Consistently Inconsistent and Rickett-y

Ok Cubbies, we have rooted for, believed in, un-cursed, stood up for, given excuses for, and swore that "next year" would be the year. Well there is one thing that you have absolutely been consistent with, and that is being "inconsistent." The Cubs burst out of the gate in the second half of the season to the best record through the first 15-20 games, looking like a team on a mission. They even flirted with first place for about a week stealing it and giving it back to the St. Louis Cardinals, only to completely abandon hitting with less then two outs, or with runners in scoring position. Ryan Theriot is the only player consistently getting on base, but once he gets there, professional baseball rules very specifically state that he is not allowed to hit again until his spot in the batting order comes up again.

At the beginning of the year I P'd and M'd that Milton Bradley was a waste of space, and that letting go of Mark Derosa was the biggest mistake of the 21st century. I still stand by that statement, but Alfonso Soriano is sprinting toward changing my mind. How is it humanly possible for a man that makes more then 15 million a year to hit a baseball to swing and miss as often as he does? The scouting report on him has to be "throw as many sliders as you can in the dirt away and let him get himself out.

Lets dwell on some of the positives that we can take out of this weekend. First, where did Sam Fuld come from, and if at all possible can we get a few more of him? I have never seen someone in major league sports give more effort then he does. If we could run nine of him out on the field I think we would be better off. Two stolen bases, and three web gems in two games make him officially the best player on the Cubs.

And last but not least the Tribune has officially sold the Cubs to The Ricketts family, something the Cubs have not seen in quite some time. He claims he will not make a public statement until he has been given the keys to the stadium. This has to be a positive move for the Cubs. They have always been like one of the slower learners in the class, and they really need hands on help if they are ever going to pass the test. The family ownership immediately makes it a household thing, and less of a corporate machine.

At least we have the Bears right? I mean Jay Cutler was a man on a mission tonight, and Matt Forte has all the right moves to make the big Bears a team to watch this year. Is there any way the Ricketts can sign them for the rest of the season?

Cross-Town Quarrels

Mother against Son, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor. The truth of the matter is that everyone has a side. In Chicago you pick sides, you either get the hot dog, or you get the Italian beef. You want to root for the Fighting Illini, but they fail year after year in football, so you either pick the Fighting Irish or the Michigan Wolverines of the NCAA football to cheer on. If there is one thing this city can agree on, it is the Chicago Bears, but they are not in season yet, so we are stuck with the 106 degree heat index and the age old question North Side or South Side? New York has the "Subway Series," California has "The Battle of the Bay," and Chicago has "The Windy City Showdown."

I grew up in a house baseball divided. So mother versus son hits home in this story. My two brothers and myself have been die-hard Cubs fans for as long as I can remember, while Mom (Born and raised in Maywood) roots for the White Sox (and also claims to be a "Chicago fan" that roots for both, which is horsehockey, but I digress). I would say "did the Cubs win today?" and my mom would reply "yeah they did, and the Sox..." and I would cut her off saying "Don't care." This friendly tension is something that existed only during baseball season, and its fun. I do not judge my mother for rooting for the wrong team, nor do I judge those south-siders that have hopes beyond their wildest dreams for their team from the wrong side of the city.

Today was the icing on the cake. Working at my day job (in a warehouse) and wearing my Cubby Blue quite proudly, I was approached by the most ignorant Sox fan who starts telling me what he thinks he knows about my North-Siders. "How many games have the Cubs won the last three times they went to the playoffs?" to which my reply was "well, rude sir, the answer would be 6 games, when we went to the NLCS in '03." To which he replied "No, they got swept by the Braves and then the Dodgers," and I replied "No, they were swept by the Diamondbacks of Arizona followed by the Dodgers, however since you wanted to go 3 trips to the playoffs back we went to the NLCS, and your 1 victory over the Rays was the only victory, and the only appearance in the playoffs since your '05 WS season." To which he replied "Yeah well, you know what the difference is between a realist and a fatalist?" and I said "No, but I have a strong sense that you are going to use witty banter to cover up for your lack of knowledge of the game of baseball." And he said "Sox fans are realists." I turned to my Co-worker (who is a Sox fan himself, I don't judge) as the "gentleman" walked away and he said "It's guys like that that make it real hard to be a White Sox fan."

