Randall Simon steps to the plate, and the trees turn our faint signal into pure staic, leaving us with no discernable signal for thefirst time in the ball game. Seconds pass... ten... twenty... we run through the Florida stations with no luck, and its back to 720. Stll static. Then, through the trees, through the clouds, somehow on word bounces of the aether and finds its way through thestratosphere to the anetenna of our 1996 Nissan Maxima.

... gone...

"GONE!? DID HE SAY GONE?" "I thought I heard 'gone'." "What did he say?" "I don't know!"

Incoming Nextel chirp
"Go Cubs!"

Outgoing chirp
"What happened?"

Incoming chirp
"Home run"

An hour or two later I was sprinting around a rest stop parking lot (the only reststop in Florida with WGN coming in loud and strong), leaping in the air and firing my hat to the sky. It was an ecstatic end to an exhilirating yet incredibly stressful game.

We will be at the erstwhile Joe Robbie tonight. I apologize for the typos, but this hotel web interface is a nightmare. Yarbage will not be updated today because he has witnessed my travails with it and doesn't want to go through it himself. Anyway, time for us to go. Go Clement, and go Cubs!

posted by Scott at 12:25 PM : |

 

Cubs win an unbelievable game

The Cubs, now 2 games away from exercising that darn goat curse, had to also exercise the spirit of Mickey Owen in pulling out a 5-4 11 inning game. I will give some of my thoughts in list form (can you tell that the vaunted unnumbered list is one of the few HTML tricks I have "mastered").

• All of Dusty's moves were golden this evening. Simon on the double switch putting him in position to hit the homer, Goodwin getting the triple for Miller, Glanville hitting the game winning triple, Borowski staying out for the 10th, etc. All moves that had to be made and worked out in the end.
  
• Speaking of Borowski in the 11th. It is sad that Remlinger, Sir Tightpants and Joe are the only reliable pitchers in the pen. He could not take Joe out because the pitcher's spot was due up in the top of the 11th. If he puts Remlinger in for the bottom of the 10th, he has to lift him in the 11th and then Alf or Veres has to protect the lead. That is something no one wants to see.
  
• I was really nervous about this game before it started because Redmond is one of those lefties ala Hampton that never seems to give up the back breaking hit. I remember that game he pitched against the Cubs earlier in the season and it seems like all smoke and mirrors. I certainly do not want to see him again.
  
• Store it away - Todd Hollandsworth has seen every pitch from Borowski perfectly. In game one he had a long AB that resulted in a double and in this game Joe could never put him away. I will fear this matchup for the rest of the series.
  
• I am not saying that baseball is struggling in south Florida, but if my eyes were not deceiving me, one of the banner ads on the scoreboard was for the Cleveland Clinic. Did they outbid the Boise Chamber of Commerce. Are there no Ford dealerships in Miami. Odd.
  
• Wood was not as dominating as other starts, but at least 2 of the runs scored against him were the results of bloop hits.
  

Like I mentioned earlier, the Cubs just got a huge win this evening. It is nice to see the Cubs boot one but have the other team choke on the basepaths. I don't think I can explain just how important this game was. If the Cubs lose, they might be faced with bringing back Prior on short rest in game 5. These pitchers have terrible records and then you might have to bring back Wood on short rest as well and have no clear game 7 starter. Now, you can send out Clement and Zambrano and hope to steal another game with no fear of the series coming back to Chicago. Personally, I think one (if not both) of Clement or Zambrano will get a win in this series. It might as well be tomorrow when Scott is in attendance.
posted by Dennis at 12:41 AM : |

 

Planes, Trains, Autombiles, and Buses

I live in an apartment about two miles from the home venue of our first round victim, the Atlanta Braves. As such, it was very easy for me to make it to see the games in person. When Chris suggested I get in on their Miami getaway plan, I hesitate only a moment before signing on. I knew I had a meeting for work in Panama City, Florida, Friday, so that would just make it easier right?

After several hours of phone calls and internet searches, I now have an itinerary. Let us just say it is slightly more complex than I had expected.

• Thursday, 8:30 a.m. EDT- Board a Greyhoud bus 218 miles to Dothan, AL
• Thursday, 12:30 p.m. CDT- Taxi 3 miles to Dothan Enterprise car rental
• Thursday, 3:30 p.m. - Rental car 85 miles to Panama City, FL
• Friday, 8:00 a.m.- Rental car 5 miles to Gulf Power Plant Smith for meeting
• Friday, 12:00 p.m.- Rental car 85 miles back to Dothan
• Friday, 3:00 p.m.- Picked up in the Yarbagemobile, 618 miles to Miami, FL
• Saturday, 1:00 a.m. EDT- Arrive at hotel to be named later
• Saturday, 7:00 p.m.- Cubs/Marlins, Game Four
• Sunday, 4:00 p.m.- Cubs/Marlins, Game Five
• Sunday, 9:00 p.m.- Dropped off at Miami International Airport
• Monday, 11:00 a.m.- Take off on AirTran 2151, 280 miles to Tampa, FL
• Monday, 1:30 p.m.- Take off on AirTran 584, 457 miles to Atlanta, GA

Five days, four modes of transportation (five if you count MARTAing to the airport), roughly 1800 miles, and certainly worth every minute. Or, it will be if we win anyway. Dennis will have the post-game on this one, and I am sure you can expect something good at Al Yellon's site as he will be at tonight's game.
posted by Scott at 9:57 AM : |

 

Playoff thoughts

As I nervously await another must win game for the Cubs this evening, I thought I would grace the loyal Northside Lounge readers with some random thoughts from my exhausted mind.

• Note to Dusty - Lenny Harris is not good, he was not good for you and he is not good now. You should try to get him to bat against you. Putting in Guthrie thinking Lowell would pinch hit is unacceptable.
  
• Speaking of Guthrie, add him to the list of pitchers I do not want to see on the mound ever again. He is now there with Veres. Both of them have no fastballs and play around with garbage pitches until down 2-0 or 3-1 and have to groove one. I would rather see Alf than either of those two and that is saying something.
  
• Alex should play every inning of every game from here on out. Even if he hits .100 his defense is better than Ramon's.
  
• Every postseason a player who normally does not shine steps out of the woodwork to be a hero. I have always guessed that Damian Miller would take this role for the Cubs, but he looks pretty bad at the plate right now. Looper simply blew him away last evening on three fastballs.
  
• Why not play game 2 for the Cubs at 4:00. Wrigley is defined by day baseball and it would be a nice showcase. Plus, it would give people the chance to watch both ballgames. I guess the advertising people know something I don't.
  
• I am not officially worried until the Marlins beat Wood or Prior. Even though Zambrano is a great pitcher, he is our number 3 and he faced their number 1. The Cubs almost beat them.
  
• With the Cubs inability to get on prolonged streaks - good or bad - over the course of the season, I am not surprised that the first six postseason games went WLWLWL.
  
• Why were the fans doing a mock chop last night in the stands. Please, we don't need that garbage to create a home field advantage. It was pretty sad to tell the truth.
  
• Good move by Dusty last night to put Borowksi on the mound in the ninth. It did not work out in the end, but I love the thinking. I would hate to have seen Guthrie, Alf or Veres come out in that situation.
  
• Talk about coming full circle in my mind - I was actually happy when Tom Goodwin batted last night.
  
• Why was Karros not brought in the game in the 11th (could have been the other half of the double switch with Guthrie). Depending on the outcome of the top half of the inning, Baker would have to figure that the Cubs could end the game with a long one or need a pop to tie the game. By not putting in Karros a rally with a few hits is needed and your defense is weakened. I saw over on the Cub Reporter that Ramon hits Pavano well. Maybe Dusty was trying to get that matchup.
  

I suppose that is all I will leave you with at the moment. Enjoy the game this evening and hope that Prior has his A game. Of course the Cubs will win even if he has his C game.

posted by Dennis at 12:24 PM : |

 

Sosa's Heroics Not Enough

The Cubs came as close as you can possibly come to stealing a win in Game One and having a chance to go up 3-0 behind Wood and Prior, but in the end it wasn't to be. After being staked to a four run lead, Carlos was cruising right along until the third when he gave up three homers and the lead in what seemed like seconds. Alex Gonzalez hit another big homer late to tie it, but Joe gave up his first runs of the postseason on three weakly hit ground balls and one legitimate single. Sosa tied it with two down in the ninth, but Mark Guthrie gave up the game-winner to Mike Lowell and that's all she wrote.

