Blow It All Up

I'm talking Cubs of course. Baseball Today is talking about a rumor involving Cub pitching going to the Mets (hopefully along with a huge contract) for Beltran.

We need a lefty run producer because Fukudome hasn't worked out.

I still haven't decided if I'm boxing up my Cub gear until they win a post season series, and I'll save my friend Craig the trouble, yes, I know I may never need it again so long as I live.

Kosuke Should NOT Be Benched

I can't believe I wrote that, but I did and here's why.

1. Chavez Ravine has a HUGE outfield, and Fukudome's strength is his defense. You need a guy who can run patrolling right.

2. DeRosa has a gimpy leg right now. The guy is dinged up right now and running down fly balls or gappers probably isn't going help his leg. Despite his error on Thursday, his bat needs to be in the line up.

3. Redemption. You need to stick DeRo back at second so he can make up for his error in the field (he certainly did his job at the plate).

4. Kuroda. The Cubs haven't been able to figure him out yet in their prior two starts against him, but Fukudome has the most experience against him. Tap into his knowledge and share it with his teammates.

5. 38 Million Dollars. I believe that is what's left on Kosuke's contract. He hasn't put in the time in the cage like he should (Man Ram is constantly hitting and he's got a bigger contract and bigger talent than anyone on the Cubs right now). You stick him in the doghouse now, you risk losing him for the next three years.

I can't believe I'm sticking up for Fukudome, but I am. Start him Lou.

Let's Get One Win in LA....

if they start thinking about winning three straight, or the crushing history of a 100 years of failure, it'll never happen.

Edwardo Perez (I know, WHO???) on ESPN was laughing at the idea of the Cubs winning tonight. Kuroda has been a mystery to them so far this year and Harden's velocity has been down since receiving a cortisone shot, but come on, LAUGH AT THEM on ESPN??? Who the hell is this clown and what gives him the right?

I liked Bill Murray's approach better. He feels sorry for the Dodgers because now that they're the home team, all the pressure will be on them, and let's see how THEY deal with it. I don't know that I feel sorry for them, but he is right.

So, let's get one f'ing win in LA tonight and worry about tomorrow then.

The Flying Monobrow....

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Do you realize...

that if the Cubs and Marlins sweep the Beermakers and Metropolitans, AND the Astros win out, the Cubs will have to go to Houston and play the make up game on Monday?

I can’t decide if I’m enjoying the Sox crumble or if it makes me ill. I want to see them in the post season, but I sure as hell don't want to meet them at the Fall Classic.

Will McCain show up tonight? I can't decide if he's brilliant or has lost his marbles. Is he really putting the country first, or is he concerned he'll get hammered tonight (or Palin will in HER debate which is when this one would be postponed until)?

They should debate. McCain should show up, and he should wipe the floor with Obama on Foreign Policy (the agreed subject of the debate). Will he? I'm not confident.

2008 NL Central Division Champions!

For the first time in 100's years, the Cubs are going to the post season. I'd be proud if it weren't so embarassing.

Enough of that negativity. We've clinched the division and now we need the Beermakers to step up and put some pressure on the NL East runner up. If the Brewers have fallen and cannot get up, we'll be looking at 4 of 5 against either Hamels/Myers or Santanna/Pelfrey. I still like our chances, but I'd like them better if one of them has to pitcher their starters down the stretch.

Next Year is HERE!!!!

I Feel Better....

Who said it???

"We're playing like we're waiting to get beat. You don't have a big enough lead in September to play ball like that. Teams [that] play ball like that invariably get caught, no matter how big the lead."

"You can talk about having fun, talk about relaxing, you've got to get your shirt[sleeves] rolled up and go out and kick somebody's ass! Period!"

Was it:

A) Dusty Baker
B) Don Baylor
C) Jim Riggleman
D) Sweet Lou Pinnella

Oh, and they won yesterday. Let's get another today!!!!

Not Worried...

Not yet. The Cubs WILL make the playoffs, but if they keep scuffling like they have been, they won't get out of the first round again this year.

They are squeezing their bats into sawdust, we don't need Lou to scream and flip over tables in the clubhouse (but that would make ME feel better), he needs to loosen them up. They don't need to relax and get comfy, they need to stop pressing.

I really hope Pujols hurries up and opts for that elbow surgery before tonight's game. Why wait until the end of the year?

The good news? The Large Hadron Collider didn't generate black holes stable enough to swallow the earth whole.

Enjoy your day.

Watch Out Reds Fans, Dusty's At It Again!!!!

I'm a Cubs fan, and I've seen this before. I'm also an owner of Aaron Harang in Fantasy Baseball, so yet again, Dusty found a way to screw me.

From Jayson Stark's Column on ESPN:

Seeing Red: We've heard some buzzing lately, among baseball men, scouts and players, about a recent Dusty Baker quote on the Reds' troubles that sure looked like an attempt to absolve himself of all blame.

"I have never wanted to win more than I do right here, and I will," Baker told the Dayton Daily News' Hal McCoy. "But this is Wayne Krivsky's team, not Walt Jocketty's and not mine. I just hope there is enough out there after the season that we can get to help us."

