Best Cubs Blog

View from the Bleachers is running their second annual best Cubs blog contest. Thanks to an overwhelming outpouring of ballot-box-stuffing support from friends and family, we were fortunate enough to win last year's contest. This year, I'll be voting for and another thing!. I was talking to my ex the other day, and she told me that when she wants to read about the Cubs she skips my site and heads straight to Al's. I'd be offended, but she's got a point. Al does a fantastic job with timely updates, in-depth personnel commentary, and stories from the bleachers that you just can't get anywhere else. Furthermore, he's agreed to be my bodyguard when we venture into Yankee Stadium next June. Among many great CBA sites, I think his was the best non corporate monolith site going this year. Vote for him or go out on your own, but take the time to vote either way.
posted by Scott at 10:24 PM : |

 

Merry Christmas

I wish a merry Christmas to all Cub fans, NL readers, friends of the blog, and even my long-lost co-author. May we all receive the gift we want most this year.
posted by Scott at 9:02 AM : |

 

Northside Lounge brings Christmas to the people

You may recall a couple weeks ago when I solicited readers' help in finding Salerno Butter Cookies for the guy in the next cubicle. I got a few responses from people willing to help, and Hugh of Three Bed Two Bath ended up going to Chicago, buying the cookies, boxing them up, and sending them down to me. I gave them to Gary today and he seemed to be quite blown away by them. Thanks to those who offered to help and especially to Hugh for helping make someone's Christmas a bit more merry (and caloric)!

Christmas morning I'll be giving the second box Hugh sent me to my Chicago-born father. I am hoping they strike the same chord with him they do with Gary, at least enough that he'll shut up for five seconds about having gone to New Trier.

posted by Scott at 8:53 AM : |

 

Cards gain Mulder

St. Louis traded young pitcher Danny Haren, bullpen ace Kiko Calero, and A-ball phenom Daric Barton to Oakland for Mark Mulder this weekend. Mulder is under contract for '05 and '06 at $6M and $6.75M, and isn't eligible for free agency until after the '07 season, making him a bargain if- and its a huge if- he is healthy. Each of the last two years Mulder has broken down towards the end of the season, and he finished last year in a two-month 7+ ERA tailspin. The trade rises or falls based on Mulder's health and the development of Barton and Haren. The former we'll know a lot more about by the end of April, and the latter in a year or four. Brian Gunn, formerly of Redbird Nation, has his take at Hardball Times.
posted by Scott at 8:05 AM : |

 

Cards lose Renteria

The Boston Globe says the Sox have signed Renteria to a 4 year, $40M deal. Renteria is still fairly young (29, or even 28 if you believe the rumors), and if he hits like he did in 2003 he's worth that contract and then some. While this does presumably free up some money for the Cardinals, they've got to hate losing a solid middle infielder in his prime. Translation: woo-hoo!
posted by Scott at 1:14 PM : |

 

Closer (and I don't mean the title of a John Grogan album)

Both the Sun-Times and the Trib have Jim Hendry shooting down the ESPN rumor of Wood to closer. I certainly think that is good news. When Wood is healthy, he's much more valuable throwing seven innings every five days than he is throwing one inning every two days. When he isn't healthy, he shouldn't be on the mound at all.

Kiley's version goes on to mention four in-house candidates for the closer's job. Now this blog is on record as preferring an ace reliever who works in the highest leverage relief situations rather than a closer, but just for the sake of argument I'm going to take a look at these four guys and see who might be best suited for the job.

Year	Age	HR%	K%	BB%	G/F	DERA	ERA
LaTroy Hawkins
2002	29	1.6	20.3	4.8	1.34	2.60	2.13
2003	30	1.3	24.2	4.8	1.04	2.24	1.86
2004	31	3.0	20.7	4.2	0.89	2.89	2.63
Joe Borowski
2002	31	2.6	24.8	7.4	1.02	2.78	2.73
2003	32	1.8	23.6	6.8	1.11	2.94	2.63
2004	33	2.8	16.0	14.2	0.74	7.46	8.02
Kyle Farnsworth
2001	25	2.4	31.6	8.6	0.74	2.71	2.74
2002	26	4.2	21.6	11.3	0.85	8.66	7.33
2003	27	1.9	29.5	11.5	1.53	3.53	3.30
2004	28	3.4	26.2	11.1	1.03	4.96	4.73
Ryan Dempster
2002	25	3.1	16.7	10.2	1.10	4.97	5.38
2003	26	2.6	15.4	12.8	1.24	6.55	6.54
2004	27	1.1	19.4	14.0	1.88	3.74	3.92

LaTroy Hawkins has been a consistently excellent reliever over the last three years. Last year he gave up about five more homers than normal as his G/F ratio fell, but the rest of his peripherals remained excellent. Naysayers point to his nine blown saves, but I'm not buying it. Since his overall numbers remained good, you have to believe either A) he is unsuited for closing situations BUT bore down extra hard in the non-save situations to keep his overall numbers the same or B) he's just a good reliever who happened to have his few bad outings come in save situations. I think the latter is more likely and I would have no problem giving LaTroy another go at closer.

Obviously last year was a lost year for Joe Borowski thanks to cowardice on the part of Joe and/or the team doctors. If anyone had the courage to point out the obvious, maybe... well, anything could have happened. At any rate, lets ignore last year and look back to '02 and '03. We find an excellent relief pitcher. His homer prevention and strikeout rate are roughly the equal of LaTroy's while his control was worse but still respectable. If Borowski comes back at 100% (hardly a given after a rotator cuff injury), he'd be a fine choice for closer. If not (and it should be readily obvious if he isn't right) he should be reserved for low leverage situations until he gets right.

Dr. Tightpants has been a favorite of mine for years. With his electric stuff it seemed only a matter of time before he'd work out the kinks and become the dominant pitcher we hoped for. Looking inside the numbers (and going back an extra year to give him the benefit of the doubt), I was a bit surprised to see some consistency in the resume of this inconsistent pitcher. His strikeout rate has varied, but in a range from dominant to elite. His walk rate has been consistently poor, hardly varying at all the last three years. The major variance has been in the home runs he has allowed. He's always putting men on first, and when the ball is flying over the fence that means trouble. I see no reason to expect an improvement in his control, so barring a big G/F reduction the Doctor may never be what I thought he could be.

Finally we have Ryan Dempster. Its tougher to get a read on him since these numbers straddle an injury and a change in roles from starter to reliever. There are however some consistent trends. First, his strikeout rate is consistently good- never dominant, but good. His control however has been consistently poor, and even worse as a reliever last year. In fact, last year's decent overall numbers were almost entirely a product of a big increase in G/F (and the associated drop in homers allowed.) Its possible we are seeing a conversion to a Kolb-like pitcher who succeeds by getting loads of groundballs with sinkers and low fastballs. I'm personally not sold on that as a likely outcome, but its possible.

Conclusion

If I had my druthers, I'd use LaTroy Hawkins and a healthy Joe Borowski as a 1-2 punch for all high-leverage relief innings. Confining myself to the setup/closer system the Cubs are presumably going to use, I'd put Hawkins as the setup and a healthy Joe as the closer. In the event Joe isn't healthy, Hawkins would be my closer and I'd have to cobble some effective setup men out of the rest of the pen. If Dempster extends last year's ground ball success I'd work him into the mix. With Farnsworth, I hate to say it but unless he shows a dramatic improvement in control or G/F I don't think he's worth the risk in high leverage situations where we have another alternative.
posted by Scott at 9:25 AM : |

 

Sexson to the Cubs?

Chris Yarbrough pointed out this story that has the Cubs supposedly after Richie Sexson out at the winter meetings. "But we've already got a first baseman," you might be saying. Ah, but the story is saying he would play left field.

Sexson does have some history in the outfield. He has played 109 games in left, albeit none since 2000. He did not commit an error in 149 chances, but had a range factor of 1.37 compared to league average of 1.75. Worse, his Zone Ratings were .741 and .817 in two partial seasons.

I presume any interest on the part of the Cubs springs primarily from his past success at Wrigley Field (career .995 OPS in 105 PA). That was the rationale expressed when the Cubs flirted with Richie in past seasons. Unfortunately, with Sexson's performance being A) not that much better than his career .877 OPS and B) produced in a very small sample size, I think there is a strong likelihood that he isnt actually any better in Wrigley than he would be anywhere else. I'm sure you can think of some examples that support this evaluation of things.

When healthy, Sexson's a darn good hitter and a borderline All-Star caliber player at first base. Coming off a serious shoulder injury and moving to a tougher position he hasn't played in five years, I think he's a huge risk that's not worth taking. Here's hoping this is just some writer's fantasy and not something Jim Hendry is seriously considering.

posted by Scott at 5:10 PM : |

 

Good idea, Bad idea

Good Idea: Spending $10.5M to sign a near-HoF shortstop and an above average second baseman to one year commitments.

Bad Idea: Spending $10.5M per year to sign a journeyman starting pitcher and a 35-year old second baseman with a .681 career OPS to three and two year commitments respectively.

The Yankees still have the $250M to try to spend their way out of the grave these decisions dig for them, but as long as thats not an option for us I'll settle for smart signings like the ones we made yesterday. Stay smart, Jim. (Apologies to Tom Bodett.)

posted by Scott at 6:40 AM : |

 

Nomar stays

Its a one year deal. We can add shortstop to first and third base as positions where we can be reasonably confident in getting above average production next year. In an ideal world he would be healthy and display some of the range he showed in his younger years, but we need an .875 OPS and 130 games played at a minimum.
posted by Scott at 7:05 PM : |

 

All the news thats fit to print

On the Cubs front, Mike Kiley says the Cubs are set to sign Nomar and Walker by tomorrow. This would be a step in the right direction, but since its from Kiley's mouth I'm not counting my chickens just yet. If Nomar can stay healthy he's got great potential to be worth more than his ~$8M contract will cost us.

Also, one tidbit from the Savannah newspaper on the basketball game last night. An excerpt:

Dirty or not, there was still some bad blood between the teams after the game, as evidenced by Georgia guard Levi Stukes' critique of the Yellow Jackets.

"They weren't the best team tonight," Stukes said. "They just did some that things that we didn't do."

