CubsChic

After exploding onto the scene by striking out 20 in only his fifth major league start, Kerry Wood took Cubs fans on a wild ride for the last eleven years. Alternating trips to the disabled list with a commanding presence on the mound, he made an amazing transition to the bullpen when it was finally realized that he had great stuff, for only a few innings at a time.

He was paid well and, unlike many of his peers, felt he owed the Cubs some loyalty for the money he took when he wasn’t able to pitch. For that reason, he’s taken less money from the Cubs than he probably could have made from other teams over the last several years. Hendry is doing him a favor by letting him go to free agency without a feeling that he’s letting his team down. After last season as a closer, Wood will get a nice contract from some team, hopefully in the American League so we don’t have to face him.

I’ll miss Woody. I think he was a quiet leader in the bullpen and truly loves the game. I won’t miss his theme song (Welcome to the Jungle by Gun’s N’ Roses), although I do like the concept of theme songs for pitchers. Playing Rubberband Man for Marmol is fitting, but I’m just not sure it’s intimidating to opposing players. We’ll have to wait and see whether Marmol or the newly acquired Kevin Gregg begins the season as the closer, although I believe the job is Marmol’s to lose.

The awards continue to flow in for the Cubs, with Lou winning the NL Manager of the Year yesterday. He received 15 of the 32 first-place votes by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Votes were placed prior to the post-season, so the Cubs’ meltdown in the playoffs had no impact on the vote.

Lou deserved this as he pushed all the right buttons on the way to a NL high 97 wins. His Cubs were either in first or tied for first for 151 of 181 days in the season. Although I don’t always agree with Lou, such as his babying of Soriano, I think Lou’s a class act who knows baseball and how to motivate a group of professionals with a wide range of personalities. His classiest move - donating his $100,000 bonus for winning this award to Cubs Care.

Now all of baseball knows what the Cubs and their fans knew all of last season, that Geovany Soto was the top rookie in the National League. Soto got 31 out of 32 first-place votes placed by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America to win the NL’s Rookie of the Year Award for 2008.

Soto’s numbers were not only strong (.285 average with 23 homers and 86 RBIs) but he also called most of the games for one of the leagues best pitching staffs. One shining moment was being behind the plate for Zambrano’s no-hitter. Soto is the first rookie catcher to hit at least 30 doubles and 20 homers in a single season and his .504 slugging percentage ranked second among all Major League catchers.

Staying true to form, Soto gave due credit to his veteran back-up, Henry Blanco, who helped him learn the ropes in the big leagues. Just what we like in our young stars, humility to go with all that talent. Here’s hoping for a long relationship between Soto and the Cubs, and more post-season honors in both of their futures.

Last night’s game was tough to watch as a life-long Cubs fan. I had so much hope for this team’s postseason chances, even after a Game 1 loss. Now, I’m not giving up all hope. We could still be back at Wrigley next week for a Game 5. The errors just shocked me, especially given how good the defense had been this year. The bats started to wake up late, but by then the hole was too deep.

At least the fans were behind their team for the most part last night. The growing boos annoyed me though. I know it’s not the normal fans during the playoffs, but if you’re going to boo every time a player gets out, sell your ticket to someone who is a real fan. It’s not like the players aren’t trying their hardest. Yes, errors where made. That’s no reason to boo the player when he comes up to bat five innings later. We applaud our pitchers when they strike out the opposition, giving him credit for good pitching. Why don’t we assume the opposing pitcher is pitching well when he strikes out our players? Instead, the booers come out and act like our players are just bad or aren’t trying hard enough. True fans don’t act that way. Of course, when players don’t run hard, either in the field or on the basepaths, I do get annoyed. I don’t boo; I just stop cheering for that player.

Another change last night was what I believe to be new speakers at Wrigley. Not only did the National Anthem have an echo to it, but the music played between innings was way too loud. Now I’m not some old fuddy-duddy, but I like to be able to talk with people sitting next to me without yelling. I had a headache by the middle of the game and it wasn’t because of the score. So may I please suggest that the volume of the music be turned down, along with the boos.

Now on to LA, where it’s do or die for this year’s team. If they lose, my heart will break a bit, but I’ll still love my team.