You want stats, Since 1997 when interleague play started to count, both teams have won 34 games against each other. Runs scored is only separated by 2, batting averages and on-base percentage by mere hundredths of points, and home-runs different by only a couple. The Cubs are 1 up in the fight category (on field that is), and 75 percent of the people in the country still can't stand A.J. Pierzynski (that stat is made up, but I would venture to say it is a close estimate). Truth is that both teams may forever be stuck in mediocrity. Electricity is for sure, there will always be a playoff atmosphere when these two teams lock horns because of the passion with which each teams fans root for their side. Do I commend the Sox fans for their enthusiasm? Absolutely, but just because you won 2 championships in the past hundred years it does not make you God's gift to the City. You have suffered yours we have suffered ours, but when you need to bring up stats that you don't know to try and prove a point, you look foolish. There will be bragging rights on the line this year as someone will have the series lead by a game for a calendar year. So show up at U.S. Comiskular for the second volume of this epic journey and root your heads off, but just remember, the end of September is where it all counts. GO CUBS!

Sammy... Really? and Crosstown Mediocrity

The eight hundred pound elephant in the room this week has to be Sammy "say it ain't SO-sa" and his bout with the leagues steroid policies. This begs several questions to be asked including; 1. Was there anyone on this planet that thought the Cubs right fielder was Not on steroids? I am guessing these people were the same group of people that thought O.J. really didn't do it. I mean come on people, Sammy came into the league about the size of a short stop, and left the size of a middle line-backer. You tell me:

What kind of message are we sending to the youth of America? That its ok to use performance enhancers? I would venture to take that statement one step further, that in order to succeed at a major league level performance enhancers are a MUST. This record that stood for decades without anyone coming even remotely close gets absolutely shattered by 3 guys in 5 years. Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays hit over 650 home runs a piece in eras that didn't comprehend the term performance enhancers. Call them "gifted," "great," or "hard workers," they were all the real deal. In today's day and age when everything needs to be "super sized," or "DSL," or "wireless" our up and comers feel the pressure that if they don't perform over and above now, that there will be people coming up behind them that will get the job done. As true as that may be we are still sending this message to our youth that if they don't start a program that includes performance enhancers as early as high school they will not have a chance at playing at a professional or even collegiate level.

Please do not get me wrong, it is fun to watch home runs happen, and just hitting a baseball is still one of the hardest things in all of sports, (which Sammy also can testify to first hand), but a lot of routine fly balls left are still leaving yards across America. Does any of this justify the use of a product that requires grown men to counter balance their bodies with fertility drugs? I am gonna go out on a limb and say no, but who am I? If we want to get back to our roots and work hard to be better then the person across the field from us then a plan needs to be installed to test these guys in and off season. The players union can protest all they want, but the truth is that a lot of players that I am sure are not using P.E. are getting their names dragged through the mud because of the problems of a few. Clean it up now Bud Selig, we don't want to have another debacle like the tied All-Star Game. Option B is handing the baton to someone else to clean it up, which is what I feel Selig is doing anyway. But again, aren't they fun to watch?

And now for something Completely different. Sweet Lou has threatened to switch the batting order to combat the ailing Cubby bats. Alas his threats fall through and he decided to stay with his impotent offense for game two with the White Sox. Big Z went to the mound because Lou gave him a day off following a rainout at Wrigley. The Cubs thanks to some timely hitting triumphed over their south side counterparts. I feel like the Cubs have succumbed to prorastination this year, putting off till tomorrow what could be done today, of course I am speaking of scoring runs. Last year the mantra was score early and score often without taking your foot off the gas. The Cubs pen exploded, but after a week of letting up 2 or 3 runs they are allowed to have a glitch in the matrix once in a while. Timely hitting is not a phrase that has been used at all this year so far, a lot of bases loaded no out one run or no run innings and a multitude of double play balls have plagued this quickly aging season. The push came late but not too late. Back to back home runs by Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto tie the game up. Pat Hughes comment after the Reed Johnson single in the ninth was "the Cubs have a chance to win it in regulation," to which I immediately replied "puh." But they proved me wrong this time. The South Side faithful got to leave Wrigley listening to the thiry-some-odd thousand Cubs fans singing Go-Cubs-Go, which for my money is better then the victory. Talk about being stuck in mediocrity, these two teams have been evenly matched throughout the cross town rivalry ever since it started to count. 34 up and 34 down each, even runs scored are separated by a a mere few. They sure showed the city that it will always be a main event atmosphere.

Still time to turn it around? Absolutely. That has been the Cubby mantra for the past 100 years, so why stop now? Time to bring the kids up an see what they can do. Jake Fox was batting over .400 in a pinch hitting role so far this year. Micah Hoffpauir has been producing in the small role that he has been given. I think it is time to put the pressure on these high priced players with no production.