Those things included shooting, rebounding and defending. Tech (5-0) shot 20 percentage points better than the Bulldogs (1-3), held a 44-25 rebounding edge and limited Georgia to five field goals in the second half.

Sometimes I find I actually enjoy a little editorializing on a writer's part!

posted by Scott at 9:07 AM : |

 

Satisfaction

Its always nice to annihilate your archrival, so I enjoyed the heck out of Georgia Tech's 87-49 thrashing of U(sic)GA tonight. The rout capped an ACC sweep of six games against the SEC this weekend. The only real downside was Isma'il Muhammad not getting any real opportunities to introduce the world to the 540 dunk. All in good time. At any rate, here's hoping the Cubs can enjoy some laughers like this against our arch-rivals next year. To hell with Georgia!

Oh, and Hugh from Three Bed Two Bath is on a Salerno Butter Cookie quest this weekend in Chicago. The Christmas hopes and dreams of the guy in the next cubicle ride on his efforts. Remember Hugh: stay away from Castle Anthrax! You've got a mission and there's simply no time for that sort of thing.

posted by Scott at 10:14 PM : |

 

Cool and not cool

Cool

America's best soccer writer (who sadly has to do college hoops to pay the bills) has this to say in his NCAA column today: Word out of Georgia Tech is mega-dunker Isma'il Muhammad is working on a 540 slam. That's right: one-and-a-half revolutions in the air. Apparently he's trying to keep it on the down-low until just the right moment. I think that throwing it down to cap a 30-0 run in the Georgia game Sunday would qualify as the right time, personally.

Not cool

I got beat down in the first Baseball Think Factory Online Poker Tournament tonight. I was talking trash with Aaron Gleeman early on. I thought it was safe since he was the short stack in the tournament at the time. Of course, he promptly went nuts, built a big stack, and survived an epic heads up battle to win the whole thing. Figures. Several Cubs fans played, including Tim Cramm (formerly of Eamus Catuli). Yes, he beat me too.

Not cool yet

I still need someone in Chicago to get me some Salerno Butter Cookies. Email me if you are willing and I'll send you a check for the cost.
posted by Scott at 10:50 PM : |

 

Need help from a Chicago resident

I have a coworker whose fondest memory of growing up in Chicago is something called Salerno Butter Cookies. I haven't had any success finding them on the internet, so I'd like to see if any of you folks in Chicago know where one can be found. If you think you would be willing to find them and ship them to me, send me an email and we'll work out the details. Thanks!
posted by Scott at 9:33 AM : |

 

What's worse than Bartman?

Imagine if you will: Cubs lead by one, bases loaded, two out, bottom of the ninth. Albert Pujols at the plate, Scott Rolen waiting on deck. Michael Barrett looks into the dugout, and sees Dusty pointing toward first! Sadly, neither LaTroy nor Barrett see anything wrong with this, so they intentionally walk Pujols to force in the tying run.

Rolen stands in. Hawkins doesn't want to give him anything, and soon the count is 3-0. Now the situation is truly dire. Hawkins sees only one option. An intentional ball four! The winning run is forced home! The Cardinals win the pennant! The best fans in baseball are burning down the Arch! Jim Edmonds is making out with himself in the mirror! THE %@&^!%@! CARDINALS WIN THE PENNANT!

That's the very best Cubs analogy I can come up with to try to help you understand what happened in Athens, Georgia today. Its not perfect- for one thing, the Cubs season rides on more than one game against the Cardinals each year. In fact, I'd venture to say we could get swept by the Cardinals- lose every single game- and still have a successful year. Not so with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets football season is played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Beat Georgia, its been a good year. Lose, and its twelve months of having to fall back on being one of the best handful of schools in the country as opposed to a laughing stock. You might think that would be solace enough to get over a stupid football game, and it is... mostly.

So that brings us to this afternoon over at the Cesspool of the South. The Bulldogs (naturally unencumbered by the desire to put up a pretense of academic standards) have jumped up on the underdog Jackets 16-0 at the half. Surprisingly, Tech fights back, and next thing you know they have the ball down only six with two minutes to play.

The Jackets drive down to the Georgia 20. First down, Tech quarterback Reggie Ball scrambles around and gains maybe a yard. Second down, he is sacked. Its third and 21 with 45 seconds left. Ball looks to the sidelines. The signal is... spike the ball? You've got two downs to go 21 yards and you are going to waste one of them to stop the clock in a game where you have 45 seconds and an absolute maximum of five plays left to run? Bizarre.

But not as bizarre as fourth down. Ball rolls right. He nears the sideline, and lofts the ball thirty yards out of bounds to avoid the sack. ON FOURTH DOWN! Dawgs win! Stand in the bed of your pickup truck, drink your moonshine and fire your shotgun in the air, the %^*%$!*&^ DAWGS WIN!

Its just hard to believe a coach and a quarterback could combine to make to decisions that poor in such a short period of time. An incompletion I could understand. A turnover I could deal with. But using the next to last down in your season to stop the clock when you've got all the time in the world, and then using the last one to avoid a meaningless sack? Unfathomable.

posted by Scott at 9:23 PM : |

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you to everyone who's come by this site in the last twelve months. This wasn't the best year in Cubs history, but it had its moments and I'm thankful we got to share them together. Just keep hanging in there, for as long as we don't quit we are sure to reach that mountaintop some day. Of course, I don't need to tell you that- if you were a quitter you wouldn't be a Cubs fan now would you?

Now go eat some turkey.

posted by Scott at 9:13 PM : |

 

More on the brawl

David Stern announced suspensions this afternoon- 6 for Ben Wallace, 25 for Jermaine O'Neal, 30 for Stephen Jackson, and a full season for Ron Artest.

First on Wallace- he shoved Artest and threw a headband at him. On any other day that gets him one, maybe two games, and that's what it should have gotten him here. He should be punished for what he did wrong, not for the unforseeable consequences of what he did wrong.

Second, the Indiana players. The lengths of the suspensions seem about right to me, although it would have been nice if the league had been clear in the past they were serious about this issue and that harsh punishments would result. Heck, if they had done that then this probably never would have happened. Better late than never I suppose.

Third, the Detroit organization. Where was the security? Where were the club personnel whose job it is to prevent this sort of thing from happening? I suppose they were wherever the White Sox were keeping their security folks on Father/Son Day a couple years ago. Why not fine the Detroit organization? Why does Mark Cuban get hit with a hundred thousand dollars in fines every time he dares criticize Emperor Stern, but the Pistons get off scot-free for failing to provide a safe environment for a basketball game?

And finally, the good people of Detroit, Michigan. Not all of them of course, but the dozens who assaulted various members of the Indiana Pacers. The people who threw beers, bottles, chairs, and haymakers. The people who turned Saturday night from a normal basketball game into a riot. Nope, sorry, they get no punishment. No charges, no penalties, no nothing. Just the reward of getting to act like thugs and seeing the victims get punished for fighting back against them. Kudos, punk Piston fans. You win.

posted by Scott at 11:05 PM : |

 

New low for fans

I just watched about an hours worth of the coverage of the melee in Detroit tonight. Of course the players should have showed restraint and not gone into the crowd almost no matter what the provocation, but I'm reserving most of my ire for the fan who threw the bottle that pushed things over the edge. Throwing a drink at a player is an incredibly cowardly act. There is absolutely no chance that sissy (John Saunders' word, not mine) would have had the guts to start something with Ron Artest if he hadn't thought he could hide in the stands and be safe from retaliation.

I said it when Redneck Billy Ligue attacked Tom Gamboa and I'll say it again now- if they would hit every fan who assaults someone with real jail time, these things wouldn't happen all the time. Everyone one of those fans throwing drinks and/or punches deserves prison and I hope they get it. Well, maybe the fat kid who went on the court to try to fight Artest. It looked like Jermaine O'Neal took care of him just fine.

Again, I don't condone the players going into the stands. I just find their behavior to be much more understandable under the circumstances than the cowardly actions of the fans.

posted by Scott at 1:42 AM : |

 

ESPN won't release O'Brien

ESPN has declined to release Dave O'Brien from his contract to allow him to take the play-by-play job with the Cubs. The Trib says the Cubs are moving on to Len Kasper of the Marlins or Matt Vasgersian of the Padres. I have never heard Kasper, so I am rooting for him. I've seen Vasgersian in too many obnoxious Fox Sports infotainment shows to think he'd be good. Of course, I am planning to try to synch Pat & Ron through XM radio with my TiVo, so hopefully it won't matter to me.
posted by Scott at 10:15 AM : |

 

Final CBA Prediction Standings (finally!)

Aramis Ramirez finished tenth in the MVP balloting, higher than any other Cub meaning nobody got any points for the MVP question. As such, the winner of the mint Fleer Ryne Sandberg rookie card is Rob Letterly of The Uncouth Sloth (Parental warning- explicit lyrics and mature themes). Rob was closest to the pin on four answers, best of anyone in the contest. Congratulations to the Sloth. You'll notice he's celebrating by going on hiatus. Slacker.

You should also note the grace with which the second and third place finishers performed. Being the smartest Cubs Blog Army soldiers around, I'm sure either Dennis Goodman or Scott Lange easily could have just correctly predicted everything. Instead they graciously allowed another to take the glory. My cap is off to those two- gentlemen and scholars both.

I'll do a new prediction contest around Spring Training. This time I hope to open it up to bloggers and readers, but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it. On to the standings:

1	Rob Letterly	The Uncouth Sloth	190.5
2	Dennis Goodman	The Northside Lounge	189.5
3	Scott Lange	The Northside Lounge	186
4	Brian Hipp	Cubs Now!	174
5	Alex Ciepley	The Cub Reporter	173.5
6	Chuck	Ivy Chat	169.5
7	Christian Ruzich	The Cub Reporter	167
8	Jason Steffens	Clark & Addison Chronicle	164
9	Tim Cramm	Eamus Catulli	163.5
10	Bill Kelly	Rooftop Report	156.5
11	Al Yellon	and another thing!	155
12	Derek Berger	Let's Play Two	142.5
13	Chris Yarborough	Yarbage Cub Review	141
14	James L. Crockett	Just North of Wrigley Field	137
15	Derek Smart	The Big Red C	135
16	DeShawn Jackson	Bad Century	131.5

posted by Scott at 9:56 PM : |

 

MVP

The MVP balloting is complete. Here are the Cubs receiving votes:

10- Aramis Ramirez (1 4th, 1 5th, 2 7th, 2 8th, 5 9th, and 5 10th)
15- Moises Alou (3 8th, 2 9th, and 2 10th)
28- Carlos Zambrano (2 9th)

That seems about right to me, although which ever voters placed Aramis ahead of one or more of Bonds, Beltre, Edmonds, Rolen, or Pujols must be wearing some severely Cubbie-blue tinted glasses. Anyway, with the balloting complete I can finally relase the winner of the prediction contest. I'll have a complete list of the final standings up tonight.

