Chicago Cubs Blogs

Cubs' manager Lou Piniella, cited the health of his ailing mother as the reason he left the Cubs organization on Sunday, a month or so before the end of the season.  Cub fans heading the park didn't know for sure that this was his last game until an improvised ceremony with Braves Manager Bobby Cox at home plate signalled that something was up. 

Continue reading "Goodbye Lou, Piniella Retires Earlier Than Planned"

The White Sox starting pitching is good.  Jake Peavy goes out the other night with a torn muscle in his upper back that could sideline him for the rest of the season.  Ok, up steps Jonathan Danks, who when he is good, he is really good.

Continue reading "Danks Hurls a CG Two Hitter in 1-0 Win"

When you're hot you're hot and that's what the Chicago White Sox are.  They won their 11th sraight game Saturday night, 3-2, defeating their cross-town rivals, the Chicago Cubs on Paul Konerko's 8th inning Home Run.  Konerko has 19 dingers and most likely will be picked for the AL All-Star team in a few weeks. 

Continue reading "White Sox Keep Winning, Beat Cubs 3-2"

Chicago Cubs closer Carlos Marmol gave up a two out two run single in the bottom of the 9th to lose a nailbiter in Milwaukee, 3-2.  That's why the Cubs are the Cubs.  Having a 2-1 lead in a game in not enough runs.  Marmol has been great in the 9th inning so far this season, but tonight he showed he's human.  It doesn't matter how the Cubs battled to take a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning.  It does matter than the Cubs couldn't hold a lead in a game they had.

Continue reading "Late Hit Spells Defeat for Cubbies"

If the Chicago Cubs are thinking of making any noise this summer they need to beat their rival, the St. Louis Cards, today and tomorrow.  The Cubs are five games behind the Cincy Reds, the surprise of the Division, so far.  But St. Louis, is right in the hunt and they are loaded once again with talent.  Albert Pujols, perhaps the dangerous hitter in the league, anchors their lineup.  When he is on, you simply don't pitch to him.  The starting rotaton with Chris Carpenter poised to have another fine year, is solid.  The Cards find a way to get it done.  Something the Cubs haven't managed to do.

Continue reading "Cubs Need To Win Games vs. Cards"

The Chicago Cubs may not be that bad afterall.  The Cubs beat the hot Dodgers 3-0 Tuesday night behind the pitching of Rick Dempster and the hitting of Derrick Lee.  Lee whose bat has been in hiberation since the start of the season had 3 hits including a 2 run HR to back Dempster's solid effort.

Continue reading "Cubs Beat Dodgers 3-0, Close In On .500"

It is early May and already the warning signs are here.  No lead is safe in the 9th inning for the White Sox.  If the Cubs strings hits together, they might win a game.  The Cubs have the pitching that the Sox don't.  Meanwhile Paul Konerko is leading the majors in the early going with 13 homers.  And Alex Rios is living up to his contract, batting .320 and hitting for power. 

Continue reading "Baseball's a Bust in Chitown"

At 10-10 for the early season, you can't say the Cubs are good or bad.  But this past week, they have been better than good, winning 4 straight to head toward respectability.  Carlos Zambrano took a demotion for the team and is pitching his best as a late set-up man for Carlos Marmol.  Now, the Cubs bullpen has been improved with a $90 million pitcher.

Continue reading "Cubs hit .500 mark with 4-3 win over Nats"

Today’s post is brought to you from Toledo, Ohio.  With Spring Training wrapping up in just over a week, every team has reason to be hopeful that this will be their year.  Though it is widely accepted that exhibition games are meaningless, the Giants should feel good about their 18-7 record this spring, and the Indians are certainly pleased that they have won 13 of their first 19 games.  The reigning World Series champion Yankees, meanwhile, can shake off their 9-12 record as rustiness.  It may not have the excitement of October, but April is when everyone’s glass is half full; no one has ground to make up or nagging injuries to play through.  Every team has a share of first place, and that’s what makes it the most promising time of the year.

Continue reading "The most promising time of the year"

In my life I have attended many more major league games than minor league ones, but 2010 will be a chance for me to experience the minors like never before.  I will be working in media relations for the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League.  The Mud Hens are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers and play at Fifth Third Field, just an hour from Detroit, which means that Tigers on rehab assignments will likely make cameo appearances throughout the season.

Continue reading "Next stop in my baseball career – ..."

   "Down the left field line, is it enough? Gonneee!!! There it is!!!! 62!!!! Touch first Mark, you are the new single season home-run king!!!"

    We all remember where we were on that September night in 1998, when Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's single season home-run record of 61 home-runs. I was thirteen at the time, and I was lost in the moment. Words couldn't describe how I felt watching McGwire circling the bases giving the Chicago Cubs players high-fives, and hugs. Watching the greatest moment in baseball of my youth. Looking back, I can't believe how naive I ,and even the world were.

Continue reading "What Now?"

The Oakland As recently got a John Hancock from Former Red Sox brawler Coco Crisp, for a modest 1 -year, 4 and a half million dollar contract. With this latest Billy Beane brain storm the A's should give its fans one of, if not the best defensive out fields in baseball, if thats how it will play out. As the normal with the A's, they leave the winter meetings with questions all over the diamond. But the outfield, with the signing of crisp and deals for others are the most muddled. Crisp could join Rajai Davis and Ryan Sweeney to form that crew.