Time to welcome the prodigal son (and biggest mistake in trading) back to Wrigley Field when Mark DeRosa and the Cleveland Indians come to town this weelend. I have never in my 28 years rooted for an opposing player, but I will shout from the mountains if he hits a solitary RBI against us, because they should NO doubtedly be FOR us this year. Hendry has to be scratching his head up to this point, this would no doubt put him over the edge. Rich Harden and Ted Lilly get the first two starts of the series, if the Chicago monsoon ever comes to an end. For lack of a better name for this weather system passing through, I dub it "Hurricane Sammy." LETS FLY THAT "W" FLAG!!!

Inter-league THIS!!!

As the first weekend of interleague play comes to its conclusion, the naysayers will always come out of the wood work to complain about how it cheapens the league. That A.L. Vs N.L. should not happen until the world series, and how it is ruining the good name of baseball, to which I say that steroid users and Bud Selig have long since taken that title of "ruining" from anything else the world can throw at this sport. It is such a great opportunity for fans all over the country to see teams that they may never see play in their lifetime. I mean really the only time the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates are ever going to get together to play 9 is going to be the front nine in Arizona come December.

Being an avid Cubs fan, you must understand the necessity to play and beat the White Sox on the field. It parallels greatly to the Bears beating the Packers (which is strangely ironic that THAT is the only common ground North and South siders can agree on). Pat Hughes mentioned that Cubs fans are rooting for the Sox to beat the Brewers and Sox fans are rooting for the Cubs to beat the Twins this weekend to which I say NAY! There are 162 games a year, and under no circumstances should 3 games be a deal breaker from a century long feud. Now you may say do not bite your nose to spite your face, and what happens come September when we need that 1 or two extra games, but I believe that if you can't make it happen for yourself in 162 then do you really deserve it in the long run?

There is also talk that A.L. teams are not built to play in N.L. Parks because their pitchers never hit and they are not able to play their D.H. Sunday alone 2 A.L. pitchers hit home-runs for their teams. This just proves that if you are in the major league you had to at some time be a hitter as well as a pitcher, and why on earth should you be exempt from it now that you make millions a year? Give them a bat, and send them to the box for a little BP.

After watching NY teams battle it out over the weekend, it is time for Chicago North and South to take center stage this Tuesday-Thursday in the Friendly Confines of Wrigley. The Cubs send out their 1-2-3 pitchers to combat the hostile bats of the Sox. Ozzie makes it known that he doesn't like Wrigley field, and the Cubs can care less what he says, because after this 3 game set he can pack up and leave town for all we care. Trash talk? Sure you could say that, but what matters is the numbers on the line after the 27th out.

Keys to this series? I would have to say that Derrek Lee needs to continue on his 12game hit streak. He needs to lead this team the only way he knows how, and thats hustle and determination. Milton Bradley needs to settle down and not swing for the fences on the first pitch every time. Patience is a virtue, and it needs to be a priority at the plate this week. Big Z, make your pitches and lets get a W in the first game to set the tone. GO CUBBIES!!!

Extras extras! Cubs CUBS cubs...

The Rollercoaster has been full throttle this season so far, but lets put the last week under the microscope. The Cubs are 5-6 in their last 11, and have lost 2 out of the last three games by a score of 2-1. In their defense, their last defeat came at the hands of the Houston Astros in a grueling 13 inning marathon. There was a great graphic on WGN the other day, before this road trip, the Cubs average game lasted 2.5 hours. Since the Cubs have been on the road the average game has lasted 3.4 hours. In that time the cubs have played five extra inning games out of eight total on the road trip. Out of 72 possible innings they have played 88! That means they played two extra games last week.

Rookie Phenom Randy Wells was not good enough yesterday to take out the American League Central Twins, but if there is one good thing we can take away from the first linterleague game of the year, its that we got hits from Bradley and Lee in the same game. That does not take the spotlight off of Milton "boy genius" Bradley throwing the ball into the stands with two outs in the inning. I can understand a 10 year old catching a ball and running off the field because the umpire might have made one too many clicks on his "out keeper," or the score keeper at said game may have yelled "2 outs" because his number two pencil smudged a bit when he recorded the previous out a half hour prior, but you being a professional have the huge advantage of having a forty foot scoreboard with numbers as tall as me telling you how many outs there are, not to mention you are not a juvenial. I am pretty sure I can see it without my contacts from the other side of the field.

Cubs Pregame on CSN pole question today: What is the Cubs biggest problem offensively?
A. Lack of Discipline
B. No Clutch hitting
C. Bad play by Key Batters
D. Playing without Aramis

Why isn't there E, All of the Above? I mean this team 1-9 last year, pitchers included, could split a gap, put one over the fence and run the bases. This year with the lax atmosphere brought on by a few in the clubhouse has really poisened the whole team. I mean Ryan Theriot, God love him, is one of the bright points in this lineup, but carry the team on his back he can't.

