'right for the price

The Cubs grabbed OF Joey Gathright. Gathright was signed to a one-year contract worth $800,000. A good price for a player like Gathright.

The OF had a down year offensively in 2008, but has serious speed (said to have been clocked at 3.3 seconds from home to first on a bunt) and a lot of upside. The left handed batter can play all OF positions and has played for Sweet Lou in Tampa.

Gathright adds another versatile player to the roster and another low-priced bargaining chip. This may impact Pie, who is out of options. Milton Bradley is still on the radar as an every day option in the OF.

What's going down this offseason

Fukudome was invited to join the Japan team for the World Baseball Classic on March 5-23.

Cubs signed Reed Johnson ($3 million), Chad Gaudin ($2 million) and Neal Cotts ($1.1 million) to one year deals, avoiding arbitration and said they would offer contracts to Cedeno, Wuertz and Kevin Gregg (the reliever picked up from the Marlins).

If you were under a rock, you missed Kerry Wood moving on and the constant blabbing about Jake Peavy. The Cubs are also after a lefty bat, with the mercurial Milton Bradley in the fore of pundits minds at the moment.

Allegedly, the Cubs are trying to dump Marquis' salary and I don't blame them. Numerous other cubs (Fontenot, De Rosa to name a few) have come up in hot stove talk, but their value is obvious and the Cubs will not part with players like that without getting something good.

All-in-all, nothing much has happened since the end of the season. Team wasn't sold. No huge names in or out (I love Kerry and was sad to see him walk out of town, but he doesn't fall under "major moves" distinction). No major off-season troubles.

The Bears are about to drop off the NFL playoff picture, so we can start daily yammering about the upcoming baseball season any time now.

Cubs Collect Awards and Little Else

Congratulations to Geovany Soto, named NL Rookie of the Year, and Lou Piniella, named NL Manager of the Year.

Small solace for a season that ended in ignominious defeat.

All indications are that top pitcher Jake Peavy will be headed to Atlanta. Trade talks were reportedly serious with both the Braves and Cubs. The Atlanta deal is said to be better. The Cubs are allegedly trying to get another team involved in their deal to shine it up a bit.

If the Peavy deal doesn't happen, the Cubs surely have to resign Dempster.

Macha named new Brewers manager

Sporstline has the news.

I guess all the speculation as to who will replace Brenly was for nothing.

And no, Paul Sullivan, Santo was not the right man for the job. I love Ronny, but he needs to stay on the radio side. Not because he's a "homer" (which, in Santo's case just means he roots for the Cubs. He is not biased in his judgements), but because the TV booth needs a more sedate personality. I also would hate to spoil a great radio team of Santo and Hughes and likely result in both the radio and TV broadcasts losing a little luster. Santo is perfect for the radio. Let him stay there.

Ramirez Wins NL Aaron Award

In the first ever fan voting for the Hank Aaron Award (the award given to the "most outstanding offensive performers" in each league), Aramis Ramirez won in the NL and Kevin Youkilis (Boston Red Sox) in the AL.

In years past, the award was given to the player with the best offensive stats. This year, fans were able to vote for players on the MLB website. Each team selected one nominee. It is no surprise that two of the league's most rabid fan bases voted their players to victory.

Youkilis had a pretty good year at .312, 29 HR, 115 RBIs, 91 runs, .390 OBP, .569 slugging.

Ramirez also had a decent year, but not his best, at .289, 27 HRs, 111 RBIs, 97 runs, .380 OBP, .518 slugging.

Youkilis is right up there with Ordonez (Miguel Cabrera was the Tigers' nominee and is also worth mentioning), Huff, Hamilton and Morneau. I liked Hamilton myself at .304, 32 HR, 130 RBIs, 98 runs, .371 OBP, .530 slugging, but you can make a case for any of these guys.

Ramiriez, on the other hand, was not even the best at his position. David Wright of the Mets hit .302, 33 HRs, 124 RBIs, 115 runs, .390 OBP, .534 slugging. However, Wright was inexplicably not the nominee for the Mets.

Jose Reyes was the Mets' nominee, boasting a .297 average with 16 HR, 68 RBIs, 113 runs, .358 OBP, .475 slugging. Granted Reyes' 56 stolen bases helped his cause, but I would have still given Wright the nod.

As usual, Berkman was up there with phenomenal stats at .312, 29 HRs, 106 RBIs, 114 runs, .420 OBP, .567 slugging) and Chipper Jones finished with a .364 batting average and an incredible .470 OBP (though incredibly only 75 RBIs). For my money, I can't believe Pujols didn't win at .357, 37 HRs, 116 RBIs, 100 runs, .462 OBP, .653 slugging. I cringe every time he steps in the box to face a Cub pitcher.

I'm not taking anything away from Ramirez. The fans made the selection. He was a formidable hitter throughout the regular season and constantly proved to be a clutch hitter and offensive force for the Cubs (until the great hitting blackout of the 2008 playoffs, of course).

Sutcliffe Comments on Possible Cubs TV Opening

From an article in today's Chicago Tribune.

Sutcliffe mentions that he is always interested in doing something with the Cubs. The Red Baron is currently under contract with ESPN and had planned to be a Spring Training coach with the Cubs prior to being diagnosed with colon cancer in May. Sutcliffe has undergone one successful surgery and has another coming up in November, but everything is going as well as can be expected and the ex-Cub believes he would be ready for a full season of work in the booth if the opportunity was there.

I loved Sutcliffe as a player and what little exposure I have had with him as a broadcaster has been favorable. Yes, even including the 2006 incident where a drunken Rick Sutcliffe pops into the TV booth in San Diego to chat with Matt Vasgersian and Mark Grant That's funny stuff.

Grace shares his feelings

Mark Grace made some comments regarding the debacle known as the Cubs' 2008 post-season. He says they "laid down", "played tight" and "should be humiliated."

This naturally leads people to wonder if Grace's comments could hurt his chances at replacing Brenly in the TV booth.

I think honesty and calling it like you see it is not something that should be frowned upon. We know Brenly was willing to call players out. Grace is also still working in a part-time role for Fox during the World Series. Wouldn't it be a worse measure of a man for Grace to sugar coat comments about the Cubs so that he doesn't piss off potential new employers?

Besides, he was right. The Cubs failed miserably and did not live up to fans, analysts and their own expectations. If you look deeper into his comments, you see a man rather stunned that the team he saw as the class of the NL got drubbed out of the playoffs in short order.

I think this quote from Grace says it all, "I'm as disappointed as all the other Cubs fans." That's passion for the team he played 13 seasons for. That's honesty and critical review from an experienced ex-player. That's the heart of a fan coming from a former player.

That's what the booth needs.

Dallas Green has something to say

He still doesn't much care for the Cubs.

He got fired in 1987 and believes he had a strong hand in the 1989 results. Probably true, but he wasn't there so I'll leave it alone. I don't really like thinking about that '89 team anyway.

Either way, it was more than 20 years ago. Let it be. Hell, even Lee Elia has softened a bit.

Brenly headed to the Brewers?

There is much discussion about Cub TV Man Bob Brenly as a top choice to helm the Brewers.

Can't say that it sounds off-the-wall or that Brenly turning down a big TV salary to have another go as manager. The Brewers have young talent, a nice ballpark and good fans. Though they probably won't have Sabathia, which would concern any incoming manager.

That would leave quite a hole for the TV broadcast. The current team of Brenly and Len Kasper do a pretty good job. It took a while after Stone left before the TV broadcast felt good again. I don't know who would be on tap as replacement for Brenly.

How about Mark Grace? He's with the D'backs until 2010.

Dan Plesac has done good work around town talking Chicago baseball. I don't know that he has the impact that fans would want.

Similarly other part-time Cubbies like Eric Karros and Todd Hollandsworth who have been seen and heard around the baseball analysis scene lately. Both good, but possibly without the kind of spark you might want.

Sutcliffe is a possibility. He's definitely interesting.

Eckersley might be good, though I've had minimal exposure to him doing his Red Sox post-game.

We shall see.

Cub News Isn't All Bad These Days

I know people are still feeling the hate from the Cubs' unceremonious first round exit from the 2008 playoffs. Certainly not the preferred outcome. However, I maintain some good vibes from this team. I enjoyed them all season and I'm not going to let those three ugly games ruin it all.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is some work to do over the season. I am happy to see that Hendry will be the man doing much of that work. The team agreed to a four-year extension with GM Jim Hendry on Monday. We all know that the Cubs failed miserably in the playoffs these past two seasons. However, it must be pointed out that they actually won the NL Central two years in a row. That was nearly unthinkable before Hendry built the current team. Hendry is the only Cub GM to take the team to three post-seasons and the team managed to post a 537-513 record under his regime. Hendry has put the Cubs solidly in the mix of teams that must be considered contenders. Having done so, he must now get together the pieces to make a post-season splash as well.

