THROW IT BACK.....15 TIMES

The game tonight was amazing. First of all, we tore the Reds a new one. Absolutely obliterated any dignity they had tonight, and I loved every moment of it. Zambrano went 3-for-4, Derrek Lee hit yet another home run, and we scored 12 runs. Let me say that again, 12 runs. That's a one with a two after it. We weren't even trying after the 3rd inning, as we already had 10 at that point.

The weather was phenomenal, the atmosphere was great, and the insults were flowing. As I was sitting in the left field bleachers, Adam Dunn was our target of choice. As is often the case, most of the things we shouted consisted of us making sure he was aware of his level of suckiness. We were also somewhat within shouting distance of Corey Patterson, which got interesting when his younger brother Eric came up to bat. We proceeded with a chant of Corey's name, and then when Eric struck out looking someone yelled to Corey that it must run in the family. That someone might have been me. I got some laughs out of it, which is really the whole point of the heckling experience.

The best moment by far though was when Adam Dunn came up to bat in the 8th inning. He hit a solo home run, which you're probably thinking makes for a crappy best moment. The ball cleared the right field bleachers and landed on Sheffield, and the fans began the obligatory shouts to throw it back. And then something interesting happened. Not only did a ball come flying back onto the field, but two other balls came with it. Some people in the right field bleachers decided that looked like fun, so they joined in by throwing more balls onto the field. All in all, 15 baseballs found their way onto the field and play had to be stopped to remove them. I only wish my fellow left field occupants had joined in the fun, but no one seemed to have any baseballs. Probably the funniest thing I have ever seen at Wrigley, and I stood and cheered along with everyone else in the bleachers. I think our message was clear, screw you Adam Dunn. You suck. Your home runs are not welcome here.

That experience basically defined the game for me, it was fun, exciting, and a bit silly at times. Everything a good baseball game should be. If I can find any pictures or video of the baseball throwing in action I'll be sure to post them.

You can read a full recap of the game and the player's reactions to the ball throwing here.

Jacques Jones is Dead to Me

Look JJ, can I call you JJ? Is that okay? Because the whole french thing just isn't doing it for me, and I'm gonna assume that you don't approve of being called Jock. So JJ it is. Anyways, here's the deal JJ. I want to like you as a player, I really do. Then again, I also want to win the lottery, date Jessica Alba, and own a small island nation. Some things just weren't meant to be.

Ever since you first came to this historic ballclub in 2006 you've had some issues. First of all you called out the fans for booing you. I don't know where this idea came from that fans aren't supposed to care how well their team is playing and they should always cheer, even if their 50 bucks just went to waste to watch a crappy performance. I know you ended off the year well and you feel that your complaints were well-founded, but the fans weren't booing you at the end of the year. We were booing you when you were batting .219 through your first 21 games. And that was a vast improvement over the .091 you were sporting after your first 8. You were the first of the recent string of Cubs players who feel like the fans should happily accept someone getting paid millions who sucks at their job *cough* Big Z *cough*. And for that, I cannot like you.

And then there are nights like tonight. At first glance it looks like you had a good night, going 3-for-6 with a run. But you just can't pull through in the clutch. You're not the only one by far, the team left 15 men on base in this game and only scored 4 runs with 10 hits and 10 walks. But it seems like every time you come up to the plate when the game is on the line, I'm reaching for the OFF button on the remote before they throw you a pitch. Because I know what's going to happen. It is for this reason that my friends and I have dubbed you "The Human Rally Killer". And now, thanks to the magical powers of the internet and Wikipedia, the whole world shall know you by this name.

Hey, at least you'll be remembered for something. My best shot right now is "the guy who pretended that he got Wade Miller fired".

Uh Oh...

I think the Brewers have finally figured out the secret to the Cubs' success. They've begun fighting amongst themselves.

When the half-inning ended, Estrada and Yost got into a heated dispute in the tunnel leading from the dugout to the clubhouse. Infielder Tony Graffanino stepped between them while pitcher Ben Sheets and pitching coach Mike Maddux stood in front of Estrada.

The next inning, Yost motioned with his finger for Estrada to come talk with him, and they disappeared out of sight down the tunnel.

Now as far as I know it did not come to fisticuffs, but especially with the manager directly involved this could light a fire under them just like the Zambrano-Barrett incident did.

On the other hand...never fear, Wood is here!