In the meantime, here is an MVP 2004 (see how it all ties together?) tidbit to tide you over. If you recall, I am in the midst of a season with the standard rosters plus 10-15 legends players. My Cubs head to Houston to open a series with the Astros. My ace slot is up, so its Phil Niekro against whoever the Astro ace turns out to be. This unknown hurler takes to the mound in the top of the first, winds up in a full 1080-degree windmill, and fires a 100 MPH heater at the corner for strike one. This awes me, seeing as how MVP seems to use the slow gun and Dr. Tightpants' 97 MPH fastball is the fastest I've thrown. My mind reels at the possible identity of this scary, scary man. Nolan Ryan? No windmill. Satchiel Paige? Too pale. The announcer says... "and Johnson delivers strike one!" Walter Johnson. Nasty.

So Big Train follows with a 93-mph slider for strike two and a 70-mph slurve that completely pretzels Corey Patterson before it even gets to the plate. Jackie Robinson comes up next, takes two strikes and waves weakly at triple-digit heat for the second out. Two quick strikes to the Bambino and its eight strikes on eight pitches and Enron Field is rocking. Johnson winds, and winds, and winds, and fires the heater letter-high toward the outside corner and... CONTACT. George Herman Ruth destroys the pitch, depositing it 506 feet to the opposite field somewhere behind that ridiculous train in left-center.

Enron was dead silent. I was out of my chair shouting trash at poor computer Walter Johnson- "I've got your dead-ball era right here, BEYOTCH!!!" I only mustered two more hits in the game, but Knucksie went all the way for a nine-hit shutout and a 1-0 win. It was possibly the finest moment of my video game career. I'm not sure whether that's cool or incredibly sad, but I'm still smiling thinking about it.

Back with the final prediction standings tonight.

posted by Scott at 10:59 AM : |

 

Things to do when there is no baseball

I completed an MVP 2004 season on the second-easiest level a few months ago, cruising to a World Series victory with a 159-3 regular season record. In the process, I met enough in-game goals to unlock 15 or so "legends" from the rewards menu. I started a season on the MVP (most difficult) level, but needed a break from the game so I let it lie dormant until the real season ended.

Now I am getting back into it. Through the draft and some agressive trades I've compiled a kick-ass core lineup with mediocre players who happen to be guys I like filling in the gaps. My pitching staff is shakier, but mostly able to keep us in the game. I've put up a 21-15 record, good enough for first place by a game over Houston. Here's the team:

Lineup vs righties (vs lefties is the same guys but a different order)
1- Corey Patterson, LF
2- Jackie Robinson, 2B
3- Babe Ruth, RF
4- Honus Wagner, SS
5- Roy Campanella, C
6- Aramis Ramirez, 3B
7- Hee Seop Choi, 1B
8- Milton Bradley, CF

Bench (rough order of use)
Mark Grudzielanek
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Doug Glanville
Scott Hatteberg
Rickey Henderson

Rotation
1- Phil Niekro
2- Chan Ho Park
3- Kris Benson
4- Albie Lopez
5- Jose Lima

Bullpen (from ace to mopup)
LaTroy Hawkins
Kyle Farnsworth
Mark Guthrie
Rod Beck
Jeff Zimmerman

As you can see, I really had to skimp in places in order to get the star players I wanted. For some reason, I seem to have a lot more success with fast players than slow players. As a result, Bradley and Patterson have respectable numbers while Aramis, Choi, and even Campanella have struggled. Choi literally has a .250 OPS and ends up being pinch-hit for late in games. Wagner is leading the league in homers with 21, but the Bambino is coming on with 18 after hitting five homers in a 9-7 fifteen-inning triumph over the Dodgers last night.

Despite a number of nagging flaws, its still a very enjoyable game. The biggest difference in the highest difficulty level is you really have to work the count to get something you can hit. The computer pitchers will fan you on garbage out of the strikezone until you force them to throw you something good. Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know if the MVP-level Cubs manage to bring home a Worlds Championship. Try to contain your rabid interest.

Don't forget to thank a veteran today, and not the Lenny Harris kind.

posted by Scott at 8:45 AM : |

 

It could be worse

Yes, we haven't won a pennant in a long time. Yes, we've come tantalizingly close on several notable occasions only to fall short in the end. Yes, the mood has been pretty ugly, arguably all the way back to Game Six last year. Nonetheless, I'd like to present an example of a team that would be significantly worse to be a fan of: the Atlanta Hawks. Now the Hawks being a more miserable team to root for doesn't actually help me any since I root for them too, but perhaps it will help you feel a little better about your station in life.

My sister's boyfriend Mike bought Atlanta Thrashers season tickets for this season. With the NHL on strike, the ownership group is doing various things to placate the season ticket holders. Since the Thrashers owners also own the Hawks, they gave tickets to last night's Hawks game to any Thrashers season ticket holder that wanted them and so Mike and I went to the game. With last night A) being the home opener, B) featuring one of the three or four biggest stars in the NBA, and C) having thousands of free tickets given away, you might think the building would be full. Not even close. Oh, it was announced as a "standing-room only sell-out crowd", but my best guess is 50% of the seats were empty.

With years of ineptitude leading up to this season and the current rebuilding effort built around Antoine Walker and the corpse of Kenny Anderson, I was fully prepared to spend the entire night ridiculing the team.

After introducing the Cleveland players, the Morehouse drum line marched out onto the court to welcome the Hawks. Now I've been a sucker for black college bands ever since I saw that "Coke is It" commercial with the marching band when I was a kid, so this was a quick step toward winning me over. They announced the Hawks players (none of whom got a bigger crowd response than LeBron), and then brought out the Human Highlight Film with a real hawk on his arm. Dominique Wilkins is my second favorite athlete of all-time, so this was another big step toward winning me over. Finally, team captain Kevin Willis (returning to the Hawks after a ten-year absence at age 42) took the microphone and asked for... patience. Not support, not noise, not packed houses... but patience.

Now imagine if the Cubs captain were... say... Ryne Sandberg. Not Sandberg in his prime, but 2004 Ryne Sandberg. On Opening Day, he gets on the PA system and asks for your patience. How are you supposed to deal with that? You can't root for them because every win hurts their draft status for next year, but you can't even enjoy rooting for more ping-pong balls because Ryne Sandberg is out there hustling his butt off trying to win while collecting Social Security. How sad is that?

So the Hawks hung in for a while, leading at the half behind strong performances from Predrag Drobnjak (who?) and Royal Ivey (Who??). In the second half 0-3 Cleveland steadily pulled away, and in the end it was a fourth double-digit loss in four game for the Hawks.

Say what you want about the Cubs, but at least they give you hope before reducing you to a pathetic miserable wretch. But hey, at least Usher, Bow Wow, Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri, Andruw Jones, Michael Vick, and Emmanuel Lewis were at the game. That's something.

posted by Scott at 9:27 AM : |

 

Time to kiss and make up

Well, maybe the elephant will remain in the room after all. ESPN has Katz telling Gammons that everyone is friends again and Sosa is (probably) staying. I think this would be a better (more likely to lead to a pennant/World Series) solution than giving away Sosa for pennies on the dollar. Plus, the better his relationship seems to be the more trade value he would have if Hendry does trade him after all. In other words, it can only help to have Sosa's man saying happy smiley things. Hurray.
posted by Scott at 1:27 AM : |

 

One state, two state, red state, blue state

I've had a hectic five days. Tuesday night I drove to Birmingham Alabama and spent the next two days watching election coverage in the hotel with occasional breaks for a concrete design seminar work was expecting me to attend. Thursday night I drove back to Atlanta, going straight to the first playoff game in our recreational basketball league. I had a quiet game (3/5, 6 PTS, 5 RB, 2 A, 4 S, 2 TO) but we won and that's what counts.

I got home from the game and began washing clothes and packing to head to NYC for my grandmother's surprise 90th birthday party. I got to bed around 1, and was right back up at 4:30 to get ready and make the early flight up. We landed at LaGuardia around 11 and spent the day in and around Manhattan. Saturday we went to Grandma's, sending her into brief episodes of near catatonic shock first when we appeared on her doorstep and then again when we marched into the restaurant and she saw the twenty assembled guests. It took her about a half-hour to settle in, but by the end of the evening she was moving around the tables, visiting with all her friends, and working the room like old times. Afterwards I went back to my aunt and uncle's place and crashed right away, but I am told Grandma stayed up talking to my mother till 5 am. Wild.

In my absence the news from the Northside seems to have been more of the same. The rumored Sosa/Green deal would work for me. Sosa has been in a constant decline for four years running now. His EQA has dropped from .367 to .330 to .300 to .277 over that span. Meanwhile Green's has gone .324, .321, .286, .280 over the same timeframe. I've got similar expectations for each of their 2005 seasons, and Green would come without the baggage that Sosa is carrying. I'm not desperate to dump Sosa at any cost, but this deal would remove the clubhouse problem without damaging our lineup so if DePodesta would bite I'd take him up on it.

In the infield, Neifi Perez will be returning for another year (or at least until his numbers are so terrible that he follows the Harris/Ordonez train out of town in mid-July.) Nomar still seems to be in the picture. I suspect he'll get 162-game money from someone meaning he'll probably be overpaid. Still, if the alternative is starting Neifi at short we might actually be best off being the team that overpays him. The ideal solution would be for Hendry to come up with an undervalued darkhorse candidate in a trade or signing, but I am not holding my breath.