Dennis argued that Baker blundered by going to Guthrie in the 11th. He contended that going to a righty would have brought Lenny Harris out instead. He's got a point, especially when you look at Lowell's large platoon split (although that is somewhat mitigated by Guthrie's reverse split). Of course, its all kind of moot, since Baker's intent in bringing in Guthrie in the first place was to avoid facing Lenny Harris! Seriously. I kid you not. Click the link if you don't believe me. ""Yeah, I anticipated they'd bring in Lowell," Baker said. "But in that situation, I was down to three pitchers [actually four: Guthrie, Veres, Juan Cruz, Antonio Alfonseca]. And if I brought in a righty, they had Harris over there... so I took my shot with Lowell."

Is there a manager in the history of baseball with a greater ratio of people smarts to tactical smarts? I think the answer is no.

As nice as it would have been to steal this game, it still wasn't one we could have reasonably expected to win going in. We now have Prior and Wood, in games that are very nearly must-win on paper. Tonight's opponent is Brad Penny, a good right-handed pitcher with no appreciable platoon split. There's no pitcher in baseball I would rather have on the mound than Mark Prior. Let's go Cubs!

posted by Scott at 8:35 AM : |

 

National League Championship Series

Now see, that's not a stupid name at all.

The Florida Marlins will visit Wrigley Field tonight under clear skies with temperatures in the 60s. I am of the opinion that winning the Central division was a great accomplishment, and knocking off the league's best team in the first round was a marvelous feat as well, but I must admit that the folks who point out that we were this close as recently as 1989 do have a point. It would take a pennant for the Cubs do accomplish something that they haven't done before in my lifetime.

For the Atlanta series, I shied away from making an actual prediction but did say that I thought we would get at least three top notch starts and if we could score a few runs and win those games we would take the series. The fact that I was exactly right about that proves the old blind squirrel theory once and for all. I might as well push my luck though, so here's what I think of the NLCS.

The Marlins pitching staff scares me more than the Braves did. Josh Beckett was very good all year long and has peaked in September and October (2.26 ERA since mid-August and averaging over seven innings per start). Brad Penny hasn't been as consistent, but over the last half of the year he was still very good (3.42 ERA since July 1). He was hit hard in Game Two of the NLDS, but came back with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief in Game Four. Phlorida Phenom (and former Boise Hawk) Dontrelle Willis had a lousy August but ranged from very good to dominant the rest of the year. Unlike the Braves, I think one or more of these guys has the stuff to put up a shutout against someone, particularly someone with our offense.

Here's my gut feeling. We get Prior and Wood for four starts. It is possible to sweep those four starts, but more likely the bullpen, the offense, or a control spasm lets one get away. If we can take three of four though, we'll have three chances with Zambrano and Clement and need just one win. I think that is the most likely formula for victory.

There are a lot of series previews around, but the most detailed I have seen is Christian's so you may want to give that a try too.

I know of three Cubs Blog Army members going to Miami so far- Yarbage and myself for Games 4 and 5 and Al Yellon for Games 3 and 4. I expect the Marlins to be very tough, but I can't say the idea of a sweep and getting to see the Cubs take a pennant in person hasn't occurred to me. Considering the opponent I can't say its likely, but you never know.

One final note- Derek of Let's Play Two seems to have received a doubling in readership ever since people started googling for the phrase "Kerry Wood's wife." You see, Derek typed the words "Kerry Wood's wife is hot" in reference to Fox's nonstop camera coverage of her the other day, and ever since horny teenage baseball fans have been flooding his site with traffic. You may think I am only bringing this up for an excuse to get the phrase "Kerry Wood's wife is hot" posted to draw traffic for this blog, but you couldn't be more wrong. If that was my plan, I would be typing things like "Kerry Wood's wife naked" or "Don Zimmer nudes." Um, maybe not that last one actually...

posted by Scott at 8:34 AM : |

 

Cubs Win!

One of our tailgating neighbors pops open his bottle of champagne after the game. We made sure his wife was the one who was planning to drive home.

If you've never stood and watched Joe Borowski stare down a hitter with two out in the bottom of the ninth in the final game of a playoff series, I heartily recommend it. It was the kind of night where you sit around in the parking lot afterwards, take turns remembering events from the game, and marvel at each of them in turn. It was a night of nerves, of exultation, and of a long teary embrace with my dad when Andruw went down swinging. It was a great night to be a Cubs fan.

Let's talk about the game. First of all, Kerry Wood. Every one of you who were slagging him two months ago can write out your apologies in long hand and mail them to Kid K c/o The Cubs (that's a little alliteration for you kids at home.) For the first five innings, the Braves simply couldn't touch him. In the sixth and seventh, the Braves had a few glimmers of hope but each time Kerry bore down to get the big inning ending outs. Heck, in the sixth the umpires actually gave the Braves a pity run and Kerry shrugged and finished the inning like nothing had happened. In the eighth, he was rolling again, pitching around Furcal's bunt single and escaping with no damage done. Just a fantastic pitching performance in one of the biggest games in over a hundred years of Cubs history. I guess he was feeling charitable so he didn't bother shredding Hampton with his bat as well.

Next up, how about the homer from Alex Gonzalez? Just when you think he will never get another hit, he hammers one out to dead center in the biggest game of the year so far. Credit goes to Cub Blog Army Soldier Chris Yarbrough who made Alex his pick to click before the game. He knew before we got to the park that there would be an unlikely hero, but he waited until shortly before entering to identify Alex as the man.

Lighting round time:

• A routine 6-4-3 force at first
• Kenny with the leadoff double
• Aramis with the homer that Lenny Harris never would have hit
• Moises Alou with two more hits to go .500 for the series
• Joe Borowski. Could he be any calmer?
• Dusty lifts Kerry for the pinch-hitter, gets an extra insurance run, and keeps Kerry fresh for the NLCS. Genius!

The scene from section 407 about five seconds after Andruw whiffed. Note Sammy and Kenny about to do the jump-five as Moises awaits his turn. Also, somewhere in there a civilian is cruising towards a security beatdown by second base.

I could go on all night, but I have to work tomorrow so this strikes me as a good time to wrap it up. Everyone who made it down here deserves a lot of credit. Tonight's crowd couldn't quite measure up to Game One's in terms of Cub fan intensity, but any team should be proud to have even tonight's level of support at a road playoff game. It truely was Wrigley Field South. Kudos also to a number of Braves fans who behaved with class such that Robert Fick could never comprehend. Right before Aramis' homer, a drunk who was harassing my father and I was escorted out thanks to a tip from the Braves fans sitting behind us. Also, a number of other Braves fans shook our hands and wished us luck on the way out. I don't know if I would be as gracious in defeat, so I must tip my cap.

Thanks to a little cajoling from Chris, I bought tickets for games 4 and 5 of the NLCS today so I'll be roadtripping to Miami next weekend. I think everyone should get to experience something like this at least once, and if once is good then twice must be better. Eight more wins. Bring on the Fish.

Edited to add

One additional note: I retired the Mark Grace jersey earlier this year. He's been gone for a few years now, and I figured it was time to let go a bit. The Hee Sop Choi jersey stepped in admirably, leading us to the 15 inning win over St. Louis, the six run comeback over St. Louis, and Kerry Wood in Game One over the Braves. Last night though, I decided the occasion called for something special. The Grace jersey came roaring off the hanger and into Turner Field, and when all was said and done we were headed to the NLCS. Thanks one more time, Mark!
posted by Scott at 2:30 AM : |

 

Cubs eliminate the Fickin' Braves

Wow! That is about all I can say. Kerry Wood pitched another brilliant game "allowing" only 1 run on a blown call by the umpire striking out 7 and walking only 2. People have been wondering when Wood would step up and become an ace pitcher. Well, this series pretty much answers that question.

