Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
On Fire At Home
Nine straight home wins? Not bad. Two more left against the Braves (who happen to be the worst road team in the Majors). After this series, things get interesting.
Our favorite baseball team heads on the road to Toronto for 3 and Tampa Bay for 3 before coming home to what I can only assume is the toughest ticket this entire season, a potential first place showdown with the Sox at Wrigley. After that, the Cubs get 3 more at home against Baltimore and finish up one long Interleague stretch by going to The Cell for another weekend series against the Sox. For those keeping track at home: that's 15 straight against the AL. Getting a crack at the Sox for six games and Tampa Bay for three should give fans an idea of just how great this Cubs team is going forward.
When the dust settles from the Interleague Series', the All Star Game will be just over one week away. It's an interesting way too put things in perspective. As for the All Star Game: I'm going to start watching closely who from the Cubs might be heading to Yankee Stadium this July.
In: Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Fukudome, Wood, Zambrano
Let's be honest right now, Fukudome is a product of the voting system. He is not, nor do I think he will be an all star calibar OF by early July. Not to say he isn't solid. It's the Yao Ming effect, international votes get him.
On The Fence: Marmol, Dempster, Soto
Ryan is pitching out of his mind so far. His numbers are incredible considering what was expected by most: 7-2 with a 2.90 ERA? Nobody saw this coming. In fact, his ERA is good enough for top 10 in the NL. If he keeps this up? I think he's rewarded with a spot on the team. Marmol keeps dominating with 60 K's in only 40.1 innings. To say he's been lights out is fair, however, he's a reliever and not a closer which might hurt his chances come July. Now, as far as Soto, he's leading NL catchers in voting. At this point in time, he's probably the NL Rookie of the Year--he's also well on his way to a 30 HR, 100 RBI season. I think he's an All Star whether or not he gets the votes. His numbers are too good to ignore. Barring injury, he's at Yankee Stadium as the first rookie to start for the NL All Star Team in Major League history.
Our favorite baseball team heads on the road to Toronto for 3 and Tampa Bay for 3 before coming home to what I can only assume is the toughest ticket this entire season, a potential first place showdown with the Sox at Wrigley. After that, the Cubs get 3 more at home against Baltimore and finish up one long Interleague stretch by going to The Cell for another weekend series against the Sox. For those keeping track at home: that's 15 straight against the AL. Getting a crack at the Sox for six games and Tampa Bay for three should give fans an idea of just how great this Cubs team is going forward.
When the dust settles from the Interleague Series', the All Star Game will be just over one week away. It's an interesting way too put things in perspective. As for the All Star Game: I'm going to start watching closely who from the Cubs might be heading to Yankee Stadium this July.
In: Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Fukudome, Wood, Zambrano
Let's be honest right now, Fukudome is a product of the voting system. He is not, nor do I think he will be an all star calibar OF by early July. Not to say he isn't solid. It's the Yao Ming effect, international votes get him.
On The Fence: Marmol, Dempster, Soto
Ryan is pitching out of his mind so far. His numbers are incredible considering what was expected by most: 7-2 with a 2.90 ERA? Nobody saw this coming. In fact, his ERA is good enough for top 10 in the NL. If he keeps this up? I think he's rewarded with a spot on the team. Marmol keeps dominating with 60 K's in only 40.1 innings. To say he's been lights out is fair, however, he's a reliever and not a closer which might hurt his chances come July. Now, as far as Soto, he's leading NL catchers in voting. At this point in time, he's probably the NL Rookie of the Year--he's also well on his way to a 30 HR, 100 RBI season. I think he's an All Star whether or not he gets the votes. His numbers are too good to ignore. Barring injury, he's at Yankee Stadium as the first rookie to start for the NL All Star Team in Major League history.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Cubs Win #9 With Notes To Boot!
Another win last night runs the North Siders' streak to nine in a row! The team looked anything but flawless but it was enough. The thinking is: when this team is swining the bats right, I don't see another team that can beat them in their division (maybe the NL, who knows?). It's the second game I've had a chance to watch in great detail this season (Monday night's was the first). On that note, let it be said that it's one thing to follow your team from another market via internet and magazines, and it's another to get to watch every game. You can only pick so much up from reading Paul Sullivan and the Chicago newspapers.