Well That Was Short Lived

The Cubs grabbed the outright division lead for a solid 39 minutes before matching the Brewer's shoddy performance and earning a loss of their own. Tomorrow, the two teams switch opponents yet again as they've been doing for the past two months or so. If anyone knows why their schedules are set up like this, could you let me know? It's getting kind of weird and I'm not sure how much I like it.

Again, technically the Cubs still have a slight edge over the Brewers. But technically Carmen Electra has never told me she doesn't want to date me. A victory in both cases, yes, albeit a rather small one.

NL Pitcher of the Month Zambrano takes the mound against the Mighty Mets, one of the few teams in the NL that worries me. Zambrano had a 5-1 record in July with a 1.83 ERA, which is pretty incredible. Then you realize that Ted Lilly, who I until recently may or may not have hated, also pulled off a 5-1 record with a slightly worse 2.52 ERA in that same month. With pitchers like these, I'm kind of disappointed we're not actually ahead of the Brewers.

You Won't Like Us When We're Angry

I'm sorry, what was that Mr. Zito? You beat us yesterday? And Barry Bonds is still too much of a pansy to play a game at Wrigley? How about this: You keep pretending that Bonds has abnormally sore knees and that you are good enough to qualify as a team, and we'll just use our backup catcher to destroy you 12-1. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Oh yeah, and we won't hit a single home run during this massacre. Those are overrated anyways.

Sam Zell Can Go Screw Himself

As we reported earlier today, the Cubs had finalized a deal with the Marlins allowing us to finally dump Jacque Jones off on another team. rfs found details on the nearly finished deal and posted them here. Well, it turns out that incoming Tribune owner Sam Zell wanted nothing to do with the trading of someone so disliked that he has not had a single at-bat in 6 days.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the deal was complete and signed off on by the commissioner's office, and was going as planned until Mr. Zell, who is also a part owner of the White Sox whom the Cubs just swept, stepped in and vetoed the cash transaction that was included as part of the deal.

According to a high-ranking baseball official with direct knowledge of the talks, they even had a commitment from the Cubs' front office to cover roughly $6.6 million of the $7.2 million remaining on Jones' contract through next season.

The deal collapsed, however, when incoming Cubs owner Sam Zell – who is in the process of purchasing a controlling interest in the Tribune Co., which publishes the Sun-Sentinel – vetoed the hefty cash exchange.

The Sun-Sentinel also mentions that it was Zell who personally decided that the talks for Zambrano's long term deal should be delayed until "a later date".

I'm assuming that Mr. Zell is making decisions solely based on profit margins, but I don't see how having Jacque Jones and not having Zambrano locked up could possibly increase the value of your team. Whichever person or company this team gets sold to, it needs to be one that won't interfere with doing what will help us win. And it definitely can't be a Sox fan.

Deep in Enemy Territory

The Cubs easily took the first game of the series against the White Sox today, winning 5-1 behind a pair of solo home runs, some solid play in the 9th inning, and another great game from Zambrano. Maybe he was being serious about this whole being a new season thing.

Today also marked the triumphant return of Aramis Ramirez, who hit one of those solo shots to send a clear message to anyone who doubts the strength of his left knee. Never mind that almost no running or use of the knees is in any way involved in swinging a bat.

Sean Gallagher was sent back down to Iowa, and most Cubs fans probably won't notice a difference. Sean had a 9+ ERA in 5 and a 1/3 innings this season.

Rich Hill gets the call tomorrow against Javier Vasquez at noon. A month ago, I would have put the easy money on Hill, but nowadays I'm not so sure. Prove me wrong buddy.

And in This Corner, Weighing in at 245 Pounds...

Today should have been about Carlos Zambrano. The headlines should tell about a heartbreaking loss, where Big Z flirted with a no-hitter but ended up losing while pitching a 2-hit complete game. It should have been about the stellar defensive plays that were made, and how many times the Cubs infield pulled off double plays to get him out of a jam.

But no. Today's game was all about Derrek Lee taking offense at something that Chris Young said, and then taking a swing at the 6'10" behemoth. It was about something that Jake Peavy said yesterday regarding Soriano watching his home run sail over the wall. It was about Peavy, Young, and Lee all getting ejected after the rumble.