The Cubs will open up the National League Championship Series (read that again, man it looks great) on Tuesday with Zambrano on the hill. If the series goes the standard 2-3-2 with one day off for travel, then they should be set up to pitch Zambrano, Prior, Wood, Clement, Zambrano, Prior and Wood in the games with all of the guys getting full rest. There would be some room for changes in the middle games due to the days off, but I like this rotation.

This gives us a chance to get game one with a good pitcher albeit not our best our best pitcher at home. Then you get two games in a row of Prior and Wood with Wood being in a potential pivotal game 3 matchup. Let Clement and Zambrano have their shots if the situation dictates and then bring back the horses for games 6 and 7 at home. Hopefully, we will need only one of those for the pennant, but if we need both, I feel confident. Of course this is all subject to change.

Since Tim McCarver and his terrible grasp of baseball and its rules have rendered my entire body useless, I will sign off with happy thoughts in my head. Man, I am going to have a tough time sleeping this evening. Scott will have a post later this evening with an in person account and we will post some analysis before the beginning the NLCS.

posted by Dennis at 11:20 PM : |

 

Braves escape

Sammy Sosa came a few feet from tying Game Four in the bottom of the ninth, but instead the team whose style is exemplified by Robert Fick's cowardly cheap shot at Eric Karros lived to play a game five. I will be there, and I have twelve tickets. I plan to sell them at face value to Cubs fans who come by the tailgate, but if you can come email me and I'll hold one for you.

I am not in the mood to write more, but the party is on tomorrow afternoon in the Turner Field parking lot. Be there and see the least deserving fans in baseball go home with broken tomahawks and broken hearts. Email me if you want a ticket.

Edited to add:

Here is the AP story on Mr. Fick: Karros also took a beating. In the eighth inning, he caught a throw to first and still had his arm raised when pinch-hitter Fick came barreling at him and threw a forearm that was worthy of all-star wrestling.

The blow knocked the ball and glove free, nearly injuring Karros.

"It was an interesting running technique, that's a polite way to put it," Karros said. "He's pretty close to clotheslining me, too."

Karros grimaced in pain as plate umpire Larry Young came up the line to call Fick out.

"It's an elimination game and you've got to do what you've got to do," Fick said in a profanity-laced explanation. "I'm not saying I did it on purpose. But it's ... baseball."

All class, Rob, all class.

posted by Scott at 8:34 PM : |

 

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!

Greg Maddux was a great pitcher in his day, but Mark Prior served notice that there is a new best pitcher to have ever worn a Cubs uniform with a masterful 3-1 two-hitter at Wrigley tonight. The Cubs took advantage of a shaky Braves defense that was shaky all night long. Robert Fick opened the door by botching a Grudzialanek bunt in the first, and a wild pitch and a Randall Simon single plated all the runs Mark Prior would need.

We now have two chances to close it out. Bobby Cox looks to be going with his twenty-game winner on short rest in tomorrow's potential elimination game. I think its the right move since the alternative is feeding a lefty to our right-hadned lineup, but if he was going to use Ramirez at any point it strikes me as a panic move to bail on him now. As fun as seeing a game five win in person would be, I would much rather see Clement not take any chances and close it out here. Ortiz didnt have great control this year, and he was all over the place Tuesday so let's take some pitches and jump all over him early.

One game to go...

Updated to add:

Russ Ortiz will go on short rest today. He has done so once before on his career, on April 7 of this year. He pitched well, allowing just three hits and no runs in seven innings, but he did show signs of vulnerability. He walked three batters and was behind hitters all day, throwing just 49 strikes in 90 pitches. Its obviously way too small a sample size to mean much, but its food for thought. Not to be overlooked is the fact that moving Ortiz up also requires moving Mike Hampton to three days rest if a Game Five proves necessary.
posted by Scott at 11:51 PM : |

 

The Big One

Greg Maddux. Mark Prior. The one that got away. The one that hasn't. The recent history and immediate future of this franchise are summed up in a Game Three which shapes up as the biggest of the year so far. My impression is that most Cubs fans don't hold much hatred in their hearts for Maddux. He is no Matt Morris at any rate. Still, there is no better way to put the thought of a Hall of Famer slipping through our fingers behind us than having Mark Prior put a stamp on him and send him off.

Maddux's numbers look pretty average on the surface- 16-11, 3.96 ERA, and 5.1 K/IP. However, there is reason to believe he may be a good bit better than those figures would indicate. He was lousy in March and April (5.13 ERA), marginal in May and June (4.68), and since July 1 he has been pretty darn good (3.00). Furthermore, his peripherals are better than you might expect from the ERA. He was eighth in the league in WHIP and tops on the Atlanta staff in SNWL. If he has a weakness, it may be endurance as he made it into the eighth just three times this year.

Tailgate party pics

Between my lack of photography skill and laziness in taking pictures when I should have been, I didn't get many good pictures taken Tuesday and Wednesday. Heck, I didn't get any pictures of Chris Yarbrough and his Bama posse. The best one I did get is below and shows readers Tom and John shortly after they won an arguement with a drunken sherrif who attempted to coerce them into removing their Kerry K signs. If the Brave somehow manage to steal one of the next two, the party will be on again at Turner Field and I'll make sure to do a better job with the camera.

posted by Scott at 10:49 AM : |

 

Prior to the mound for game 3 this evening

Not much to say about the Cubs today. Everyone out there knows the situation - the Cubs after gaining a split in Atlanta head home to play a pivotal game 3 this evening with their version of Cy Young on the mound. This game could either set up the Cubs for a series victory or put their backs squarely against the wall. Here is hoping for the former.

I hate having a night game following a day off because it feels like 2 whole days off before seeing Cubs baseball again. I did pass the time by watching a predictible episode of Survivor and an excellent episode of CSI. I really like the edge they are giving Grissom this season. It will be interesting to see how far they take this angle.

After getting my fix of regular television I turned over the Fox to watch a spot of the Yankees/Twins game. While watching I saw a rather peculiar graphic. They were trying to contrast the grand Yankee history against the not so grand, albeit better than the Cub, Twin history by showing number of pennants, world championships and other metrics. Obviously the Twins fell short on the graphic but one entry was troubling. They stated that the Twins inception was 1961 and the Yankees was 1901.

The Twins actually descend from on the original American League teams - the Washington Senators. They of course being the famous team that led to the great line Washington "first in war, first in peace and last in the American League". Now, if the network did not want to count years in a previous city, that is fine, but then why did they list the Yankees as starting in 1901? The Yanks actually started in Baltimore and moved in 1903 when Ban Johnson decided his league needed a team in the biggest city in the country.

They should either count the entire run of the franchise or the years in which they were in their current city not different methods for different teams. Am I the only one that notices and cares about stuff like this? Probably. Anyway, Scott or I (or both if you are lucky) will have reactions to game 3 either tonight or tomorrow .

posted by Dennis at 10:07 AM : |

 

Missed opportunity

If I had to choose a word to describe tonight's game, that word would be "less fun." The tailgate was another big success, as I actually arrived in the Tuner Field Blue Lot to find a space reserved for me by several of the guys from yesterday's party. Apparently hungry Cub fans make for loyal friends. With the grilling down to a science, we had brats and burgers dished up in no time.

Earlier in the day, Tom (who drove down from Illinois with his brother John to tailgate with us and see the Cubs) had the brilliant idea to make a ton of Ron Santo signs. All together we maybe made twenty or thirty Santo signs and gave them to Cub fans who happened by. We instructed everyone to save them till the top of seventh ("our" seventh inning stretch) and then display them all at once. We had hopes that Pat might spot them and mention them so Ron could hear they were there back in Chicago. I've got no idea if it worked but it was fun trying.

And then there was the game. We had our chances to steal one, and we really should have finished Hampton off early. I didn't care for the IBB to Furcal at the time, and not just because it turned out badly. Pitching to Furcal, you've got two open bases and two batters you can fool around with before you get to the nightmare Sheffield/loaded situation. By putting Furcal on, you put yourself just one walk from that situation and basically force Veres to throw good pitches to DeRosa. The only way that makes sense is if DeRosa is a much worse hitter than Furcal. Furcal's got him by 100 points of OPS this year, but that isn't nearly enough to sacrifice the runner and the wiggle room.

