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!!!
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