Continue reading "Another Defensive Outfielder for Oakland"

While researching ballplayers of the nineties, I discovered that in 1993, Jeff King of the Pirates drove in 98 runs while hitting only nine home runs and slugging just .406.  I then wondered if any player has ever driven in 100 runs with fewer than 10 homers or with a slugging percentage under .400.  Upon further investigation, I found that in 1996 – the year he turned 40 during the Dog Days of August – Paul Molitor hit just nine homers but accumulated 113 RBI’s while playing for the Twins.  Thanks to his American League-leading 225 hits and batting two hitters behind leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch in the midst of his best season (.448 OBP), Molitor led the Twins in both hitting (.341) and Runs Batted In.  I have yet to find a player with a season of 100+ RBI’s despite a slugging percentage under .400 (Molitor’s was a healthy .468), but I will continue searching.

Continue reading "Run production and slugging: not ..."

 Just sheer domination that didn't necessarily show up in the win column! Fifteen victories equals a Cy Young?  Let's look at ALL of the numbers to really appreciate how great Tim Lincecum has been through his first two-full seasons with the Giants (he did throw 146-plus innings in 24 starts in 2007). Back-to-back Cy Young Awards do not come around very often (see: N.L. stand-outs RJ and Maddux, each with four straight, and Sandy Koufax with three of four; Clemens, Palmer, McClain, and Pedro each went back-to-back in the A.L. ([Clemens did it twice; ten years apart]). The difference? Lincecum has done it twice in two full years by the age of 25! So how do you follow up a CY YOUNG AWARD WINNING SEASON??? You work even harder to improve (by perfecting a third pitch), and that's exactly what Lincecum did after winning his first CY in 2008 with an 18-and-5 record, and 265 strikeouts in 227 innings. Lincecum worked 225 and one-third innings this year, and went 15-and-7 with 261 strikeouts. No, that doesn't sound any better until we delve deeper. Check this out - in roughly the same number of innings pitched, Lincecum allowed fourteen

Continue reading ""Tim Lincecum Captures Second Cy Young""

    After two consecutive years of winning the National League Central Division, the Chicago Cubs watched their hated rivals the St. Louis Cardinals win it. In order for this not happen again, the Cubs have some concerns they have to address in order to get back to their winning ways.

Continue reading "The Chicago cubs 2010"

When the 2009 MLB season comes to a close, the Chicago Cubs have announced that they will shop starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano in hopes of swinging a trade and dumping much of his monstrous contract. The question is, should the Mets be interested in the massive right-hander?

Continue reading "Cubs Say They Will Shop Zambrano"

We are so used to seeing the Cubs have bad years where they lose 90 games a season, or good years where they win 96 games.  The Cubs need to get used to simply winning, having a winning season.  If they finish seven or eight games over.500 you can't say that's a terrible season.  It may be a disappointing one---

Continue reading "6 games over .500, Cubs Moving Toward Respectable"

The Cardinals continued their dominance of the National League Central this week, going 5-1 on a road trip with a blown save on Sunday, meaning it could've been a 6-0 trip. Last night the Cards got a boost from John Smoltz who was rocky early, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but he stuck with it and shut out the Brewers over the next three innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The Brewers had their chances for a knock out blow, but they couldn't capitalize, just as the Cards couldn't do so with runners in scoring position. When a team goes 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and can still grind out a win, that's the make of a championship caliber team. Even when they don't play that well, they win.

Continue reading "Cards Continue September Tear and ..."

There will come a time when the Chicago Cubs are mathematically eliminated from post-season play.  That time hasn't yet arrived but as the Cubs lose to teams with losing records such as Washington, NY Mets this past Sunday, and trailing Houston 5-2 in the 6th inning tonight, that time is coming soon enough. 

Continue reading "Cubs Can't Beat Bad Teams At Home"

Since the Chicago Cubs and White Sox are all but out of contention in baseball, this Chicago fan can cheer for the Bears going into hostile territory and defeating the Denver Broncos.

It's not easy to win a game in Denver.  But after seeing Jay Cutler go 15 for 21, throwing the ball with authority and leading the Bears offense and watching Kyle Orton trying to match up, the Bears may have gotten the steal of the year.

Continue reading "Cutler, Bears Win in Denver 27-17"

Last night, I got to witness a masterful pitching performance first hand.  Actually, I saw two of them. Wandy Rodriguez was solid for the Astros, allowing just one run on three hits and one walk while fanning six over seven innings. His bullpen even backed him up with a perfect inning with one strikeout from reliever Latroy Hawkins. Adam Wainwrright was just better. He allowed the same three hits that Rodriguez did, but without walking anyone while shutting Houston out over eight innings. He also struck out five, none of which was bigger than pinch-hitter Jason Michaels' knees with a breaking ball in the eighth inning with the tying run at third base. Wainwright and Molina both showed a lot of emotion after that K. They knew it was a huge spot, especially with how cold the Cards' offense has been lately. I quipped to Meghan (we'll call her a cousin of no blood relation to keep things simple) after scoring in the first inning that with the way Wainwright's been pitching, we may not need much more than that. Well, I wasn't serious, but number 50 sure as hell was. The game ended in two hours and ten minutes. One last fact that will display how dominating both pitchings staffs were is that at no point during last night's game was there more than one base runner aboard. Both teams were limited to just one runner advancing to third base. The Cards scored theirs, the Astros did not, and it was the difference in the game. It isn't likely to get much easier for the birds' bats on Wednesday when they go against Roy Oswalt, who's coming off a performance of eight shutout innings.

Continue reading "John Smoltz, Adam Wainwright, and ..."

Well The Chicago Cubs finally won a game in San Diego.  They lost 3 games to the Padres in the infamous meltdown in 1984.  They lost 2 in a row on a road trip this week.  Tonight, they hit the ball well as they beat the last place Padres for a badly needed win.