One of those pieces is definitely Geovany Soto, who has been named the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year (Longoria of the Rays grabbed the hardware in the AL). Soto hit .285 with 23 HRs and 86 RBIs while managing on MLBs top pitching staffs (NL's 3rd best team ERA) . Not to mention that Soto's 131 starts (7th in the ML, 5th in the NL) during the regular season is no small feat for a Cub catcher dealing with day games. Congrats to the Cubs' 2001 11-round pick.

The Cubs have also been mentioned as possibles to play an exhibition game or two at the new Yankee Stadium. Word is that the two clubs are in negotiations to have the Cubs play the Yanks to open the stadium.

Kevin Foster, RIP

Former Cub pitcher Kevin Foster died Saturday from renal cell carcinoma. The Evanston native was 39, had four children and was engaged.

Foster pitched in the bigs from 1993-1998 and again in 2001 (1994-98 with the Cubs). In his time with the Cubs, Foster went 32-28. He had a nice fastball and decent command in a career shortened by arm injuries.

As If You Didn't Know

The Trib reports that the current state of the economy will impact the timing and financials surrounding the sale of the Cubs.

Indeed, everything has changed. No championship glory. No easy access to funding.

This situation should never have dragged on this long and now it will continue.

Harden Staying

The Cubs picked up Rich Harden's 2009 option year and will pay Harden $7 million in the final year of a four year deal he inked with Oakland.

The 26-year-old pitcher went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 12 starts with Chicago after the July 8 trade. Harden struck out 181 in 148 innings and had a .183 batting average against. His one post-season start was unspectacular, giving up 3 runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Overall, the Cubs think that if they get 25 starts (his combined total with the A's and Cubs in 2008) out of Harden next year and he is productive, then it's a good deal. I agree. $14 million might get you a top pitcher (might) and paying $7 million for one that pitches 85% of his starts and is a consistent 6 innings per start would be worth it. However, you really want to see something more in the playoffs.

Harden was diagnosed with rotator tendinitis and some "subtle instability" in his right shoulder (no tear was detected) and it appears he will not be needing surgery. He should be ready for the start of next year.

Decisions on Wood and Dempster are up next.

All Wet

An unnamed Cub player broke a pipe in the Dodgers' visiting dugout. The usually media discussion has taken place.

1. OMG! Stupid athletes. This is so like the Cubs.
2. Who cares.
3. If this was the Sox, it would have been blown out of proportion

I fall into the "who cares" category. They got trounced and showed some emotion. The Cubs have offered to pay damages. Nobody got hurt. It has also been noted that this has happened in that clubhouse before (and not by the Cubs). I believe the article mentions a Dodger employee saying this is the fourth or fifth time this year.

And So It Goes...

Another quick exit. Another year without the big prize.

This Cub team played in this playoffs like the team I saw in spring training, not the team I saw sailing through the summer months in control of their own destiny. Missed opportunities, bad fielding, weak hitting, and pitching that couldn't get it done. A fragile looking squad with a ton of questions and very few answers.

Soriano thinks this team isn't made up for the playoffs...a sprint versus the long haul of the season. I say none of them played up to their capabilities. So, while Soriano may be correct, it isn't the reason they lost this series.

The team hit .240. Soriano 1 for 14, Soto 2 for 11, Ramirez 2 for 11, Theriot 3 for 11. The core of the lineup was unproductive. The pitchers had a 5.19 ERA and of the four big starters, the biggest question mark (Big Z) was the only one with an ERA less than 6.00.

None of that diminishes what the Dodgers did. They produced the runs and their starters were on target.

The Cubs, yet again, were not. After two playoff sweeps in a row, it's time to consider what can be done with this squad. I'm not sure tinkering on the edges will get it done. On the other hand, the team is solid and probably doesn't need a total overhaul.

We've got all winter to think about it.

This is the end....

The fat lady has not sung, but from what I've seen recently, I'm not sure why I should believe the Cubs can pull this off. That said, they do have a team capable of winning three in a row now. However, the odds are not in their favor.

Can we get at least one win? I don't want another 3 and out. It's very demoralizing as a fan.

In other Cub related news, an Elgin high schooler was told her Fukudome jersey was inappropriate for school and had to wear a gym class tshirt for the rest of that day. Talk about educators being out of touch with the students.

Now, even given the concept that someone is so blissfully unaware of our Cubbies, couldn't one of the big brains that discussed the matter have looked it up on the Internet? They do have computers don't they? Apparently the matter was sorted out by the afternoon after a call from the student's mother to explain the situation. This kind of thing is just too absurd to believe.

Best of all was this quote from the mother that appeared in the Courier News online article

"She's a big Cubs fan, and we got the jersey at Dick's (Sporting Goods). We
were going to get a (Kerry) Wood one, but it cost more," said Nancy Howe.

Now that's good stuff.

Game 1

I don't have a ton to say about it. Cubs lost. Things didn't go as planned.

I would have left Dempster in too, so I am not going to get all lathered up about game management.

Overall, a tough pill to swallow in a short series. The Dodgers are a good club and you can't get away with putting guys on base all game long and having location problems. On offense, you have to move runners over and you have to hit with RISP. No excuses. Let's get them tonight.

I will say that watching the game in a bar always reminds you of what utter tools people are. If your emotions are going to ride from elation to deflation on every pop fly you think is a home run, it's going to be a long night of roller coaster emotions. The umpire was calling a decent plate and he isn't the reason Dempster walked all those guys. The atmosphere of a crowd that is such a joy to be around when your team is winning 2-0 can turn dangerously toxic just a short while later. I wonder what the Mayor's policy is on beer sales in Wrigleyville if the Cubs lose so embarrassingly that people are screaming profanities at the top of their lungs.

Try to relax and enjoy it. If the Cubs lose, so be it. It will still have been a fun season from a fan perspective. Ultimately, what I want even more than that elusive championship is the feeling that, should this team not advance in the playoffs, they will actually be back in the playoffs next year. Part of the gloom was always the sense that you never knew when the next playoff appearance would happen.

A Couple of Rally Pics from Yesterday

Here We Go

The White Sox still have some work to do. Whoever wins that game is going to have a tough time of it in Tampa.

On the bright side of town, the Cubs had a downtown rally complete with Jim Belushi mumbling, Da Mayor and Blago each getting their share of boos, plus old cubs (Santo, Banks, Billy Williams) and current Cubs (Hoffpauir, Lee, Marshall, Crane Kenney). Daley Plaza had a famous sculpture adorned with a Cub cap and large screen TVs while speakers hissed out some really loud highlights of days gone by.

Now that the bullshit is out of the way, it's time to get down to business. Dempster versus Lowe. Let's get it awn!

How it breaks down:

The Cubs heavily right-handed lineup faces LA's righty starters Lowe, Billingsly and Koruda. The Dodger staff has been good. Lowe hasn't lost since August. The Cubs can get runs in a number of ways and have plenty of flexibility. Jimmy Edmonds, we'll be looking to you for some big at-bats.

Dempster, Lilly, Harden and Big Z will face the much-discussed Manny Ramirez, but also a good core of hitters in Ethier, Kemp, Martin and Loney. Hopefully, Dempster is as invincible at home in the playoffs as he has been all year, while Big Z gets his act together after a tough back end of the season (despite his no-no). Lilly has shined while Z struggled and I expect big things from Harden (if only for 6 innings a pop).

The offensive edge has to go to the Cubs even with Manny on the Dodgers. The Cubs scored 155 more runs than the Dodgers, were second only to the Cards in NL team batting average (.278 vs the Dodgers .264) and led the NL in slugging percentage (.433 vs the Dodgers .399). The Cubs also led the NL in walks with 636 (vs the Dodgers 543).

The pitching is very close. Statistically, the Dodgers top 3 compare favorably to the Cubs top 3 (or 4, depending on where Big Z fits these days). Lowe is as formidable a starter as there is, but for overall consistency and experience, I lean to the Cubs here. However, I'm willing to listen to arguments. Similarly for the relief pitchers, the Dodgers have been very good throughout, while the Cubs middle relief has struggled at times. It's hard to argue against a cleanup crew of Marmol and Wood, but if the starters struggle, getting to them may prove to be a problem.