And yet, we head back to Chicago with a split in Atlanta and home field advantage. We are throwing Prior, Clement, and Wood, and Atlanta has to beat two of the three to knock us out. Anything could happen, but I think we are in great shape.

Thanks to everyone who came to Atlanta to represent Cubdom, and a special thanks to those who made it to our tailgate parties. It was a lot of fun meeting some very cool people. As I told a few of you tonight, I expect my hospitality to be returned when I come up for the World Series in a few weeks.

posted by Scott at 12:32 AM : |

 

Cubs fall in game 2, take split home to Wrigley

In the last game played this season at Turner Field (hopefully!), the Cubs had a chance to bury the Braves early loading the bases with no outs in the first innings after plating a couple of runs. Atlanta pitcher Mike Hampton settled down to strike out the side and leave the scoring at two. The Cubs starter allowed the Braves a run in the first to make it 2-1. The Cubs would not score again until the 8th pulling even at 3. In the bottom half, the Braves scores twice on Mark DeRosa's double to provide the winning margin.

Lots of stupid stuff by the Cubs this evening. First of all, Dave Veres throws the ball 80 mph and most of the time he throws balls. I might be overreacting to the game, but I am always amazed how he gets people out. He managed to walk Castilla in the eight and intentionally walk Furcal before DeRosa's double (the Braves only extra base hit).

What was Randall Simon thinking trying to make second on the sacrifice fly in the eighth. Andruw Jones was obviously not going to get Glanville and he actually hits the cut-off man. Simon's error means that Sosa does not see the plate in the 9th. Also, why did Alex Gonzalez come in for Glanville after the inning instead of for Farnsworth. Then, you can lead off with a position player and not waste your last bench player in case it goes to extra innings. Maybe Dusty knew Veres would blow it.

There are some good things though despite my frustration. The Cubs go home 1-1 and have Prior in game three. I love the fact he is pitching this game. It should set the Cubs up for two chances to pull out the series - one at home and one with Wood. Farnsworth did a really nice job again this evening. Zambrano also looked much better. He gave up only singles and only fell into trouble when he started throwing chaneups and offspeed crap almost exclusively.

The Braves are a smart team and thus far have just put the ball on the outside corner and watched the Cubs lunge over everything and ground out weakly. They will figure it out eventually. ON the other hand, the Cubs pitching has been as good as advertised minus one member who should not have had the ball anyway. I like the way this series is shaping up. Scott will be on later with an in person account.

posted by Dennis at 10:16 PM : |

 

Two-way Kid K

I was nervous today. All through work, and all through our tailgate party, I worried. I worried about our offense, I worried about the Braves offense, and I worried about Kerry Wood. Around eight o'clock, we finished packing up the food and I began walking toward a surprisingly loud stadium with my father. As we got closer, I was able to make out the words...

Let's Go Cubs! Let's Go Cubs!

As I rode up the escalator towards our seats, the chants rang in my ears and the nerves were suddenly gone. They were replaced with an excited energy. I was in a stadium full of Cub fans and we had come to win.

Early on, both pitchers seemed to be behind every hitter but both were dodging bullets. In the fourth, Alou, Ramirez, and Karros loaded the bases but Gonzalez, Bako, and Wood failed to plate even a single run. In the sixth, Alou and Ramirez reached again. Chris Yarborough declared that if Karros could reach, he wanted to see Randall Simon come out and pinch-hit for Alex Gonzalez. It was a very simillar call to the one Dennis praised Clint Hurdle for a couple weeks ago, and I thought it was a brilliant idea when I heard it. Imagine my shock when Dusty actually did it! Of course, Ortiz managed to get Simon swinging, but I still think it was a great move.

Paul Bako was up next and grounded out but the play allowed the tying run to score and brought Kerry Wood to the plate with two out and two in scoring position. The situation called for some more prognostication, and my dad was up to the challenge. I didn't hear it, but other witnesses swear that he announced Kerry's game-breaking double before he even stepped into the box. Not half bad, Dad.

When JoBo struck out the side to end it, we crossed over a section to walk out with a couple readers who made it to the tailgate party. I've got a picture of the K's they were hanging up, but I seem to have misplaced the transfer cable for my camera so the pictures will have to wait till tomorrow. Anyway, as we worked our way out of the stadium, we were engulfed in raucous Cub fans. People were beating on trashcans to give the crowd a rythym for a "Let's Go Cubbies!" chant. Strangers were high-fiving, hugging, you name it. At one point, a tall gentleman in a Prior jersey turned around and said "this one's for Ronnie Santo!" The whole crowd roared back, "RON-NIE! RON-NIE! RON-NIE!" The goosebumps were promptly out in force.

I know Al Yellon has had some great days at the ballpark lately, but I'll stack my night up with any of his, even the clincher last Saturday. There is just something about a mad celebration in the other team's park with a bunch of crazies half of whom drove 12 hours to be there. You would think with that kind of crowd, we would have gotten some love from the umpires. From where I was sitting (20th row, upper deck), the umpire was squeezing Kerry and they just killed us with the missed DP call at first. Thank goodness our guys are so tough they can do it even with fishy umpiring.

Tomorrow is Carlos Zambrano Day. It looks like a must-win for the Braves, but if Z's back is healthy they may not get it. Kerry had his way with the vaunted Atlanta offense, and I am certainly willing to watch Carlos treat them the same way. Gametime is 7pm, tailgate is at 4. See you there. Cubs win! Cubs WIN!

P.S. I see that Chris has already posted. He drove back to Tuscaloosa after the game, and already posted?? Hide the women and children, the Yarbage-mobile is going 120 down I-85!

posted by Scott at 1:53 AM : |

 

Cubs knock on Wood; Wood knocks in Cubs

This will be a short post for a couple of reasons: 1.) It is nearly midnight in the east and I have to work tomorrow, 2.) I can hardly breathe and 3.) Scott was at the game and should have a nice recap tomorrow morning.

Wood was absolutely dominating this evening. His curve ball was so good that one guy swung at a pitch that almost hit him, one guy swung at one that bounced and he whiffed a guy on a ball that catcher could not handle. Wood's only real mistake was to Marcus Giles who put the Braves up 1-0 with a homer.

The Cubs wasted numerous opportunities before busting through for four runs aided by shabby defense and a Wood 2 run double. These runs would be the only that the Cubs would score all evening.

Since this is the Cubs, the victory would not come without Maalox moments. The Cubs and the umps gave the Braves 5 outs in the 8th inning. An extra one when Bako botched a strike three and one more when first base ump failed to call Chipper out in a potential inning ending double play. But, there was never any fear as Sir Tightpants got Javy Lopez to ground out to end the threat. Borowski struck out the side in the ninth with a hit in between to nail down a save.

The Cubs find themselves up 1-0 with the favorable pitching matchups in the next few games. Assuming Carlos is back to normal and the Cubs continue to smack lefties around, tomorrow's game looks good. Game 3 is Prior at Wrigley and Game 4 is Clement against Oritz on short rest or Ramirez (who I believe is left handed as well) at home again. The Cubs can make it even better by beating the Braves tomorrow setting up the victory at home.

As mentioned earlier, Scott should have plenty of thoughts when he gets home.

posted by Dennis at 11:43 PM : |

 

The Eve of Battle

Here we are, just nine hours to gametime. Between some utterly incomprehensible strain gauge data at my job and the impending clash at Turner Field, I am a nervous wreck. You can look around and find oodles of playoff predictions, but in such a short series I don't think it is possible to predict the outcome with a high degree of accuracy. Like everyone, I do have a gut feeling about it though, so that's what I'll share with you.

We were 19-1 when allowing one run, 22-6 when allowing two, and 13-10 when allowing three this year. With the starters we have lined up, I think we are very likely to get three and probably four pitching performances in the zero to two runs allowed range. The key is to convert those into wins. That requires the bullpen (hopefully Farnsworth, Remlinger, and Borowski only) to perform, and it requires the offense to put at least a few runs on the board. If we give away a game where we get an 8 IP, 1 R start, I think we'll lose the series. Otherwise, we have a great shot.

