Chirayu Baxi's Chicago Cubs fan blog

Carlos Marmol sustained a few minor injuries in his home country of the Dominican Republic a day or two ago.  He was picked up from the airport by a few friends and family members, when the car they were driving was hit.  Reports are that he is fine, with only a few bruises and "swelling" of the forehead, which I assume means a bump on the head.  Since he's going to be the Cubs 8th-inning set-up man for years to come (I hope), all the best to him, and hopefully he's feeling great by the time 2009 rolls around.

Rich Harden had his shoulder examined on Wednesday, before the Cubs' deadline to pick up his 2009 option.

NLCS Game 1 between the Phillies and Dodgers tonight.  It'll be an interesting series.  I'll have only a passing interest in it, seeing as how my foucs is not on baseball these days.

Continue reading "Minor news matters"

Well, it's official.  The Chicago Cubs have become the biggest joke in professional sports.  For such a storied franchise, nothing in the world can explain how a team laden with so much talent could implode with such alacrity.  Or can it?  I'm going to try.

Well, first things first, the Cubs didn't hit.  No surprise there, seeing as how this team scored a grand total of 6 runs in the 2007 playoffs versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, and were swept 3-0.  How many times did they score this playoff season?  6.  What was the series record? 3-0.  Carbon copy.  No runs = no wins = no advancing = no championship.  About as simple as it gets.  The averages were abyssmal and I could throw Alfonso Soriano, the Human Strikeout, under the bus all winter long, but I won't.  Too easy.  Two men who actually showed up this series: Mark DeRosa and Derrek Lee.  Lee was on base 3 times in Game 3, the only game in which I felt the Cubs had multiple chances to win, and no one was anywhere close to driving him in, save Daryle Ward.  Aramis Ramirez could not figure out Dodger pitching, and the Cubs were lost without his bat.  I am not going anywhere near the $40 million problem named Kosuke Fukudome.

Continue reading "6 months, down the drain"

No "Around the Horn this week".  Maybe I'm done with that, seeing as how the Cubs season is down to a one-game playoff at least 3 times in a row. 

Let's just get this out of the way: the Cubs must win.  Plain and simple.  It is not impossible for the Cubs to go into Los Angeles and take two, bring it back to Chicago, and finally win a game at home.  But there is no chance of that if the Cubs' play does not pick up.  NOW.

The pitching has been brutal so far.  Ryan Dempster got a bad case of the "it's-the-playoffs-OMGZ" in Game 1.  No hitting, save Mark DeRosa.  Carlos Zambrano, despite taking a tough loss, was a victim of unspeakably bad defense by every infielder.  That fateful 2nd inning, Zambrano essentially pitched 7 outs.  Ryan Theriot should have gloved the ball after the lead off single, DeRosa should have had an easy double play, and Derrek Lee, most surprisingly of all the infielders, booted a can of corn grounder.  Normally, he picks that like a badly congested nose.  Counting the double play as two outs, that's 4 potential outs passed up, and Zambrano had to work for the next 3.  7 outs.  SEVEN!  Unbelievable and unallowable.

Continue reading "Suspending judgment until.... later...."

Well, how about that?  2 blog postings in one month for me!  Good for me!

Continuing the Around the Horn system, and on the brink of the playoffs, I write this as the first pitch of the Brewers-Cubs game is being throw.  And the man that is the focus of this posting is not currently playing, but I'm alright with that.

 No one on the Chicago Cubs, save IF/OF Mark DeRosa, means more to the continued success of the Cubs as does C Geovany Soto. The guardian of the plate, and a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the order (and even in the bottom of the order, depending on how others in the line-up are hitting that day), Soto has done it all in this, his ROOKIE year.  The stats don't lie: .285/.364/.504, 23 HRs, 86 RBI, 141 hits, 35 doubles, 2 triples, and 62 BB.  As a

Continue reading "A Rookie's coming-of-age"

Let's just get this out of the way: P Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter on Sunday night at Miller Park was brilliant.  Sure, the Astros were tired, worn-down some from Hurricane Ike, and the game was a virtual home game, but you would have a great amount of difficult convincing me that Carlos couldn't do that to any other team in the majors.  His fastball was popping, he's splitter was uber-filthy, and he had every hitter off balance.  THe only time he lost his command has the pitch he plunked OF Hunter Pence with, and the walk to OF Michael Bourne was on three pitches that were extremely close but didn't go Carlos' way.  It is great to see Carlos Zambrano back on the mound, the human buzzsaw of every major league lineup.