So, from the second inning on, I kept some notes from last night's Cubs-Padres game. Maybe just for my benefit--who knows. I guess it's just for first impressions, both about this team and the telecasts themselves (the Padres announcers were featured again last night on MLB.tv).
Game Notes:
-Wil Ledezma pitched for San Deigo. Apparently, the 2nd base umpire pulled the stopwatch out on him during his releif appearance at Wrigley earlier this year because he was taking too long in between pitches. The announcers refer to him as Alan Embreesque (never before has that term been used).
-Since I'm bringing up the announcers, I should mention them by name. The play by play guy is Matt Vasgersian while the color is former major league pitcher Mark Grant.
-It's worth telling you that Vasgersian and Grant seem to complain--a lot. Any break the Padres don't get and they're on it. Two nights ago a fan threw a baseball back onto the field and Vasgersian pulled out his best Joe Buck/Randy Moss mooning voice. I won't say that they're being big homers, but they're going over the top a bit. This brings up a good point...I've watched the NBA League Pass the last five years or so, and the down side of the pass is that you have to deal with the opposing team's announcers half the time. I find myself hating Tommy Heinson for the same reason I love Johnny Red Kerr. They're both so passionate about their teams it glows in their announcing--(actually, scratch that. Heinson is just awful. I can't listen to him. Makes my ears bleed).
-Marquis gets into some trouble in the fourth inning and Lou comes out to talk to him. It's so painfully obvious that Piniella HATES Marquis. Personally, I don't think it's out of the question that Lou slips into the clubhouse while Marquis is on the mound and shits in Jason's locker. The destain seems that strong.
-My favorite moment of last night? During the 2nd inning when I was turning on the game, my girlfriend's phone rang. The call was from her friend in South Carolina. Knowing that when they get on the phone, I'll have 90 minutes of Cubs all to myself, I urge her to pick up the phone. She answers and manages to stay on the phone until the 7th inning. The timing of it all...
-Bottom of 5, the Cubs are fighting back. Ladezma is facing Ryan Theriot with the bases loaded. I don't have the exact number, but I think Theriot fouled off 32,123 full count pitches in that at bat. Cubs are trailing 3-1, and this is the at bat of the game in my opinion--Theriot manages to draw the walk and a runner trots home 3-2 Padres, which led to Derek Lee's bases loaded single. 3-3.
-Next batter was Aramis (facing new pitcher Brian Corey), who strikes out swinging but manages to turn the swing into a full out tantrum that results in him whipping his bat to the ground in disgust in one fluid motion. Short of snapping his bat over his knee, that's about as good of a tantrum as you can throw.
-It warrents mentioning that during Aramis' at bat, you could hear the "Let's Go Cubs" chant echoing through a pretty much half full Petco Park...always a good sign.
-Adrian Gonzales has been on a streak for the Padres. He was the first overall pick in the 2000 MLB Draft according to the announcers which leads me to check out who else was drafted that year...I'll put it nicely and say it was only an "awful" draft--at least through the first five rounds...I'm not going through all 50 rounds but it might as well point out that pick 1443 was Brooks Bollinger (Dodgers)--so we have our first Minnesota Vikings backup QB reference of the night.
-Speaking of the NFL, there is about 20 seconds of silence in the middle of the 7th inning when, for lack of a better topic, Vasgersian mentions out of nowhere: "Most Cubs fans probably don't even care that the Bears don't have anyone to play WR this year". I did a double take because I was so caught off guard by that back handed slap to any Bears fans that might be watching the game. But honestly, if you are a Cubs and Bears fan--who would you rather see win? As long as the Cubs keep winning games, Lovie Smith could throw Orton at WR and we wouldn't care.
So, from the second inning on, I kept some notes from last night's Cubs-Padres game. Maybe just for my benefit--who knows. I guess it's just for first impressions, both about this team and the telecasts themselves (the Padres announcers were featured again last night on MLB.tv).