Continue reading "Cubs Don't Have the Horses This Year"

On Monday night, I arrived home from Laura's house around 12 a.m. Knowing the Cubs had taken a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth, I decided to check the scoreboard first thing when I got to my computer. I discovered that the Cubs had managed to allow four runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-1 loss to San Diego. Maniacal laughter ensued. Chicago is now six games back and the gap doesn't look to get closer anytime soon. In the Cubs defense, I suppose the Padres were due for a win, having just been swept over the weekend by the Cardinals. San Diego had lost four straight overall, dropping the finale of a series in Milwaukee last Thursday. The Padres seem to be the Cards' best friend right now. They took two of three from the Brewers, got swept by St. Louis, and picked up a come from behind win against the Cubs to open Chicago's road trip. Hopefully the trend will continue over the rest of the week with the Cubbies in town for two more before the Cards visit " A Whale's Vagina" for four games over the weekend.

Continue reading "Cards Eek One Out in L.A., Cubs remain ..."

Cubs fans have suffered for too long.

Cubs GM, Jim Hendry, has done the right thing this season. He’s put the right pieces together and convinced the owners to invest the proper cash to bring in the talent needed to secure what every Cubs fans for 101 years wants, a damn Championship.

Continue reading "Trade Milton Bradley"

It's about that time of year. The time when NFL camps are in full swing, rankings are being released for college football, and the Cubs begin to wilt in the August heat. One week ago, the Cubs and Cards were tied atop the NL Central and Chicago was two games ahead in the loss column. In that short span, the birds have opened up a 4.5 game lead in the division and are three up in the loss column. People aren't making such a big deal about those games in hand now that the Cubs have started playing them and losing them. St. Louis has been taking advantage of their schedule as of late, winning seven of their last nine against the Mets, Pirates, Reds, and now the Padres. The Cubs on the other hand, had seven straight against the last two NL Champions, the Rockies and the Phillies. They only managed to win one of these games, thus allowing for the Cards to gain separation. The Cubbies get a slight break, as they're hosting the AAA Pirates this weekend and then will visit the lowly Padres for three, but then it's right back to business as they get the Dodgers for four in LA.

Continue reading "Cubs Starting to Fade in Central Race"

The Chicago Cubs, winners of 11 of 14 games since the All-Star break, have gotten back into the NL Central Race.  They play very well at home, witness winning 3 out of 4 versus the Astros.  The Cubs have swung the bats well and even look like a major league team out there.  When guys like Fukodome and Theriot are contributing, that is a good sign.

Continue reading "Cubs Back In Race"

The Brewers gave up two touchdowns last night to the Nationals and only managed one of their own in a 6-14 loss, dropping them to 1 game under .500 on the season and 4 games back in the tight NL Central.  The Crew has ripped off 3 wins in their last 10 games, while the now Central Leading Cubs have reeled off 8 wins in their last 10.  Frankly, the Brewers have NO chance to win the NL Central.  The Cardinals, who have a superior pitching staff to Milwaukee, added Julio Lugo and Matt Holliday is protection for Albert Pujols.  The Cubs haven't added anybody; they don't need to.  Their line up is expensive and filled with talent as is their pitching staff, Rich Harden, Alfonso Soriano, Milton Bradley, Carlos Zambrano, and Carlos Marmol turning their seasons into AVERAGE seasons by their standards is like making 5 huge trades.  All they need to do is get healthy and play average seasons down the stretch, and they'll be neck and neck with the Cardinals. 

Continue reading "Brewers Future"

Put a fork in them, the Cubs are done.  The only reason the Cubs are "close" to contending, is that the Division they play in is weak.  If the Cards were having a good season, the "race" would be over. If the Cubs were having a "good" season, there would be a race to talk about. 

Continue reading "Cubs Are Done"

Continue reading "What We've Seen of the Chicago Cubs; ..."

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! I know what you're thinking. Here are the Chicago Cubs we've been waiting for. They just needed a four-day break to rediscover themselves. Their bullpen's coming around! There's Soriano! They have the best starting pitching in baseball! Now, we have to step out of our "Cubs fan suit" for a second and remind ourselves what we really saw this past weekend.

Continue reading "Perfect Cubs transition: Nationals to Phillies"

As a Cardinals fan, maybe choosing to live within a mile of Wrigley Field wasn't the best choice. Regardless, I think it's interesting to listen to Cubs fans talk about the Cardinals, especially Albert Pujols. Here are just a few examples...

Continue reading "Respect for Pujols"

It's the mid-season break during the 3 day All-Star game break and it's a chance for baseball players and managers to get away from the game and re-charge for the 2nd half of the season.  While the Chicago Cubs are certainly not out of it in their division, I feel more confident about their cross-town rivals having better success.

Continue reading "White Sox Have A Shot To Repeat"

I got into a discussion with Sean yesterday about the post I made a couple of weeks ago concerning when a runner has officially taken possession of a base.  We consulted the rule book (online at baseball-almanac.com, a great site) and found no specific details about the situation.  (Though, admittedly, I did not carefully pore over every bit of it research-style, since we were simply having an entertaining discussion.)  While shifting through various alternative scenarios to try to tease out the answer, this fun one came up:

Continue reading "More Baseball Rules Discussion"

This game typifies why the open base need not always be filled.  Particularly with the winning run on third base, you are asking quite a lot of your pitcher to confine him to the box created by bases loaded.  The Brewers should have gone after Soto--a player coming in cold off the bench--with runners on second and third and 2 outs.  Instead, they blatantly pitched around him for 3 pitches, then intentionally put him on with the fourth pitch to set the stage for the walk-off walk.

