Holy. Cow.

Aramis just capped off an amazing comeback, and the Cubs have hit the .500 mark due to a 7-game winning streak we have going on right now. What a great way to start off the weekend.

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.

Watch Your Back Aramis

It was bad enough for Aramis Ramirez that he's out for at least a couple days with a strained knee, but now there's more bad news. The Cubs have taken a third baseman with the 3rd pick of the draft, a high school senior named Josh Vitters.

Vitters, who turns 18 on Aug. 27, is ranked as the top pure high school hitter by Baseball America. He batted .371 with eight homers and 25 RBIs for Cypress (Calif.) High School.

I know it's gonna be a while til this kid makes his way to the bigs, but I hope the Cubs move him along quickly. Competition is always a good thing, and we need all the help we can get. And I'm sure by the time he gets here Aramis will be burned out. If not, teach him to play shortstop. I'm getting tired of watching E5 play.

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.

Bill Hall Sucks! Bill Hall Sucks! Bill Hall.....well, you get the idea.

During tonight's game I discovered the true power of the left-center field bleachers. The drunk gentlemen behind me held an impassioned hatred for Bill Hall, and they did everything they could to make this known. They began with "F--- you Bill Hall! Hey Bill, your mother's a @$%*#!", and whatever else they could come up with. After the security guy who doesn't actually get to watch the game told them that profanity and insulting immediate family was not allowed, they reverted to "Bill Hall sucks!", "Hey Bill, you're a moron!", and "Hey Bill, you suck!". They couldn't come up with much else. As it turns out, a couple hundred of drunk bleacher bums chanting that you suck really has an effect on your self esteem. Mr. Hall went 0-for-6, something we reminded him of every time he came back to the outfield.

We are not only a force for evil, however. Jacque Jones spent the majority of the game in center field for some unexplained reason, and once he moved over to right field he did something remarkable. First of all, he made a great diving catch. But more importantly, he threw the ball on the was to 3rd base on one bounce! That was unprecedented.

Once Felix Pie came into the game in center field our attention turned to him, and he churned out two hits in the late innings that ending up not helping our team win at all. It's more than he had been doing lately on offense though.

Some other highlights of the Wrigley experience:

• The college kid sitting two seats over from me caught a ball tossed to him by a Brewer outfielder, and a home run hit during batting practice. I caught nothing.
• Showing up two and a half hours early to a game that wasn't even close to sold out meant that I had a chance to get a good picture of the Harry Caray statue without anyone in the way for once.

• Showing up early also meant that front row in the bleachers was available, which allowed us to partake in the constant heckling of the aforementioned Bill Hall.
• Having beer spilled on my sweatshirt an hour before the game started. That was fun.
• Saw Ronnie Woo Woo again, didn't get a high five this time though. He didn't come down to our part of the bleachers.
• I yelled at Jacque Jones once asking how many outs there were. He flashed me the two sign, which was awesome. About an inning later I told him that he threw like my sister.

So that was my game. A lot of fun, but any 12 inning game where you lose is depressing at the end of it all.

Game Summary for April 23rd, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose to the Brew Crew, 5-4 in 12 innings.
  
• Player of the Game: Aramis Ramirez. Hit his 200th career home run, a solo shot that gave the Cubs a fairly solid lead.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: The umpires. The last out was made on a ridiculous called third strike where the ball nearly landed in the dirt. Lou had some words for them in the tunnel after the game.

Piniella was not available to the media after the game. He and Perry exchanged some words with the umpires as everyone was headed to their respective clubhouses through the same tunnel, and Perry had to be pulled away. None of the words can be made available either. This is a family Web site.

• Comments: Zambrano failed to get a win again, continuing his April struggles. This time it was not his fault, however, as he left the game with a 4-2 lead. Scott Eyre came in and did what he does best, giving up two runs to dissolve the lead. The Cubs had trouble stringing together hits and failed to score after the third inning. Rocky Cherry made his Major League debut, giving up a solo home run to Prince Fielder and picking up the loss.
• Magic Number: 149. Can't gain any ground when you lose to the division leaders.

I will be at the game again tomorrow, and since Rich Hill is pitching I am hoping for a better outcome. On a side note, Wade Miller was placed on the disabled list with 'back spasms', which I believe is medical speak for having a 10.54 ERA. In the meantime I'm going to try and find out exactly what Lou said to those umps.