Awards announcements began last week with the Gold Gloves, and Greg Maddux took down his 83rd win in the NL pitcher's category. I think its safe to say we won't be adding to our take in the Rookie, Manager, Cy, or MVP balloting over the coming ten days. I'm going to guess Big Z garners a few Cy Young votes, and perhaps Aramis will get some down ballot support for MVP. Don't forget I'll be posting the long-awaited final results of the prediction contest after the MVP balloting is made public.

posted by Scott at 9:46 AM : |

 

Hunsicker out in Houston

The Astros GM quit today, saying he would serve as an advisor to the team next year. While the Astros haven't ever quite gotten over the hump, the have been consistent conteders throughout Hunsicker's nine year run. Assistant GM Tim Purpura will step into the job.

I haven't spent a great deal of time analyzing Hunsicker over the years, but the simple fact that the Astros seem to be at or near the top of the division speaks volumes. During his tenure, Houston has had a reputation for acquiring pitchers other teams undervalued because of their lack of height. This strategy paid off in guys like Roy Oswalt and Wade Miller.

Only time will tell whether Houston's success under Hunsicker will continue. Still, after seeing the Cubs finish behind Hunsicker's Astros eight times in his nine year tenure (and only one game ahead in the exception year 2003), I am willing to take a gamble on a new guy. Welcome, Tim Purpura!

posted by Scott at 2:50 PM : |

 

And then there was one...

The White Sox haven't won one in forever and teams like the Astros haven't won one period, but its the Cubs and the Red Sox that have been linked as long as I've been around. Now there's just us. That said, I am thrilled for Varitek and Pedro and Mark Bellhorn and Theo and all the Red Sox fans all over the world. Congratulations one and all!
posted by Scott at 1:08 AM : |

 

Win one more for Nomar

I read today that the Sox have voted Nomar a full playoff share. Knowing how things turned out, I sort of wish he could be there to be part of things. The Sox still have one key player from my alma mater, but it would have been nice to see Nomar in the dogpile if and when it ends 86 years of frustration. He did as much as anyone for that franchise while he was there, and his reward was to have the media pronounce him inferior to Derek "Just past a diving" Jeter. Hopefully he'll have a smile on his face after Keith Foulke records the final strike one more night this week.
posted by Scott at 11:03 AM : |

 

Baseball's best fans

I came across this site via Baseball Think Factory today. I take back all my shots at the St. Louis folk- they clearly do in fact have baseball's best fans.
posted by Scott at 9:34 AM : |

 

Finally

Yankees fans have had the last eighty some-odd years. Tonight is the night for the rest of us. With each Johnny Damon home run or perfect Derek Lowe inning, the ten people gathered around my poker table cheered and exchanged high fives. I imagine the scene was being repeated all across America- people with no particular allegiance to Boston coming together to pull for the Sox with all their might. Tonight, finally, it was enough.

My college roomie, a Massachusetts liberal if ever there was one, called me during the seventh-inning stretch and announced that the game was in the bag. I was terrified, but he just shrugged off my worries of a jinx. Of course, Terry Francona chose that moment to bizzarely take out a strong Derek Lowe and replace him with his Game 1 World Series starter. Apparently my old roomie was chastened enough to perform a sacrifice or other voodoo ritual, because Pedro somehow calmed down and got out of the inning. None other than Mark Bellhorn helped get the runs back, and the next thing you know they are celebrating on Landsdowne Street.

Now maybe all those chuckleheads I've argued with- the ones who repeat what Tim McCarver has been telling them all these years about how gosh-darned clutch Jeter and his band of merry men are- will listen to what I've been trying to tell them. Jeter and his Yankees aren't better, smarter, tougher, or more clutch than anyone else. They've simply been good players who got some breaks. If the greatest collapse in the history of sports doesn't prove that to people, I don't know what will.

Now can someone please take A-Rod a hanky? I'd hate to have him sit there crying all night.

posted by Scott at 1:28 AM : |

 

Baseball

Is it a great game or what? In the half-hour of television I got to see two thrilling finishes to two of the most taught, gut-wrenching games in any sport all year long. A year ago it was us going back and forth between ecstasy and death's door. Maybe soon it will be our turn again.

Congratulations to the players and fans of all four teams tonight.

posted by Scott at 11:34 PM : |

 

CBA Prediction Results, Part 1

Back before the season, I collected predictions from sixteen of the best and brightest soliders in the Cubs Blog Army. I came up with an intricate and overly complex scoring system and tracked the results, with the winner to take home a PSA-10 graded Ryne Sandberg rookie card from my collection. Today I present the questions and answers, with the actual results to follow as soon as the MVP balloting is made public. Please take the opportunity to point out any errors you see in my answers, especially with the latest ejection and longest homer questions. I looked those up as best I could, but there was no single clear source to consult so I could have made an error. Thanks!

Question 1- How many games will the Cubs win? 89
Closest- 89 by Rob Letterly (Uncouth Sloth), Christian Ruzich (Cub Reporter)
Furthest- 98 by Chris Yarborough (Yarbage Cub Review)

Question 2- What will the Cubs Attendance be? 3,170,184
Closest- 3,200,000 by DeShawn Jackson (Bad Century)
Furthest- 2,741,569 by Tim Cramm (Eamus Catuli)

Question 3- What will Mark Prior's ERA be? 4.02
Closest- 3.21 by Dennis Goodman (Northside Lounge)
Furthest- 2.21 by Derek Smart (Big Red C) and Derek Berger (Lets Play Two)

Question 4- How many batters will Kerry Wood strike out? 144
Closest- 203 by Rob Letterly (Uncouth Sloth)
Furthest- 298 by Al Yellon (and another thing!)

Question 5- How many games will Greg Maddux win? 16
Closest- 16 by Rob Letterly (Uncouth Sloth), Derek Smart (Big Red C), and Brian Hipp (Cubs Now!)
Furthest- 12 by Scott Lange (Northside Lounge)

Question 6- How many games will Joe Borowski save? 9
Closest- 14 by Rob Letterly (Uncouth Sloth)
Furthest- 36 by James L Crockett (Just North of Wrigley Field), Derek Smart (Big Red C), and Tim Cramm (Eamus Catulli)

Question 7- How many games will LaTroy Hawkins save? 25
Closest- 27 by Derek Berger (Lets Play Two)
Furthest- 3 by Dennis Goodman (Northside Lounge), Chris Yarbrough (Yarbage Cub Review), Derek Smart (Big Red C), and Jason Steffens (Clark & Addison Chronicle)

Question 8- On what date will Greg Maddux win his 300th game? August 7
Closest- August 7 by Bill Kelly (Rooftop Report)
Furthest- July 1 by Derek Berger (Lets Play Two)

Question 9- What rookie will pitch the most innings for the Cubs and how many will he throw? Mitre, 51.2
Closest- Mitre 53 by Chris Yarbrough (Yarbage Cub Review)
Furthest- Not Mitre by six entrants

Question 10- How many home runs will Sammy Sosa hit? 35
Closest- 40 by Scott Lange (Northside Lounge)
Furthest- 53 by Derek Berger (Lets Play Two)

Question 11- What will Derrek Lee's OPS be? .860
Closest- .870 by Dennis Goodman (Northside Lounge)
Furthest- .392 by DeShawn Jackson (Bad Century)

Question 12- Who will have the most plate appearances, Todd Walker or Mark Grudzialanek, and by how many? Walker, 151
Closest- Walker 127 by Dennis Goodman (Northside Lounge)
Furthest- Grudz by eight entrants

Question 13- How many bases will Corey Patterson steal? 32
Closest- 29 by Derek Berger (Lets Play Two)
Furthest- 13 by Alex Ciepley (Cub Reporter)

Question 14- How many plate appearances will Moises Alou have? 675
Closest- 576 by Bill Kelly (Rooftop Report)
Furthest- 275 by Derek Smart (Big Red C)

Question 15- Who will hit the longest Cubs home run and how far will it fly? Aramis Ramirez, 439 feet
Closest- None
Furthest- Sosa (fifteen entrants) or Lee (one entrant)

Question 16- What rookie will have the most plate appearances for the Cubs and how many will he have? Jason Dubois, 25
Closest- None
Furthest- Not Dubois by sixteen entrants

Question 17- How many double plays will Alex Gonzalez turn? 18
Closest- 35 by Brian Hipp (Cubs Now!)
Furthest- 102 by Bill Kelly (Rooftop Report)

Question 18- How many errors will Cubs third basemen make? 15
Closest- 15 by Tim Cramm (Eamus Catulli)
Furthest- 35 by Scott Lange (Northside Lounge)

Question 19- At what rate will the Cubs throw out opposing base stealers? 26.53%
Closest- 27.0% by Scott Lange (Northside Lounge), Dennis Goodman (Northside Lounge), and Christian Ruzich (Cub Reporter)
Furthest- 37.9% by Rob Letterly (Uncouth Slouth)

Question 20- Who will lead the Cubs in outfield assists and with how many? Corey Patterson, 8
Closest- Patterson 8, by Brian Hipp (Cubs Now!)
Furthest- Alou (three entrants) or Hollandsworth (one entrant)

Bonus Question 1- What player currently in another organization will the Cubs trade for this season? Garciaparra, et al
Correct- Garciaparra by Dennis Goodman (Northside Lounge)
Incorrect- Beltran, Kendall, Cabrera, et al by fifteen entrants)

Bonus Question 2- Against what team will the Cubs score the most runs in a game this year?Reds, Brewers, and Pirates (13)
Correct- Nine entrants
Incorrect- Seven entrants (Astros, Rockies, Cardinals, Padres)

Bonus Question 3- Who will be the last Cub ejected from a game this year? Kerry Wood and Dusty Baker, 8/22
Correct- Scott Lange (Northside Lounge) and James L. Crockett (Just North of Wrigley Field)
Incorrect- Fourteen entrants (Alou by eight entrants)

Bonus Question 4- What Cub will place highest in MVP balloting? Unknown
Correct-
Incorrect-

Bonus Question 5- Who will throw the last Cubs no-hitter of the year? None
Correct- None
Incorrect- Sixteen entrants (Prior, Zambrano, Wood, and Clement)

posted by Scott at 2:52 PM : |

 

Good times

The Cubs season ends in a spasm of finger-pointing and self-loathing. The postseason is highlighted by the strong performances of the Astros (blech), Cardinals (oh come on), and Yankees (why me?). And then just when I was thinking sports were such a lost cause that it was time to take ESPN off my DirecTV package...