Continue reading "Brewers - Cubs and Walk-off Walks"

The Chicago Cubs are 35-36.  The Chicago White Sox are 36-38.  Both teams are flirting with the .500 mark as we get closer to the half-way mark of the season.  Unless these teams are can go into after-drive and put the pedal to the metal, it is likely that these team will finish near the .500 mark.  The Cubs had a thrilling homestand and won some games with pulsating finishes.  Then they go on the road and make the Detroit Tigers look like world-beaters.  In one game, the Cubs have a one run lead late, but  their closer gives up a 2 run homer in the last of 9th to win the game for Detroit.

Continue reading "Chicago baseball is simply mediocre"

http://sports.spinidea.com/2009/06/25/boston-red-sox-at-atlanta-braves-2/

http://sports.spinidea.com/2009/06/25/chicago-cubs-at-chicago-white-sox-2/ 

  http://watchlivebaseballonline.blogspot.com 

Continue reading "Baseball links"

The NBA Draft's Five Best Second Overall Picks Since 1984

The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to pick former Oklahoma Sooners star Blake Griffin Thursday with the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Continue reading "The NBA Draft's Five Best Second ..."

The New York Times reported last week that former Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa was on a list of 103 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003.

Sosa, 40, a 7-time All-Star selection and 6-time Silver Slugger Award winner, helped revitalize the game of baseball in 1998 when he and fellow juicehead Mark McGwire pursued Roger Maris’ home run record.

Continue reading ""

Disgraced former MLB slugger Jose Canseco apparently has one more trick left up his sleeve to help keep himself in the limelight, well beyond his 15 minutes of fame. Canseco wants to get together with fellow disgraced steroid users Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro to file a lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the Players Association to seek compensation for loss of wages and defamation of character.

Continue reading "Jose Canseco to bring full circus ..."

The Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland 6-2 to sweep the Tribe, and more importantly, win their 4th game in a row.  Dont blink too fast, but this is a modest winning streak.  A few weeks ago, the Cubs look moribound, and I wrote it so, basically writing them off.

Continue reading "Maybe New Cubs Can Do It"

The country was captivated in the summer of 1998 by the home-run chase as Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals simultaneously chased Roger Maris' single season home-run record. As the season neared a close the two managed to keep the pressure on each other night in and night out to go yard. America was hooked on baseball, tuning in each night to see these two sluggers battle it out to see who would be the new long ball champion.

Continue reading "Another "hero" falls, Slammin' Sammy busted"

The former Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, put out a statement recently that he was expecting to "calmly wait" till he was voted in baseball's Hall of Fame.  Then about a week later, news came out that he was one of the 104 players on a list from 2003 that said certain players had tested positive for "performance enhancing drugs."

Continue reading "Sammy May Have To Wait A Long Time"

The Chicago Cubs are still in the running for the divisional crown. They are only 2.5 games out of first place and one game back in the loss column.  You can look at it, and say, "Hey, the Cubs are right there."  I'm not looking at it that way.

Continue reading "Cubs Season May Be Over"

The Twinkies seem solid.  The 10 year life shelf of real Twinkies in the grocery store doesn’t work with our ball club.  They flash good and bad at anytime.  They might make on the shelf for about 2 days then implode.  Yet with 10 runs they are undefeated.  

Continue reading "Minnesota Twin's Joe Nathan & Jason ..."

What Cubs fans have lovingly grown accustomed to.

The Chicago Cubs have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory for over 100 years now. If you never have experienced it before, go to a Cubs game. Not at Wrigley, mind you. Your favorite team's home park. I dare you.

Continue reading "The Art of Chicago Cubs Losing"

These days, going to a baseball game isn't what it used to be. Seldom will a pitcher throw into the 7th inning; the score is usually 7-6 or 10-9; and your favorite slugger is likely to hit one, if not two balls, out of the park. The game is shamelessly jacked up on HGH, and its obvious. The best hitter (Bonds) and pitcher (Clemens) of our generation used it, and more players are getting busted by the day (A-Rod, Manny). However, most fans don't care. They still go to the ballpark. That's because baseball, and pro sports in general, is merely another form of entertainment.

Continue reading "Rampant Steroid Use Brings Up Issue ..."

     There are lots of guys like Burt Hooton. 

     Well, not at your local bar, or at church or the grocery store.  Unless former pro ballplayers hang out there.  Former pro ballplayers who won the clinching game of the 1981 World Series.  Against the Yankees.  What I mean by Burt being like lots of guys is that the annals of baseball have so many players we tend to remember mostly the Babe Ruths and Ty Cobbs and –insert random player name here- and so on.  But the game is larger than even the biggest stars.  The game consists of so many players, so many games, so many stats, that unless a player was on your favorite team he may only garner a fleeting memory, an “oh yeah, I kinda remember him” reaction.  If you followed the Cubs in the early to mid seventies, or the Dodgers from 75 to 84, you remember Burt Hooton.  He’ll never get into the hall of fame, but his career is worth a look; there are definitely enough interesting moments to warrant it.  This isn’t some guy who had one or two moments of fame; he had a career’s worth.  Currently he is the pitching coach of the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros.

Continue reading "My Interview With Burt Hooton"

The Dodgers are notorious for their streaks.  Ok, let me be more specific.  The Dodgers are notorious for their losing streaks.  These streaks usually occur directly after hope and positivity radiate through the hearts of the fans.  This season they may be breaking the taboo......