I totally agree with WGN’s Dave Kaplan that the fans did the Cubs a disservice last night. The Cubs played hard all year to have the league’s best record, earning home field advantage for the playoffs. The last thing the fans needed to do was not support the team. I understand that the playoff crowd isn’t the normal fan base, but if you can afford a ticket or have a connection to be there, at least act the part and cheer.

I’m not saying that the fans cost the Cubs the game. A lack of clutch hitting and throwing strikes did that. I was watching from a party just outside the ballpark and was amazed at how quiet the crowd was. The applause during the team introductions was even lackluster. When we came in off the rooftop to watch the game on TV (only at the insistence of the police, fire marshal and building code inspector) we had the pleasure of hearing the crowd react first, then seeing the play on TV, due to the signal delay. We were fooled several times by an uninformed crowd that cheered at the wrong times (assumed strike-outs that were really foul tips and long fly balls that didn’t go out of the park). For the most part, the crowd sat on their hands and acted like a 2-run deficit was too much to overcome. The Cubs and real Cubs fans deserve better. I’ll be there tonight to do my part. Now I hope that the Cubs show up and do theirs.

First pitch of the playoffs is less than two hours away. I’m about to head down to Wrigley - without tickets. Although I won’t be in the Friendly Confines, I’ll be at a friend’s house just across the street. He doesn’t have bleachers, but there is still a great view from his rooftop. He’s located just behind the Budweiser roof. The nice part is that we’ve got someplace to go to get warm if needed, as well as a refrigerator to keep the beer cold.

I’ll be at Game 2, with lots of layers on. Does anyone remember how warm it was for the one playoff game last year? I think I prefer fall weather over it being too hot, but tonight and tomorrow night might be colder than Opening Day. Still, not complaining.

I hope the Cubs come out sharp tonight. It’s been over a week since they played a game that mattered. At least LA is in the same boat. I originally thought LA would be the best team for us to face in the first round, given their overall W-L record, but they were really hot in September. Now it’s time to put all the ‘what-ifs’ behind us and just go out and win 11 more games. Doesn’t sound that impossible, does it? Let’s start with one tonight.

OK, I’ve come down from celebrating Saturday’s clinching game. Now that the Cubs have clinched home field for the division playoffs they (and we) can breathe a little easier. It’s nice that Lou will have a chance to rest some of the regulars and give some guys a chance to compete for post season spots. Sunday’s game was fun to watch - our bench beating the Cardinal’s starters. Those fans who complained that they wanted to see the starters play need to stop whining. They saw some great baseball, exciting plays at the plate and Pujols being held hitless by great pitching.

Of course, that last game against the Cardinals meant nothing to either team. The Cubs had clinched and the Cards were out of it entirely. The same can’t be said for these games against the Mets. The final games against the Brewers might mean something if we keep beating the Mets. Lou won’t rest everyone for that reason, as well as the need to keep his guys sharp.

So now Lou is putting his pitchers in place for the postseason. Big Z goes tonight against the Mets. It’s still not clear if he’ll pitch Game 1 or 3 of the playoffs. I’d vote for him to go in Game 3 on the road. Let’s see how well he rebounds tonight after his disastrous last outing. That’s the problem with Zambrano, you never know who’ll show up, the no-hitter thrower or the guy who can’t make it through two innings. Then there’s the issue of his ego/confidence. Can you separate the two at this point?

People have laughed at me over the years for refusing to leave a Cubs game early, regardless of the weather or the score. Yesterday was a fine example of why I never leave. I wasn’t there yesterday, but if I had been I would have been there for the astounding 2-out comeback in the 9th inning and the game winning hit in the 12th inning. I think a lot of fans were converted over to my way of thinking after finding themselves on the sidewalk or in the car while the Cubs worked their incredible come-from-behind magic.

Not only was this a huge victory for the Cubs, but it had to be a dagger in the heart for the struggling Brewers. They’re still in the hunt for the Wildcard, but they’re in a downward spiral while the Phillies and the Mets are both playing well. We can help our neighbors to the north by beating up on the Mets next week, but then the Brewers have to face us again to close out the season. By then, the games probably won’t mean anything to us, but I don’t see Lou giving them away either.  