Tailgate Party Update

I still don't have much of an idea how many people to expect, but it looks like we'll have at least five or six and building to 15 or so by time to head into the stadium. Dress a bit warm if you come, because we are getting our first cold snap of the year (in the 50's tonight). I am looking forward to it. Go Cubs!
posted by Scott at 10:57 AM : |

 

Perfect weekend in PA

First Annual NLDS Game One Cubs Tailgate Party The mlb.com playoff schedule says we will play Tuesday at 8, Wednesday at 7, and Sunday if necessary at a time TBD. Right now I intend to tailgate before all three games, but I will definitely be out there Tuesday no later than five. I would love to meet as many Cub fans as possible, so if you will be in Atlanta, look for me. I will be in a green pickup truck and wearing a road Hee Sop Choi jersey. Chris Yarbrough of the Yarbage Cub Review is bringing a bunch of folks from Tuscalossa, and I hope that some of the rest of you can join us as well. I haven't ever tailgated at Turner Field, but I am told that the best place is next to a walkway that runs NW/SE in the parking lot just north of the stadium. If you look at this photograph, its the light brown walkway running diagonally NW/SE between Turner Field to the south and the painted footprint of the former Atlanta Fulton County Stadium to the north. If I can find anything more specific about where tailgating is allowed, I'll post it here. If you e-mail me, I will give you my cell phone number if you want to try to find me that way. Tickets are available, so ditch your job for a day or two and come on down! I may have a couple extra tickets with our group in the upper deck, so if you want to sit with us let me know about that too.

Well, I got back from my PA vacation to read all about the Cubs clinching their first division champiosnhip in 14 years. I must say I was one excited scoreboard watcher as it unfolded. I left for the wedding with Milwaukee leading the Astros 2-1 and the Cubs trailing the Pirates 1-0. On the way to the reception I caught a radio update that mentioned the Cubs could clinch with a victory in the second game of the double dip.

I sat at the reception with some hardcore Purdue football fans who were calling friends back home for scoring updates. I asked to them to check a Cubs score and found out they were up 6-0 in the sixth. Later, after a trip to the car to check scores, they came in and told me the Cubs had clinched. I waited until calling Scott back at the hotel to believe it for myself. All that was left was a Tennessee victory in overtime (of course it had to go to overtime delyaing Sportscenter) for me to see the highlights of the victory.

The Cubs and Brewers made me look like a pretty smart guy over the weekend. Here is a piece from a previous post:

Zambrano gets the ball tonight looking to rebound from his disaster in Pittsburgh last time. The Cubs have their best 4 starters going against sub-par teams with a one game lead. I really like our chances and actually think they will clinch up on Saturday. With the first three pitchers Houston has going before getting back to Miller, I see the Brewers splitting the series.

That added with this post that predicted a central title at the end of August makes me look like Miss Cleo. Ok, I could never actually look like Miss Cleo without adding a few pounds, getting really tan and losing some equipment, but that is not the point. This is the first Cubs team I have had confidence in rather than hoping they would win.

The drive to and from PA was about 8-9 hours both ways making for a lot of car time this weekend. On Sunday we left the hotel at 6:00 so I could come back and catch most of the season finale. I was pulled over by one of PA's finest on I-80 going 83 in a 65. Thankfully, he thought I was a reasonable man and left me off with a warning. I was more than prepared to take the ticket in trade for the Cubs victory, but I suppose the policeman looking at my wife's Cub hat could not destroy my perfect weekend.

I suppose that is enough of my weekend story. I am sure Scott and I will be back with more thoughts and analysis as the first playoff series approaches.

posted by Dennis at 8:52 AM : |

 

NLDS Roster Prediction

Can someone explain to me where they get the acronym NLDS? I mean, NLCS stands for National League Championship Series, which makes sense since it is a series to determine the champion of the National League. By analogy, you might think the NLDSs determines the champion of the National Leauge, um, divisions. Of course, that's not the case at all. The NLDSs determine the champions of nothing and in fact are nothing more than glorified play-in tournaments for the NLCS.

You know, from the stupidly named NLDS to that hairpiece, I think I may hate every single thing Bud Selig has brought to this earth. Oh well, on with the predictions:

Pitching
The scheduled starters for the Cubs are Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior, and Matt Clement. Joe Borowski, Kyle Farnsworth, and Mike Remlinger are locks out of the pen. Antonio Alfonseca (5.83 ERA for the year, 8.68 in September, 10.54 since Aug 23) is probably a lock too, sad to say. Judging from Dusty's usage patterns, Guthrie and Veres will likely take two more slots. That's four starters and six relievers, which most likely leaves one long relief slot to be contested by Shawn Estes and Juan Cruz. With Estes pitching better in the last two weeks than Cruz, I think we can be sure that Estes will get the nod.

Catching
Some teams (like Bobby Cox in many past seasons) like to take three catchers to the playoffs, despite the tendency it has to limit your options. As best I can tell Dusty didn't do that last year, so let's figure Damian Miller and Paul Bako will be the only two behind the plate.

Infield
The locks are Eric Karros, Randall Simon, Mark Grudzielanek, Alex Gonzalez, and Aramis Ramirez. Ramon Martinez gives a lot of flexibility and may even be in line for a start at some point, so count him in. Dusty took seven infielders with the Giants last year and Tony Womack had far more September AB's than any other infielder so I have to assume he will be the last infielder.

Outfield
We've got five slots left for outfielders. Sosa, Alou, and Lofton are locks. Tom Goodwin has been the fourth outfielder of choice, and Doug Glanville is the right-handed outfielder off the bench (at least he will be if he hits like he did foue years ago in his only good season).

Summary
So there we have it. As the roster is constructed, there really aren't a lot of alternatives so I'll go out on a limb and guess this is the exact roster Dusty will go with. If it were me, I would have been using Choi for the last two months and he would most likely be on the list in place of Simon. I would take Cruz instead of Estes, and one of the rookies in place of Alfonseca, probably Wellemeyer. Still, given the options, I don't have a huge beef with any of these guys.

posted by Scott at 8:33 PM : |

 

Division Champs

Its the morning after, and I have finally begun to catch my breath. Heading into yesterday, we seemed likely to limp into the playoffs if we made it all. Much like '98, we would have headed to Atlanta with a tired pitching staff and likely would have been easy pickings for the Braves. Instead, thanks to the heroics of Clement, Prior, and our man Wes Obermueller, we will be going with Kerry Wood in game one and everyone will have two full days of rest. The Braves have a good pitching staff and a deadly offense, but with a lineup of Wood, Zambrano, Prior, Clement, and Wood again I think we have a good shot at every game in the series.

Either Dennis or I will be back tomorrow with some analysis on the series with the Braves. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to hit all the other Cub blogs out there if you haven't already. I find it compounds my joy to read everyone else expressing theirs.

Tailgate Party Tueday in Atlanta

The mlb.com playoff schedule says we will play Tuesday at 8, Wednesday at 7, and Sunday if necessary at a time TBD. Right now I intend to tailgate before all three games, but I will definitely be out there Tuesday no later than five. I would love to meet as many Cub fans as possible, so if you will be in Atlanta, look for me. I will be in a green pickup truck and wearing a road Hee Sop Choi jersey. Chris Yarbrough of the Yarbage Cub Review is bringing a bunch of folks from Tuscalossa, and I hope that some of the rest of you can join us as well. I haven't ever tailgated at Turner Field, but I am told that the best place is next to a walkway that runs NW/SE in the parking lot just north of the stadium. If you look at this photograph, its the light brown walkway running diagonally NW/SE between Turner Field to the south and the painted footprint of the former Atlanta Fulton County Stadium to the north. If I can find anything more specific about where tailgating is allowed, I'll post it here. If you e-mail me, I will give you my cell phone number if you want to try to find me that way. Tickets are available, so ditch your job for a day or two and come on down! I may have a couple extra tickets with our group in the upper deck, so if you want to sit with us let me know about that too.
posted by Scott at 12:38 PM : |

 

AC005895

I am writing this early so if we do clinch tonight I can post it and then run around in front of my apartment screaming my head off. Just a fabulous day to be alive.