We did string a few hits together towards the end of the game, but it came too little too late. Lee being on an 11 game hit streak might just be the thing that lights a fire under the rest of the lineup. I cant believe that is the silver lining for a team that is stuck at .500 in the less then stellar National league Central, but somehow, no matter how much they try to throw it away, the cubs are only 3.5 games out of first place. Go figure.

If the Brewers and Cardinals make moves, and they will, Jim Hendry better reevaluate his lineup and counter because the one we run out there everyday is not getting it done.

WOE IS MY CUBBIES!!

Lets talk about how useless Milton Bradley is. With a microscopic .220 batting average, the perennial "Disabled Lister" gets to play his favorite position for at least the next 15 days... Right couch cushion. The land of Cubby Faithful gets to watch our off season acquisition hobble back to the dugout after half heartedly trying to leg out a grounder. but we will get back to this a little later. Meanwhile our All-Star Rookie pitcher, who is cy young worthy through 5 starts, has a 4 to 1 strike out to walk ratio, but leave it to our gritty, "RBI Savvy" middle of the lineup to leave him with a perfect 0-2 record to show for it.

I did not post for a 2 weeks because I vowed to not talk about the 0-7 road trip we went on along with the longest losing streak under skipper Lou Piniella. The truth of the matter is that Derrek Lee had an all-planet season in 2005, playing in all but 4 games all year long, scoring 120 runs, getting 199 hits (46 of which left the yard), batting a blistering .335 and knocking in 107 RBI's. Though his present .262 average is nothing to shake a stick at on this less then impressive lineup, Derrek Lee's power numbers have not been the same since he broke his hand and missed 112 games in 2006.

That all being said lets move on to our "Ace" (I am sure a few people in Chicago as well as around the league have a different pronunciation of that one), Carlos Zambrano. who decided it a good idea to take out his frustration on an unknowing Gatorade dispenser in the dugout. This is a guy who has the stuff to lead any team in major league baseball, and is going to the mound tonight against the Reds looking for his 100th win, but would most definitely be restricted on the playground from participating in recess due to his unsatisfactory behavior, and would undoubtedly have a note sent home that needed to be signed by mommy before he could participate. GET WITH IT!! You are a professional baseball player earning more in a day then I will make all year, and you have the ability to strike out players that can hit the ball 500 feet. I understand the team (yourself included) is not playing to its full potential, however hasn't anyone ever told you that character is not measured in success, but in the way you face defeat? try a little harder my friend! Plead your case, and tip your hat, acting like a child will not overturn the fact that we flat out stink right now. By no means am I saying to not be passionate about your craft, but for the love of pete, I have seen stage mom's acting with more grace then that.

I would really like to hear the opinion of the people about Milton Bradley. I have not kept it at all a secret that I believe Mark DeRosa would have been a more productive right fielder then Bradley. DeRosa's 8 HR's and 34 RBI's puts Bradley's 5 and 14 to shame. His staying power is also unmatched, DeRosa already has 208 plate appearances this season as opposed to Milton's 118. These numbers aside, and lets pretend that not trading DeRosa was ever an option, lets consider Micah Hoffpauir batting .286 with 17 RBI's in 98 plate appearances. I mean Bradley is so obviously not the answer to our funk. Our season is not over by a long shot (the Astros prove that every year), however heads need to role if we are serious about being a contender now!

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We Need A Hit!

Let's examine the past week for our beloved Cubbies... If history tells us anything its that the best the Cubbies have is still not good enough. Rookie, Randy Wells, has pitched 11 scoreless innings over his past 2 starts, and has precisely zero wins to show for it. Ted Lily (for whom it is required we score 4 runs to get a victory) came through letting up his usual 3 runs and suffered a loss because Cubby blue could not cross the plate at all against Joel Pineiro and were fortunate to get only 3 hits. They follow that up with 6 hit one run affair against a pitcher making his return after being on the DL for five weeks.

No one is hitting well right now, but Mike Fontenot is batting a dismal .207 even though he ended an 0-for-17 drought on Tuesday by getting a double, and is 2-for-32 in his past 10 games. He is supposed to be our "table setter," the man whose job it is to either get on base, or move runners along for our RBI guys to bring them in. The Cubs had the most productive offense in the N.L. scoring 855 runs and second only to Texas in the entire league one year ago. We traded our table setter from last year, Mark DeRosa. Lets do a quick check in with our favorite Cleveland Indian: Wednesday DeRosa went 3-4 with two runs scored and two RBI's not too shabby. He has 26 RBI's in his first 38 games. Our top RBI guy (also our leadoff man) comes in just under that at 25 (Soriano) and the guys that are batting in the RBI slots in the lineup (Lee, Bradley) have hit 18 and and 9 respectively. We need some more production all the way up and down our lineup.