Who’d have thought the Cubs would be this close to clinching the division with a week plus left in the season, especially after the way the month started. I’ll be at the games Saturday and Sunday, so selfishly I would like to see the Cubs clinch this weekend, not tonight. I can only hope the Cubs and Brewers win today/tonight. That way the Cubs can clinch with a win on the field. If the Cubs win today and the Brewers lose tonight, then the Cubs arrive tomorrow already the NLC Champs. Not a bad thing, but kind of anticlimactic for the players, also. If the Cubs win today, I wonder where the players will get together to watch tonight’s Brewers/Reds game?

WOW! We all knew Zambrano had the stuff. The question was always would he be able to maintain composure long enough to throw a no-hitter. Last night he showed that he was. In fact, he was one walk and a hit batsman away from a perfect game. I guess this puts to rest questions about the health of his arm. Regarding his being somewhat of a head-case, maybe all the talk about Dempster being the true #1 pitcher on the team made Zambrano step it up a notch. Whatever it took, it was fun to watch.

While many fans have been worried during the Cubs’ latest struggles, the teams chasing us haven’t been able to gain any ground. The Cubs are 4-6 during their last ten games and the Brewers and Cardinals are both 3-7. The Cubs now have a 7 1/2 game lead and a magic number of 7 with 14 to play (not counting the game vs Houston to be played if necessary). That means that the Cubs only have to win half their remaining games to ensure winning the Division, even if those chasing them win all of their games. Of course, the Cubs want to make sure they have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, so they can’t let up entirely.

You almost had to feel bad for Houston last night, playing a ‘home game’ at Wrigley North. At least the crowd won’t be as large for today’s game, it being a Monday afternoon and all. With the numbers leaning the way of the Cubs, I don’t see how any knowledgeable Brewer fan doesn’t root for the Cubs at this point. Rather, they should know to root against the Astros to save their own Wildcard hopes. It’s almost getting to the point where we can discuss who we’d rather win the Wildcard. I’ve got my opinions, but we’re not there, yet…

Chalk one up for Selig. He made the right decision in moving the Cubs/Astros series to Milwaukee. An even better decision was to only play single games Sunday and Monday. That will leave both teams one game short, which will be made up at the end of the season if necessary. (I’m counting on it not being necessary.) Double headers really kill your pitching staff and with no more off days remaining, the Cubs didn’t need that.

I haven’t heard yet how the gate will be shared. I don’t have a problem with the Houston owner getting all of it, as he would have if the games had been played in Houston as scheduled. I do think he was an idiot trying to force the Cubs to fly into an evacuation zone to play the series. If he had agreed to move the series earlier, all three games could have been played as scheduled in Milwaukee. I don’t think he truly believes that his fan base cares more about baseball than the destruction of life and community around them. He just wanted the money. Just for that, I suggest that Houston get some of the gate and the rest goes to hurricane relief efforts.

Now the important part, making Houston pay on the field. Let’s sweep the two game set and make the third game irrelevant. It will be interesting to see for whom the Brewer fans are rooting. The Astros are right on their tail for the Wildcard, yet most Brewer fans probably think they can still catch the Cubs. I’m sure this will be a tough decision for them.

Not so much so for all the Cubs fans that I’m sure will be heading up to ‘Wrigley North’ tonight and tomorrow. I’d consider going, but I’m already going to Tuesday and Wednesday night’s games against the Brewers at Wrigley. I just hope the flooding on the Edens has receded, or travel to Milwaukee will be difficult for everyone.

With last night’s win over the Cardinals, the Cubs lowered their magic number to 13. It’s only 9 to clinch the Wildcard. That being said, it’s a lot nicer to lower that number with wins than counting on Brewer losses. I really don’t relish going to Milwaukee for the last three games of the season with the division still in play. We’ll probably have to face Sabathia and Sheets twice more this season, both home and away. At least if we face the Brewers in the playoffs, our batters will have gotten some good looks at these excellent pitchers.

Lou had his annual blow-up after the Cubs blew the game on Tuesday. Last year’s tirade seemed to turn around the play and fortune of the team. Let’s hope the same happens this year and the team finishes up the regular season on a strong note. Lilly certainly did his part last night, as have most of the starting pitchers during this tough stretch. It’s the bullpen that’s starting to freak people out, along with missed offensive opportunities.