I am buying a group of tickets tonight for all three games in Atlanta. I'll be hosting a tailgate party before Game One and possibly before the others although I can't promise anything there yet. If you can make it to Atlanta (tix are available), let me know you are coming and I will buy more food, Cokes, and beer for you. I'll post more when I calm down enough to sit in front of the computer.

CUBS WIN!!!!!
posted by Scott at 7:19 PM : |

 

Rain halts Cubs, Sexson halts Astros

Mother Nature did the Cubs no favors Friday but Richie Sexson made sure to pick up the slack. Sexson, long-time scourge of Cubs pitching, turned his wrath on the Astros bullpen today launching two homers in a 12-5 win. He was aided in his quest by a series of lousy pitchers and fielding miscues from Houston. The loss gives the Cubs a half game edge heading into tomorrow's DH and gives them a chance to clinch the division with a DH sweep and another Houston loss.

According to the Trib, Mark Prior will face Josh Fogg in the first game tomorrow, to be immediately followed by Clement (13-12, 4.22) and Vogelsong (2-1, 4.79) in game two. In Texas, Wes Obermueller (1-5, 5.46) will meet Ron Villone (6-5, 3.92). By 7pm tomorrow, we could be anywhere from needing help to make it to a one-game playoff to being division champs. Here's to the latter.

A Personal Note

If you haven't heard, Mark Grace announced his retirement today. Mark has been my favorite player since I bought his rookie card at a yard sale for 25 cents before he had ever played a big league game. The position had opened up the previous year when Jody Davis stiffed me for an autograph, and the "Rated Rookie" played my position and that was good enough for me. I think it was a good choice. He not only gave me great moments to remember for a lifetime, but just about every time I heard him speak he gave me a new reason to root him on.

Anyway, you've been there for over half my life Mark, and in all that time you never let me down. Thanks.

posted by Scott at 1:56 AM : |

 

Off to PA

Short post this morning because I am heading to a wedding in PA. The Cubs have three of the most important games they have played since I have been alive and I will miss all of them unless I can catch a FoxSports PA telecast or Pirates radio. We are tied with three to go and have our top three on the mound. I still like our chances.

Yesterday proved that it is very hard to sweep a team. There is no way that Houston wins all four games (I hope) and the Cubs will be there to swoop in and take the title. I will be back on Sunday night with some thoughts on the season finale and also the last game at GABP.

posted by Dennis at 9:11 AM : |

 

Bitter pill

Well, if it was too easy it wouldn't be any fun, right? The Cubs suffered a 9-7 defeat and unless the Astros blow a late lead will fall into a tie for first with three games to play. Carlos Zambrano had his second consecutive sub-par start, walking five batters and allowing five runs in just five innings. He wasn't helped by Guthrie or Veres, each of whom just added fuel to the Reds fire. The lone bright spot was Sammy Sosa, who finally broke out with two homers but it sadly wasn't enough.

Carlos went nine innings and threw 129 pitches (his high pitch count of the year) on September 14th. Five days later, he allowed 9 runs in 4.2 IP. Today, another ugly start. Has Dusty's predeliction for high pitch counts caught up with the youngest member of the team? Honestly, there is no way to know. Maybe its just chance that Carlos has had two of his worst starts of the year since the 129 pitch outing. Maybe it was a result of nagging injuries not related to pitch counts. I suppose we will never know. The one sure way to know would have been to keep him out of that situation in the first place.

Tomorrow afternoon its Josh Fogg (10-8, 5.23) and Mark Prior (17-6, 2.42). When that one ends, its the lousy Wayne Franklin (10-13, 5.34) against the lousy Jeriome Robertson (15-8, 5.00). On paper, its our best chance to pick up a game between now and the end of the season.

Dennis will be back in the morning with the post mortem on a tough loss. I don't know how you feel right now, but I'm doing my best to keep my head up. We are tied with three games to play. We've got every opportunity to win this thing, and if I didn't quit when we were 5.5 back a couple months ago I am not throwing in the towel now. Go get us a win, Mark. We need it.

posted by Scott at 11:01 PM : |

 

Giving credit where credit is due

Shawn Estes was absolutely brilliant last evening. Albeit against a poor Cincinnati Reds lineup, Estes had good control, a good sinker and pitched a complete game shutout to help the Cubs maintain their 1 game lead in the NL Central. Fans all season have wondered how to get Estes going and Baker finally found the answer. He is 1-0 after starting on 20 days rest (I know, I know, he did have one brief relief appearance a few days ago, but this does not count in my eyes). Having Estes throw a shutout in September with the Cubs in first place in an upset on the order of the Temptation Island combatants stopping for a Bible study.

Who can we thank for this wonderful performance, well me of course. I guaranteed Estes strong outing using tip karma. Let me explain. Last night I scored tickets through work to the club level seats. They actually have people there that wait on you as if you were in a restaurant. The first person took our order (chicken fingers, a hamburger and two bottled waters for $21.00) and we tipped her. A second person actually brought the food to us leading to the ethical tip/no tip debate in my head. The server, of course, did the tip pause after handing us our food. I decided to tip the second girl and the resulting good karma brought on Estes' performance.

The game itself, like Tuesday, was perfect if you are a Cubs fan. No drama, no white knuckles, just a good ol' fashioned whipping. The Cubs have not allowed a run in the series and only 6 hits thus far. They also have score 14 runs with 10 of those coming in 2 innings. They would have scored more if the Reds center fielder Ryan Freel would stop making spectacular plays on Ramirez liners. Speaking of Freel, wouldn't he be a great back-up outfielder. Left handed batter than gets on base near .360 and goes and gets it in the OF. This is the type of player the Reds will trade to the As in the offseason without thinking twice only to see him flourish.

Zambrano gets the ball tonight looking to rebound from his disaster in Pittsburgh last time. The Cubs have their best 4 starters going against sub-par teams with a one game lead. I really like our chances and actually think they will clinch up on Saturday. With the first three pitchers Houston has going before getting back to Miller, I see the Brewers splitting the series.

Speaking of Houston, they got to play the Giants JV yesterday and won 2-1. In the papers this morning the Cubs were downplaying the ethical implications of not trying to win a game. I suppose they are playing nice because who in the world would bash Alou when his son is on your team. I cannot decide if I should just brush this off or be very angry. I guess in the end it was his decision and they earned the right by being heads and shoulders above all other teams in the West. That said, if the Cubs are not there, I hope they lose the NLCS to the Braves 4-3 with the home team taking all seven games. As John Lennon said, Instant Karma is gonna get you. They better find a few waiters to tip.

posted by Dennis at 9:46 AM : |

 

Estes for Cy Young!

Two very resistable offenses met two very moveable starting pitchers in Cincinnati tonight. Fortunately for all of our mental states, it was the Cubs who won the battle on both sides. Shawn Estes was right at home facing the AAA Reds lineup, allowing just four hits and two walks in a complete game shutout. The offense took advantage of two Cincinnati errors and scored four unearned runs off starter and loser Josh Hall. Sammy cracked his 37th homer and drew his second walk in the last fourteen days.

The 8-0 rout came in response to Houston's nailbiting win over San Fran, 2-1 earlier today. Despite starting the scrub lineup, the Giants nearly gave us a huge gift as Sidney Ponson took a 1-0 lead into the seventh before that darned Jose Vizcaino drove in two for the win. Net result for the day is no change in the standings and one less game to play, and on a day when Estes starts that sounds plenty good to me.

Carlos Zambrano (13-10, 2.97) will go for the sweep against none other than Todd Van Poppel (2-1, 5.53) tomorrow night. Van Poppel pitched brilliantly against the contending Phillies last week, so he may not be the pushover Hall was tonight. Doug Davis (7-7, 4.01) will face Tim Redding (9-14, 3.74) in Houston. Davis has actually been quite good since coming over from Toronto, posting a 2.33 ERA over seven starts.

Dennis will return in the morning with another report from Cincinnati's Wrigley South. Just four more games...

posted by Scott at 10:34 PM : |

 

Wood teases history, dominates for win

For the second straight start at the Average American Ballpark with a Great name, Kerry Wood teased me into thinking I would see my first no-hitter in person. In a June 18th ballgame he retired the first 17 batters before yielding a clean single to Reggie Taylor. Last evening he got 1 out into the seventh before surrendering a Baltimore Chop to Willy Mo Pena. Over those last two games Wood's combined pitching line is 16 IP, 4 H, 1R, 4 BB and 21 K. That is just sickening.