Continue reading "Los Angeles Dodgers use small ball ..."

How come when the Ump screws up or bumps a player they are not ejected.  While watching the Cubs play the Pirates the home plate ump was arguing with Carlos Zambrano.  During the argument the umpire got to close to Zambrano and Carlos brushed him off with his elbow.  The umpire then ejected Zambrano for bumping him.  Are you kidding me!!!  Who holds the umpire accountable in this case the player was attempting to move the umpire who was clearly in the wrong.  All individuals on the field should be held to the same code of conduct.  I can only hope that the league will do something to remedy this issue.

Continue reading "Throw the ump out"

1. Well, the Cardinals' recent road trip didn't go according to plan by any stretch of the imagination. They had to salvage a win at the end of each series after dropping the first two. Coming home to play the Brewers didn’t improve things. The only lead the Cards had against Milwaukee in the entire series got washed out by a monster of a storm on Friday. Colby Rasmus, who hit the two-run homer in the bottom of the second of Friday’s rainout, managed to get it back by hitting another two-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh of Monday’s makeup. However, it wasn’t enough as the Cards were held to just six runs over the three-game series, none of which came during Adam Wainwright’s two-hit, one run performance on Saturday. The Cards managed to get back on track a bit on Tuesday, thanks to a three-hit complete game shutout by stopper Joel Pineiro (Did I really just say that?). Rasmus’ bat stayed live with yet another two-run bomb off of lefty Ted Lilly in the fifth. The Cards also managed to manufacture a run in the first with a leadoff walk to Brendan Ryan, a sacrifice by Rasmus, and a stolen base by Ryan off of Lilly whose ignorance of the situation led to there not even being a throw down to third. This set up Yadier Molina for a two-out RBI single to put St. Louis on top after one inning. Molina also helped the Cards get back some of their defensive prowess in the top half of the opening frame, picking off Alfonso Soriano off of first, the 29th time Molina has done so in his career.

Continue reading "The Cards' Cavalry is on its way"

The answer is “Yes.” The question was one posed by my friend Tyler after the Blues had clinched a playoff spot. If the Blues were swept out of the first round, would the fact that playoff hockey had returned to St. Louis be worth the Blues missing out on the top picks in this year’s draft like John Tavares and Victory Hedman? I told him to ask me again after the series was over, as I didn’t think we would get swept.

Continue reading "Reflections on the Blues' season ..."

The Blues win over Detroit on Thursday would've been inspiring no matter how it happened. But the fact that David Backes scored four goals (or five depending on who you believe, since Backes wouldn't claim it) was amazing. Every time the Red Wings got close, Backes would respond. If St. Louis meets up with Detroit in the first round, this game could be enough to give them a real confidence boost after being dominated by the Wings during most of this season. Getting a point in Dallas on Saturday will help the Blues' chances as well, but they're back to needing some help. They are right with the Ducks and Predators when it comes to points, but they are still behind in the wins column, which serves as the first tie-breaker. Hopefully the Red Wings will remain in contention for the Presidents Trophy long enough that they won't be resting players when they host Nashville on Thursday.

Continue reading "MLB Season Preview and Blues Notes"

There are only a few sure things in the National League Central this year. The Chicago Cubs will win, the Pittsburgh Pirates will lose, and Albert Pujols will continue to be the best hitter in the NL. The Cincinnati Reds’ staff is intriguing, as is St. Louis’ if Chris Carpenter has a positive impact in his return from injury, and how much will Milwaukee miss CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets?

Continue reading "The Sports Don's 2009 NL Central Preview"

Before I get to the actual list, I must say when I posted this on FanNation, readers were complaining about the omission of the New York Mets' star-studded infield.

The funny thing is, I'm a Mets fan. And yet I ranked both the Braves and Phillies' infields ahead of the Metropolitans. Talk about reserving one's biases...

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Infields"

Good ol' Canadian James Richard Harden showed us why the Cubs got him when he pitched 2 innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against Seattle.

The cubs have been all tip-toe with Rich, limiting his throws since he's been taking trips to the DL for the past 3 seasons, and was on the stint when he was traded.

Continue reading "Rich Harden Debuts, Finally"

I am so excited to finally watch a Chicago Cubs game in Spring Training. So, I am gonna do my best to do up-to-the-minute highlgihts.

9:06 p.m.: Getting ready to start. White Sox John Danks is the starting pitcher. So Taguchi plaays right field for the Cubbies. Derrek Lee is off, Micah Houffpauir is at first. Seems sold out, which I think it is. Groovy.

Continue reading "Finally! A Chicago Cubs Game!"

Milton Bradley has now made my Can't Stand to Watch cause He'll be on the IR List.

Mild tightness in his right quad forced him out of Thursday's game. And while he's taking it easy, i cannot help but think about other crazy injuries that have happened to the Cubs.

Continue reading "It's Already Started With Milton Bradley"

Hi there. i'm gonna make this pretty short about myself, since this is my first blogpost and I would hate to bore you on the first time.

I have been dedicated to the Chicago Cubs since 1984 as a little 3-year-old gal. Since then, the friends I have made are either dedicated White Sox fans or former-Cubs-fans-turned-Sox-fans-cause-they-couldn't-take-losing.

Continue reading "A little about myself, What the Chicago ..."

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” – Matthew 7: 1-3

Continue reading "Sympathy for the Steroid Devils"

The offseason for the Cubs in the past few years has been exciting as they were able to grab names such as Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, and Greg Maddux.  But this offseason has many Cubs fans scra

Continue reading "QUESTION TO JIM HENDRY: WHAT THE ..."