Maybe we're not reading that right. But if we're misinterpreting it, suffice it to say we're not the only ones. And it appears Baker is saying that the Reds' disappointing record is his players' fault, and his former GM's fault, but not his own or his current GM's doing.

Well, obviously, Jocketty is only now beginning to put his stamp on this roster. And the players haven't exactly overachieved. But doesn't the manager bear some responsibility for this mess, too?

Scouts who have followed the Reds continually talk about their messy execution, their mediocre defense and their distinct lack of energy. There also has been plenty of second-guessing of Baker's lineup choices (particularly those 242 at-bats Corey Patterson has gotten).

And there is no shortage of people wondering whether Aaron Harang's forearm injury -- along with his 1-6, 8.49 slide in the past 2½ months -- might be a direct result of Baker's decision to allow him to throw 63 pitches in relief on two days' rest in a May 25 18-inning game, then start him on three days' rest immediately afterward.

Dusty Baker has many admirable traits. And this is not an attempt to heap all the blame on him. We're just saying that when teams like this fall apart, it's everybody's fault -- including the manager's.

THANK YOU JIM HENDRY!!!

While I'll miss the goofy grin of Sean Gallagher, I'm happy as can be (after missing on Sabathia) that Jim Hendry is pulling the strings for the Cubs. I don't care WHAT he said, this was his Winston Wolfe persona taking care of the "Bonnie Situation" (if you don't know what I'm talking about, rent "Pulp Fiction". You're welcome). Something Andy McPhail (McFail) would NEVER have done.

No, I'm not printing my World Series Tickets yet, but we've matched the top end of the Brewers situation. With Rich Harden coming over, we now have our "Ben Sheets" in that when the guy is healthy, he's one of the best in the bigs, the trick is "when the guy is healthy" part. Buster Olney on ESPN compared him to an older Mark Prior. I see that. When he's on the bump, it's magic.

Oh, and when the Brewers added Sabathia, they got their "Big Z". I love our chances, our bullpen is better than theirs and our hitting more consistent, and kicking the ball around the field is something they do now and we did (A LOT) last year.

My buddy Geoff beat me to the punch with his spot on assessment of the impotence in the realm of political intercourse going on in the Congress with their now SINGLE DIGIT approval rating. This isn't golf folks where the low score wins. See Geoff's blog here: http://prayersforwah.blogspot.com/.

Lastly, my darling sister corrected my blog protocol by insisting I pass along the kudos to her source for the Home Depot tip from earlier. My original post has been corrected. Thanks again Sis!

She also has an idea about Entertainment Weekly scaling back their publishing by asking subscribers to hit their website. I think she may be right on the money with this one.

I'm Awesome

I scooped ESPN by like a half hour on the story below. They're lazy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3475667

Oh, and the coolest image I could find that exemplifies the greatness of America on our birthday weekend:

I pulled that from Ariania Huffington's site, I remember when she was a conservative too.

Damnit!!!!

This is going to haunt my beloved Cubbies: http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/

Sabathia going to the Beermakers absolutely sucks. We needed him to slot between Z and Dempster for our post season rotation. Don't the Brewers know that it's been 100 years for us and THIS IS OUR YEAR?!?!??! I hate it when other teams don't follow the obvious story lines.

Who's left to go get who'd be worth trading top prospects for? Rich Harden of the A's or Bedard from Seattle might qualify. AJ Burnett said he'd come to Chicago, but his numbers are awfully similar to Lilly's (not a bad thing, just not a WOW pitcher who could carry us a little in the post season).

Had an enjoyable day today with mi familia at Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags. I kind of pissed and moaned about going. It's a holiday weekend, sunny and 85 degrees out and I'd assumed all of Park City would be there. It was a little crowded, and my 7 year old and 5 year old sons got QUITE an eyeful from all the skin they saw, but it was a pretty enjoyable day. Brooke was right about going and I'm glad we went. Cameron almost lost his trunks about a dozen times in the wave pool. I'd hike them up for him, and two waves later he's practically bare-assed again. It was hilarious.

I saw a NUMBER of stupid things in the paper today:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0704pledgejul06,0,2987262.story

Is it Time to Retire the Pledge of Allegiance? Why? As my sister and Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA pointed out correctly, America is "the greatest, best country God has ever given man on the face of the Earth". Why NOT pledge allegiance to It's flag? So WHAT that the Pledge itself was started out to sell flags? Too many people are putting their individualism above the good of the group. I know that sounds vaguely Socialistic or Communistic, but I think it's more like "all for one and one for all" rather than the more fashionable "all for me".

Starbucks is hurting.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0437926720080706?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

I don't particularly care much about this (but it may be a BUY opportunity for their stock), as the market is speaking and their popularity is waning. I'm not getting the schadenfreude going on out there about this. I sure as hell don't have time to lay about in a coffee house and peruse the paper or shoot the breeze with whomever is in there. But taking delight in the downturn of this commercial giant is just crazy. Sure, I'd like to be rewarded for my business as a loyal customer (I'm not really one at Starbucks), but expecting free WiFi while I sip a latte? Who are these people? They're nuts.

The Cubs took two of three from the Cardinals and I had just as many hits as Jim Edmonds did. I guess LaRussa still has his number.