And this isn't the end of it. There will be repercussions. There will be suspensions. Greg Maddux is pitching tomorrow, and he's old school enough that I would expect retaliation if it wasn't for the history he has with this Cubs team. Tomorrow's game just got very interesting.

All I have to say right now is that Chris Young must be a huge douchebag to get DLee that riled up. Lee knows what's up, he's a good guy and he doesn't start throwing hands for no good reason. After getting beaned in what was almost the face, Lee said something to Young which I couldn't make out. Young's response looks like it must have been completely out of line as Lee's reaction was instant, stopping dead in his tracks. "What?". And then everything exploded. In the midst of the ensuing fight, somehow Zambrano's belt came off. I like to think he was planning on beating someone with it.

I'll probably be back tonight with more thoughts on the topic. Until then if you need more details, every sports show in the country will have them.

Everything is Going According to Plan

I said that the Cubs needed someone to show a little bit of emotion to get this team rolling. We were stuck in a rut and no one seemed to care enough to do anything about it. Having a team meeting shows that you're tired of losing, not that you want to win.

So when Lou got ejected, I was excited. While everyone else was calling his antics deplorable and going on and on about how the Cubs were losing control of their players, I knew exactly what Lou was doing. His ejection coupled with Zambrano attacking Barrett would light a fire under the team.

Since he was suspended, the Cubs went from a 6 game losing streak to winning 3 of their last 4 games. Felix Pie is doing very well, Soriano got five hits in one game against the Brewers, and Zambrano is pitching like, well, Zambrano. All is well with the world. I just hope the team can keep it up when Lou returns, otherwise the Cubs might need to send him on an extended vacation for the rest of the season. Somehow Lou seems to manage best when he's not in the clubhouse.

Oh My Blanco!

Look what happens when Henry leaves. After Lou announced that Blanco was to be Big Z's personal catcher, the stud catcher used incredible foresight and got himself onto the 15-day DL before the altercation today.

It is clear that for Carlos' own safety, Henry the Wise chose to avoid an imminent confrontation with Zambrano, knowing full well that he would have beat the snot out of the ace pitcher had he been behind the plate for todays game.

Obviously, Henry Blanco is the glue that holds this team together, the fabric that weaves Cubs Nation into its glorious being. Let us all hope for his speedy recovery.

Suck the White Fox (Part 3)

It's OK Carlos, two out of three isn't too bad.

And we still have three more games to get our point across: The White Sox blow.

...

I have just one question for Stuck (our reporter in the field): Where the deuce are the game summaries?

Go Cubs.

Zambrano's Hips Don't Lie

The big news before today's game was that Carlos Zambrano had been working on his mechanics. Apparently he was doing something wrong with his hips during his delivery, and that's what caused him to look like a fifth starter. Right. Well whatever it was that Zambrano fixed (maybe just using the computer less?), it worked extremely well. Big Z was in late 2006 form, pitching a full 8 innings while only giving up one run. He even went up to bat in the 9th inning, as if to tell the bullpen "That's right, we don't trust you, even with a 9 run lead". Lou did bring in Scott Eyre to finish off the game, however, and soon discovered that Scott Eyre is only good when he is given an enourmous lead. Who knew?

Game Summary for May 15th, 2007

• Score: Cubs destroy the Mets, 10-1.
  
• Player of the Game: Big Z. Great performance at the perfect time, giving our bullpen a chance to relax and not get blamed for a loss.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Rocky Cherry. Don't know what he did wrong, but for some dumb reason he was just optioned back to Iowa for a middle infielder, albeit an impressive one. I just don't understand how a 2.89 ERA isn't good enough for the majors Lou. Send Ohman down to the minors, see how he likes it.
  
• Comments: Zambrano got his groove back with a stellar outing, and the Cubs bats exploded against a young pitcher who though he was something. There can only be one Rich Hill kid, and I think your name is Maine or something. Tough luck. The grand slam by Aramis Ramirez in the 6-run sixth inning capped off an easy night for the team.
  
• Magic Number: 131. Brewers lost yet again to the Phillies. I'm thinking east coast teams may be their kryptonite.

Rich Hill tries to dismantle the Mets tomorrow night, facing off against Jorge Sosa in the third game of this strenuous four game series. Let's put together a streak of some kind boys.