Game Notes:
-Wil Ledezma pitched for San Deigo. Apparently, the 2nd base umpire pulled the stopwatch out on him during his releif appearance at Wrigley earlier this year because he was taking too long in between pitches. The announcers refer to him as Alan Embreesque (never before has that term been used).
-Since I'm bringing up the announcers, I should mention them by name. The play by play guy is Matt Vasgersian while the color is former major league pitcher Mark Grant.
-It's worth telling you that Vasgersian and Grant seem to complain--a lot. Any break the Padres don't get and they're on it. Two nights ago a fan threw a baseball back onto the field and Vasgersian pulled out his best Joe Buck/Randy Moss mooning voice. I won't say that they're being big homers, but they're going over the top a bit. This brings up a good point...I've watched the NBA League Pass the last five years or so, and the down side of the pass is that you have to deal with the opposing team's announcers half the time. I find myself hating Tommy Heinson for the same reason I love Johnny Red Kerr. They're both so passionate about their teams it glows in their announcing--(actually, scratch that. Heinson is just awful. I can't listen to him. Makes my ears bleed).
-Marquis gets into some trouble in the fourth inning and Lou comes out to talk to him. It's so painfully obvious that Piniella HATES Marquis. Personally, I don't think it's out of the question that Lou slips into the clubhouse while Marquis is on the mound and shits in Jason's locker. The destain seems that strong.
-My favorite moment of last night? During the 2nd inning when I was turning on the game, my girlfriend's phone rang. The call was from her friend in South Carolina. Knowing that when they get on the phone, I'll have 90 minutes of Cubs all to myself, I urge her to pick up the phone. She answers and manages to stay on the phone until the 7th inning. The timing of it all...
-Bottom of 5, the Cubs are fighting back. Ladezma is facing Ryan Theriot with the bases loaded. I don't have the exact number, but I think Theriot fouled off 32,123 full count pitches in that at bat. Cubs are trailing 3-1, and this is the at bat of the game in my opinion--Theriot manages to draw the walk and a runner trots home 3-2 Padres, which led to Derek Lee's bases loaded single. 3-3.
-Next batter was Aramis (facing new pitcher Brian Corey), who strikes out swinging but manages to turn the swing into a full out tantrum that results in him whipping his bat to the ground in disgust in one fluid motion. Short of snapping his bat over his knee, that's about as good of a tantrum as you can throw.
-It warrents mentioning that during Aramis' at bat, you could hear the "Let's Go Cubs" chant echoing through a pretty much half full Petco Park...always a good sign.
-Adrian Gonzales has been on a streak for the Padres. He was the first overall pick in the 2000 MLB Draft according to the announcers which leads me to check out who else was drafted that year...I'll put it nicely and say it was only an "awful" draft--at least through the first five rounds...I'm not going through all 50 rounds but it might as well point out that pick 1443 was Brooks Bollinger (Dodgers)--so we have our first Minnesota Vikings backup QB reference of the night.
-Speaking of the NFL, there is about 20 seconds of silence in the middle of the 7th inning when, for lack of a better topic, Vasgersian mentions out of nowhere: "Most Cubs fans probably don't even care that the Bears don't have anyone to play WR this year". I did a double take because I was so caught off guard by that back handed slap to any Bears fans that might be watching the game. But honestly, if you are a Cubs and Bears fan--who would you rather see win? As long as the Cubs keep winning games, Lovie Smith could throw Orton at WR and we wouldn't care.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Cubs-Padres Preview
The Cubs looked sloppy at the end of last night's game. There was nail biting and there shouldn't have been nail biting. Thankfully, the Michael Barrett's fly ball landed about seven feet short or I would've been forced to slam my head into the wall over and over. Lesson learned--give Marmol a night off here and there.
Tonight though, the Cubs look to make it nine straight and they throw Jason Marquis on the hill. Why should this worry the Cubs? Simply put: he's not facing the Pirates. Marquis has two victories on the season, both coming against Pittsburgh. This will be the second time he faces the Padres this season 5.2 innings giving up 4 runs and 6 hits on May 13.