In the end, the Cubs win this series in 4 games. The massive home field advantage for the Cubs (55-26) versus a Dodger team that has been anything but stellar on the road (36-45) gets them through this series. The Cubs have proven to be the class of the NL for an entire season and if they play like that team, they win this series. The Dodgers can't be overlooked and any slips by the Cubs will be tough for them to overcome. Experience and the attitude I've seen from this club lead me to believe they are ready to play and have their eye on the prize here.

..and another thing, the Bears....

Another non-Cubs post, but let's look back on the fatal play in OT for the Bears last Sunday. The defense stopped Tampa deep in Tampa territory only to give up an automatic first down on Peanut Tillman's unnecessary roughness penalty.

The penalty was valid. Sure, Tampa players did some things. Jeremy Trueblood threw weak punches at a helmeted player while both were on the ground, which started the whole mess. Nevertheless, we all know last one in is a rotten egg. Tillman got nailed on the field.

Usually, however, the NFL acknowledges these things by fining everyone involved. The onfield refs are going to miss some of this stuff, but the video doesn't lie. In this case, Tillman got fined $5,000. No word on Trueblood. What? Do you recall Jamar Williams getting a really stupid taunting penalty for jawing at a Tampa player at the end of a play? He got fined $7,500. WTF?

We Interrupt Cubbie Fever for this White Sox Update

The Cubs and Sox both lost last night in extra innings. For the Cub fan it was no big deal and possibly a blessing, depending on if you want Milwuakee, New York or Philly to be the Wild Card in the NL.

For the Sox fan, it was brutal. Swept in the dome, the White Sox now find themselves 1/2 game back and out of first place for the first time since August 24. I can't say I'm surprised, though I was rooting for the Sox to get it done in Minnesota.

The players seemed resigned to losing games against the Twinks. Even after last night's game, players could be heard discussing the "fluke" nature of many of Minnesota's hits. It just didn't sound like a team angry with itself for letting this slip away.

Their fate is no longer in their hands and they have only themselves to blame. The Sox put up six in the fifth inning and were up 6-3 after the Twins' half of the inning. Not good enough. It was disheartening to watch.

Funny or What?

Cubs players think they're funny. You be the judge. See Soto, Dempster, The Riot, Fontenot and DeRosa at funnyordie.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Ho Hum

The Cubs play their final regular season game at William A. Shea Municipal Stadium. USA Today has a few top memories. The passing of this park is getting very little pub with Yankee Stadium set to blow. Nonetheless, we salute you, Shea Stadium.

The Cubs won in 10 innings last night when Lee doubled in Theriot (who had singled with 2 out and stolen second base) and Ramirez followed him with a homer. Wood would pitch a clean inning and get his 34th save. The Cubs had posted 4 runs in the fifth to tie the game at five after being down 5-1 when Zambrano imploded in the third inning.

Theriot, Lee, Ramirez and DeRosa did the majority of the work offensively and it was good to see the core of the lineup hitting together. Lee and Ramirez each took three walks. It would have been nice had Zambrano not labored so badly.

Fortunately, Dempster and his gaudy home stats will likely start the first playoff game and be the man for a Game 5 at Wrigley, if needed. Hopefully, it won't be needed.

In other NL news, Milwaukee and the Mets are now tied for the WC and there may be another weather situation coming up in the east. Look for some more griping by Houston if the Mets end up playing games at the back end. In the West, the Dodgers are 4 up with 4 to go. The vaunted D'Backs are not going to ruin anyone's first round this year. Philly sits 1 1/2 games up of the Mets and I would expect them to hold that.

In the AL, the White Sox managed to drop 2 to the Twinkies and cling to a 1/2 game lead. Gavin Floyd is set to face Kevin Slowey tonight. The ChiSox players sound like they didn't expect to win at Minnesota. Not the kind of attitude you expect from Ozzie's boys, but something fans have seen in their demeanor over the years in the Metrodome. The rest is done, with the Angels, Rays and Boston clinching playoff spots. The Rays are a game away from claiming the Division, so expect Boston to be the Wild Card out of the AL.

On the other end of things, Detroit and Seattle are the bottom of their respective divisions. These two teams had a lot of believers before the season got started. Detroit should be embarrassed by how much blame their manager is shouldering for this season. They have simply not played up to par. No amount of managing was going to get them over the hurdle. Seattle has the worst record in baseball right now. Yes, Washington has one more win (59) than Seattle (58). Seattle has lost 100 games. Wow.

Marshall - In!

Sean Marshall pitched well enough yesterday to earn a spot on the roster for the NLDS. Despite not getting a decision in last night's game, Marshall earned the nod. He will be a much needed lefty in the pen during the playoffs.

How Dry You Am

...or may be.

Wrigleyville bars have been asked to go dry after the 7th inning stretch as is done inside the stadium. The city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications notes the dry period is voluntary and would only last until after the game is over on "clinch games".

I'm all for maintaining public safety, but this is just odd. I can't argue that it would not reduce, however small, the overall level of drunkenness. However, the bar and restaurant owners are rightly concerned about what this would do to their take on those days. Perhaps the public safety should be paramount here, but I just don't see this action curbing the behavior of the worst offenders.

Heck, not everyone even cares about the Cubs. Though, they might want to steer clear of the area if that's the case. There is nothing worse than bumbling into an impromptu street celebration of that kind.

The Year of Pappas Love

I didn't really expect to post much of anything until playoff match ups are determined. That is, of course, unless something momentous happened.

I have to give Marquis a nod for getting another win, hitting a grand slam and collecting five RBIs last night. He did this at Shea Stadium against a team clinging to hopes of an NL East title and clinging to a lead in the Wild Card race. The win assures the Cubs home field throughout the NL playoffs and helped the Brewers inch closer to the Mets for the WC.

It's a strange place to be, playing the Mets now. If the Mets get the WC, they face the Cubs. If Milwaukee gets it, the Cubs face the Dodgers (in all likelihood). Now, nobody really wants to face Santana in a 5-game series, but the Dodgers are dangerous and Manny is still a very real threat (though, I don't have the same dread my acquaintances do of one hitter in the playoffs, no matter how great). The Cubs will follow it up with a similar situation - 3 games at Milwaukee this weekend.

The last Cub pitcher to drive in 5 runs? Milt Pappas in August of 1972, just 22 days before Milt's September 1972 no hitter. On August 11, 1972, Pappas went 3 for 3 against the Mets in a 7-2 Cub victory at Wrigley. Pappas had an RBI double, a two-run homer, and a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Milt also pitched the full 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 strikeout and no walks.

Thanks to baseball-reference.com for the game stats.

Now What?

Now the Cubs are a game away from locking NL home field. They don't have to worry about the Angels since the AL took care of business in that long ass All-Star Game. Thanks to the fact that the powers that be think it's a monumentally impossible logistics task to wait until the end to determine where home field in the World Series is, the Cubs do not have to fret over the AL's best.

The Cubs have only to determine their initial playoff rotation and set it in motion. They can scrutinize and nitpick while determining the rest of the playoff roster. And they can wait and watch as the rest of the NL picture solidifies. This time of year is a tricky business for teams like the Cubs. Rest is nice. Rhythm is crucial. After months of pedal to the metal baseball, it's not time to come to a screeching halt, only to fail at the restart next week. However, a key injury at this point would be hellish.

It's a good time for fans to get some rest too. The baseball playoffs are tense and last long into the night.


Other tidbits:

• The first back-to-back NL Division Championships since 1908.
• The ChiSox head to Minnesota for 3 with a 2 1/2 game lead and 7 games to go.
• The Cubs and Sox haven't been in the same postseason since 1906.
• Neal Cotts could go down as the only player to win a World Series for both the Cubs and Sox.
• The Cubs ended their 2008 home season having drawn a Chicago baseball record 3,300,200 fans.
• During the Bears game on Sunday (vs the Tampa Bay Bucs) the announcers mentioned the baseball joy in Tampa, mentioning that the first post-season appearance in franchise history was clinched by the Rays. Immediately after, a clever camera person panned to a group of Soldier Field fans sporting Cub caps.
• Koyie Hill made his first major-league start since August 16, 2007. A big step after cutting off the fingers in an accident last October (see pictures in The Sporting News blog of the restructured hand).
• Say so long to Yankee Stadium. 85-years of history in one of baseball's hallowed buildings. Mariano Rivera got Brian Roberts to ground out to end a 7-3 Yanks win over Baltimore Sunday. The new stadium will be just as special. Wrigley is next on the chopping block. Progress stops for no man.