Sunburns are Overrated

There is a yearly tradition I adhere to each year when I venture out to a day game in the bleachers. I am genetically fairly pale, Conan O'Brien style. That's what you get for being over half Swedish and 1/16th Irish (I just found that out, so now I have a good reason to celebrate St. Patty's day). So every year I head out to the bleachers and wear a sleeveless Cubs t-shirt, with no sunscreen at all. I like to think that will help me get a tan. And every year I come home with extremely bright red ears, nose, and upper arms. A couple years ago it was severe enough that I think it was medically considered sun poisoning, but that hasn't happened for a while. Therefore, I assume my attempts to get darker are working.

Yesterday was another one of these days. RFS was in town so we decided to get some cheap bleacher seats. It was beautiful out, I sat in the sun for a solid 4 hours, and the Cubs lost the series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. I'm feeling the sunburn right now, and all I can say is I hope it worked this time. If not, I'm sure I'll try it again within a month or so.

Game Summary for May 9th, 2007

• Score: Cubs shutout the Pirates, 1-0.
  
• Player of the Game: Jason Marquis. Pitched a complete game shutout and carried a perfect game into the 6th inning. Best performance of the year thus far.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Don Kelly on the Pirates, who broke up Jason's perfect game. If Lou was Santa, you would be getting a lump of coal this year Mr. Kelly.
  
• Comments: Marquis pitched a beaut of a game, allowing only 3 hits and lowering his ERA to a dominating 1.70 ERA. We needed it too, as the only offense the team could muster was a lead-off home run by Soriano, his first of the year and 34th of his career.
  
• Magic Number: Still 137. The Brewers appear to be unstoppable at the moment.
  

Game Summary for May 10th, 2007

• Score: Cubs of course lose the game I went to against the Pirates, 6-4.
  
• Player of the Game: Michael Barrett. Came in to pinch hit in the 8th and did his job, hitting a two run home run. One of the few people to do his job this game.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Carlos Zambrano. The man just can't get out of a first inning without trouble. If those three runs in the first hadn't happened, the cubs win this game. His ERA has ballooned to a 2006 Jason Marquis-esque 5.83. So much for being the ace of the staff.
  
• Comments: The power came back to the Cubs in this game, as all four runs were scored on homers by Ramirez, Barrett, and Angel Pagan. Speaking of Pagan, he was brought up for this game as Felix Pie was sent back to Iowa. The reasons given in the Tribune article are solid, but I'm still sad to see him go. When he was in the game he gave the team a spark and Cubs fans hope, and that will be sorely missed.
  
• Magic Number: Sitting at 137. Brewers are on a 6 game winning streak, and the Cubs are starting to revert to their old ways. Not a good sign.

The Cubs just lost to the Phillies as Rich Hill completely fell apart. I'll discuss that later, I can only do so many of these in one sitting.

The Turning Point Continues

The Cubs have their first 3 game winning streak ever since 2006. Zambrano was solid, the hits came rolling in, and I don't really have anything to complain about. Except that Lou still hasn't been ejected from a game. I've got faith that will happen soon enough though.

Game Summary for April 28th, 2007

• Score: Cubs manhandle the Cardinals, 8-1.
  
• Player of the Game: Jacque Jones. Great running catch, and a huge three run homer.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jerks.
  
• Comments: Zambrano was solid for once, Jacque Jones was amazing, all is well with the world. I'm still not sure why Lou keeps starting Jones in center and Floyd in right instead of the Pie-Jones outfield, but as long as we win I'm not going to complain too much.
  
• Magic Number: 145, pending today's Houston-Milwaukee game.

Tomorrow is the series finale and the chance to sweep the Cards in their own house. Rich Hill against some guy named Kip Wells. This oughta be good.

FINALLY! Volcano Lou Erupts!

I'm usually a big advocate of the Number 13. It happens to be my favorite number. I think part of the fact that everyone else thinks of it as unlucky attracted me to it. It was like, if it was my favorite number, then it wouldn't be unlucky for me, and that would make me different from everyone else. Yeah, maybe that was it.

Turns out that was a load of BS. Today was Friday the 13th, what should be one of my favorite days of the year, and it was on this day that the Cubs had the greatest collapse of the season thus far. So why, you may be wondering, does the title of this post have excited exclamation points in it?

Because Friday the 13th is the day that Papa Lou finally blew his top.

The Priors and Woods of the world are trembling in fear.

