Archive for April 7th, 2008
April 7th, 2008
Saw a story in the Chicago Sun-Times last week about Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith backing Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. In the story, it mentioned Obama’s loyalty to the White Sox.
Which is great, in my opinion.
I’m a big fan when the state’s politicians don’t weasel out and say they’re fans of both Chicago baseball teams. Chicago’s mayor, Richard M. Daley, is a longtime dedicated White Sox fan. The governor, Rod Blagojevich, hangs around Wrigley Field too much.
Which reminds me: the gov needs to get off the Buying-Wrigley-Field bandwagon. But I understand he’d rather make news about baseball field preservation than watch the Rezko trial.
April 7th, 2008
Lou Piniella is not quite ready to have Kerry Wood close three days in a row, so Carlos Marmol gets the call in the 12th. It’s a nice fallback for the Cubs to have.
April 7th, 2008
… to boot a ball so he won’t feel left out. Errors from Ramirez, Cedeno and DeRosa have turned a 7-0 Cubs rout into an 8-8 tie in the eighth. Sheesh!
April 7th, 2008
This is becoming a very disturbing trend: The Cubs have trouble scoring a runner from third with less than two outs.
Happened again in the first inning today. First and third with one out and Aramis Ramirez at the plate. You would hope a big RBI guy like Ramirez would drive at least one run home, but that didn’t happen. Double play. Cubs don’t score.
The Cubs wasted a lot of those kinds of opportunities during the homestand, too.
April 7th, 2008
There was a lot to like about the Cubs’ weekend games against the Astros. Derek Lee looks to be in MVP form, Kosuke Fukudome continues to play well, Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood look good in the bullpen and Carlos Zambrano is looking strong.
Despite those bright spots, I have to worry about a homestand where the team goes 3-3. Wrigley Field has not provided the Cubs with much of a home-field advantage the last few years.
That makes this week’s road trip important if the Cubs are to get off to that fast start that manager Lou Piniella wants.
After three games in Pittsburgh, which nobody thinks is going anywhere, the Cubs go to Philadelphia to play the Phillies, who have struggled a bit in the early going. I’d like to see the Cubs go at least 4-2 on this trip before they come home to play the Reds.
Some folks think Dusty Beaker’s crew could be one of the surprise teams this year. The Cubs need to bury them early.
First things first. Let’s hope Ted Lilly gets back on track today.