Cubs Win, Cubs Win!

2008 National League Central Division Champions.

I'm just gonna let that sink in for a while.

Crazy, Crazy

The Cubs lost a rather unmemorable game on Thursday night. It was fairly nondescript other than a nice putout at home with an assist from Soriano. That was mostly only memorable because it happened in the midst of a bar discussion about just how bad Soriano really is in the field.

Yesterday, the Cubs followed up with even more lackluster play. Until the ninth inning, that is. The Cubs managed to tie the game with 4 runs in the ninth, including a 2-out, 3-run homer from Soto. Lee then singled in pinch-runner Marquis in the 12th for the win.

Now, with a chance to close out the division with a win at home versus the Cards and a Milwaukee loss, Big Z uses up all the hits and runs he was keeping to himself in his last start. Down 9-0, it looks ugly.

Where the Tension Is

The Cubs are destined to win the Central and will most likely have the best record in the NL. They sit 9 games ahead of the flailing Brewers in the Central and 8 1/2 games over the Mets, the current leader for the Wild Card.

The Phillies lead the East by a 1/2 game over the Mets and at 84-67 they are unlikely to catch up to the Cubs (91-58) with 13 games left (11 for the Phillies). The Phillies have the easier schedule down the stretch and the Mets are sitting on 4 straight losses, including yesterday's 1-0 loss to Washington. The Mets get the Cubs and the Marlins. The Phils get Florida, Atlanta and Washington. I'll take the Phillies.

The NL West is a mess right now with the Dodgers having surged to a 4 1/2 game lead over the Diamondbacks. Since acquiring Manny, the Dodgers have been on fire (as has Manny) and the team many Cub fans feared like death is looking like they won't even make the playoffs.

The NL Wild Card is a tight race with the runner-up in the NL East duking it out with the fading Brewers. Houston (3 back of WC), St Louis (5 back of WC) and Florida (5 back of WC) still have a dreamer's chance, but time is running out. I still think the Brewers are better than the Mets here, but they are in shambles with 2 losses to the Cubs and the firing of Yost. I don't want to but I'm going to take the Mets here. They have to pull a few games out of their ass and with Milwaukee losing a Sabathia start yesterday, I think they're cooked.

Over in the AL, the Angels have locked it with a 92-58 record and an 18-game lead over Texas. This one was over a while ago. The White Sox cling to a 2 1/2 game lead over the Twins in the AL Central and face the Twins three more times in MN. With four games in Tampa before they get the Sox, I'm going to take the White Sox for the Division here.

The Central-leading White Sox are 84-66 and it looks like the top two teams in the AL East have 89 wins each and it can be assumed that one of them will take the Wild Card. Tampa Bay has a 1-game lead by virtue of two fewer losses than the Red Sox. The Rays and BoSox play their last game versus one another today and then the Rays get Baltimore, Minnesota and Detroit to close it out. Boston gets to go to Toronto for 3, then Cleveland at home and finish with 3 at home against the Yanks. With nothing left, the Yanks are going to look to spoil the Division crown for Boston. I'll take the Rays for the Division and Boston settling for the WC.

So, to recap...

NL East - Phils
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Dodgers
NL WC - Mets

AL East - Tampa
AL Central - Chicago
AL West - Angels
AL WC - Boston

I don't see the Mets/Phils or the Rays/BoSox ending in any kind of 163rd game situation (or the Sox/Twinks, for that matter).

Is any of this what I thought at the beginning. I picked the Cubs and with 95 wins, but most people did. I did not see the Dodgers or Mets. I went with Arizona and St Louis as the WC. In the AL I had Cleveland, Angels, Yanks, Boston as the WC. I thought Tampa would be good, but not like this, and the Yanks disappoint yet again. You can never shake the Yankee in you, no matter where you live.

Another Step Closer

The Cubs won again, beating the Sveum-led Brewers 5-4.

Despite the fact that Sabathia took the mound for the Brewers, Soriano starting the game with a hit yet again. A double off the wall (did he come out of the box a tad slow? maybe....) put Soriano in place to score a run in the first. He did just that when Lee, heating up at the right time, doubled Soriano in. Ramirez notched two RBIs in the third off Sabathia on a double that scored The Riot and Lee, who had both singled. Soriano added a big homer in the Seventh. Ramirez scored the eventual winning run by leading off the eighth with a double and coming in on a Blanco single.

Dempster got the win and posted a good line with 7 innings, 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 9 strike outs and one walk. Somehow it felt more intense. Probably due to the starters' stellar performances the last two game, but also due to Dempster having some minor hiccups to work through. Fielder, a killer for these Cubs, did a lot of damage with 3 RBI, 3 hits and 2 runs. He bombed a massive 2-run homer in the sixth and a solo shot in the eighth off of Marmol. Wood got the save, but not before giving up a run and putting the tying run on third with 2-out and Fielder at the plate. Wood threw a barrage of fastballs (7 straight) before dropping a slider on a 3-2 count to punch Fielder out. Wood called the pitch a "slurvy slider". Whatever you call it, it froze Fielder and brought on the end-game cheering at Wrigley.

Magic Number: Division - 4; Wild Card - 5 (Mets)

Gilded Lilly

One day after Z pitches his no-hitter, Lilly goes seven innings and gives up only one hit. Samardzija, Marmol and Howry finished it off without giving up a hit (though they did give up a run) and the Cubs became the first team in history to follow a no-hitter with a one-hitter (the Cubs also had back-to-back one-hitters by Lieber and Wood on May 24-25, 2001). For the two games, the Astros hit .019, the Cub starters pitched 16 scoreless innings and gave up one hit while striking out 19. The mini sweep of the 'Stros put the Cubs 5-3 for this longest road trip. They went to 4 cities in 11 days, including two unscheduled rest days due to Ike, and managed to win the final 4 games after starting 1-3.

Samardzija and Marmol managed to give up a run without giving up a hit, which was the only smudge on this two day series. Samardzija walked two with one out and gave way to Marmol. Marmol then let the runners move up on a wild pitch before a sac fly brought in the run.

The Cubs offense got on track a bit with 6 runs on 7 hits (just in time to face Sabathia). Soriano led off the game with a single, was moved over by a Lee single and brought in by a Ramirez sac fly. Good way to start the game and, just like yesterday, that one run was all they would need. Edmonds added a solo shot in the fifth inning (which also included a Lilly single). Four more runs were added in the sixth as Fontenot walked ahead of a Lee homer and then Ramirez singled ahead of a Soto homer.

The Brewers were off yesterday and now the Cubs own an 8-game lead in the Central. Apparently that was enough for Milwaukee management, who fired Ned Yost despite the Brewers being tied for the Wild Card with only 12 games left before post-season play. The Brewers look respectable at 83-67 with a very young, talented team. However, this team has a $90 million dollar payroll and people expected more from them. They fell flat at home mid-season against the Cubs and let them slip out of town in first place, then just recently floundered against Philly and their lead in the Wild Card race evaporated before their eyes. In non-Sabathia starts, the team has gone 15-22 since July 26th - when they were tied with the Cubs on top of the Central. They held a 5 1/2 game lead on the WC on September 1. This is too similar to the 2007 collapse when the Brewers couldn't hold an 8 1/2 game lead in the Central. Yost did good work otherwise, posting a .532 winning percentage and making Milwaukee relevant again. This might be there first playoffs since 1982, but they'll have to do it behind Dale Sveum.

Welcome to Managing in the Bigs, Dale. Here come the Cubbies and their chests are puffed out. Sabathis versus Dempster. Should be a good one.

Magic Number: Division and Wild Card - 6

No No, No Problem!

The Cubs finally played a game against the Astros. They played it in Milwaukee of all places, where the ghost of Milt Pappas (OK, just the repeated use of Pappas - alive and kicking - as the easiest "obscure" trivia answer in Cub lore) was laid to rest.

Big Z felt right at home. After an 11-game rest and a ton of hair pulling and woe-is-me discussion by Cub fans and Chicago sports media, Zambrano got a win.

Not just any win. A no-hitter. The first in Miller Park history. Big Z gave up 1 walk and 1 HBP over 9 innings and 110 pitches. He also went 1 for 3 at the plate and scored a run in the Cubs 5-0 victory over the beleaguered Astros. The one walk came in the 4th and was followed by a Tejada double play ball. Z also hit Pence in the 5th with 2 outs, which was followed by a nice leaping catch by Lee on a hot liner to first.