The season is still young but we are at a cross road. We can turn our season around and reclaim the N.L. Central, or we can pack up and go home. Aramis is about half way through his DL stint, and we can not say that we will be ok when he gets back. Someone needs to step up and take over. We need a hit! Lets Go CUBBIES!!!

Here We Go Again!

Ok, so Ryan Freel is excited to be a Cub... thats great! Praise Jesus! As Pedro Cerano would say "Ah Jesus, I like him very much, but he is no match for curveball." Fix another broken bone with a bandaid Jim Hendry, and watch your team and city cringe with angst yet again. Aramis Ramirez and Big Z go down giving their usual 300% while Derek Lee tied his shoe funny and sits on the bench because of a twinge in his neck. We all got problems, please don't put neosporin on it and then rub dirt over it, it defeats the purpose.

The Cubs have effectively won 10 of their last 13 games, to which I say huzzah! You are 6 games over .500 and in a 4 way tie for first place, that happened once before remember? On April 5th? I remember, it was the day before the season opened. So a month and a half into the season we have shuffled the deck a bit, won some and lost some.

The 2009 Cubs can be great. The 2008 Cubs WERE great, and failed at the last moment. Are we on the upswing? Are the Cubby faithful getting our hopes up just to get them crushed yet again? One question... Micah Hoffpaur what? give the man some PT!! and Ryan Theriot, keep doing your thing man.

With Aramis out for an undisclosed amount of time, and Big Z on the shelf for a little while, I believe our kingpin will be Milton Bradley. I lost faith in him early on this year, but if he can put a month together and hit the ball where people ain't, like he is capable of doing, we can win 20 of our next 25 games.

Chicago Cubs in 09

A month into the Baseball season and we Cubs Fans are already asking ourselves if we (the Cubs) kicked us (the city of Chicago) in our own rearends with the offseason we had for ourselves. I mean technically on paper we improved our bullpen, we improved our RBI's, we improved our power, but please take into consideration for a moment that last year we were the best team on paper in the National if not the entire league, and that did not stop us from going three and out of the playoffs.

Now I have been a Chicago Cubs fan from the moment I left the womb 28 years ago, and I guarantee that I will be for the remainder of my days. When I am lucky opening day falls on my birthday (such as it did this year), and without fail I am tuned in, listening to Pat and Ron, or Len and Bob, (or Harry and Steve, or Chip and Steve), which is why I reserve the right to discuss my feelings on the matter that we are forever stuck in mediocrity as loosely as I please. I show up to Wrigley field no matter what my team is doing. Which is something that I cannot say of our South Side counter parts, but I digress.

2009! As the song goes on the radio before every broadcast "This is our year!" Well let me tell you something Chicago, if it isn't, don't get your panties in a bunch. You can tell our Cubbies are giving it their all, I mean Jim Hendry is pulling out all the stops to put a team together to bring the city of Chicago a baseball champion, and put to rest the northside naysayers. What I dont think Mr. Hendry realizes is that making moves for the sake of making moves does not necessarily mean that you are moving your team in the right direction. let me put this in perspective if I may, Mark Derosa departs from the Cubs to play with the Indians. In turn the Cubs sign Milton Bradley, Joey Gathright, and Aaron Miles to replace him. Now I do not have extensive studies in the area of economics, but 3 overpriced players to replace one that was here at a discount price does not seem like recession economics. Let's put that aside for a moment and check the stats on this young season. We parted ways with Mark Derosa who is batting .235 with 5 homers 19 RBI's and 18 runs scored. Our trio of replacements combined have a gleaming .134 average with 2 homers and 4 RBI's. This is where the disappointment comes into play when you are a Chicago Sports fan, your team spends money on NYC proportions and your investments fail to produce the way they have in the past. (as a side note, are you listening Jay Cutler?) There is a lot of season left, and things can change in a week. I mean when Ryan Theriot is hitting Grand slams anything is possible. Can they use a fifth starter? Is Marshall the answer? Is our bullpen as weak as it has played so far? Only time will tell, but to loosely quote Bull Durham, this is for sure, one hundred and sixty some odd games will be played this summer, our team will pitch, field, and bat, sometimes we will win sometimes we will lose, and sometimes it will rain.