Aaron Heilman, who was traded by the Mets to the Seattle Mariners as part of the J.J. Putz deal, was flipped to the Chicago Cubs for Ronny Cedeno and Garret Olson. Many suspected that Heilman was going to be the closer for the Mariners since Brandon Morrow was going to move to the rotation. The trade is great for Heilman because his competition for the fifth spot with the Cubs are Jeff Samardzija, Sean Marshall, and Chad Gaudin. Only Samardzija really has a higher ceiling than Heilman, but he has yet to play a full season.

Continue reading "Aaron Heilman Finally Has a Shot ..."

Every year, every Cubs fan believes this year can possible be finally the year.  The year where all of the misery will finally be forgotten as the Cubs will finally hoist up the trophy that means

Continue reading "CUBS WILL SHINE IN 2009? GIVE ME A BREAK"

What are some of the Braves other needs before the season opener against the Phillies on April 5? Adding an outfield bat seems to be Wren's top priority, but who could it be?

Hopefully not Andruw Jones, who just hit the free agent market yesterday. I just don't think he's worth taking a shot on. After all, the Dodgers did agree to pay him the rest of his contract as long as he stopped hurting their team by taking up a roster spot.

Continue reading "What's left for the Braves?"

While reading columns about the Reds that I frequent (Hal McCoy's blog and the official Reds web site) I saw two articles about the same thing, the Reds moves this offseason. One was very negative (McCoy) while Mark Sheldon, writer for the Reds website, was looking at the positive side of things. To glance at the moves the Reds have made wouldn't shock anybody, even though I think they did sign some key players to fill needs. McCoy ( http://www.daytondailynews.com/o/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/cincinnatireds/) says that much more needs to be done, and that they haven't done enough to move out of 5th place. I hate to do it, but I'm gonna disagree with you here.

Continue reading "A look at the NL central"

I have to say that I get frustrated quite a bit with the management of the Chicago Cubs.  There are times when it seems like their fingers are right on the pulse of what is going on in Major League Baseball.  Other times, though, it seems they could not be more out of touch with the needs of the team in the short and long term.  It is utterly frustrating when management decides to do something completely detremental to the team, like trade a good young live arm like Jose Ceda for an average reliever, and there is nothing I can do about it.  While that did frustrate me it is not getting to me as much as this whole left-handed bat situation.  Everyone who follows baseball knows that the Cubs need a left-handed presence in the lineup.  If you watch them, you can see it.  If you do not watch them, then you only need to listen to Lou Piniella talk about it.  I agree that the need is there, but I definitely do not agree with the candidates that Jim Hendry and co. have so far thrown out.

Continue reading "Left-handed bat the Cubs need"

Before I get to baseball, I'd like to start out with hockey as I haven't touched on it since the Blues were doing well in mid-October. Since then, the Blues have fallen into the Central Division basement and have had really bad luck play a part in it. Since Sarah Palin(should anyone looking that confused ever be allowed to hold a gun?) dropped the puck, the Blues have only won twice in 10 games with two overtime losses. They have also suffered injuries to Manny Legcae, T.J. Oshie, Dan Hinote, Paul Kariya, and Andy McDonald. Other than Hinote, all of those are impact players. That being said, the Blues are still giving an effort every night and Legace's back, so perhaps they will turn it around soon. The Blues could still go on a run and make the playoffs, as it's still very early, but they need to pick it up soon. The curse of Sarah Palin should be about over now that Obama won, Erik Johnson had successful knee surgery,  and perhaps debuting the new third jerseys on Friday against Anaheim will be the last part in getting this team going again.

Continue reading "Baseball Awards 2008"

If you are a true Cubs fan, you know who I am talking about. Mike Fontenot, a.k.a "Little Babe Ruth" (as Cubs Radio Announcer and Legend—Ron Santo—calls him), should and needs to be given the second base job in 2009. 

Continue reading "The Cubs' Answer to Their Left-Handed ..."

I know that the title suggests pure blasphemy for loyal fans, and if you're wondering where I could possibly be going with this, let me be the first to say, I really don't like the Phillies. However, as a loyal and lifelong Cubs fan, I thought I should point out that the Phils are the logical choice to root for in this World Series.

Continue reading "Being a true Cubs fan means rooting ..."

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.

Continue reading "6 months, down the drain"

        Francisco Cordero converted 44 saves in 51 chances in 2007 and had an ERA below three.   Cordero was one of the most touted relief pitchers in the league at the end of the 2007 season and he received offers from several teams.  Cordero decided to go for the money, signing a contract with the Cincinnati Reds.  The Milwaukee Brewers had offered a four year $42 million contract with an option for a fifth year.  Instead, Cordero packed his bags and moved to Cincinnati, taking their four year $46 million offer - also with an option for a fifth year. 

Continue reading "Brewers Bullpen"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

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.

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

  Team effort...the reason I love the Cubs.  They are a great group of athletes, but they are also a great group of friends. Every game it's obvious that the players like each other and all understand what they could accomplish this year. I don't see any one man show out there....I see a team. Theriot slapping balls up the middle and to right fields...Lee hitting sac flies...Harden hustling down the first base line for an infield single...Blanco with a clutch game-ending hit. The list goes on. Never before have I seen a Cubs team get along so well. After every hit the player will put his two index fingers up and point to the bench as one of his fellow teammates is standing at the front of the dugout cheering him on. I love to see that. 

Continue reading "Team Effort"

My family and I went on a camping trip this past weekend up north in Alpena, Mich. No place to blog there. Back to business...