Season in Review: The 1/9th Mark (Offense)

Who came up with a 162 game season? Doesn't that seem like a really strange number to settle on? Why not just stop at 160, or better yet, 150? No they went with 162, a number that you can't divide by 10. So I'm going with a better number, 9. Every 18 games, or 1/9th of the season, I will be reviewing how the Cubs are doing so far.

Today was game number 18, and the Cubs have already been through their star player getting injured and recovering. Now that he is back, starting tomorrow, there is a logjam of people wanting to play in right field. Assuming that Pie performs well enough to stay up in the big leagues, Hendry really does need to deal someone or else this presents a bit of a problem.

As for the team's progress so far, we're 7-11. Not exactly where we had hoped to be. However, considering we've endured Zambrano's horrible April and Soriano's injury, I think things could be worse. The offense will get things moving, and Lou will get a little angrier with each passing day. If you look at the stats, you can see where those numbers are going to improve and how much of a difference that will make on the offensive side. I've outlined those below. Pitching review comes tomorrow, or when I have some free time, whichever comes first.

Hitting:

Alfonso Soriano

• Was injured in the 12th game of the season with a strained hamstring. Replaced by the much anticipated Felix Pie. Has no home runs, a disappointing average, and is generally underperforming.
• Current Stats: .260 AVG, 6 R, 1 RBI, 0 HR, .302 OBP.
• Projected Stats: .260 AVG, 78 R, 13 RBI, 0 HR, .302 OBP.
• Thoughts: Those are not leadoff man numbers. Those aren't even little league numbers. We know that he'll pick up the slack but wow, looks like a waste of time and money right now.

Matt Murton

• Sharing playing time with Cliff Floyd, which isn't helping his numbers. Will play even less if he's sharing right field with Floyd and Jones. Hendry needs to deal someone quickly.
• Current Stats: .278 AVG, .333 OBP, 6 R, 2 RBI, 0 HR.
• Projected Stats: .278 AVG, .333 OBP, 64 R, 18 RBI, 0 HR.
• Thoughts: Again, I'm sure these numbers will go up. Maybe not the average part, but the RBIs and runs will catch up once he gets back into some sort of groove. A couple of the Cubs just haven't gotten into the swing of things yet. Which brings me to...

Derrek Lee

• Current Stats: .348 AVG, .451 OBP, 14 R, 11 RBI, 0 HR.
• Projected Stats: .348 AVG, .451 OBP, 126 R, 99 RBI, 0 HR.
• Thoughts: Lee is putting up batting title numbers right now, he just hasn't gotten that first home run yet. The RBIs should be a little higher too, but that's probably coming from Alfonso's inability to get on. Lee will be incredible this year.

Aramis Ramirez

• Current Stats: .339 AVG, .371 OBP, 9 R, 12 RBI, 3 HR.
• Projected Stats: .339 AVG, .371 OBP, 81 R, 108 RBI, 27 HR.
• Thoughts: Aramis is another player whose power numbers should pick up the pace as time goes on. It won't be as drastic, but I would be surprised if his home runs weren't in the 35-40 range at least. His average is great though, keep that up A-Ram.

Michael Barrett

• Current Stats: .281 AVG, .348 OBP, 7 R, 15 RBI, 4 HR.
• Projected Stats: .281 AVG, .348 OBP, 63 R, 135 RBI, 36 HR.
• Thoughts: In this case, Barrett's numbers will go down slightly. His numbers are a little inflated because he has had 3 home runs in the past three games. So if I had done this review two games ago, I would have been projecting 20 home runs for him. Either way, he's doing a great job as a hitting catcher.
  

Mark DeRosa

• Current Stats: .259 AVG, .310 OBP, 6 R, 13 RBI, 4 HR.
  
• Projected Stats: .259 AVG, .310 OBP, 54 R, 117 RBI, 36 HR
  
• Thoughts: DeRosa has been pleasantly surprising. Put up good power numbers from the start, showing that maybe last year wasn't a fluke. Has been fairly versatile in the field as well, playing infield and outfield as needed.
  

Jacque Jones

• Current Stats: .292 AVG, .361 OBP, 7 R, 3 RBI, 0 HR.
  
• Projected Stats: .292 AVG, .361 OBP, 63 R, 27 RBI, 0 HR.
  
• Thoughts: This is yet another example of getting off to a slow start. Like the others, his average is good put the power numbers just aren't there. May come in time, or we may trade him. I hope it's the latter.
  