You may remember what Dusty Baker would say after Zambrano and Ohman made blowing a 5 run lead look easy. He would be apologetic and protective of the pitchers, saying these things happen sometime, and he'll get his stuff together. Not Lou Piniella, my friend. He's starting to sound like first base throwing, umpire face spitting, getting ejected from the game, 1990 World Series winning Lou.

"What the [heck] do you think isn't working? You see the [darn] game," he said.

"This guy's your ace," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of Zambrano. "You've got a 5-0 lead with the eighth and ninth hitters coming up. You feel pretty good about that inning. All of a sudden, it turns into a six-run inning. What do I do? I pitch [Zambrano] when it's his turn again. What else can I do?

"Then I bring in a reliever who's throwing 30-40-foot curveballs to boot," Piniella said of Ohman. "I can start to see some of the ways this team lost ballgames. I can see it. We've got to correct it, obviously."

"Look, when you've got a five-run lead, whether a guy misses a ball, makes an error, or what, you should be able to pitch through it," Piniella said.

Zambrano, however, seems to be channeling his inner Dusty Baker.

"When I came in [to the clubhouse] in the fifth inning, I told someone, 'Man, that happened so quick,'" Zambrano said. "I won't be frustrated. I feel good, I feel I'm throwing the ball the way I want to. I have to mix the pitches more and be more aggressive. That's it."

We'll see what Captain Lou has to say about that, Big Z.

Game Summary for April 13th, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose to the Reds, again, 6-5.
  
• Player of the Game: Michael Wuertz. Came in during the 5th inning to strike out three straight batters and clean up Zambrano's mess. We should call him The Janitor.
  
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Carlos Zambrano / Will Ohman. Zambrano loaded the bases with no outs and gave up 4 runs, Ohman then walked two batters to seal the loss. Lou finally made it obvious that he's sick and tired of managing a crappy team.
  
• Comments: We had this game made until the 5th inning. I actually quit listening after the Reds scored their first run, thinking even Zambrano can't blow this thing. Wasn't too surprised when he did though. On the bright side, the Cubs were decent on offense for a change. Zambrano began his push for the Silver Slugger award early this year with a solo home run. He now has as many homers as Soriano, Lee, and Aramis combined. Sometimes I wish the NL used a DH.
  
• Magic Number: Still 156. Reds are first in the division, this number is going nowhere if we keep losing to them.

Tomorrow's game features the only Cubs pitcher that hasn't had a bad game, Rich Hill, against the only Reds pitcher we've beaten all season, Bronson Arroyo. If we can't win this one, I'm fully expecting Lou to start sacrificing young players, Old Testament style. I nominate Angel Guzman and Ronny Cedeno for the first round.

Lazy Thursday

Having two days off in a row from baseball is not good for you. So I figure we might as well take this time to look at what's coming up next on the radar. Tomorrow's game is against the Reds, a team that we just can't seem to get a handle on this year. Adam Dunn scares me the most, but this crack head kid Hamilton has been heating up too, he just hit his second home run of the year last night. Zambrano is pitching tomorrow, and I'm sure you remember what Adam Dunn did to him in his first game. He already got his first win out of the way though, and that's usually tough for him to do in April so I have high hopes. Rich Hill pitches on Saturday, which I'm very excited for, this kid has some great stuff. Ted Lilly pitches in the game on Sunday, and the jury is still out on him. Those are probably our three best pitchers at the moment, so if we don't take at least 2 out of 3, we have some serious issues. With the days off, Wade Miller has been pushed back as far as humanly possibly. I think we're gonna try and see if we can make it the whole rest of the month without him pitching.

Since I was at the home opener on Monday, I couldn't really hear Devin Hester sing the national anthem. The crowd was too loud, like always. However, I did just watch a video of it that I found at Len and Bob's Baseball Blog. Holy freaking God. Either he was having way too much to drink in Skybox Number 7, or he should never be allowed to touch a microphone again. Unless he's gonna return it for a touchdown.

The fun is just beginning with the football singers. On April 14th we have Bernard Berrian, the 15th is Brady Quinn, and the 22nd will feature Robbie Gould. The entire list through April 24th can be found here. There's also a high school boys football team and a girls basketball team, so those should be entertaining too.

So enjoy your day off. Go outside, run around, have fun. Oh wait, you can't, it feel like Alaska out there. Then I guess you can sit in your cubicle and work all day. Sounds like fun.