Maybe I should gripe about the Astros and write off their season more often. Granted, Houston's four-game win streak ended tonight with an 11-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs, but now Houston is 54-58 and in fourth place in their division. The streak included a sweep of the New York Mets, something Houston hasn't done in years.

Continue reading "Houston Astros update, sorry about the hiatus"

    The Mets limped home from a disappointing 1-5 road trip with a slew of injuries.  Marlon Anderson and John Maine were put on the DL over the weekend and Billy Wagner joined them today with a strained left forearm.  Ramon Castro is still shaken up from the bizzare home plate collision on Saturday, and is listed as day-to-day with a sore ankle.  Rather than make any external moves, the Mets have turned to their farm system for help.  Although for the time being Jerry Manuel says he will use a bullpen by committee in the ninth inning, Eddie Kunz, the heir apparent to Billy Wagner, is on the major league squad and may get some looks in the closer role over the next two weeks while Wagner is out.  Daniel Murphy, who was a third baseman in the minors but requested some work at second base and the outfield--a smart move, considering David Wright isn't going anywhere anytime soon--is getting the start in left field tonight agains the Padres.  The Mets really love the way he hits, so he could be a fixture at the major league level for the remainder of the season and perhaps into the future.  And rumor has it that the Mets are considering calling up Jon Niese to make a few starts in Maine's stead.

Continue reading "Mets Look to Bounce Back at Home"

What a day for Alfonso Soriano. He came up with a huge 3-run home run in the 7th inning with 2 on and 2 out to put the Cubs up 10 to 7 over the Astros. Soriano also had a single and a double to give him 4 RBI on the day. He touched home twice. 

Continue reading "If He Stays Hot..."

(FYI -- All my times are Pacific Time) 

4:02 p.m.

It's Monday, August 4th. The Cubs and Astros are about to face off. The wind is always something to pay attention to at Wrigley....and it looks like it is blowing at around 10-15 mph from right to left field, straight across. Sweet outfits and hair on many of the fans tonight. It's 70s night...

Continue reading "LIVE game talk Cubs-Astros 8/4"

                     

Continue reading "CUBS vs. ASTROS Game Preview -- (Mon. ..."

Tribune Co. is selling the Chicago Cubs franchise, along with Wrigley Field, and part of Comcast SportsNet. The Cubs, as well as Wrigley Field, would be the perfect investment for any billionaire; Cubs fans are not going to simply walk away from their favorite team no matter how long it takes for them to win the World Series. True Cubs fans are fans for life....they will continue to fill the seats every single year no matter the outcome of previous seasons. Call it stupid, some critics do, and I don't want to get into all of that right now, especially since I'm one of those "stupid" people that watches the Cubs every day. Anyway, all I'm saying is that Cubs fans are very loyal fans that will provide continually increasing revenue for the new owner.

Continue reading "CUBan bids how much?!"

The Brewers did the best thing possible for a team coming off of a 4 game sweep at home to a division rival, they blew out a bad team.

The 9-0 victory was a fresh start for the young Brewers, who, after dealing with a momentum killing seven game home stand needed to make a statement. There are two months left in the regular season, which narrows room for error for the team looking too far ahead in their schedule.

Continue reading "The Dog Days of Summer 8/2"

Every so often, I will put together a fairly small bio of Cubs players in a blog. If you are like me, I always want to know a little more about my favorite Cubs players. So, I am going to look through some information on the players and give you some of the good stuff. That way you don't have to do as much reading. So, here is some info on Geovany Soto.

Continue reading "Meet the Cubs..... * Geovany Soto *"

Jim Edmonds had two huge home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. The home runs just added salt to the Brewers' wounds. The Cubs beat the Brewers in games 1 through 4..... 6-4, 7-1, 7-2, and 11-4. The beating the Brewers received from the Chicago Cubs throughout the 4-game sweep hit a nerve. Frustration was obvious in the 9th inning when Eric Gagne of the Brewers threw behind Jim Edmonds on the fourth pitch of the at-bat. 

Continue reading "Brewers....Salty Finish"

    Monday night in Miami was an all-around bad experience for the Mets.  John Maine cruised into the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead, and looked just fine to the naked eye.  But after Maine missed with a 1-0 fastball to John Baker, Jerry Manuel, Dan Warthen and Ray Ramirez, the trainer, jogged out to the mound to consult with Maine.  He appeared to say he was fine, and stayed in the game for the time being.  But after his next pitch to Baker left the yard for a solo home run, and his 1-2 pitch to Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco chased Endy Chavez to the warning track to make the catch, Manuel and Warthen decided they had seen enough, and pulled Maine in favor of Carlos Muniz.  Maine is listed as day-to-day with shoulder stiffness, and Warthen said he was most concerned that Maine might develop further injuries if he tried to compensate in his delivery to protect his shoulder.  In all likelihood Maine will miss a start in order to rest his shoulder, and hopefully pitch again next week.  After the game Manuel was adamant that Maine will not pitch through any pain.

Continue reading "Mets Fried By Fish, Maine Leaves Early"

It took the national media until the very end of July to hype a series being played in Milwaukee.

Until now, the Brewers have quietly been sitting in third place in a division that in years past has been branded "The Worst Division in the National League". Hidden behind constant coverage of the timeless Chicago Cubs and the professionally consistent St. Louis Cardinals, the Brewers have emerged as a true contender beyond their division rivals.