Cesar Izturis

• Current Stats: .182 AVG, .250 OBP, 3 R, 2 RBI, 0 HR.
  
• Projected Stats: .182 AVG, .250 OBP, 27 R, 18 RBI, 0 HR.
  
• Thoughts: Cesar isn't supposed to be a great hitter, we know that. But a .182 average? That's not gonna fly. And he's not being the gold glove shortstop we're paying for either, considering he had 3 errors in one game. Bad form Cesar. Bad form.
  

Felix Pie

• Current Stats: .136 AVG, .174 OBP, 3 R, 1 RBI, 0 HR.
  
• Projected Stats: .136 AVG, .174 OBP, 89 R, 30 RBI, 0 HR.
  
• Thoughts: These numbers have been adjusted to assume that Felix will play every game for the rest of the season. He's only played in 5 so far so these projections will be completely off. The average will pick up, the power will pick up, and at the rate he's going he'll finish the year with about 162 spectacular plays in center field.
  

Ryan Theriot

• Current Stats: .347 AVG, .373 OBP, 8 R, 4 RBI, 0 HR
  
• Projected Stats: .347 AVG, .373 OBP, 72 R, 36 RBI, 0 HR
• Thoughts: Despite not having a spot in the lineup to begin the year, Theriot has managed to play in all but one game. And he has been on a tear, especially in the last few. There's no room in the lineup for him though, whether in the outfield or infield. He deserves a spot, but there are none left. Yet another reason why Jones needs to go.
  

Cliff Floyd

• Current Stats: .261 AVG, .277 OBP, 6 R, 6 RBI, 1 HR
• Projected Stats: .261 AVG, .277 OBP, 54 R, 54 RBI, 9 HR
• Thoughts: Floyd is getting more playing time than Murton, most likely because he is a lefty and Murton is a righty. Usually in a veteran-youngster platoon it's the other way around. He hasn't had any issues related to his injury which is very promising. And he's yet another reason why Hendry needs to deal some players, this makes Floyd, Murton, Jones, and Theriot who all deserve a spot in the outfield, and we only have room for one of them.
  

Honorable Mention:

• Zambrano and Marquis are both batting .300+, and Zambrano is technically on pace to hit 12 home runs, or more than Derrek Lee in 1/5th of the games.
• Henry Blanco is batting .125 and he's awful. I love the guy but come on, learn to hit man. How can you be that much worse than 2 of our pitchers?
• Ronny Cedeno is hitting .107 and is even worse than Blanco.
• Daryle Ward has found his way into 14 games and hasn't done much of anything notable. And apparently he's so slow that Jason Marquis gets to pinch hit for him, even if it means we have no one to play first base the next inning.

I'll be at the game tonight and tomorrow. Sometime soon I'll get in a review of the pitching. Let's just say Rich Hill = Cy Young for now. I was going to do it here but it turned out to be really long. I think less detail is needed in the future.

Roller Coaster Ride of Emotion

This game was ridiculous. A brief synopsis:

• Cubs score 2.
  
• Cards score 2.
  
• Cubs get 2 more.
  
• Cards strike back.
  
• Cards go up by 3.
  
• Aramis!!!
• Howry gives up 2 more.
• Soriano???
• DeRosa!
• Dempster becomes Pujols' plaything.
• Cubs fail.

Wade Miller needs to never pitch again. I'm thinking of starting a petition to this end. Maybe I'll post one up here later.

Game Summary for April 22nd, 2007

• Score: Cubs throw it away against the Cardinals, 12-9, 10 innings.
  
• Player of the Game: Aramis Ramirez. Clutch 3 run homer to put us back even with the Cardinals, only to have us throw it away later. Picking up where he left off last September.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Wade Miller. Needs to lay in a hole and die. Is going to give Lou an ulcer.
  
• Comments: This game was a slugfest with the wind blowing out. We score, they score, we score again, they score again, they take the lead, we tie it up, they take the lead again, we tie it up again, Dempster gives up a 3 run homer to Pujols. Game, set, match. Somewhere in there we saw the early return of Alfonso Soriano pinch hitting for Pie. He hit a double, showing that he is a better hitter when he's injured. Sad.
  
• Magic Number: 149. Oh thank heaven, we're 7-11. I hate myself for saying that.

Tomorrow will bring sweet relief in the form of the Milwaukee Brewers, the only team we have yet to win a series against. Zambrano is pitching though, which worries me. I should be at the game so I'll recap it late tomorrow night. Gotta love those college discounts.