Six

The US locked up a berth in the final stage of World Cup qualifying by beating Panama 6-0 and finally looking like the bully of the region that we ought to be. Landon Donovan, who I believe has earned the title of best field player in American history, scored in the first half and again early in the second for a 2-0 lead. With the game apparently in control, Bruce Arena called on twenty-year old strike Eddie Johnson.

Now I watched a youth tournament Eddie played in last year, and he was savaged on the message boards after failing to put away several golden chances in front of the goal. Well kids, Happy learned how to putt. In addition to scoring a couple minutes into his first ever international game on Saturday, he poured in three more last night to put his strike rate at 8.4 goals per 90 minutes. I realize he may not continue to score at quite that rate, but he could drop down to, say, five or six goals scored every ninety minutes and still be a handy guy to have around.

Some explanation on the movie posted I lifted from Big Soccer and placed to the left: Eddie did interview for US Soccer last week. They asked him which console he preferred, XBox, PS2, or GameCube. His response- "I don't play video games. I'm a grown-ass man." A line like that followed by four WCQ goals in 40 minutes will make you a Big Soccer folk hero every single time.

So anyway, 6-0. Awesome. Its like your college football team went out and convincingly handled a lesser opponent for most of the game, then let the freshman phenom run for 200 yards in the fourth quarter. I can't say I am over the last week of the Cub season, but I'm getting there.

posted by Scott at 9:13 AM : |

 

Discretion and Valor

Last night Curt Schilling pitched with an ankle that was popping with every pitch, causing him to lose four mph off his fast ball not to mention any semblance of control. The result was a yawning six run deficit when he left the game, a gap that the Sox offense was almost but not quite able to close. "Almost but not quite"- story of the Sox lives, not to mention our own. Schilling said he had a "terrible bullpen session" before the game, so chances are he knew he wasn't going to be able to pitch effectively last night. He could have talked to Terry Francona, Francona could have thrown Pedro on six days rest, and the Red Sox could have won the game. Instead, Schilling and the Red Sox coaches placed Schilling's machismo ahead of the welfare of the team. What if Schilling had been forthright with his coaches? What if Joe Borowski had come clean at the beginning of April? What if Francona and Dusty had valued honest communication with their players? I suppse we'll never know.

USA v Panama

I haven't been talking about the US soccer team lately, so let me catch you up. A satisfactory, business-like 2-0 win over El Salvador Saturday night has put the US in command of their group. A win at home tonight over Panama team that is a heavy underdog on paper would send the US through to the hex (final stage of North American qualifying.) Of course unlike baseball, soccer isn't played on paper so nothing is assured. Still, everything is going according to plan and all that remains is to snap the last link into place tonight. The game is at 7:30 on the deuce (that's espn2 for you kids out there.)
posted by Scott at 8:28 AM : |

 

NLCS

As I type, Houston is up big and barring a monumental collapse (always a possibility with the Astros) its going to be Cardinals/Astros in the NLCS. Gosh that sounds fun to watch. I hope my friend gets done with System of the World soon so I can get started on it.

I really am going to have contest results, just as soon as I can get a spare hour or two.

posted by Scott at 11:21 PM : |

 

Limatime!

Congratulations to Jose Lima on pitching what will probably be the game of the postseason. He's been a favorite of mine ever since I saw him clowning around with teammate, coaches, and kids in the stands during BP a few years back. He seems like a super-nice guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, and today he shutout the best lineup in baseball for nine marvelous innings. Kudos!
posted by Scott at 1:48 AM : |

 

and now for something completely different...

... good news! The SunTmes reported today that "Broadcast reports in San Francisco have Sonny Jackson possibly replacing Wendell Kim as third-base coach for the Cubs, with Kim shifting to first. First-base coach Gene Clines reportedly would replace Gary Matthews as hitting coach." Jackson has experience as a third-base coach, and even participated in this, perhaps the only third-base coach performance art I've ever seen.

Its hard to believe a Bay area TV or radio outlet bothered to get into third-order ramifications of the deal, but maybe that was just Mike Kiley making things up as he went along. Still, a happy rumor is better than no rumor. Give us back the runs Wendell waved away this year and I might be grilling brats at Turner Field right now.

posted by Scott at 2:07 PM : |

 

I lied

No CBA Prediction Contest winner for a couple weeks yet, as I forgot that one of the questions is "which Cubs will finish highest in the NL MVP voting" and I can't very well answer that yet.
posted by Scott at 5:36 PM : |

 

89 wins

That's one better than last year... so how come it doesn't feel better?

If you missed the game today, Chip announced that he would be moving on and hinted that Stoney might be too. It figures- just when I was beginning to warm up to Chip, he's gone. If the fiasco Thursday night costs us Stone too, it will be an even bigger dissapointment. Maybe I'll be able to figure out some way to get Pat and Ron synched up with my Direct TV next year.

At any rate, the Astros finished their sweep of the Rockies to clinch the wildcard this afternoon. This locks in the eight playoff teams and gives me a chance to decide who to root for. Here goes:

8- St. Louis Cardinals Jim Edmonds, Matt Morris, Tim McCarver, and a brief cameo from Will Clark a few years back. If that weren't enough, they are the self-proclaimed "best fans in baseball" (who filled Busch to 75.1% capacity, eleventh best in baseball despite a 105 win season.) Plus, I'm against anything our mouth-breathing almost-literate commenting friend Gene is for.

7- New York Yankees I'm pretty sure I hate the Yankees even a little more than I hate the Cardinals. Still, if we get the nightmare World Series matchup I will be holding my news and rooting for the Yankees. The reason is that Yankees fans would barely even notice another World Series win. They buy all the best players and win nearly every year, so its just not going to make much difference to them. Cardinals fans on the other hand would be running their mouths about 2004 for decades to come. That's reason enough for me.

6- Houston Astros Next up, another NL Central rival. Familiarity breeds contempt, and I see plenty of Astros games. I'm also weary of hearing about what wonderful gutty gamers their stars are, entirely because they are A) white and B) adverse to wearing a clean hat on their heads. Call me crazy, but I don't see anything too endearing about white trash bikers who try to cover their tracks with lame truck washing stories.

5- Anaheim Angels The Angels are the first team on the list I don't actively dislike. They did however win a championship all of two years ago, and if we've got to wait centuries that should at least have to wait three years.

4- Minnesota Twins I've had a soft spot for the Twins ever since they beat two teams I didn't like in the World Series- the Cardinals in '87 and the Braves in '91. Lately they've been making a habit of exposing one of the great frauds in the history of the game. Finally, I got to pal around with one of their biggest fans this summer at the SABR convention. Add it up, and its enough to qualify for the first division of my playoff favorites.

3- Boston Red Sox This is almost entirely because I want to see them beat the Yankees. Their reprehensible fan and media treatment of Nomar (awfully simillar to how we treated Sosa this year, actually) has soured me on them some, and Bill Simmons conversion into a Yankee-esque gloater hasn't helped either. They do still have the greatest catcher in college history, and a dynamic starting pitcher I think is pretty cool. Ah well, like I said, anything that irks Yankee fans works for me.

2- Atlanta Braves Wow, if you had asked me in my childhood, the Braves would have been dead last on my list of tolerable World Series winners. I even rooted for the Yankees to beat them in '96, just to spite the bandwagon Braves fans that surrounded me at the time. Eight years later, the bandwagon has emptied out despite the franchise fielding a team whose success gets more amazing every year. I'm sympathetic toward anyone that the mainstream fans seem to disrespect, and that applies to the Braves last fourteen years in a big way. Finally, if they win a pennant I can go to another World Series game and redeem the terrible experience from the game I spent $250 to see in 1999.

1- Los Angeles Dodgers I'm a baseball fan because of my dad, and in addition to the Cubs he also loves the Dodgers. Why? I thought you would never ask.

My grandfather (who worked out for Cubs scouts alongside Phil Cavaretta when both were in high school) took him to his first baseball game at Wrigley Field when he was just five. Being the kindly soul he is, he heard everyone cheering for the Cubs and felt sorry for the Dodgers. After the game my grandfather took Dad down to the edge of the field where a Dodger handed them a Roy Campanella bat that had been broken during the game. My grandfather urged Dad to send the Dodgers a thank you note. A few weeks later Dad gets back a three page handwritten letter from Walter O'Malley, thanking him for his note and for being a Dodgers fan. That's a good reason to me.

So there you have it: the eight playoff teams ranked in my rooting order. Here's hoping next year discussing this issue is moot. Back tomorrow with the winner of the CBA Prediction Contest.

posted by Scott at 5:18 PM : |

 

That's all, folks

Apparently putting every bit of your heart into something doesn't mean its going to work out. With all the chances I've had to learn that lesson you would think I'd have figured it out by now. I've been pulling Charlie Gordons for twenty some years.

Disappointing as the final week was, this wasn't the historic collapse/choke some have made it out to be. The Cubs were 16-13 in the final month- not amazing baseball but not terrible either. We've won eighty-eight games, equal to last year's total with a game left to play. All this despite injuries to Prior and Wood that took away twenty-plus starts from them and comprimised their effectiveness for perhaps as many more.

The window is still open for this team to contend. Jim Hendry will have lots of interesting choices to make this winter, and we'll be here to keep an eye on him. I'll be back tomorrow with some thoughts on trying to enjoy the playoffs even though we're not going to be participating. Monday I'll have the results of the prediction contest (PSA-10 Ryne Sandberg rookie card on the line!), and after that we'll be writing about the offseason, poker, US WC Qualifiers, you name it. Hopefully the pain will ease soon.

Just 135 days till pitchers and catchers. Lets go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 10:30 PM : |

 

Well...

... that wasn't really what I was hoping for either. And yet, if you've come looking for a quitter you're at the wrong blog. (FWIW, the guy who found us by searching for "Kyle Farnsworth naked" is also at the wrong blog.) You do all remember the Brant Brown game, right? That was six short years ago. Could things have been any grimmer than they were around 5:00 that afternoon? And we pulled that out, right?

Odds are this time Monday we're going to be wondering why there is no more baseball to watch this year, but the thing about odds is every so often they get beaten. Maybe this is one of those times. Maybe this is one of those years when a groundball goes through Jeff Bagwell's legs. Maybe this is one of those years when a glacial runner scores from second on Barry Bonds' arm to send Bonds home. Maybe this is one of those years when Neifi Perez pokes a miracle homer into the bleachers to save a season.