Continue reading "The Series You Were Waiting to Hype, ..."

it's a big series for the cubs this weeks.  Four games in Milwaukee. And what better way to see what a team is really made of than to start off facing Sabathia and Sheets.  I think it's going to be a hard fought battle on both ends.  It's still July and this series will not make or break either team but it can swing a lot of momentum in one's favor.  The Cubs will have most of there banged up team ready to play except for Kerry Wood.  But with Marmol and the newly brough up Jeff Samardzija, their bullpen should be pretty strong. 

Continue reading "Milwaukee Fest"

This is it.  Brewers fans, Cubs fans, hell, any baseball fan.  The Cubs sit 1 game ahead of the Brewers atop the NL Central.  I love this series because it completely takes all my atten

Continue reading "Biggest Series of the Year"

    When the bullpen blew the game after Santana's eight stellar innings on Tuesday, fans and media types alike griped that the ace should have finished the game.  Saturday night's 14-inning marathon necessitated a long outing from Santana, and he answered the call, this time by pitching a complete game six-hitter, to put the exclamation point on the Mets' 9-1 win in the rubber game of the series against St. Louis.  The lone blemish on his masterful performance was Albert Pujols' seventh inning solo home run, but as Aaron Heilman learned early Sunday morning, you sometimes just tip your cap when that man hits one out.

Continue reading "Santana Goes the Distance, Mets Stay Hot"

...Not too bad a way to start the second half by taking 2 of 3 from the Chicago Cubs. Too bad the loss was a 9-0 shutout...

...The Astros and Pirates seem to be playing hot potato with last place. Last night, Houston blew a 9th inning 3-2 lead when Jose Valverde went out and threw batting practice when he was supposed to be saving the game. Valverde's line on the game: a third of an inning pitched, five hits, six earled runs, one walk, no strikeouts and two home runs. He's now 4-3 with a 4.86 ERA. Both teams left a combined 25 runners on base.

Continue reading "Astros briefs"

Every once in a while a ballgame will come along that even if you lose it, you feel lucky to have been able to see and experience it.   For me, as a pitcher those particular games are ones where the pitching is great.  

Continue reading "The Big Unit outduels Rich Harden in pitching gem."

Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade is said to be seeking late-inning bullpen help for Doug Brocail as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. Those of us who spend entirely too much of our lives following the MLB know that any players traded for

Continue reading "What will the Astros do as the trade ..."

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

Yes, I know I'm being a terrible sports fan, but I didn't watch the all-star game. We don't get Fox very well from our house, but even if we did, I'm not sure I would've watched. Besides, the game has become a popularity contest, one that just doesn't interest me. The only thing exciting about it now is that the winner will get homefield advantage in the World Series.

Continue reading "Post All-Star game thoughts"

It’s the annual midpoint of the baseball season, and for the brief span that is the All-Star break, all eyes are upon the Bronx. As everyone is well aware of, this campaign is the last go around for the world’s most famous, largest, and most prominent ballpark, Yankee Stadium. It seems hard to believe, and even more sacrilegious that this living legend’s days are numbered. Built in 1923 and christened by the greatest ballplayer to ever live, Babe Ruth, the cathedral of baseball will never truly be replaced. Although the Bombers will move a block to Yankee Stadium’s heir, the Mecca of America’s Pastime will still live on in our hearts. Whether you’re a diehard Yankee fan, or Yankee-hater, you still can respect the history and awe that the stadium brings. So when the All-Stars take the field Tuesday night, sit back on your couch, crack open a cold one and soak up the history of Yankee Stadium, as its final chapter is unveiled to all of us.

Continue reading "National League Looks to End Rut"

Been awhile since I posted on here.  The cubs are looking good up to the all-star break so far.  They just got Rich Harden which may be a good pick up for this year but I am a little worried

Continue reading "Let's take a Break"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

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.

Continue reading "The All-Star break... my chance to ..."

You wish Houston could have games like Sunday's first-half finale against the Washington Nationals all the time. I was pleased to see that Houston decided to stop wearing their glorified batting practice road jerseys and go with the grays instead, but I digress.

Continue reading "Halfway through the baseball season: ..."

The other big trade that happened recently was the Cubs’ acquisition of the oft-injured Rich Harden from Oakland. This move is typical of Oakland’s business model, which involves shedding young stars before they get too expensive, often in exchange for other young or undervalued stars. In this way, they’re similar to the Florida Marlins, except that the Marlins tend to load up for concentrated runs at the championship (they have as many championships in the last decade as big-market Boston, and more than the Cubs have in the past hundred years), while the A’s tend towards consistent competitiveness.

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part Two"

Still playing ketchup here, trying to make up for a four-day absence from the blog, so I want to start with the big trade of last week, the CC Sabathia swap. The usefulness of this deal to the Brewers is a little dubious, as CC is likely to be a half-season rental, but let’s break it down:

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part One"

It’s been three days since the Cubs acquired former Oakland ace Rich Harden, and those three days have shown a lot about the club. Harden has said he couldn’t be happier in pinstripes and has so far looked like a good fit in the clubhouse. He instantly has formed a sort of kinship with fellow British Columbian Ryan Dempster, and has received the praise of pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Like fellow former American Leaguer stud pitcher “CC” Sabathia, Harden has been place right in the middle of the Senior Circuit’s best race so far. With the Central’s big three clubs separated by less than five games, the division could go either way. For the Cubs, Rich Harden will be a key piece in taking their second consecutive title away from Sabathia’s Brewers. Sabathia was acquired a mere 24 hours before Harden, but by no means is Harden any less of a pitcher despite being the consensus second best available pitcher.

Continue reading "All-Star Break Push: Harden added, ..."