This may not rank as the best no-hitter ever pitched. The Astros have certainly had a lot on their minds of late and having a supposed home game in Milwaukee didn't help. Neither did the fact that the 'Stros arrived in Milwaukee just a few hours before first pitch and had been sitting on their asses for two days waiting for some decision to be made.

You no doubt will read all the teeth gnashing over how poorly this was handled by MLB and Houston ownership, but it was a tough situation. They should have made an earlier decision, but hindsight is like that. Milwaukee may have seemed like Wrigley Lite on Sunday night, but many parks would have produced a majority Cub fans. Their appeal is evident every time they play an away game. With scheduling such a bitch anyway and weather everywhere in the shitter, the dome in Milwaukee was not a ridiculous choice. Unfortunate for the Astros, for sure, but not ridiculous. Would they prefer to lose a home game or be forced to ruin the potential playoff rotation with games after the season is over? Not to mention, depending on how the revenue is doled out, Milwaukee would certainly produce the most, if not close to the most, tickets sold of any other "neutral" venue.

Nevertheless, Houston was riding a hot streak, winning 14 of 15 prior to Sunday and had leapt into the Wild Card race. The slumping Cubs had been doing a similar amount of sitting around (though clearly with less angst) and Zambrano was coming off a string of bad outings culminating in bench time to rest his aching shoulder.

Big Z hadn't pitched a shutout since 2004 and hadn't had a complete game since June 16, 2007. His performance was stellar, with a zipping fastball and excellent command. 73 strikes, 37 walks, 10 strikeouts, 13 groundouts, 4 flyouts (only 2 balls left the infield, total) and 28 batters faced. It was also a good day for what has seemed like a shaky defense recently for the Cubs.

Soriano started the game out with a HR. That would be all she wrote, but the Cubs added four more in the third in typical fashion. Two singles started off the inning and with 2-out, Lee doubled in Cedeno and Zambrano. Ramirez singled in Lee and advanced to second on an error. He was immediately picked up on an RBI double by Soto. DeRosa walked and Johnson, the ninth batter of the inning, recorded the last out swinging at air in the 10th pitch of the at-bat (having recorded 5 fouls on a 2-2 count).

Now the Cubs stand 7 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee in the Central despite having won only 4 of their last 10 games as the Brewers dropped both ends of a double header to Philly. The Brewers and Phils are now tied for the Wild Card, Houston is 2 games back, St. Louis 4 1/2 back. So much for the Central being the dregs of the NL. Magic Number: Division and WC - 7 games (15 remaining)

Lookee What I Found

It's a couple of victories!

The Cubs managed to take two in St Louis and win a series. They are now sitting on 88 wins and are 5 1/2 games up on Milwaukee (lost to the Phils last night) and 8 1/2 up on the next teams in the Wild Card hunt. Amazingly, Houston is one of those teams and they are tied with the Phils now at 80-67.

Now the Cubs are getting a breather as the hurricane resulted in two cancelled games in Houston [pause for a prayer for the weather beaten masses]. The sizzling Astros are 9-1 in their last 10 and the Cubs are hoping this time off will cool them just a bit.

On Wednesday, the Cubs got 8 innings and 1 earned run (in the first on a Pujols ground out that scored Izturis) surrendered from Lilly. Hell of an effort. The Cubs managed 4 runs in the second inning, which started out with 4 straight singles and was aided by 2 errors from Felipe Lopez at third. The inning also featured Ted Lilly barreling into Molina at home plate, catching him in the jewels with his knee. Soriano nailed Izturis at the plate in the third, which would turn out huge as Woody would give up a Pujols double followed by a Ludwick homer to cut the lead to 4-3, the eventual final score.

Thursday was no less fun. Harden went six innings and gave up 2 runs in the sixth inning. Six is pretty good, but there was more Cub Angst this morning as reports of lowered velocity and Harden fading in the sixth came across the wire. It doesn't take much to get people in a tizzy. Soriano and Fukudome both added outstanding catches in the eighth inning and Samardzija, Marmol and Wood locked it down. The Cubs posted two runs in the fifth without a hit thanks to a succession of events - a walk, a rare Pujols error, 2 more walks (The Riot walked scoring Soto) and a ground out (Lee grounded out, scoring Johnson). DeRosa and Fontenot hit back to back doubles to add another run in the next inning.

The ninth was another doozy as Wood gave up a lead-off double. The bunt that followed was fielded by Lee, who fired to third. With Ramirez having to backpedal to the bag after charging the bunt and the runner on the move, it would have been a miraculous play. As it happens, it was anyway as Brendan Ryan overslid third after beating the tag and Aramis got him on the retag. He looked safe, but it was bang bang. A bloop single then put 2 on and 1 out before Woody K'd Miles and induced a pop up from Pujols, who had us all worried.

Two strange wins, but you take what you get. I'm still concerned about the hitting, but the Cubs made some runs out of nothing (or the Cards gave them out for free with purchase of a hot dog) and the pitchers navigated a tough lineup to get it done. The bunt play last night was typical of the Cubs lately, with Lee opting for the ridiculous play at third rather than the out at first (though perhaps Miles beats it anyway) and Ramirez doesn't actually hold the tag through the slide, he holds it up to the ump before realizing the runner was in the dirt past third. They still got the results, but boy is it tense. Soriano has been on target in the field and Fukudome proved his glove yet again.

The Cubs now face 16 games in 15 days. With the concerns for Big Z and Harden, this could really push the staff. Expect some of the middle relief to get rode hard. Either Z or Marquis is going to have to eat some innings on Sunday. I expect it will be up to Marquis regardless of how he is pitching.

Magic Number: Division 11, Wild Card 8

This is getting old

I agree with Piniella. I'm tired of watching the Cubs play like this.

Last night was just more of the same....eighth loss in nine games. Dempster pitched OK, but with the Cubs up 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth he made a big mistake. After giving up a double and a bunt single (tough play that wasn't going to get Miles, though Lee made a good hockey save to keep the ball from getting too far away and keeping the advancing runner at third), Dempster grooved one to the guy you don't want to make a mistake with. No doubt about the Pujols 3-run homer to tie it up. Dempster did compose himself to get out of the inning and through the seventh without further incident (a good sign, if you ask me).

The offense offered up a little help, with usual suspects The Riot (2-5, 2 runs), Ramirez (3-4, 2 RBI) and Lee (1-4, 1 run, 1 RBI) doing the damage and posting an early lead for Dempster. However, the bats did not come alive late and the Cubs never scratched home plate after the third inning.

Marmol had the mound in the ninth and pissed it away with a single, a balk, a walk, a sacrifice to move runners to 2nd and 3rd, and a fielder's choice scoring the winning run.

Can Lilly be the stopper tonight like he was last year pitching after a loss? Let's hope so. I don't feel like watching more of this.

Division Magic Number is 15. Wild Card Magic Number is 11. With the team playing like this, those numbers seem astronomically large with 18 games to go. The Cubs will make the playoffs. Of that there is no doubt, but will they come in like champs breaking the tape on the regular season race or will they trudge in behind, just happy enough that it's finally over?

Now Panic?

I've been out of town and I can't say I'm sorry I have missed the Cubs descent into madness.

Things are not going swimmingly. That's obvious. There is a growing sense of doom here in the Windy City. I am choosing to ignore it. The Tribune has a piece in the Sports Section today with comparisons to 1969.

I understand. Things always happen. Goats , Bartman and the '69 Mets. Who will play this year's Leon Durham or Brant Brown? I can't say I haven't felt that way in years past. This team just doesn't have that feel to me.

The Cubs have lost 7 of 8 and done it every which way but loose. No hitting. Bad pitching. Bad fielding. Big Z and Harden on the bench. Kid K blowing one late. Nevertheless, this team amazingly has a 4 1/2 game lead over the Brewers and a 7 1/2 game lead over the Phillies (the next closest contender for the Wild Card).

I've gone over the remaining schedule already and it isn't pretty. However, it is exactly what this team needs to right the ship prior to the playoffs. They don't need to flail through a soft schedule and flop themselves into the playoffs. They need to harden up (Harden up, too) by playing tough opponents and quality pitching as they tune this engine back up. Despite this mini-slump, the Cubs still lead the NL with 86 victories and are only 1 back of the Angels for tops in the majors. They are still 2 games above .500 away after muddling all year at a below .500 clip for games outside of the Friendly Confines.

