Bipolar Bats Again

Well, the Cubs have been playing pretty good baseball, so what can we whine about, damnit?  These are just not the Cubs we’ve come to know and love.  When the Pirates tied up the game in the eighth inning on Sunday, the old Cubs would’ve rolled over into “steamrollme” position.  However, this year’s team responded to the Pirates’ equalizer with back-to-back homeruns in the bottom of the eighth to put the Cubs ahead for good.  I don’t think Reed Johnson’s contributions to this team can be overstated.  He has been pretty clutch.

Is Miller Park REALLY an Away Game?

I believe I have written before that the idea that “This series is important” or “This game is important” is kind of a silly notion.  There are 162 games and though the idea is to just win series’, there are numerous opportunities to make up lost ground.  That said…this series is important.

I don’t think it’s terribly important numbers-wise, although the Cubs and Brewers were close enough last year for it to scare me.  If a few games would have gone the other way, the Cubs wouldn’t have enjoyed getting destroyed by the Arizona in the playoffs.  This series feels important because it has the potential to be a momentum-builder, especially for the Cubs.  I would think it would be kind of deflating for the Brewers

Kerry Wood’s Nintendo Finger

My friend James pointed out that we haven’t really talked about Kerry Wood’s blister issue much yet.  Many Cubs fans are wondering how it is possible that he has been sidelined with this blister since June 11th.  In my opinion, there have to be factors other than baseball involved. 

Samardzija Says He’s a Cub

Len and Bob have mentioned multiple times tonight that Jeff Samardzija may be called up the Cubs since Kerry Wood was placed on the disabled list.  They stated the decision of who the Cubs decided to call up would be announced after the game tonight. 

This was posted on Jeff Samardzija’s blog:

7/24/08
This is what you dream of as a kid.
I’ll see you in Chicago.

If this is true, it happened much sooner than I expected.  He has posted a 4-1 record with a 3.13 ERA in his short stint in Iowa and has apparently earned himself what will probably be an extended weekend in Chicago.  I never imagined I would see a Notre Dame football player in a Cubs uniform.  Samardzija has brought together

Break Over… Let’s Get Back to Work

Tomorrow night we embark on the 2nd half, and it looks like Ted Lilly will get a chance to make up for his last start in which he allowed 4 ER and only lasted 2.2 innings.  I am excited for the rest of this season.  Seeing the Cubs pitchers do well against the best of the AL in the All-Star Game was encouraging.

Please Get Rid of Your Bean Tickler, Sir.

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Eyre has grown on me as a player lately, but something that grows on him that will never grow on me is his facial hair.  Pubes have no place on the face.  However, many baseball players seem to be cultivating these audacious goatees lately.  Kerry Wood has a healthy amount of chin music going on, and even Theriot has a soul patch.  The first Cubs facial hair to make me nauseous

Pittsburgh

A weekend in Pittsburgh is, well, you know what happened. Although Aramis Ramirez, the Cub RBI machine got key hits in both of the Cubs’ losses, the Cubbies found ways to lose. A lost fly ball

Cubs-Diamondbacks 5/11

I had to use my fast wiper setting most of the way to Chicago yesterday.  We had little hope for this game even happening, but we kept driving.  I was a little pessimistic; at one point during the drive I found myself hoping that we would at least get to go in and see the field.  The waves of Lake Michigan looked like ocean waves… I half expected to see Patrick Swayze surfing out by Navy Pier.  When we were arriving at Wrigley at about 11:30,

Pitching

As I watched the Cubbies play the Cardinals last night, all I could think of was what about the pitching. Fukodome was a great addition, and it’s apparent that his presence has certainly added a new dimension(and more hitting for all) to the Cub’s lineup. But, good teams win championships with consistent pitching.  

Things on my mind

Dusty-  Alright, I’m not saying the guy was good.. but he’s not that bad.  I mean, lets give him some credit where some credit is due.. He was at the helm when the Cubs had back to back winning seasons for the first time since 1972.  Alright.  Seriously, give the guy some credit.  I’m not saying I was happy when Neifi Perez was starting for us any way we could find a place for him (it kind of surprised me that Dusty didn’t put him in as a starting pitcher in ’06.. I mean, he couldn’t have done any worse there than he did playing short stop.)