Last evening was a pretty fun one to be at the ol' ballyard. The weather was a little cool but otherwise perfect. The Cubs were in first place, and I would say at least 40% of the 26,124 were rooting for the Cubs. A good portion of the other 60% were businessmen there entertaining clients who couldn't recite the infield fly rule if their lives depended on it. The Cubs fans were also very vocal making most of the noise. Branyan's walk in the seventh on a close 3-2 pitch drew more jeers for the ump than cheers. Of course, when the home team does not get a hit for the first 6 1/3 innings, there is not much to cheer about.

Like everyone else, I was doing a little scoreboard watching last evening. The Giants were scoring runs right at the same time the Cubs were scoring runs. It was nice to see Grudz clear the bases and then look and see the Giants stretch the lead to 3-0, then 5-0 and so forth before stopping at 10-0. One of the cool things was that the amount of Cub fans sitting near kept me posted by cheering whenever the Giants scored another run.

Here are some more quick hit thoughts from the game:

• Not only are the Reds made up of mainly minor leaguers, the fans are the same way. It was a really poor fielding crowd. My wife almost got a ball on a screamer hit by us. If she were 5'10 she might have had a chance.
  
• GABP has one of those kiss cams between innings. The last people featured was Tony Womack and another Cub who I could not recognize right away. All the fans laughed when the Cub (might have been Choi) tried to put his arms around Womack, who was not amused.
  
• There large lines at the ticket windows as I cam up, so I am guessing a lot of the Cub fans were walk ups from Indiana or possibly even Chicago.
  
• Wood got a hit to leadoff the 6th and the dugout brought out a jacket to keep him warm. My wife wondered why the cards don't do this for Prince Albert since he has a bad arm.
  
• Continuing her hot streak, when I mentioned that I read the Giants were going to rest their starters today against Oswalt, she suggested that the scrubs do nothing but bunt all day to really test out that paper mache groin. It appears I have married an evil genius.
  
• I came home to see a message on my machine. It was my brother, a Reds fan, calling to say, "Hey, I don't really have anything to tell you, I just am calling to jinx the no-hitter." Apparently I have a family of evil geniuses. I think I did the same thing to Scott once with one of his fantasy league pitchers.
  
• The Reds have so many new players that half of them don't even have theme music when they come to the plate.
  

Well, the Cubs are 1 up with 5 to play. Although the race is not decided, I really like our chances. With out remaining schedule and the fact that we have one full turn through the rotation left, 3-2 is not out of the question. To tie us the Astros would then need to go 4-1. They might be able to eke out one against the Giants this afternoon, but then they would need to take 3 of 4 from the Brewers while only starting one of their guns (who got torched last evening). All of this with a depleted bullpen due to the 13 inning game last week against the Cards and last night's Miller performance. I don't care who is playing who, it is hard to take 3 of 4 from a team. I like our chances.

Besides, Houston in cursed! Three fans bought a ticket for a goat and tried to bring him into Minute Maid park. The goat was refused admittance thus transferring the 1945 curse. The link above has the audio from the fans as they performed the deed on WGN radio. The guy even reads a pretty funny poem officially transferring the curse. Pretty funny stuff.

Well, yours truly will have another report from the GABP either tonight or tomorrow. I did sell my extra tickets, and might have the opportunity to meet the guys who purchased them. I saw in the comments for Scott's post that another reader was in attendance last evening. Drop me a line if any fans want to meet before or after the game. I should get there about 6:20 or 6:30. Houston plays during the daytime and if they lose look for the Cubs to come out with a killer instinct to put them away now.

posted by Dennis at 8:15 AM : |

 

Cubs alone in first

Kerry Wood. What can you say about a guy like Kerry Wood? True, he lost the no-hitter in the seventh, but other than that he did all right tonight. He ran his scoreless inning streak to 17 over three starts, and dropped his ERA since August 27th to 1.04. Meanwhile, our friends from the Left Coast unleashed a ten-run second inning to smack Wade Miller and the Astros back to the stone age 10-3. That's three straight days on the calendar where every Astro and Cub game has broken the right way for us, propelling the Cubs from 1.5 back to one up with five to play.

Tomorrow Houston sends Roy Oswalt (9-5, 3.09) to stop the bleeding, but the Giants counter with late season acquisition Sidney Ponson (17-11, 3.79). In Cincinnati, Shawn Estes (7-11, you don't want to know) will face Josh Hall (0-1, 6.14). Hall has been hammered in every single major league appearance he has ever made unless you count the seven shutout innings he threw at us last week. We all feel the same way about Estes, but he has had ten quality starts this year. If he has one more left somewhere in that arm, there's no time like the present to bust it out.

Dennis, who was in attendance at New Riverfront tonight, will be posting in the morning to relate what its like watching the Cubs surrounded by Cubs fans in a visiting park. For now, I am off to bed with visions of first place dancing in my head.

posted by Scott at 11:48 PM : |

 

All square!

I was settling in for a long night with the Astros and Giants tied 3-3 in the ninth and one of baseball's most dominant pitchers in for Houston, but a funny thing happened on the way to extra innings- namely, Pedro Feliz. The minor league veteran took Billy Wagner out the opposite way, and Ray Durham added another one three pitches later. Tim Worrell closed it out and the Cubs found themselves in first place with just six games to play.

Tomorrow its a battle of aces in Houston as Jason Schmidt (16-5, 2.33) faces Wade Miller (14-12, 3.97). Schmidt pitches in one of the best pitchers parks in baseball, but he's been nearly as good on the road (2.24 to 2.43 ERA) so I see no reason to worry. Also tomorrow, Scott Randall (2-3, 6.75) will be making his first career start against Kerry Wood (13-11, 3.31) tomorrow. Randall faces the Cubs in relief on 9/12 and 9/13, and gave up four hits, three walks, and three runs while recording just three outs. Hopefully that bodes well...

posted by Scott at 11:39 PM : |

 

Week of September 15 in review

Cubs 5-2, (31 runs for, 31 runs against)
Pitcher of the Week: Mark Prior, 3 R and 27 K in 16.1 IP
Hitter of the Week: Aramis Ramirez, .429 OBP and .917 SLG
The Week Ahead: at Cincinnati for 3, vs Pittsburgh for 3

Astros 3-3 (39 runs for, 21 runs against)
Pitcher of the Week: Roy Oswalt, 7 IP, 1 R
Hitter of the Week: Richard Hidalgo, .467 OBP and .885 SLG
The Week Ahead: vs San Francisco for 3, vs Milwaukee for 4

Cardinals 5-2 (46 runs for, 28 runs against)
Pitcher of the Week: Woody Williams, 7 IP and 0 R
Hitter of the Week: Albert Pujols, .613 OBP and .792 SLG
The Week Ahead: Does it matter?
posted by Scott at 11:22 AM : |

 

Sunday = Funday

Twice the closer put two on with one out in the ninth, twice he got the ground ball twin killing, and twice Cubs fans celebrated. In Pittsburgh it was Joe Borowski coaxing a 6-4-3 to finish a 4-1 win over the Pirates. An hour later in St. Louis it was Jason Isringhausen getting Jeff Kent to hit into the 5-4-3 to wrap up a 6-4 win. The end result, Houston's lead is once again down to a half game and hope is once again on the rise on the Northside.

I paid $150 or so for the Extra Innings package on digital cable this year. (Sattelite isn't an option due to lack of a southwesterly view.) Today, with eight days left in the season, there were four meaningful games in the National League, and EI provided me with coverage of none of them. It made for a nervewracking afternoon of getting text play-by-play from Cubs fans on the internet. I had the good fortune of being in a chat room with a guy named Dan who had the Cardinals game on local TV, as well as with Dennis who was giving updates from the Reds broadcast on The Big One, WLW 700 in Cincinnati. I'd be more upset if we hadn't gotten ideal outcomes from all four games, but goodness I don't want to have to go through that again.