And on we go to the Around the Horn feature of this blog, IF/OF Mark DeRosa.

Continue reading "A utility-man's appreciation"

So it's been a few weeks (again) since I wrote on this blog, and I promise to try to write more often, because I have plenty to say about the Chicago Cubs!  But enough of the excuse making, let's get to business.

 Continuing the Around the Horn way of hitting all the spots on the field, we continue with a foe-turned-ally, CF Jim Edmonds.

It would be easy for me to sit here and say that I saw this coming, that Edmonds' meteoric rise to the top of all Cubs fans' hearts was foretold ages ago in May.  And it would be a lie, because no one, save for one GM Jim Hendry, thought Jim Edmonds had anything left in the tank.  Hendry continues to dazzle us, downright spoil us with the finds this season.

Edmonds began the season with the San Diego Padres, after the St. Louis Cardinals unceremoniously shipped him off after he played countless years for them, even winning a World Series with them.  The Padres showed little patience with Edmonds, who was hampered by left foot problems early in the year.  It looked as if Edmonds' career was going to come to an abrupt, graceless end.  And then, Jim Hendry happened.

Continue reading "A battle-hardened veteran's Renaissance"

Okay, so it's been a while since I've gotten around to posting again.  I blame schoolwork, but of course, that hasn't kept me from WATCHING the Cubs, so I shouldn't really use it an excuse for not writing about them.

 Continuing the Around the Horn theme, (previously highlighting SP Ryan Dempster and 3B Aramis Ramirez), we move back to the mound and take a long hard look at SP Theodore "Ted" Lilly.

In late 2006, the general managers, managers, owners, et al. met up in Orlando, FL and kicked around trade rumors, free agents and generally made some of us salivate and chomp at the bit.  The Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who has pulled of incredible deals such as the deal for the aforementioned Aramis Ramirez and the most recent blockbuster for fireballer Rich Harden, decided to make a questionable deal and sign free agent Ted Lilly to a 4-year, $40 million deal.  And shame on us for doubting him.

Continue reading "The All-Star break... my chance to get my butt off the couch and do something..."

Let's see... Aramis Ramirez, your up.  All opposing pitchers, tread lightly.

 Continuing my Around the Horn review of the Chicago Cubs roster, I move from the mound to the hot corner.  WAy back in 2003, the Cubs middl eof the order and third base defense had a huge void.  And by huge, I mean EPICLY huge.  And then, Jim Hendry, the Cubs GM, pulled off what could only be described as highway robbery.  Some call it "raiding the pantry", but the Pirates, wanting to blow off some cap space and get some youngsters some playing time (when do the Pirates NOT send in youngsters?), traded players like Kenny Lofton, Lenny Harris, and Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs.  Since that trade, Aramis Ramirez has been nothing short of amazing.  He's put up All-Star quality number or close to it every year he's played and been relatively healthy.  He's worked hard to get his legs healthy, he's playing hard and quelled talk of him being lazy, and is hitting homer after homer and knocking in RBI after RBI.  Although, if you ask him, he'll say, "It's my job".  Gotta love that from a legit All-Star contender.

Continue reading "A cornerstone's value"

In order to kick this blog off to a good start, I'm going to do a little bit on each of the key players on the team, moving around the diamond once or twice to hit all the positions.  First up: ex-closer, neo-starter Ryan Dempster.

Is anyone more valuable to the Chicago Cubs right now than Ryan Dempster?  Let's think about this

One year, everyone is ripping the guy because he's not the most dependable closer in the game (forgetting completely that in 3 years he saved around 80 games for the Cubs).  Now, he's the toast of the town, the Cubs' favorite Canadian son, boasts the best record and ERA on the team, and is invincible at Wrigley Field.  Amazing.

He's been in rare form, all year.  Even the loss he took in Tampa is excusable, because he gave the Cubs a quality start, but the bats were nearly ice-cold.  And his latest performance, an 8+ innings, 1-ER game vs the White Sox to complete the sweep, was nothing short of dominant.  He got double plays when he needed them, struck out hitters at will, had all his pitches working (especially that devastating splitter), and the only run he allowed came at a time when the White Sox were scrapping to save some pride and the game was basically in-hand.

Continue reading "A well-deserved day off"