Archive for August, 2008
August 24th, 2008
A pair of eccentric lefty closers (Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, 1989-90; Randy Myers, 1993-95) and a plethora of “These Guys were Actually Cubs?” featuring Joe Wallis (1975-76), Jerry Martin (1979-80), Steve Henderson (1981-82), Ced Landrum (1991), Kal Daniels (1992), Roosevelt Brown (1999-01), David Kelton (2003) and Todd Hollandsworth (2004-05) are recalled today.
Boy, those Brewers remain pesky. The Pirates loaded the bases with none out in the 12th inning today, and Milwaukee escaped when reliever Guilliermo Mota retired the next three Bucs. And the Brewers, now in possession of “Big Mo,” won it in their half of the 12th.
August 23rd, 2008
Don Young (1969, and one of Ron Santo’s favorites), Doug Dascenzo (1988-92), and The Crime Dog, Fred McGriff (2001-02) have been past proud wearers of No. 29.
Can’t wait to see what the Pirates have in stone for the Brewers tonight.
August 22nd, 2008
A week or so ago, the Brewers, with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets fronting a lineup second only to the Cubs’ in power hitters, seemed Chicago’s only near-playoff equal in the National League. Not anymore. Not with Mets lefthander Johan Santana in the midst of one of his typical second-half runs. Santana has back-to-back starts of 9 and 7 innings with no runs allowed, either earned or unearned. His ERA for the season is down to 2.64. It’s 1.49 in five August starts. Pedro Martinez is even showing signs of life, with an ERA just above 3 in five August starts. The Mets are now the No. 1 team the Cubs should try to avoid in the playoffs. Especially because it seems like bad karma that Carlos Marmol made the All-Star team this year while Santana, the best pitcher in all of baseball, was inexplicably left off the roster. Santana would be a shoo-in Cy Young pick this year if the Mets’ bullpen hadn’t blown a ninth-inning lead for him five times this year.
August 22nd, 2008
Nobody really expects to win the game when Jason Marquis starts.
August 21st, 2008
Ken Holtzman (1965-71, 1978-79), owner of two no-hitters for the Cubs; current Bridgeport White Sox broadcasters Steve Stone (1974-76) and Darrin Jackson (1985, 1987-89); and the immortal Matt Stairs (2001) were a few of the past Cubs who wore No. 30, now worn by lefty Ted Lilly.
Yep, we’re looking at 30.
August 20th, 2008
Do you think the Cubs would be where they are with Michael Barrett behind the plate? Aren’t you glad we haven’t had to compare how pitchers’ ERAs are different depending on who’s catching?
Thank you Geovany Soto. As Gareth mentioned a few posts ago, Peter Gammons of ESPN thinks Soto is a legit MVP candidate. His offensive stats are good, but not MVP caliber. However, He plays the game’s toughest position and he has helped Cubs’ pitchers post the second-best ERA in the league.
Newcomer Rich Harden credits Soto for helping him post a 1.50 ERA with the Cubs.
Soto’s base running last night was the turning point of the game. It gave the Cubs the only run they really needed.
Most Cubs fans don’t care about the MVP award. We’ve had a few since the last time the Cubs won a championship. It’s time to win it all and leave the post-season hardware for others to pick up.
August 18th, 2008
Having won his last three road appearances in dominating style, the argument that Ryan Dempster isn’t a Cy Young candidate because he can’t win away from Wrigley Field is now a moot point.
With the 14-5 Dempster having a career year, Carlos Zambrano bound to break out of his funk and Rich Harden avoiding injury (knock on wood), there is, however, a legitimate argument as to who is the Cubs’ ace.
The mystery surrounding Dempster’s new-found form this season was recently revealed in a New York Times story, in which he explains his curious glove flutter:
“I tell people I do it to fan myself, because I’m a sweater and I get hot out there.”
August 17th, 2008
If the playoffs started today, the Cubs would host the winner of the NL West Division deathmatch between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, both managers burning their bullpens beyond recognition.
And the wild-card Milwaukee Brewers would head to Queens to face the New York Mets, the NL East winner.
(And you know, I wouldn’t even complain to Fox if they made the Sabathia-Santana matchup their prime-time contest)
August 17th, 2008
If Penn and Teller cared about baseball, they would think this number was magical for the Cubs:
Doug Henning would think so, too, if he weren’t deceased at the present time.
August 17th, 2008
How do you like that, Florida Marlins!!!! Doesn’t feel so good when you allow eight runs late in a game you thought was all but won, right?!?!?!
(Yeah, you’re right. Nothing will make up for The Game Which Cannot Be Mentioned, even nearly five years later.)
But a great point from Sunday’s 9-2 Cubs victory over the Marlins was that the Chicago National League Ball Club had no homers in its eight-run seventh.
From the Yahoo! Play-By-Play recap:
| - M. Fontenot doubled to deep right |
| - R. Johnson singled to center, M. Fontenot to third |
| - J. Edmonds hit for R. Dempster |
| - R. Pinto relieved C. Volstad |
| - C. Ross in right field |
| - A. Amezaga in center field |
| - M. DeRosa hit for J. Edmonds |
| - J. Edmonds walked, R. Johnson to second |
| - A. Soriano doubled to deep left, R. Johnson and M. Fontenot scored, M. DeRosa to third |
| - R. Theriot grounded out to pitcher |
| - D. Lee intentionally walked |
| - A. Ramirez doubled to left, M. DeRosa and A. Soriano scored, D. Lee to third |
| - K. Fukudome hit sacrifice fly to center, D. Lee scored |
| - G. Soto intentionally walked |
| - R. Cedeno hit for M. Fontenot |
| - L. Kensing relieved R. Pinto |
| - R. Cedeno walked, A. Ramirez to third, G. Soto to second |
| - R. Johnson doubled to deep left, A. Ramirez, R. Cedeno and G. Soto scored |
| - M. DeRosa grounded out to third |
The Cubs are making opposing staffs work. A lot.
Next Posts
Previous Posts