It seems like half our wins this year have followed the script of "great pitching from the starter and great hitting from one position player," and that's what we had again today. Mark Prior was dominant, striking out 14 and not allowing a run until he ran out of gas in the eighth. Dusty ran him up to 131 pitches, and if he God forbid comes out with nothing in the tank later this week it will be awfully hard to stick to my no pitch-count-whining pledge. Aramis Ramirez was the man with the bat, hitting two homers as well as driving in Grudzie with an infield single.

Tomorrow the stress meter drops a bit as the Cubs and Phillies have the day off leaving just two games for us to follow from our cubicles. Here in Atlanta, Mike Hampton (14-7, 3.64) will face Florida's Mark Redman (13-9, 3.70). In Houston, its rookie Jerome Williams (7-4, 3.30) against Ron Villone (6-5, 3.99). Another perfect day like today would put us a single game out of the wildcard and all square with the Astros.

One last note to the Cardinals: You did what I asked. Thanks. Now I hope jet engines crush each of you in your respective beds tonight. (See, that is a Donnie Darko reference.)

posted by Scott at 8:00 PM : |

 

Missed opportunities

Albert Pujols hit a very un-Morris like 13th inning home run to open the door for the Cubs, but Matt Clement went wild in the fourth and the Cubs offense could never close the gap. The net result leaves the Cubs right where they were going into the day but with one fewer game remaining to play.

The primary reason we lost the game was Clement's loss of control, but the fact remains that more often than not you need to score more than two runs to win. Sammy's woeful September continued with four strikeouts in four appearances. We also gave away two runners on the base paths as we have been prone to do all year. I don't really expect any better out of Wendell, but we have to have Sammy hot and right now it isn't happening. Ah well, at least Hee Sop got an AB. Its too bad it was his only his fourth of the month and first in ten days.

Today is a game you figure you can't afford to lose, as Mark Prior goes for the next-to-last time this regular season. His opponent will be Oliver Perez (4-9, 5.40), the southpaw acquired from San Diego in the Brian Giles trade. Perez has been hit hard by lefties and righties alike. We aren't going to have a more favorable pitching matchup the rest of the way, so let's please not let this one get away. Sterling Hitchcock (4-4, 4.77) hosts Jeriome Robertson (15-7, 4.85) in St. Louis.

posted by Scott at 9:31 AM : |

 

Cubs split, Astros roll

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times. The Cubs somehow won a bizzare 10-9 game in the opener today. Jason Bay struck for ten total bases and eight RBIs in his 21st major league game and the Cubs had only two players with two hits and none with more than two, but somehow they found a way.

By the time the second game had begun, Matt Morris had done what he could to achieve what he earlier in the week said he wanted to see by giving Houston a big early lead before walking to the showers. Sadly, as much as I wanted to see Juan Cruz in place of Shawn Estes, he looked kind of like Estes today as he gave up six runs and didn't retire a batter in the fifth. By the end of the evening, Houston had won and the Cubs had lost and the deficit was back to a game and a half.

There is nothing we can do about Houston, so our guys have just got to focus on what they can control. Tomorrow walking wounded Matt Clement will face youngster Ryan Vogelsong making just his sixth career start. I've got nothing to say other than we need to win the game. Oh, and I hope the feds find Matt Morris' kiddie porn collection tonight.

posted by Scott at 12:42 AM : |

 

An Open Letter to the St. Louis National League Baseball Club

Dear Cardinals,

As I write, you find yourselves five and a half games out of first place in the NL Central. Not so long ago you were the favorites to win this division, but losing 11 of 17 in September has sent you spiraling right out of the race.

So, having self-destructed in the clutch, you may be thinking its time to mail it in. You could be considering putting the old Clydesdales in cruise control, coasting through these last eight games, and heading off to a long winter vacation. You could, but I am going to ask you not to. You see, this weekend you will play host to the Houston Astros, a team that currently leads the Cubs in the Central by a single game. The Cubs need your help, and you have an obligation- nay, a sacred duty to help us out.

"But wait," you might say, "we've already proven we can't beat anybody when the pressure is on. We had eight games against the Cubs and Astros this month and we lost seven of them!" Its true, you have pulled a massive choke job, but I am here to give you some words of encouragement.

First, look at your manager. Tony LaRussa might be the most courageous man in baseball. Who else has the guts to sport a worse looking mullet than Randy Johnson and do it for twenty some-odd years? And how about deciding to build his bullpen AND his starting rotation around Jeff Fassero? With moves like that, I can't believe George Will is still the only one to have any respect for the guy.

Then there's your fabled offense. Of course, the leader is Albert Pujols since he has the most seniority. A close second when it comes to veteran leadership is Tino Martinez. Sure he doesn't hit anymore, but $7.5M for a Yankee reject is a bargain in anybody's book. Scott Rolen is pretty good, and back problems are hardly ever chronic so you should be set at third base for years to come. And lest I forget, there's the great Jim Edmonds. I need you to ignore what's right in front of your face and take Jim's word for this- that is eye black, not eye shadow. I don't care what it looks like.

Finally, if all else fails you can fall back on your great young pitching staff. Look at Matt Morris- if that hairball under his lip doesn't say cool then I don't know what does. As soon as he hits puberty he might be able to give Matt Clement a run for his money. As for the rest, I'll admit I haven't followed the Cardinals that closely, but if Rick Ankiel is anything like he was last time I saw him, you guys are in great shape.

Looking back over this, I realize it may not have been quite as inspiring as I had hoped. In fact, it may have just reminded you of some of the things that lead you to your embarrassing tank job of the last three weeks. All right then, new plan: Forget you are managed by Tony LaRussa, forget that you've choked the division away, forget everything I said up to now. Just remember this- somehow, someway, you've got to beat the Astros. A sweep would be great, but you absolutely must find a way to take two out of three. That's all I ask.

Go Cardinals!

Your Loyal Fan,

Scott Lange
Northside Lounge
posted by Scott at 8:55 PM : |

 

Rockies go for jugular behind savvy managerial move

After the Cubs win I, like most Cub fans, turned my attention to Colorado where the Rockies played the division leading Astros. The Rockies wound up pulling out a 7-5 victory to help pull the Cubs to 1/2 game of the division lead. There was one play in the game that struck me as borderline genius that is worth sharing.

After pushing across one run in the 5th inning to take a modest 3-2 lead, the Rockies loaded the bases with light hitting Juan Uribe at the plate. Uribe has a .666 OPS against righties this season. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle decided this was a critical moment in the game and took down the out machine for Mark Sweeney. Sweeney has a robust by comparison .741 OPS against righties. Sweeney delivered a 2 run single and the Rockies were on their way.

Personally, I love this move but feel it is one that a lot of other managers would not have made. According to Robert Creamer's book on Casey Stengel Rizzuto would be honked off at Casey for taking him down when the Yankees had the chance to blow the game open - sometimes even in the first inning.

I applaud Hurdle for making the move and managing the game to win despite the Rockies being out of the race. Hopefully "The Genius" will make similarly savvy moves this weekend.

posted by Dennis at 12:10 PM : |

 

Pennant race update

Viva La Rockies! Finally somebody found a way to stop the Astros, as Todd Helton and Charles Johnson each homered and Darren Oliver threw 5.2 innings in Coors without allowing an earned run. I nearly had a heart attack in the ninth when Johnson juggled and dropped a foul tip that would have ended the game, but Orlando Merced eventually struck out and the lead was officially just a half game.

In other news, old friend Brooks Kieschnick highlighted a three-run ninth inning comeback with a two-run homer off Jason Isringhausen to pace the Brewers to a 7-6 win over St. Louis tonight. Come to think of it though, Cardinals news doesn't really qualify as a pennant race news so let's just move on.

We are off tomorrow, but Colorado's Jose Jimenez (2-8, 5.22) will have a chance to drop the Astros into a dead heat if he can beat Wade Miller (13-12, 4.12). Miller coughed up five earnies in 3.1 innings in his previous start against Colorado this year, so here's to more of the same. Pour it on Rockies!

posted by Scott at 12:24 AM : |

 

Kerry slashes Houston lead to a single game

Kerry Wood has come alive just in time. Today was a complete game shutout as he struck out eleven from an overmatched Met lineup. Doug Glanville (seriously) and Aramis supplied the sol