A Truly Miscellaneous Post
It’s always seemed wrong to me that a relief pitcher that blows the lead for the starting pitcher can then end up becoming the winning pitcher himself, as Gaudin did in Sunday’s game. He came in and blew a two-run lead, allowing Pittsburgh to tie the game in the 8th. Two homers by the Cubs in the bottom of the 8th allowed the Cubs to win the game, but Gaudin and not the starter (Zambrano) notched the win. Too bad I no longer have the opportunity to discuss this inequity with legendary sports journalist Jerome Holtzman, who recently passed away. He created the save statistic, which I didn’t know until reading his obituary. I would have loved to hear his opinion on this.
Regardless of who got the win, at least it was one of the Cubs pitchers. The Cubs are now 22 games over .500 for the first time since ‘89. They are nearing the end of a tiring 20-game stretch, with an off day scheduled for this Thursday. The schedule has been very strange this season. An off day during a homestand, yet no off day after flying back in from a roadtrip after midnight.
To address this latter issue, it appears the Cubs are going to approach the neighborhood association and eventually the City Council to see about easing the restrictions about night games on weekends. Currently, the Cubs are prohibited from playing night games on either Friday or Saturday nights. They would like some flexibility on this so that the Cubs don’t have to play day games on Friday after flying in late on Thursday night. Of course, the one time this happened this season (Cubs returned after 1 am from Tampa and played the Sox the next day) the Cubs won that game.
I have mixed feelings about this. As I have a Nights & Weekends package, I could potentially lose more games. The Cubs already save some of the 30 night games they’re allowed for Sunday games. I’d love to get some Friday games, but hope they keep Saturday games during the day. Of course, the Cubs have quietly been pushing for an increase in number of night games, as well. They feel that the increase in bar and restaurant activity in the Wrigley area over the last twenty years means that nights games don’t have as large as an impact on the residential community as it used to. I’m sure the bar and restaurant owners would prefer to keep both the weeknight Cubs business as well as their normal weekend business, thank you.
As for Mark Cuban being the rumored front-runner for Cubs ownership, I won’t rant or worry about this until it becomes more factual. I know the players are in favor of him; Why wouldn’t they be when the Dallas Mavericks players have personal entertainment systems in their lockers? I can’t think of anything more annoying than someone who isn’t a Cubs fan (he’s a self-proclaimed Pirates fan) not only owning the Cubs, but sitting behind the dugout yelling at the umpires and players as he does at Mavericks games. OK, so maybe I’ll rant a little…