Browsing posts from April, 2010
I’m on the move this week.
New condo on the north side of the ol’ hood…just off Clark Street…$8,000 tax credit in the making!
We’re moving stuff by the truck load…before Cubs games…after Cubs games…resting in-between!
No home TV…no home internet…at least for the next few days. That’s cheating death in my world.
ANYWAY, is Chicago losing the division in April?
Cubs drop a home series against Houston…now another against Washington.
These are teams the Cubs should beat…especially at home.
Lou is without answers…the lineup without runs…and Mt. Zambrano is rumbling.
Ryan Dempster deserves better. He’s pitched terrific…despite virtually zero run support. The lineup should feel ashamed.
Pat & Ron this afternoon on WGN…like old time baseball…no TV, no Internet!
The BP Crosstown Cup…are you kidding me?
As if we don’t get too geeked-up for Cubs vs. Sox series already. But just to make sure…now presenting the BS Cup. C’mon.
What a slap in the face for Chicago baseball fans…as if a meaningless cup means anything to us…or the players.
Leave this crap for Bush League baseball…where it belongs…and where it’s appropriate.
For heaven’s sake, this city supports TWO Major League clubs…and passionately follows the crosstown rival series.
And now we need a trophy to excite us about playing the South Siders. Please.
The only cup I’m drinking from is Lord Stanley’s…and neither baseball club can quench that thirst.
What a joke…and what a way to damper the Cubs four-game winning streak.
Carlos Silva allowed three earned runs against Washington Monday night.
That’s the first time Chicago’s staff has allowed more than two earned runs in its last 10 games. For Real Yo!
After the Brewers lambasted Pittsburgh 20-0 last week…the Cubs shut down Milwaukee over the weekend…allowing just four total runs in a three-game sweep.
Monday, the Brewers wasted Pittsburgh again 17-3. Some evidence of just how talented the Cubs’ starting staff is–and, of course, how weak the Pirates’ rotation is too!
Nonetheless, when you have a rotation that’s third in the league in QS (14)…and twice turns over without allowing more than two earned runs…you can afford sending an arm like Zambrano’s to the pen.
And thus far the Big Z experiment is working! The Cubs lineup has more confidence with Zambrano setting up Marmol…Carlos is pitching well too…and not surprisingly, the club is back at .500 baseball.
Moving Zambrano to the pen kept the wheels from falling off in April..is helping revive the hurler’s career…and keeps Chicago on the heels of St. Louis.
So as long as this rotation keeps plugging away, so too will Zambrano and the Cubs.
Wouldn’t it be grand if the Cubs gave us a little post-season excitement like the Blackhawks!
I mean, how much fun was Saturday’s game at the UC! Hawks blowing the big lead…then tying the game with 13 seconds left…killing the major penalty in OT.
Hossa taps in the game-winner and I nearly jumped through the ceiling…sent my old man slippers flying, too!
Can’t remember being this jubilant about a Cubs game since Zambrano’s no hitter.
Instead, we’ve spent Octobers feeling like Nashville’s fans…trying to figure out how everything went so wrong, so quickly.
We can only hope the Cubs take notice of the Hawks’ playoff run…a simple reminder what post-season baseball is all about–FUN!
Look at the numbers Ted Lilly’s put up in his last three starts against Milwaukee…a club that feasts on NL pitching.
3-0 record…24.1 innings pitched…6 earned runs…21 Ks…and just 4 walks. Outstanding!
Again, is there any question who the staff ace is? HELLO…it’s Teddy, people!
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Jeff Samardzija has major league stuff…but he won’t throw strikes.
Doesn’t matter if you’re starting or relieving…you can’t pitch behind in the count successfully…Samardzija himself being the latest example.
Of course is doesn’t help the Cubs keep bouncing him between starter and reliever roles…but he’s pro…and pros should know to throw strikes with consistency.
Why does it take a demotion to drive the point home? And why is this message so hard for him to receive?
Jeff…JUST. THROW. STRIKES!
No surprises from Milton Bradley during his return to Chicago–this time on the South Side as a member of the Seattle Mariners.
As expected, Milton threw some more blows at the city…ripped the fans…ripped the Cubs…ripped the media…and of course…sat out the game due to injury.
Some things, as they say, never change!
I’ve pasted some quotations from M.B. below…make of it what you will.
Race to Wrigley 5k -This is from the neighborhood letter I received from the Cubs Community Connection…
On Saturday, April 24 at 8:00 a.m., runners will come out to support Chicago Cubs Charities. Proceeds from the event will be invested back into our community and to charitable organizations in Chicago.
Last year, the event concluded by 9:15 a.m. Nevertheless, some streets in the neighborhood will be affected by the race course and we wanted to make you aware. The following streets will be posted with NO PARKING from 5:00 a.m.-noon on Saturday, April 24:
*News this morning that Moreland is in as Santo’s replacement. Here’s a quick post from last April.
Interesting fact about Keith Moreland, who’s been filling in this week for Ron Santo on WGN radio. (Santo, by the way, returns for the Milwaukee series this weekend).
Not only was Moreland co-captain of the 1975 NCAA Champion Texas Longhorns, but he’s also second all-time for most hits in the College World Series (23) set from 1973-75.
Who’s first on that list? None other than the Cubs’ Sam Fuld, who clubbed 24 hits in the College World Series!
Moreland spent most of his six years in Chicago playing the corner outfield positions. Although he’s best remembered as a member of the ’84 division winning Cubs, his best season came the following year in Chicago: .307, 14 HR, 106 RBI.
If Carlos Zambrano is smart…he’ll use this opportunity to resurrect his career as a reliever…like, for good.
His potential to win 20-games as a starter is just that…potential…which loosely translates to…he’s never done it.
Eight full seasons in the bigs and Zambrano averages 14-wins per year. Not bad, of course…but not an ace….and 20-W’s just ain’t gonna happen, either.
But…put this guy in the pen, and perhaps, for one single inning, he can channel his untamed emotions into All Star stuff again.
The Mets have one of the best uniforms in all of baseball…too bad they never wear them.
The addition of ‘black’ in 1998 as the team’s official third color, accompanying the Royal Blue & Orange, looked bad then…and still looks bad now.
I’ve said before…the Mets are way over-thinking its uniform changes.
Going back to the all-blue cap with the interlocking orange “NY“ puts them back in the league’s upper-crust of uniforms. As it stands, however, they’re near rock bottom.
I’ve posted some of my favorite digs below…in no particular order. And the Cubs, of course, are a given!