Pie was called up and got the start in center last night. He obviously learned something in Iowa, as he walked twice, had a single and batted in a run. I certainly don’t want to see him in there every day, but Edmonds and Johnson have both been banged up, so it’s nice to have a capable backup on the bench.

I’ll write more on the upcoming hurricane game as decision are made by MLB. I can’t believe that they’ll send the Cubs into the path of a hurricane just to protect the Astro’s owner’s pocketbook. The game should be moved to a neutral site. How can they fly the Cubs into Houston to play baseball as the city is being evacuated?! More later…

OK, so the last two days haven’t been the bullpen’s finest outings. At least Saturday’s meltdown didn’t result in a loss, just a lot of embarrassment for the pitchers and frustration for Lou. I won’t go into details here. If you missed the game, all you need to know is that the Cubs won, Marquis pitched a great 8+ innings, the bats were hot and the bullpen tried very hard to give the game away. Wood’s outing yesterday wasn’t even a one-man disaster, as the defense didn’t do him any favors.

But those games are behind us, as are any games against teams with a losing record. From here on out, we’ve got to play with the big boys, starting with the Cardinals after a day of licking our wounds. Once again, the Brewers didn’t take advantage of our loss and helped further reduce our magic number to 16.

The money for playoff tickets is due today. I better get back to work so that I can pay that bill…

Packing up their season-long five game losing streak, the Cubs head to Cincinnati to start a nine-game road trip. We have no problems if this road trip is as successful as our last one. What shocks me is that the Brewers haven’t been able to gain any ground, losing their last four in a row. The Cubs still have a five game lead and a magic number of 18. It would be very nice if the Cubs could lower this number with a win, although I’ll take the Brewers continuing to lose as well.

The good news is that Zambrano’s MRI showed no structural damage. It’s just a little rotator cuff tendinitis and inflammation in his right (throwing) shoulder. Optimistically, he misses only one start. Harden will also get an extended break with soreness in his arm. Let’s send out positive thoughts that both are healthy and available by the end of September.

Now let’s hope the good bats got packed and some Cubs remember how to use them. Cincinnati is the last sub-.500 team we play the rest of the way. Starting the trip with a sweep would settle a lot of nerves back in Chicago.

As awful as this four-game losing streak is, it’s still not the end of the world. The team would really need to implode to miss the playoffs this year. I’m not saying it can’t be done, as their magic number is 20 with 23 games to play. I’m just thinking that they’re pretty much a lock for at least the Wild Card, so don’t make plans to leave town in October just yet.

Now the Big Z situation is a little disconcerting. MRI results will be back soon and we’ll just have to hope it’s nothing major. Zambrano was throwing at 94 mph at times last night before leaving after 5 innings. He wasn’t great, but didn’t appear to be hurt until he told the coaches that he was. Maybe after a few weeks off he’ll be good as new for the post-season.

I’m off to the park tonight, so I’ll do my part to end this skid. Face it, wouldn’t you rather lose four straight games at the beginning of September than at the beginning of October? Who would have thought we’d be happy to hit the road after this game, where we’ve played rather well of late.

Soto had yet another amazing night at the plate, including two 3-run doubles and his 20th homer of the year; a total of 7 RBIs. He’s only the seventh player in the Majors this year to accomplish that. His big day helped get Soriano off the hook after he dropped an easy fly ball, resulting in the Pirates scoring then go-ahead runs. Whether his stupid hop had anything to do with it or not, the man is paid way to much to play worse than a Little Leaguer. His explanation of “Maybe I need to concentrate a little more” isn’t acceptable. I thought that was why he did that inane hop, to make it a little more challenging so that he’d have to concentrate. He owes Soto a nice dinner.

Big Z should be happy with a no-decision. He didn’t have his best stuff last night, to say the least. Looking at the schedule, he comes up next on August 31, but maybe he can ask Lou to skip him one day and pitch next on September 1 instead. August hasn’t been kind to Zambrano the last few years. His ERA this month is 7.43 in five starts. His August ‘07 ERA was 7.06. He rebounded well in September last year, so let’s hope history repeats itself and he finishes strong - and stays strong throughout the postseason.