This Cub team is a solid group and still have more going for them than the rest of the National League and can match up with the tops in either league. I refuse to feed into the negative mindset after this latest drop in production. This is what baseball is all about. I'm looking for Dempster, Lilly and Harden to reel off three good starts in a row against the Cardinals. The atmosphere will be there and I expect the Cubs to respond.

PANIC!

What a rough week. Even the 3-day weekend didn't help. The Cubs have now lost four in a row, Fukudome is looking at pine time and two ace pitchers are looking at missing starts.

The dogs are beginning to howl and the fans are antsy. The heroics of the first few Phillie games (Ramirez granny on Friday, Soriano's game winning HR in the seventh on Saturday) were quickly forgotten over the next four games. To put it mildly, the Cubs have looked bad. The hitting is dormant and the pitchers are fumbling.

The last thing any Cub fan wants to hear about is star pitchers with dead arms and injuries. However, the team still sits atop the majors with 85 wins and a 4 1/2 game lead over the Brewers (who are having their own heart palpitations over Sheets and his groin right now). Even the hand wringing over the away record has subsided some now that the Cubs are 34-31 away from Wrigley.

The bad news is that September includes 6 vs St Louis, 6 vs Milwaukee, and four more against Houston, who have been playing well. The only relief is a three game set at Cincy because the four games in NY with a Mets team hanging tight to a 2 game lead in the East will not be easy. To add to the drama, among the 5 teams (4 in the NL) with more away victories than the Cubs are Milwaukee, St Louis, and the Mets.

It's liable to get intense, but I still think the Cubs have the goods. The question remains how well they can position themselves for the playoffs. They need to get Zambrano right and continue to keep an eye on Harden. I'm looking for Dempster to prove just how valuable he is to this team by carrying them toward the playoffs along with strong efforts by Lilly and Marquis, who has done good work lately. The offense has been in a lull recently, but top to bottom, they are too good to stay there.

Dempster can start tonight by halting this losing streak and putting the team back in gear before heading off to Cincy.

Cubs win Nats series at home

The Cubs and their pitching staff took a drubbing at the hands of the lowly Nationals on Friday. A prior committment on my part kept me from meeting people at the game. I can't say I feel sad about that.

Marquis and Guadin managed to give up 10 runs combined. Marquis was doing respectably and hadn't given up a run (Cubs stood with a 4-0 lead after four innings), but he blew up in the sixth, giving up a single and two walks to load the bases with no outs. A sac fly and a double let two runs in and resulted in Marquis passing the ball to Cotts. Cotts gave up a walk and then gave up a granny to Willie Harris of all people. The game was essentially over at that point, but Howry managed to give up a run in one inning and Gaudin pitched the last two, giving up six runs. The Cubs did score five, but it hardly warrants a mention given what happened on the mound. Lee and DeRosa hit homers.

Fortunately, that game was left behind and the Cubs took the next two to take the series, stay 4 1/2 games up on Milwaukee and reach their 80th win.

Saturday and Sunday were as good as Friday was bad. Dempster won his 15th on Saturday in a 9-2 Cub victory, going 7 1/3 and giving up just one earned run. He was aided by a huge day from Aramis Ramirez (3-5, 6 RBI, 2 HR, 2 runs). The Riot also went 3-5 while Johnson and DeRosa each went 2-5, including another DeRosa homer. Marmol finished the 8th for Dempster before Marshall came in for the mop up in the 9th.

Sunday was more of the same as Harden went 7 innings with 11 strikeouts, no walks, two hits and one earned run in a 6-1 Cub win. Marmol took the 8th and Samardzija the ninth. DeRosa was the only Cub with a multi-hit day, including yet another homer (4 games in a row) and a single. Meanwhile, Fukudome came through with a pinch-hit homer.

I'm seeing the pitching I was counting on and the team is responding. Dempster has lived up to every expectation would could have had for him and Harden is turning out unhittable stuff lately. Combine the starting rotation with the kids in the pen and Wood at the anchor and this team can provide difficulty for any offense out there.

The home field continues to provide excitement and wins. Hopefully Fukudome is ready to shake off his slump. A day off for Lee should be nothing to worry about long term. In the meanwhile, the team depth helps the train keep rolling.

Notes:

Soto tied Randy Hundley's record for home runs by a Cub rookie catcher at 19. Billy Williams holds the club rookie record at 25.

Cubs are the first pitching staf to 1,000 strikeouts in 2008. They have led the majors in strikeouts every season since 2001. The Dodgers hold the record with seven straight seasons leading the majors (1957-63).

Cubs Sale Tax Issues

In case anyone missed this tangle. The Trib detailed some of the issues with the Cubs sale structure last week.

I think it sheds some light on why Zell really wants the team and the stadium to be sold separately. For the new team owner, that's like the biggest Xmas or birthday present disappointment ever.

"Mom, IT SAYS BATTERIES SOLD SEPARATELY! WAAAAAAA"

"Let me see if I can find some AAs upstairs in Mommy's bedroom"

Anyway....

Trib Co wants to create a leveraged financing structure in order to limit the taxes they would pay on the sale. The Cubs were purchased for $20.5 million in 1981 and are likely to sell for around $1 billion. The tax burden on that gain is estimated to by up to $400 million.

Zell and friends still have debt to pay from the $8.2 billion buyout of the Trib in December of 2007. The upshot is the concept of a leveraged partnership, which can distribute borrowed money tax-free. The partnership (Trib Co and New Owner) borrows the money to buy the team and the proceeds from the loans go to the Trib. Trib Co would retain a small ownership in the team.

This kind of deal isn't that uncommon, but it is for the likes of MLB, which limits club debt to 10-15 times cashflow (Cubs cashflow is estimated at around $31 million in 2007). The limits are intended to ensure financial stability. MLB could, under its own rules, provide for this sort of deal but probably not at the terms Zell would want.

Also coming into play is that the New Owner could not pay down debt until 2018, 10 years after Zell's Trib purchase. Zell converted his new company to an S corporation from a C corp. The requirement of an S corp to pay taxes an asset distributions expires after 10 years.

Former Cub Update

The US Olympic Baseball team won 9-1 in a game versus host China. Three Chinese fellows ejected, two collisions at home plate (one resulting in injury to the Chinese catcher), a US player took a pitch in the head (resulting in a minor concussion).

The manager of the Chinese team? Former Cub manager Jim Lefebvre. Lefebvre was ejected for arguing after the Chinese catcher was hurt on a play at home.

Lefebvre managed the Cubs in the 1992 and 1993 seasons. He went a total of 162 and 162 (78-84 and then 84-78) and the team finished 4th in the NL East both seasons. The 1993 season was the best record of his 6 MLB seasons as manager (Seattle 1989-1991, Milwaukee 1999 as interim manager for 49 games).

A switch-hitting fielder (mostly 2B) for the Dodgers for 8 years, Jim was the 1965 NL Rookie of the Year and an All-Star at 2b in 1966. The Dodgers won the WS in 1965 (beating the Twins 4-3) with Drysdale and Koufax (49-20 combined, Koufax tossed two shutouts in the WS) and got swept by the Orioles in 1966. Lefebvre led the team in OPS in '66 and '67, though the '67 team fell to 8th in the NL with no Koufax and a sub-.500 year by Drysdale.

Baseball reference notes that Jim once got fired as a coach of the Dodgers for taking a swing at Lasorda. I'm betting Lefebvre would have liked to take a swing at US team manager and former Mets manager Davey Johnson (managed Mets 1984-90, including the famed '86 WS champs; Cincy '93-95, Baltimore '96-97 and Dodgers '99-00; with 1,148 managerial wins in the majors).

Rollin'

The Cubs ripped off a 5-1 road trip. That one loss was a tough 2-1 loss to the Marlins. Sean Marshall pitched a solid 5 innings, giving up two earned runs. Other than that game, the Cubbies looked solid and got a little bit of a swagger on the road.

They swept the hapless Braves, including the strong double header sweep, and then took 2 of 3 from the Marlins. The first two in Miami were tight with each team getting a victory, but the Cubs cruised in the final game of the series. Ward came out of hiding to hit a three-run dong in the top of the ninth in the first game that gave the Cubs a 6-5 win. I'll admit, when Florida plated their fifth run off of Big Z in the third inning, I couldn't watch much more. I peeked back in regularly, but didn't stay to watch the ninth. I should know better with this team. Game 3 of the series provided Dempster with his 14th win, striking out 10 in six innings in a 9-2 Cub victory. An 8-run seventh inning saw everyone get involved and closed the door on the Marlins.