Anything is still possible, and if it happens its going to be a whole lot sweeter if you haven't given up to work on your fantasy football team in the meantime. Lets go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 10:58 PM : |

 

Darkest before dawn

Another day, another dispiriting loss, another missed opportunity. While the Cubs still control their own destiny, now our opponents both control theirs as well. Houston in particular, taking advantage of the laydown Matt Morris promised one year ago, has just three games against lousy opposition to win to force the Cubs to win out just to make a playoff.

Hawkins is once again taking the blame for this one, but to my mind the primary culprit is the offense. If they score more than two stinking runs in eleven innings, we win the game. Nomar (1-3, 3 BB), Sosa (2-4, 1 BB), and Glendon Rusch (HR!) performed, but everyone else... two runs in eleven innings. Throw out Rusch's homer and it was one run in eleven innings against a team playing out the string.

But there will be time enough for finger pointing after the season if we lose. Now is the time to focus on rooting the Cubs on to victory. I am not irrational enough to think my mental urging is going to affect anything, but there are 25+ guys in that dugout who wear the logo of the team I have chosen to support. I think are going to give their all the next four days to try to make the playoffs and I am going to be right there with them.

Aaron Harang (10-9, 5.03) against Mark Prior (6-4, 4.27) this afternoon. Harang has allowed a minimum of four runs in each start since mid-August. Jerome Williams (9-7, 4.41) against Adam Eaton (11-13, 4.73) out west. The Astros sit home and wait. We can do this. Lets go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 8:07 AM : |

 

Dog fight

Chicago	88	69	--
San Francisco	88	69	--
Houston	88	70	0.5

One of the many beautfiul things about baseball is the epic scale of a 162 game season. Teams' fortunes rise one month and fall the next. A team of marginal quality can do everything right for two weeks and run off twelve straight wins, but slowly, inexorably, the long months of summer seperate the wheat from the chaff. If one team is clearly superior to another, they almost always prove it over the long haul.

Here we have three teams, none of which is clearly superior to the other. Here we have three teams whose hopes rest not on superior talent, but on finding a way to somehow win one more game than their competition over the next six days. This is not the grueling marathon of April to September. This is three teams running a short, brutal gauntlet, where one inning, one pitch, or one swing can change history.

One of these three teams will find a way this week. I hope its ours. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 8:08 AM : |

 

12-5

May I just say that I am all about games that we lead big enough for Calvin Murray to snag the last out? I am too exhausted to post more now, but let me share an inspiring quote from my boy from the 404 Michael Barrett and then try to post again in the morning. This from after the plane flight back to Chicago for the regular season ending homestand:

"The thought of that being our last plane flight together is a bad thought," Barrett said. "I don't think any of us (want that). That was good in a way- you're on the flight with a loss and you're thinking that could be the last flight together. This group of guys get along so well, we don't want to see it end. Not now. We want it to end when we want it to end. I'm expecting great things this week."

Damn skippy. Lets go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 11:15 PM : |

 

Thanks, Tim

The Cubs blew a 3-0 lead with two strikes and two out in the ninth today, but I am actually pretty calm about it thanks to good ol' Tim McCarver. He was more of an idiot than usual today, insisting over and over again that using Dempster to face Piazza was a terrible idea because of Piazza's amazing track record of success against Dempster. That track record: a .995 OPS in 34 career plate appearances. Not only is the sample size tiny, but Piazza's huge success is a whopping 48 points of OPS better than his career average- a difference so tiny as to make the whole arguement irrelevant. Dempster shocked the world by getting a routine groundout. Wow.

So anyway, come the ninth inning Dempster puts a couple of guys on and McCarver starts saying the Cubs can't lose this game and make the playoffs. He repeats it a few times, building momentum, until it completely takes over the telecast. As it turns out, the Cubs did go on to lose the game.

The notion that a dissapointing loss ends the postseason hopes of a team that is leading the wildcard race is just bizzare. It blows my mind that they actually pay someone to speak such absurdities into a microphone. Of course blowing a winnable game hurts, but there are 162 games in a baseball season and every team in the history of baseball has suffered bad losses. Heck, we've had several wins this week alone that we pulled out in circumstances simillar to today's. One loss doesn't end a season. Without McCarver, I'd be tearing my hair out, but he has helped me remember that its just one game, we are still in front, and we still control our own destiny. Lets go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 8:20 PM : |

 

No let up

Things have started to fall into place for a bit, but with a little over a week to go this is no time to sit back and enjoy a few wins. Each game is bigger than the one before it, and we've got to get the most possible out of every game since you know the competition will be.

As such, I'm going straight to today's pitching matchup. Mark Prior (6-4, 4.59) will face Aaron Heilman (1-2, 4.86). Heilman is a tall righty who had a 4.33 ERA over 151.2 IP for AAA Norfolk before being called up a couple weeks ago. There was nothing in his numbers to suggest some hidden dominance waiting to break out, so we seem to be facing a guy who was a run of the mill pitcher in AAA. In theory, we ought to jump all over him. In theory. Prior is coming off just his fourth Prior-like start of the year, 1 run, 1 walk, and 9 K against Florida Monday. Most of the country will get the Cubs/Mets on Fox at 1:15/12:15. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 9:20 AM : |

 

Just keep winning

As I write, the Astros have come up with one in the seventh, one in the eighth, and three so far in the ninth, a rally from a 3-0 deficit that saves Houston from what would have been a soul-crushing sweep at the hands of the Giants. They have certainly acted as though a loss would end their season, using fifteen position players and seven pitchers in a seemingly straightforward 7-3 ballgame.I see the logic in what Dennis and others have been saying about the Dodgers/Giants matchup helping the Cubs if Houston would eliminate themselves. Still, I guess I just like would like to see the Cubs at the top of the standings list. Call me an irrational, sentimental fool. (7-3 now, headed to the bottom of the ninth.)

Regardless of tonight's outcome, the last three days have gone beautifully for the Cubs for the obvious reason that they keep winning. The good news is that despite the generally phenomenal play of all the contenders the last few week, we have more than held our own and remain in position to control our own destiny. Tomorrow Glendon Rusch (6-2, 3.69) takes on Kris Benson (12-12, 4.44). The Mets have hit righties significantly better than lefties (.736 OPS versus .702) which bodes well for Rusch. Benson as you remember was acquired at the cost of a substantial part of the team's future in order to propel the Mets to the playoffs and beyond. Um... right. So anyway, since the trade he has fluctuated between brilliant and dreadful, averaging out to a 4.98 ERA. In his three good starts he has had an 0.41 ERA, while in the five bad ones its 8.07. Here's hoping we get Glendon some runs and set the tone for the series early. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 1:05 AM : |

 

Just another routine ballgame

I've got to be out the door in four and a half hours to head out to a plant for work, so this will be short and sweet. Even when you've seen thousands of baseball in your life, baseball still finds ways to surprise you. Tonight it was a critical 1-0 win in the heat of a pennant race where the only run scored on a two-out, 3-2 walk to the pitcher. I've been looking all year for a game that would spark the Cubs to a huge win streak, but after seeing some miraculous wins followed by lackluster play I am not going to be fooled again. If this Cubs team is to make the playoffs, it looks like they'll get there not by a run of 1906-esque dominance but by scratching and clawing and fighting for every win they can get. Every game is huge. Let's go Cubs.
posted by Scott at 1:27 AM : |

 

Like kissing Lenny Harris

The Cubs missed an opportunity to take command of the wild card race, but did manage to hold serve by splitting the double header with Florida yesterday. Tonight we send Kerry Wood (8-7, 3.54) out to face Josh Fogg (9-10, 4.82). Fogg has been much better in the second half, posting a 3.39 ERA since the All-Star break incuding 6.2 shutout innings against us last week. Each win we pick up in this series with the Bucs is guaranteed to pick up a game for us over Houston or San Fran, as those two top wildcard contenders are meeting out on the coast. Tonight its Carlos Hernandez (1-2, 5.30) versus Brett Tomko (10-6, 4.26).

They're bigger all the time. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 8:49 AM : |

 

Glendon the Good Pitch(er)

Just when I was wondering if the magic had worn off a bit, Rusch came back with a magnificent performance to take the series from the Reds today. Michael Barrett was the hitting hero today, going 3-4 with a key double in the game-tying eighth and a two-run insurance double in the ninth. I have a new theory on Barrett- what if, just maybe, there is a net zero amount of clutch heroics for everyone born in a certain week in each city? Then it would logically follow that each blown shootout penalty kick, last-inning softball letdown, and brutal river suckout I (10/28/76, the ATL) have suffered over the years has just been building up the karma bank for Barrett (10/22/76, the very same 404) to go absolutely hog wild this fall. Just something to think about...

I'm going to get this posted and get out of the way so I don't push Dennis' on-the-scene report from the GAB down the page again. Before I go though, I want to alert you to the new Cubs Chronicle, helmed by Jason Steffens. I usually don't write up new and changing Cubs blogs, as there are just so darn many of us that I don't have the time. Jason is a special case though, both because he was the immediate inspiration and mentor for Dennis and myself to start the Lounge and because of the quality of his work at the old site. Do yourself a favor and check it out. If you don't have time to add another blog to your daily routine, drop Yarbie. He's nothing but a sellout to the corporate media monolith anyway.

posted by Scott at 3:59 PM : |

 

Lousy night

I didn't see last night's game because I was off losing money to a bunch of drunk rednecks. AA cracked by J4 SOOTED. Still, it had to be better than watching the Cubs blow a chance to pick up ground on just about everyone, losing by one run, with Wendell apparently getting another Cubs runner shot down at the plate like he was Old Yeller. Suddenly we are relying on our sixth starter to save us from failing to win a series from a team that we were making look like the Lake Woebegone Whippets up until, oh, twelve hours ago.