MLB announced today that instant replay will be used beginning with series that start on Thursday. The Cubs/Phillies game will be one of the first to use it. It will only be used to eliminate questions regarding home runs (fair/foul or in/out of the park). It doesn’t sound like it will cause many delays, at least no more than current arguments by managers and players do.

When a home run is questioned, the umpires will leave the field to view film. The crew chief will make the final call. I hope they use the same principle as the NFL, that being that calls are only overturned with obvious and/or overwhelming evidence. There is no current rumbling about expanding replay to cover any other questionable calls. There will always be the human element to the game, at least I hope so.

The blow-out win over Pittsburgh last night put the Cubs over .500 on the road (32-31). We have more wins against the Pirates than any other team this year. Let’s take advantage of this and finish this series off with continued timely hitting and great pitching. A win tonight will guarantee the team’s ninth straight series win. The last time the Cubs had a streak that long was in 1907.

Looks like Fukudome is a pretty good student. After a quick session with Lou and the other coaches, Fukudome hit a pinch-hit homer and then had three hits and four RBIs in his next game. If we can get him hot for the last month of the season, there will really be no soft spot in the line-up.

With Milwaukee and St. Louis currently playing each other, we get to gain ground on one of them. Let’s root for St. Louis tonight and for whoever loses tonight tomorrow. As much as I want to increase the gap between us and the Brewers, I don’t want to let the Cardinals get too close.

Although it hurts to get blown out by the team with the worst record, it still only counts as one loss. On paper the Cubs are the obvious winners, but any team can beat any other team on any given day. It’s the reason you play the games. I’d rather have the bullpen all implode on one day instead of three days in a row. Then again, this series isn’t over yet.

It’s been over a month since the Cubs lost back-to-back games. We’ve won seven series in a row. It’s not time to panic. Seems like many Cubs fans are waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’re not used to having such a good team, both statistically and play on the field. I’m trying to just sit back and enjoy the ride. As I’ve learned in other facets of my life recently, if you don’t put it all out there to lose, you ultimately miss out on many of life’s finest moments.

Last night’s game was as beautiful as the weather. Harden was unhittable; well OK, he did give up two hits, but he was amazing. Marmol and Wood were equally impressive. I can’t say I wasn’t happy to have a little breathing room after scoring 4 runs in the 8th, especially after squandering way too many opportunities early. In the past, that would come back to haunt us, but this team has a way of staying focused and not letting the negative snowball. Maybe that’s why we’ve been able to avoid any long losing streaks this season.

It’s another great night weather-wise this evening, so let’s have a repeat performance by the Cubs. The wind is blowing in slightly, which is always a nice thing when Lilly takes the mound. The Brewers already won today. It will be nice if and when that won’t matter any more…

Completing the recent road trip at 5-1 got the Cubs back to .500 on the road this season (31-31). Not only did the great play of the last week help keep distance from a Milwaukee team that won’t go away, but it also helped build an important confidence in the Cubs that they can win on the road. This will be critical as we enter September with a majority of road games.

It’s also important that we win, if not sweep, the next three series. Up next are the Reds, Nationals and Pirates, teams with some of the worst records in baseball. After these three series, the Cubs only play above .500 teams (with the exception of one more series at Cincinnati) down the stretch run. This team needs to show that it can beat the weak teams in order to put some distance between us and the Brewers and Cards. Let the two of them duke it out for the Wild Card.

I’ll be spending another beautiful evening at the Friendly Confines tonight. We’re planning on getting there plenty early since they are giving away Cubs hats to the first 10,000 fans (21 or over). The last  promotional item I tried to get was gone 15 minutes after the gates opened. I don’t see why they don’t offer more than 10,000 for many of the promos. It’s not like the fans aren’t already paying a small fortune to be there. Long gone are the days when an item would go to waste because the attendance was lower than 30,000.

Speaking of attendance, how pathetic are the Florida fans? Cubs fans turned those games into home games, giving the Marlins some of their highest attended games of the season. The Marlins players must get annoyed to hear that many cheers for the opposing players in their own park. And it’s not like the Marlins aren’t a good team. They’re not out of the playoff hunt yet, but those fans certainly don’t deserve postseason play.