Home cooking produced another beauty. Harden (7 starts with the Cubs, 1.50 ERA, 59 Ks, 14 BBs, 3-1 record) delivered like the ace he is, going 7 scoreless innings and giving up just 2 hits. Marmol and Wood locked it down. The game was a pitchers duel behind good performances by Harden and the Red's Cueto, but the Cub bats blew it up in the eigth inning after taking a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Ramirez and Fukudome provided a total of 4 RBIs in the eigth for the 5-0 win.

Now the Cubs are once again tied for the best record in baseball at 77-48. A 5-5 last 10 games for the Angels has dropped them a couple games off the pace, while the Cubs and Rays both went 8-2 and sit atop the league. Not only that, but the Cubs extended their Central lead to 6 over the Brewers despite another complete game by Sabathia, including a 2-run single (Sabathia is 8-0 with a 1.60 ERA and 5 complete games for the Brewers in 9 starts - his no decision coming against the Cubs).

Doh!

The Cubbies were rained out yesterday in Atlanta. The two teams are set for a doubleheader today. This will be a day-night affair (game 1 at 12:10 pm and game 2 at 6:15 pm). Marquis goes in game one and Harden in the night game.

Getting a break Monday and Tuesday could be good for this team. Sweet Lou has been hinting at giving Fukudome some pine time, giving Fontenot some playing time and Johnson and DeRosa more time in RF. Either way, I would like to see the Cubs give this Braves team a thumping.

Conventional wisdom says it's hard to win both games of a doubleheader. It seems logically, but it also seems too simple. As with a lot of old gambler adages, it doesn't hold up to the smell test.

EasyBaseballBetting.com gives a nice look at the numbers and some reasons why you may not want to hold to that adage.

It's not 8/8/88

It is, however, 8/9/88, when the first official night game at Wrigley was played, ending in Cub win over the Mets 6-4. The original magical date of 8/8/88 was rained out after 3 1/2 innings.

The first baseball game was played there (then Weegham Park) in April 1914 by the Chicago Federals of the Federal League. The Federal League folded after the 1915 season and led to Weegham teaming with 9 others (including William Wrigley, Jr.) to purchase the Cubs from the Taft family. Up until then, the Cubs had played at West Side Park. The Cubs first game at Weegham Park was an 11-inning victory against the Cincy Reds on April 20, 1916.

In 1920, the Wrigley family purchased the Cubs outright and renamed the park to Cubs Park, which would become Wrigley Field in 1926.

But, back to the lights. Crosley Field in Cincy installed lights in 1935 and the Cubs were to be one of the early adopters after seeing the success of night baseball. In 1941, lights were purchased and ready to be installed at Wrigley. However, the day following the Pearl Harbor bombing, the Wrigley family donated all the material to a shipyard to help the war effort.

The original reason for the 1941 plan to install lights was, of course, financially based. After the war, there wasn't as much financial pressure and lights were not to be. That is until the 1980's when MLB told the Cubs that they would have to play playoff games in St. Louis. As you can imagine from seeing yesterday's game against bitter rival St. Louis, the Cubs quickly managed to get some lights up. Wrigleyville has never been the same.

Other notes:

• First permanent concession stand (1914) for hot dogs and beer
• First tradition of throwing back opponent home runs
• The famous "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"
• The tradition of singing the National Anthem before games started at Wrigley for the 1918 World Series
• First field with an organist (1941).

I dragged tons of this info from this very informative site. It was one of the few that could confirm my long held belief in the scheduled 1941 lights installation (other than Wikipedia, and I would rather go with some random website than some random bozo's Wiki entry).

Today's Game

I'm looking at the bottom of the 11th and Lee just took a walk to lead off the inning.

I feel like Ryan Franklin is ready to cough this game up.

Rammy loves the big game situation.

Keep it Coming

The Cubs are still playing the Cards right now. Top of the 11th, 2-2 tie. Lilly pitched a good game, going 7 1/3 innings and giving up just 2 runs - a solo shot in the third and one run in the 6th, which could have (and should have) been a much bigger inning for the Cards. Two homers by Edmonds got the Cubs two runs. Stick it to 'em, Jimmy.

It's been going well. DeRosa hit a granny on Wednesday to help power a Cub 11-4 smashing of the Astros. Soriano hit a 3-run dinger on Wednesday to put the Cubs up late in an eventual 11-7 victory. This all after a 2-0 loss to the 'Stros in the middle of that weather nightmare on Monday night, which gave Dempster his 5th loss of the year.

Prior to today's game, the Cubs sit 23 games over .500 with a stellar 69-46 record. Soriano has 20 hits in his last 11 games. DeRosa is hitting .355 (4 walks, 12 RBIs) in his last 10 games and 8 RBIs in his last 2 games. Edmonds has had 12 of 17 hits go for extra bases. Kerry Wood pitched and looked good. It's a good time for the Cubs to feel strong.

Cuban

The Trib ran a piece painting Mark Cuban as a leading candidate to be the next owner of the Cubs. Not that surprising.

Don't Call it a Combeback

It was a good weekend overall for the Cubbies. Reed Johnson's pinch-hit, two-run homer in the eighth yesterday gave the Cubs the lead for good and secured a series victory over the Pirates. Things seem to be clicking again, but that has been the trend at Wrigley.

The Cubs now have a 5-game lead over Milwaukee and are 7-3 in their last 10. The Cubs league's best ERA for starting pitchers and have scored more runs then any other team in the NL. It's a good combination. Soriano looks healthy and ramped up. The combo deal of the year in the outfield, Johnson/Edmonds, has batted .306 combined with 23 doubles, 16 HRs and 67 RBIs. Not bad. Kerry is about ready to come back, but his absence has led to some good innings from Samardzija.

Couldn't be better, huh? Well, I'm a tad concerned about the 15-17 record in one-run games (9-7 at home and 6-10 away). Is this a major concern? Probably not, but it's worth looking at. Of those 17 losses, only six of them came when the Cubs scored 4 or more runs (5 away and 1 at home). You can look at these facts any way you want. I'm going to say that when the Cubs suffer a blip in the offense, they are losing close games. However, this doesn't happen terribly frequently (at 5.3 runs per game) and when it does, the pitchers are keeping them in those games. Those one-run games still amount to approximately 29% of the games thus far and we know what the playoffs are like.

Looking for a Road Sweep

On Wednesday night, the Cubs broke it open in the fifth against ace Ben Sheets, who admitted that he just got tanned out on the mound. He wasn't really helped by his team's fielding (the Brewers have looked dazed in the field this series) and with Big Z (8 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits) on the mound, Sheets had no room for error. Ramirez had a huge day (4-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI) and Fukudome had a key 2 RBI triple thanks to less than stellar play in left field. It all added up to a nice 7-1 win.

Last night was not much different (7-2 victory) as the Cubs scored 2 in the first and never looked back. Dempster pitched 7 innings, giving up one run on 5 hits. Soriano (3-4, 2 runs, 2 walks) and Theriot (3-3, 1 run, 3 RBI, 2 walks) tore it up at the top of the order and Reed Johnson added some grit in the 5 spot (3-5, 1 RBI).

Everything has fallen into place so far in this series. Good pitching, timely hitting, an opponent that is making crucial mistakes, and Cub hustle all over the place (Johnson's hard slide on Tuesday, Soriano stealing bases). The pitchers are back in the sing as well. Z and Dempster both had hits. Zambrano had an RBI and Dempster scored.

The Cub offense now leads the majors in walks (who would have predicted that?), are second in runs scored and OPS, and the pitching staff is sixth (second in the NL) in team ERA. That's a nice combination of stats.

Now the Cubs are looking to really put some distance on the Brewers and Cards with this last game in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, Houston and St. Louis for the first August home stand.

Harden is still looking for his first win as a Cub despite some truly excellent outings. Picking it up at Milwaukee to complete the sweep would be a good way to get it.



There hasn't been much in the way of trade talks. I have heard Ibanez come up, but fail to see him being a great fit for this club (though he is a decent ball player). Perhaps the Cubs come up with a lefty in the pen such as Fuentes. I did hear him mentioned, but it may be that Colorado has closed shop on moving him.

Swing and a Miss

Cubs continue to play serious ball against the Brewers. They have returned to that relentless offense and the starters continue to put up quality starts. Let's hope it is the start of a long roll.