Wilfredo Ledezma (0-2)
vs
Jason Marquis (2-3)
Petco Park
9:05pm
Tonight though, the Cubs look to make it nine straight and they throw Jason Marquis on the hill. Why should this worry the Cubs? Simply put: he's not facing the Pirates. Marquis has two victories on the season, both coming against Pittsburgh. This will be the second time he faces the Padres this season 5.2 innings giving up 4 runs and 6 hits on May 13.
Wilfredo Ledezma (0-2)
vs
Jason Marquis (2-3)
Petco Park
9:05pm
Cubs Win 8th In A Row
Cubs-7
Padres-6
Finally got the MLB.tv package hooked up at home so I'll be more in tune with the Cubs and whatnot for the rest of this season. Actually, since moving to Minnesota at age 5, 2005 was the only season I was able to catch every Cubs game (thanks to Direct TV), however, thanks to bartending, I never had a chance to watch the games.
Got home from the Twins-Yankees game last night in time to catch the Cubs grab the lead in the 5th. With the exception of the hiccup in the first (again, I didn't see it), Zambrano pitched average but still picked up the victory and moved to 8-1 and moving him to second in the NL in wins behind Brandon Webb (10).
Kerry came in in the 9th and picked up his 15th save (5th in their 8 game streak), thanks in no part to (an overworked?) Carlos Marmol. Surprised I didn't see Eyre come in instead of Marmol who gave up a three run home run to Adrian Gonzales in the 9th.
And how about the final out of the game? I thought Barrett tied it up--exhale.
Not even one game into the MLB.tv experience and I already got a look from the girlfriend after slammed my hand into a pillow following Theriot's RBI single in the 6th...she seemed irritated by the end of last season and I didn't even have access to too many games. Stay tuned, this could get interesting.
Padres-6
Finally got the MLB.tv package hooked up at home so I'll be more in tune with the Cubs and whatnot for the rest of this season. Actually, since moving to Minnesota at age 5, 2005 was the only season I was able to catch every Cubs game (thanks to Direct TV), however, thanks to bartending, I never had a chance to watch the games.
Got home from the Twins-Yankees game last night in time to catch the Cubs grab the lead in the 5th. With the exception of the hiccup in the first (again, I didn't see it), Zambrano pitched average but still picked up the victory and moved to 8-1 and moving him to second in the NL in wins behind Brandon Webb (10).
Kerry came in in the 9th and picked up his 15th save (5th in their 8 game streak), thanks in no part to (an overworked?) Carlos Marmol. Surprised I didn't see Eyre come in instead of Marmol who gave up a three run home run to Adrian Gonzales in the 9th.
And how about the final out of the game? I thought Barrett tied it up--exhale.
Not even one game into the MLB.tv experience and I already got a look from the girlfriend after slammed my hand into a pillow following Theriot's RBI single in the 6th...she seemed irritated by the end of last season and I didn't even have access to too many games. Stay tuned, this could get interesting.
Monday, June 2, 2008
What A Weekend
This site has been in the works for some time now. Forgive us for some of the bugs we need to work out before too long.
How about that homestand? 7-0, best record in baseball, something something 1908. Now, this could all come crashing down in the next few games as our Cubbies take to the West Coast and try and figure out this whole winning on the road thing. This is a different Cubs team and the game on Friday should be the perfect example. They never say die and if they can get through the next month--look out.
Big Z is taking the hill tonight, you couldn't pick a better way to kick off the roadtrip. Seven straight wins (just think if they don't let those two against Pittsburgh--we're looking at 10 in a row).
How about that homestand? 7-0, best record in baseball, something something 1908. Now, this could all come crashing down in the next few games as our Cubbies take to the West Coast and try and figure out this whole winning on the road thing. This is a different Cubs team and the game on Friday should be the perfect example. They never say die and if they can get through the next month--look out.
Big Z is taking the hill tonight, you couldn't pick a better way to kick off the roadtrip. Seven straight wins (just think if they don't let those two against Pittsburgh--we're looking at 10 in a row).
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