Fortunately, I've got a new sunny outlook on life, so none of this bothers me at all.

posted by Scott at 9:22 AM : |

 

Vertigo

In college, my alarm clock was on the opposite side of the room from the lofted bunk in which I slept. When it went off, I would jerk awake, leap out of bed, fly across the room, and shut the alarm off, all without actually really gaining consciousness. So one day the alarm went off, and I flew out of bed and headed across the room as usual. Unfortunately, instead of arriving at the clock against the oppoiste wall, I somehow smacked face first into the wall on the left-hand side. Confused, but not really awake, I pointed myself back in the right direction and headed off once again. Two steps later I had run back into the wall. Good times.

I tell you this story because its a much more entertaining anecdote than this morning, when I woke up with vertigo for the second time in my life but this time didn't crash into anything. Six years ago the doctor told me that it was probably an inner-ear infection that would take care of itself promptly, and indeed within five or six hours I was no longer dizzy or nauseous at all. This time it has taken a bit longer, but after 18 hours I am 60-70% better so it looks like everything will be just fine.

I did manage to weave my way out to the TV for the first couple innings of another big win tonight. I saw Kerry manage one of those absurd behind the back stabs that major league pitchers seem to make far more often than I ever do in softball. I also caught the first of three Ramirez round-trippers before a wave of vertigo sent me back to bed. I suppose its nice to have nausea induced by something other than an impotent day from our offense.

Tomorrow Big Z will face another minor-league veteran, 27 year-old righty Luke Hudson. Hudson hasn't had great strikeout or walk numbers in his six starts this year, but he's been effective by keeping the ball in the park. In the minors it was just the opposite as he posted 102 K, 29 BB, and 11 HR in 97.2 IP. The continued hot streaks from the opposition are frustrating, but all we can do is take care of business on our end. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 1:12 AM : |

 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I am so fed up with that no good Sammy Sosa. Doesn't he know he is old and selfish and washed up and we all hate him and wish he was dead? How dare he crush two more homers for five RBI and lead us to another win and a sweep of the Pirates? What nerve. And I was really dissapointed in the fans- they actually cheered him! I thought we were together in this burying of the guy who has carried the franchise for most of the last decade. How could they jump right back on the bandwagon? Solidarity, brothers!

Now that I've filled my sarcasm quotient we can move on to some personal news. I have a whole new outlook on things. Starting with CP's game-tying homer last night, I suddenly find myself seeing how wonderful life can be. Since that moment, everything has been coming up roses. Of course, Corey hit the game-winner an hour or aso later. This morning a criminal went to jail for attempting to violate my home. After coming home to check it out, I stopped on the way back to work for a Cuban at the super-cool hole-in-the-wall grocery store that A) only real Atlantans (and you) know about and B) makes crazy, crazy good Cubans. I was in such a good mood after picking up my sandwich that I literally danced (kind of jerked back and forth spasmodically) in the driver's seat on the way back to work. When I got there, the spot next to the spot next to the front door on the first level of the parking deck was open. The Queen spot in a 2,000 car deck and it was all mine! I got home from work and boom, Cubs win, Cubs win! And so on.

Now I am still a realist. I realize not everything will always go well. There will be down times here and there between tonight and the day I die, but I vow in front of Blogger and everyone that I am going to work to remain upbeat and enjoy the sunny, happy, wonderful goodness that each day brings. Hurray!

Also, if the Cubs lose tomorrow I'll bring this policy up for review. That's all.

posted by Scott at 11:30 PM : |

 

One for the good guys

When I purchased the new house I live in, I had my APD crime analyst friend check out all the numbers for the surrounding blocks. He told me that it was one of the safer areas around town and that this street in particular was relatively crime-free. Then of course I was robbed within three months of moving in. The cops couldn't get any prints and couldn't do much of anything to help me.

Today the pendulum swung back towards the good guys. My neighbor spotted someone walking through my yard and then stopping by the side of my house this morning. He immediately called 911, then watched the guy break into my crawlspace, drag an extension ladder out, and head off. My neighbor headed after him with a baseball bat, at which point four squad cars arrived, chased the guy across the street and three blocks through a park before apprehending the bastard and taking him off to jail.

Knowing a criminal will be brought to justice for trying to break into my home feels good- 12th inning walkoff homer good. I accepted some risk when I chose to live intown rather than out in sterile soulless surburban commuter hell, but obviously I'd rather have the benefits of city life while dodging the drawbacks. I doubt either will read it, but thanks a million neighbor Dave and Officer Baker of the APD. You made my day.

posted by Scott at 10:06 AM : |

 

My best friend has a first name...

... it's C-O-R-E-Y.

My best friend has a second name

it's W-A-L-K-O-F-F!

Well, I already waived the option to say "I told you so," so I'm just going to let the song speak for me on the matter of our beloved centerfielder. I'll just point out a few other heroes:

1. Samuel Peralta Sosa- I realize boosting Sammy isn't the popular point of view lately, but that didn't stop me with dreamy Corey Patterson a couple months ago and its not going to stop me with Sammy now. The gorgeous sliding catch and on-target throw to first for the DP goes straight to the defensive plays of the year DVD, but he also had two nice at-bats late in the game. He fought Torres for nine pitches in the bottom of the ninth, and hit one the opposite way with enough mustard on it that Jose Castillo couldn't make the play. I am sure all the too-cool-for-school crowd were booing him like crazy just the same.
2. Neifi Perez- I have no particular faith in him, but there is no arguing with the potentially game-saving play he made in the top of the twelfth. When Wellemeyer's throw to second was behind him, Neifi managed to arrest his momentum, make the catch while staying on the bag, and get off an accurate throw with enough juice on it to get the batter at first. It had particular resonance for me since my softball team's second baseman failed to bail me out on the mirror-image play a couple weeks ago. If only Neifi was a Southern Company engineer... and hey, his bat would probably be an asset in our league.
3. The Pen- Six shutout innings, with six strikeouts, one hit, and one walk. Got some critical help from the defense as mentioned above, but still a great job.
4. Corey Patterson- I'm sorry, but I can't help myself. Corey Corey Corey Corey Corey Corey! All right, I'm better now. Let's move on.
5. Me- Finally, the lion's share of the credit has to go to none other than yours truly. I mean come on- did you read the post I made after two innings? Has anyone, ever, in the history of the CBA, employed reverse psychology to better effect than the Scottster did tonight? I think not.

Every game is huge. Let's go Cubs!

Edited to add: Can anyone explain to me how Al attends games, goes home, writes a longer post than me, and gets it online before me, despite his spectating-blogging commute of Wrigley-home versus mine of living room-to-computer room? That guy is unreal.

posted by Scott at 11:30 PM : |

 

Tuesday night

Four hits and four walks allowed in the first two innings for Matt Clement. The guy hasn't been right for several starts now, and the Cubs have apparently failed to properly evaluate his status between his last outing and tonight. Still, is there any law against getting him out while this game is still winnable?
posted by Scott at 9:10 PM : |

 

Headline goes here

I have had a terribly difficult time finding headlines for posts lately. The headline should categorize the big story of the day, and its about impossible to figure out what the heck the story is with the Cubs this year. One day they win, next day they lose. One day Corey Patterson is the most hated man in Chicago, the next he is Ty Cobb. One day we rally for a stirring win over the thorn-in-our-side Marlins, the next we show no fight at all in an 11-1 mauling. What is there to be said?

Tonight its Cubs and Pirates, as Greg Maddux meets Frank Brooks in a matchup featuring a combined 302 career wins (Maddux 302, Brooks 0). It would be nice if we could keep that ratio right at infinity for another five days. At Nashville Brooks mostly pitched out of the bullpen. He's a lefty and his stats scream "soft-tosser"- 55 K and 22 BB in 83.1 IP- so apparently the Pirates hope our slugging lineup will go to pieces at the sight of a southpaw yet again.

The games get bigger with each passing day. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 8:42 AM : |

 

Two quick notes

1- I just checked the Giants/DBacks score on my way to bed, and saw that according to espn.com Arizona scored -1 runs in the fifth. We might be counting on the wrong team for help there.

2- I didn't watch the Cubs today, and they pulled off a thrilling come from behind win. I listened to the Fuzzy Bees on the radio until they went down 17-7 with just a few minutes to play and I turned it off in frustration. Final score: Tech 28, Clemson 24. What?!? Yeah, three touchdowns in the final seven minutes, including one after a botched Clemson punt with twenty seconds left in the game. Awesome. I am considering going on media blackout for the rest of the season.

posted by Scott at 1:44 AM : |

 

The game that saved the Cubs season?

Well, there was a lot to like about that game. Wonderful duel between arguably the two most exciting young pitchers in the game. Cubs fight back to within one by chasing Willis and scoring off new relief ace Guillermo Mota. Sammy Sosa dropped to sixth in the order and tuned out the fickle, booing masses enough to smack a game-tying single in the eighth. Derrek Lee, who was leading the Marlins to a World Championship eleven months ago, took a big step toward leading us to one by cracking a three-run double later in the inning. And LaTroy Hawkins, who had as of yet not made the closer's job his own, struck out the side in the ninth on nine beautiful pitches. (Told ya.)

Its too bad I didn't realize it was on WGN instead of FOX today, and spent the afternoon watching it on the Gamecast. You might say that was my fault, but I prefer to blame Fox since it usually really is their fault.

Attention now shifts to tomorrow afternoon's matchup of A. J. Burnett (6-6, 3.93) and Glendon Rusch (6-1, 3.63). I'm not sure what Nomar's status for tomorrow will be, but obviously I hope he can go. All the good that was done today can be doubled or wiped away depending on the outcome of tomorrow's game. Let's go Cubs.

posted by Scott at 5:54 PM : |

 

Good Grief

I figure everyone is bummed out about the Cubs, so I'll cheer you up with a heartwarming tale from the softball league. You remember the last tale of human triumph from the softball league, right? Go back and read it to set the tone.

Yours truly, in happier times.

So anyway, the playoffs started tonight. As usual I have to pull teeth to get people to agree to come. Even the guy who started the team in the first place bails out, but finally I have nine firm commitments. We call the most dedicated guy on the team, and he says he has a friend who will come and be the tenth, so we are set.

So, obviously, neither Mr. Dedicated nor his friend show and we play with eight. We get pounded on all game, and eventually this garbage team we are playing is leading 23-8 going to the bottom of the last inning, and talking trash to boot. We plate a couple runs, make a couple outs, and I come up as the potential last out of the game. Now understand, for the year I have solid numbers. However, as the potential last out of the game, I am like 1-8. Its uncanny. However, I am not going to let it happen again. Although the game is way out of reach, I am determined to not make the last out for once. I grit my teeth and bear down. I take the first pitch high for a ball. The second pitch is to my liking, and I turn my hips, turn my wrists, and snap a line drive base hit to center! Its the small victories that count.