I'll get into that later. I just felt like revisiting a moment in the spring when White Sox GM Kenny W. said that Carlos Quentin was who they were targeting and getting him made it a successful off season.

That's a paraphrase, but you get the point. Needless to say, I laughed. I had nothing positive to say about the Quentin love.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

EDIT: So as soon as I wrote this, the Sox somehow swing a deal for Griffey Jr. I have no idea what the plan is here. Junior isn't a star player any longer. He is a lefty, but he hasn't been in CF in a while and no longer has the legs he once did and has no significant experience in the post season (much less as a winner). With Quentin (see above) and Dye at the corner outfield spots and Thome (they are statistically not much different) at DH, speculation is rampant on what the Sox plan to do with Junior. One may presume he didn't agree to the trade thinking he would be riding the pine. How does this solve the Konerko issue? I don't know. Perhaps Kenny will prove me wrong again.

Crazy Start

Helluva start to the Milwaukee series. Lilly dueled Sabathia in a game that neither owned the outcome. Lilly looked good until the sixth inning, his last, when back-to-back homers and an RBI double stuck a fork in him. He had been cruising with a 2-0 lead thanks to a Soriano double and stolen base that led to a Lee RBI in the first as well as a Soriano homer in the third.

CC looked a little fatigued. The Brewer ace didn't have it all going for him, but he battled. The game seesawed in the sixth and seventh before the Cubs plated two in the ninth and Marmol got a save to end it.

Game balls to Soriano for being all over CC and to Reed Johnson, whose hard slide at second disrupted an almost sure thing double play on a Lee grounder with one out that resulted in a 4-3 Cub lead. Guadin has to get a mention as well for striking out the side in the eighth.

It was a good victory away and put the Cubs ahead in the division by 2.

Big Z is sitting on a 1-0 lead with the Cubs batting in the fifth. Another nail biter tonight?

Big Doings for July

I have to say that the Marlins series made me really uneasy and I found it terribly hard to watch. Went over to Wrigley on Friday (take that, boss!). It was a beautiful day and I was enjoying it (and a few beers) rather than what I should have been doing. Nevertheless, when Dempster started the second inning by plunking Uggla, it felt like it was going to be a long day.

Dempster scrapped through six innings, but gave up a run (Uggla was doubled in after that HBP) and walked six during a hot day game. Soto tied it up in the second with a solo shot and Johnson put the Cubs ahead with another solo homer in the fifth, but otherwise, the bats looked listless.

I thought Jeff Samardzija pitched well in his first action, but he still managed to give up the tying run. When Howry gave up a pinch-hit, leadoff homer in the top of the ninth, it was deflating as a fan. There was a tiny disturbance in the force.

Saturday was no better. The Cubs may have staved off the loss until the 12th inning, but once again, weak run production let good pitching go to waste. The Marlins struck out 20 times (10 in Harden's 5 innings of work-1 ER, 2 hits, 3 BB, 1 HR) and still won the game. The Cubs lost for the fourth time all year after leading in the 7th, but it was the second such loss in 2 days. Sweet Lou managed to get tossed for a seemingly minor confrontation and it was another shitty loss for the Cubs.

When I tuned in late to Sunday's game, I saw one Jason Marquis pitch before turning it off in disgust. That pitch resulted in a 3-run dinger and a 3-0 Marlin lead. When I found out this morning that the Cubs won, I was astonished. Perhaps this team is different. After all is said and done, they managed to split the series with the Marlins and, miraculously, remain 1-game ahead of the Brewers, who are tearing it up while the Cubs flounder.

And so....here we are. Late July in Milwaukee and there's a lot on the line. The team will tell you there are over 50 games to play and this series isn't as big as media and fans will make it out to be. However, the outcome of these games could be pivotal as the two teams stand poised to reverse their fates from one year ago. The Cubs need to show some grit on the road and get the bats heated up for an August run. The Brewers need to keep their hot play going against the team they are chasing.

Lilly vs Sabathia. Big Z vs Sheets. Dempster vs Parra. Harden vs Bush.

Let's get it awwn!

Guess Who's Back...Back Again

Welcome back, Al. Your table is ready.

Coincidence or not, Soriano's return to action came along with a 10-6 Cub victory at Arizona. A game they needed badly. Hanging on to a 1-game lead in the Central over a Milwaukee team buoyed by the Hefty Lefty, the Cubs can't afford to languish on the road.

Lilly pitched a nice game, though laborer from behind at times (get your mind out of the gutter!). One of those fan-favorite rebound games he's hung on opponents since becoming a Cub. Six strong innings, giving up 3 earned runs. After Lee homered in the first (yes, he can still hit it out!), the Cubs managed to let Arizona stake the lead with 2 runs in the fourth. Before it started to look like this might be another one of those games, the Cubs broke out with 3 runs in the fifth, including a Lilly RBI single, a Soriano ground-out RBI and a Lilly steal of third that resulted in an RBI for The Riot on another groundout. That is the greedy, opportunistic offense that got them in first.

The game tightened in the bottom of the fifth after Lilly walked the leadoff man, put him on second after a wild pitch and gave up an RBI triple (Jackson). Lilly struck out Reynolds, then induced a fielder's choice from Young, which ended with Lilly tagging Jackson in a rundown and Young, who advanced to second on the rundown, getting picked off by Lilly while trying to steal third.

The big blow came from Reed Johnson's grand slam in the eigth, putting the Cubs up 10-3. The lead held despite a weak effort from Howry (3 earned runs in 1 inning) as setup for Marmol, who also looked a little shaky, but didn't give up a run.

It think (hope?) a little rust came off last night. Lee hit his first dinger in 26 games. Ramirez and Soto both ended 0-fer streaks and Fukudome, though he didn't get a hit, did manage to walk three times and score a run. Soriano went 1 for 5, with an RBI ground out and a late, rather meaningless double. However, he put the ball in play (striking out once, in his first at bat) and eked out an RBI that put the Cubs up 3-2 in the fifth. Also good to see Johnson with a big game, especially with Edmonds unavailable with a sore knee.

The Cubs get a breather at home with four straight against the Marlins before heading to a big face-off in Milwaukee. Emonds is having tests on his knee today and Wood's blister remains a big concern. I don't know that the Cubs will make a move for relief help (are the A's going to help them out by dealing Houston Street on the cheap?). It looks more likely, at least right now, that Samardzija might come up to help if Marmol has to close for an extended period. On the other hand, with Milwaukee breathing down their neck, maybe the Cubs make a deal for another solid bat or a dirty dealing relief man.

Speaking of...

The Brewers seem content to pitch C(no period)C(no period) into the ground with the half season they have him for. He has responded with 4 straight wins, including 3 straight complete games. If the Brew Crew may have concerns in the pen, Sabathia isn't going to let it concern him. Let's not make Harden think he has to finish the game to get a damn victory.

LET'S GET SOME RUNS!

That is all.

Unglued

I'll admit, any semblance of positivity I have about this season seems to dwindle away the longer the Cubs are out on the road. Yet another poor offensive showing results in wasting another really strong outing by Harden. That kind of thing has to gnaw at a pitcher.

Harden went 7 innings in 112 pitches giving up just one run on the only hit the D'Backs managed off him, a home run to Alex Romero in the sixth inning. The new guy walked only 2 against 10 strikeouts and throwing 60% of his pitches for strikes. Harden looked like an ace, though he suffered a few control miscues, including zooming a fastball over Soto's head for a wild pitch and bouncing one short of the plate that did not allow a running on second to advance only due to the game situation.

On the other side, the team managed only 2 hits (one each by Johnson and Edmonds) and 3 walks (Theriot, Johnson, Edmonds). Yet again, the big boppers remained silent on the road and the Cubs fail to look like a team to fear. At the very least, Randy Johnson was pitching with as much impact as Harden and this wasn't a game dropped to a 5th starter. Nevertheless, losing yet again to Randy Johnson is a kick in the teeth.

Soriano can't get back soon enough. This is exactly the time that he can add some zing to the offense. It looks like he'll get one more rehab start and be ready to go on Thursday.

The good starting pitching may not be netting victories, but they have eaten up innings and gone deep into games. Sweet Lou is likely to use that to his advantage and keep Wood on the roster, rather than a DL stint. Hopefully a new ointment Wood is trying will help heal that blister.

The Cubs have Marquis going tonight and he is sporting a 3.30 career ERA against Arizona (over 57 1/3 innings). Maybe he can work some magic, but more importantly, the Cub offense needs to show something (Arizona has yet to announce their starter for tonight).