Archive for September 4th, 2008
September 4th, 2008
Prohibitive NL Rookie of the Year favorite Geovany Soto sports the number now, but these stalwart Cubs had it in the past: Glenn Beckert (1965-73), Bill Madlock (1974-76), Mike Tyson (the pudgy infielder, not the ear-knawing pugilist, 1981), Dwight Smith (1989-93) and Moises Alou (2002-04).
I’d like to take this time to thank Shawn Estes (No. 55 in your 2003 Cubs program, No. 1 in your heart) for tossing six solid innings against the Brewers. It’s nice to see the offenses of other teams get befuddled by soft-tossing left-handed former Cubs.
September 4th, 2008
Cubs fans have flip-flopped harder than any Presidential candidate. They used to love Derrek Lee and denigrate Aramis Ramirez. They said Ramirez didn’t hustle (OK, he didn’t) or hit in the clutch. They dismissed his career-high 119 RBIs in 2006 by saying he disappeared the first month after Lee was injured for the season.
Now, Cub fans call Ramirez (.276, 24 HRs, 100 RBIs) the man they want up in the clutch. And say Lee (.291, 18, 77) is a sure double-play about to happen. Truth is, Lee has been better than the Cubs could have expected. He was a career .270 hitter who had topped 90 RBIs and 30 homers once in six seasons with Florida. He’s averaged .304 with 30 HRs in his four healthy seasons in Chicago.
Lee is also a class act and a Gold Glove first basemen. His problem isn’t hitting into a league-leading 25 double plays, it was hitting .335 with 46 HRs in 2005 and making Cub fans think he was Albert Pujols.
September 4th, 2008
The Cubs are on a season-high five-game losing streak. It’s hard to be comfortable, I know.
But, the good news is (besides what fellow C-Notes blogger Tony Garcia mentioned in a previous post) that the Cubs are still four and a half games ahead of the Brewers, who have lost three games in a row to the Mets.
Even the ever-Mets-loathing Ron Santo has to be happy with that.
September 4th, 2008
Would you believe Lee Elia wore this to the playground as a player in 1968? Most recently, Matt Murton wore the number previously made famous by Manny Trillo (1975-78, 1986-88), Hector Villanueva (1991-92), Gary Matthews Jr. (2001) and Hee Seop Choi (2002-03).
I would say that at least the Cubs don’t have to worry about Adam Dunn (traded to Arizona) on their way to Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, but I also said to friends before the Houston series that at least we didn’t have to worry about Carlos Lee (on the DL) … and look at where that got us.