Oh, and then seven straight batters reach safely and I come up again to line out and end the game with the tying run on deck. Boo ya.

posted by Scott at 10:16 PM : |

 

Beatings will continue until morale improves

Everybody loses games- even the best teams. They lose to terrible teams, they lose looking ugly, and they lose without putting up a fight. The thing is you've got to play up to your potential the rest of the time, so when you get shutout by the etiolated Expos it trims your lead from eight games to seven or some such. With the Cubs last night, it trimmed our lead from .5 games to we ain't got no lead no more.

The Astros, Marlins, and Giants all won last night, all picking up a full game on us. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise, seeing as how they are all hotter than an out-of-control Genesis probe on reentry. On the morning of August 15, we were 63-53. We led the wildcard by a game over San Francisco, 5.5 over Florida, and 7 over Houston. Since then, the Giants are 14-9, the Marlins are 15-4, and the Astros are 20-4. That's a combined 49-16, .753 winning percentage, 122 win full-season pace for the three teams. Throw out the Giants, and its 35-7, .833, and a 135 win full-season pace.

There are five teams within two games right now. The odds against all four of our opponents simultaneously going in the tank are enormous. You figure at least one of them will play .600 ball the rest of the way. Its possibly one could play .700, or .800, or friggin' .833 ball the rest of the way. The point is that we will have to get hot. We will have to outplay the best of those four teams, and that's going to require a minimum of 17-9 or so over the twenty-six games we have left to play. Is it possible? Sure. Is it probable? For the first time all year, I am not optimistic.

Suckout on the river (or canal)

Last night, the US stole a point in a game in which they were outworked, outhussled, and outplayed, and for 92 minutes even outscored. Then, Cobi Jones (who played one of the ugliest games you'll ever see) pulled the ball out of a pond in front of the goal and tapped it home (for one of the ugliest goals you'll ever see. From halftime on, it was the worst national team performance in recent memory, but somehow, someway, we walked out with a precious point.

In the first half we looked decent, held most of the possession, but really weren't creating a lot of particularly dangerous chances. Panama made a couple substitutions at the half, and suddenly it was like the field was tilted toward Kasey Keller's net. Time after time, the US would get the ball, lose possession after one or two touches, and the Panamanians would be roaring in on goal. Eventually they forced one in, and looked on the way to a deserved 1-0 win until Cobi somehow got a foot on one. They say the key to qualifying is just win at home and draw on the road. We're halfway home and we are 3-3. I'll take it.

Hurricane issues

For anyone who has mailed me recently, I am not ignoring you. Frances has knocked out my home phone and DSL for four days and counting, and work won't let us access webmail anymore so I am temporarily cut off. Let's hope Bell South gets their act together before this monster arrives.
posted by Scott at 9:00 AM : |

 

So many chances

Despite a huge day from Corey Patterson and men on base throughout the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelth innings, the Cubs just couldn't find a way to beat the Expos tonight. As painful as it was to watch Nomar-inspired rallies die time and again late, the worst part is probably Clement leaving early with back pain for the second consecutive start. With a grueling schedule the rest of the way, we were already going to be stretching outside the top five starters. Now, with Clement a question mark and Prior not much better, there's no telling which warm bodies we are going to be putting out on the mound down the stretch.

On paper we are still in better shape than the Astros, Marlins, and Giants. The trouble is that we've let all three of them in the race (with the Padres not much further behind), and it won't do to beat one or two. We've got to beat all of them if we want to make it to October. Every game is huge, and they're bigger with every day that goes by. Let's go Cubs.

Edited to add:I tried to post this last night, but between Blogger acting up and the intermittent DSL service provided by my friends at Bell South it wasn't happening. Now its the day after, and I can say that I still feel all the frustration from last night PLUS I find I am a good 20% more miserable thanks to the effects of waking up early after a long extra inning loss. Good times.

posted by Scott at 1:31 AM : |

 

Frances

Last night I had written out a little post about the impending storm, but since my Bell South DSL goes out every time a storm comes near (even before the rain actually starts) I didn't manage to get it posted. Their customer no-service (tm Clark Howard) people continue to tell me that they can only diagnose it if someone comes out while its down, and nobody can come out while its raining since they are busy with other things. Of course, its only down when its raining, so there we have an arguement more circular than a plan view of Antonio Alfonseca.

I woke up around four a.m. with the power out on my street (but not the next one over). I couldn't go back to sleep for the next ninety minutes or so, partly because the AC and fan were off and partly because I was listening to the many trees in my backyard sound like they were preparing to come through my roof. By the time I woke up, the rain had nearly stopped and the only real sign of the storm was a few twigs and leaves on the porch. Other places in Atlanta seem to have been hit harder, but I pretty much got by unscathed.

Its a relief to get a win yesterday, especially since the Giants and Astros have forgotten how to lose. Matt Clement (9-12, 3.44) will face Sun-Woo Kim (3-5, 5.37) tonight. Kim has pitched worse in his twelve starts (6.32 ERA) than his 26 relief appearances (4.29) and he's been worse since the break (6.25) than before it (4.92). If I didn't know better, I'd say it looks like a perfect situation for Matt to pick up a win.

posted by Scott at 8:40 AM : |

 

Ching and Bling down El Salvador

People who have watched the US go through World Cup qualifying know to expect dirty, Fick-tastic play from many of our opponents and officiating ranging from clueless to corrupt. Today's 2-0 win over El Salvador ranked right up there with any of the great Peter Prendergast boondoggles of the past. The goals by Ching and Donovan were quality, but the story of the game was the incompetence of the crew from Trinidad & Tobago. He whistled the US for phatom fouls throughout the game, but evened things up by showing a second yellow to a Sallie for... wearing jewlery? The necklace citation forced El Salvador to play down a man for the majority of the game. He showed unimaginable tolerance for Salvadoran keeper who had to have the stretcher brought out for him four seperate times (once when he didn't come within ten yards of making contact with anyone), but hit Connor Casey with a yellow for diving from across the field when Casey allowed himself to go down as a Sallie grabbed his collar. Another highlight came when he somehow missed the Salvadoran goalie kicking DaMarcus Beasely in the face as DMB landed on the ground after a try on goal.

The lesson I've learned after watching CONCACAF qualifying for the last eight years is that to get to the World Cup, the team must enter each game with the goal to find a way to tune out violent crowds, thuggish opponents, and incompetent refs, and find a way to get the result. What matters is that when they wake up in the morning, the US will be at the top of the group and healthy for Wednesday's clash with Panama.

Oh, and I stole that headline from a Big Soccer poster. Forgive me.

Cubs news

Frances has ground to a halt over West Palm Beach, and the result for the Cubs is no games all weekend. MLB.com speculates that we may makeup one of the games in Chicago and play the other two as a doubleheader on the mutual off-day on September 20th. The scheduling is going to make it tough on our pitching staff, but picking up an extra home game mitigates that somewhat. I suppose with Glendon Rusch available we are better equipped than most teams to deal with the doubleheaders.

In the meantime, all we can do is sit around and hope for some help. The Giants came from 7-1 down to win again today, and they, the Padres, and the Astros are a combined 4-0 while we sit. Sigh.

posted by Scott at 7:39 PM : |

 

Go, go, go, on 7-2-0

My employer sent me to our plant in Panama City for some work Wednesday morning, so naturally I looked for an opportunity to get my baseball cap collection going again. On the way down Tuesday night I tried for a Columbus Catfish game, but when I arrived in the stadium parking lot I found myself in a monsoon downpour. I called a friend for a radar check, and based on his forecast I took off for Florida. I found today that the game was indeed called, so I suppose I made the right decision.

Driving on down to Panama City, I was retracing part of my route from last October, when I enjoyed one of the most memorable games of my life in a car with Chris and Justin Yarbrough thanks to the wonders of WGN's nightime signal. Thus it was entirely appropriate that my drive featured a call on the cellphone from Mr. Yarbrough himself telling me that he has accepted a sportswriting job in El Dorado, Arkansas. I went to their website hoping to see a "El Dorado News-Times hires identical twins" headline like the one in the Great Muppet Caper. But I digress. Congratulations Chris, and don't forget to mention me in your Pulitzer acceptance speech.

Anyway, on the way back I stopped in Montgomery to see the AA Montgomery Biscuits and the Mobile Baybears. The Biscuits are in their first season in Montgomery, but they have their act together. The stadium is one of the best I've ever been in- neck and neck with PNC Park among modern facilities. I don't have room to list all the cool features, but I'll offer a few. There are railroad tracks in left field, and four or five trains went by during the game. (I have no idea how the pitchers concentrate enough to throw a pitch with the railroad whistle sounding, but they seemed to manage.) There is a path set up so you can walk all the way around the outfield wall, putting you between the train tracks and the foul pole. The park itself is mostly a modified historic train station, with offices, ticket windows, and even luxury suites tucked in to it in a seamless way. The merchandise shop has the best selection of any minor league stadium I have been to (six so far), and the concessions are better than most major league stadiums. I had a footlong brat when I arrived and "two hot biscuits with toppings" around the seventh inning stretch.

The game itself was good as well- a pitcher's duel that turned on a disputed double down the line for the visitors. The homeplate umpire (who appeared to be female although I am not certain) called it fair, and the visitors got all three of their runs for what turned out to be a 3-1 win. The rest of the game the crowd howled "FOUL!" every time Mobile hit one foul, no matter how obvious it was. Good times.

When I got back in the rental F-150, I got the radio on and heard that we were leading 2-0 with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the eleventh. Naturally we immediately give up two hits and a run and are a homer away from the worst loss of the year. Fortunately Corey came in to get a dying pop-up and save me from a miserable 2.5 hour ride home.

All eyes now turn to the Caribbean and Hurricane Frances. America's greatest living writer explains the situation in the Sun-Times. Its a big series with the Marlins lurking just three games back. Here's hoping for a minimal hurricane impact on Florida and at least two out of three for the Cubs.

posted by Scott at 10:44 AM : |