Mark DeRosa Wants My Job

Famous people writing in blogs is nothing new. Gilbert Arenas has a very popular one, Mark Cuban has one that makes me hate rich middle aged men who can't dance, and I have one. No, I'm not exactly famous, but if you're reading this then at least you know who I am.

Ever wished that a Cubs player had a blog though? Well call me Robin Williams, because here you go.

"I'll be wearing my regular road pants. They've been sewn up [after getting ripped in the seat] and they'll be worn tomorrow and throughout the course of the postseason."

Ohhhh MarkyMark. Some things we just didn't really need to know. With all honesty though, it's a good read and I'm excited that he's writing it. And he's getting paid more than me, so more power to him.

The Sexiest Man in Baseball has Retired, and No One Gives a Crap

That's right people, I'm talking about Todd Walker. We here at RTWF annointed him the sexiest man in baseball way back when (meaning almost a full two months ago). The Shreveport Times of all places has announced that, at least for the moment, Mr. Walker has hung up the cleats. The Shreveport Times??!? I know this guy wasn't exactly a legend, but he was a good ballplayer and a huge star in college. And I know you don't have to be a Cubs fan who is comfortable with his sexuality to realize that he was, in fact, the greatest Man's Man to ever play the game. Just look at this 5 o'clock beard he was always sporting.

Apparently there was an article out about 10 days ago saying that Walker wouldn't accept a minor league assignment and would probably just give it up if cut by the A's. But why wasn't I told when it happened? I didn't even hear about it until I read something over at Ladies..., which with all due respect to them is not where I expect to hear about one of the greats retiring. It's a shame that this hasn't gotten more attention.

Todd Walker was batting .271 when this atrocity occurred. I think the Cubs could use him to replace that Mark DeRosa fella, who's sitting pretty at .239. Come on Hendry. A man like this is exactly what this team needs to add some spark.

Bill Hall Still Sucks, Just Not as Much

Today's game was not as much of a rowdy affair as yesterday's game. We were sitting in the second row where the incredibly drunk people were yesterday, and well, we were not incredibly drunk. Therefore, we did not succeed in harassing Bill Hall until our lungs collapsed. Because of this he managed to get a hit, and the Cubs soundly lost. No real highlights to share except that we were right next to security guy Scott again, and he's still the coolest. And I had an actually conversation with Ronnie Woo Woo this time, which basically amounted to talking about how the Cubs were going to win. Too bad it didn't actually happen. If we can't win with Hill on the mound, what hope do we have?

Game Summary for April 24th, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose a rainy one to the Brewers, 4-1.
  
• Player of the Game: Mark DeRosa. Got an RBI double in the 9th, for the only offense the Cubs could muster.
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: I want to say Rich Hill here, but I can't considering he still has a 1.57 ERA. He did fail pretty badly during this game though, however with no run support it would have been hard to win even with a shutout. So I think the whole team is getting an earful tonight.
  
• Comments: Lou came out and said before the game that today's lineup will be the permanent one that he'll work with for now. Well Lou, you might want to rethink that statement. Rich Hill was not his normal self, and the Cubs couldn't get anything going. Add the rain to that and it turned out to be a fairly depressing game. So much so that I left in the 8th inning, and I never leave a Cubs game early.
  
• Magic Number: Still 149. I hate the Brewers with a passion.

Tomorrow is the final game of the series, with the surprisingly good Ted Lilly facing off against the surprisingly bad Ben Sheets. It would be fitting if the one game in this series that I didn't go to was the one game that we actually won. Let's hope that happens.

The Solution to All Our Problems

Rich Hill pitched another incredible game today. I'm being completely serious when I say that I expect him to be a strong competitor for the Cy Young award. Sure he scared us all a little bit with that awkward stumble off of the mound, but I'm impressed that he was able to overcome that embarrassment and finish the inning strong. We just need to find four more kids like him and the World Series will be a breeze.

Game Summary for April 19th, 2007

• Score: Cubs dispose of the Braves, 3-0.
  
• Player of the Game: Rich Hill. Was lights-out yet again, and he hasn't had a major gaffe yet. Currently leading the league with a 0.41 ERA and a 3-0 record.
  
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Nobody. This was a stress-free game, the only pitchers we had in there both performed very well. Some hitters had poor games, but nothing worth getting angry about.
  
• Comments: Rich Hill pitched a beautiful game, holding the Braves scoreless in 8 inning. Ryan Dempster picked up his 3rd save of the year, and he surprisingly hasn't given up a run yet. The Cubs scored on two solo home runs, one by Barrett and one by Ramirez, and an RBI double by Mark DeRosa. Not too bad, but it would be nice to see us string some more hits together.
  
• Magic Number: 151. We're currently tied with St. Louis for the last position in the Central, with the Cards being in the midst of a 4 game skid. Probably not how anyone thought the season would start off.

Tomorrow we start a three game series against the Cardinals at Wrigley in a fight for the worst record in the Central Division. Lilly pitches tomorrow against Braden Looper for the Cards. Both pitchers have a 2.37 ERA, so this might turn out to be a tough one. I just hope the Cubs can win a series for once and instill some confidence back it the fans that are tired of the same old stuff. I just don't know if we can win any games without Rich Hill.

Our Bullpen Needs a Nap

That's right, it turns out that the latest tendency the Cubs have of blowing games when the bullpen comes in to pitch is because they're overworked. Lou mentions the painful 14 inning game we all just had to endure, when he used all six of his bullpen pitchers. He then mentions that Ohman will get his stuff together eventually, which is a boldfaced lie. However, this is my favorite line:

Prior to Wednesday's game, Piniella stated that only Eyre, who used two pitches to get the final out in the ninth, was really rested.

Apparently being rested does not equate to pitching well as Eyre decided to follow up his first two easy outs with a walk, a single, another walk, and then two more singles. The Cubs had the lead for about 5 minutes when Eyre fell apart. I don't care how rested he was, Lou should have taken him out after the second walk. Even Dusty would have seen that coming.

Game Summary for April 18th, 2007

• Score: Cubs lose to the Braves, 8-6.
  
• Player of the Game: Mark DeRosa. The man is a machine. Another home run, two more RBIs, he's on pace to hit about 40 of them. Would have been Pie, but no one has won it twice in a row yet, and I'm trying not to overhype the kid too much.
  
• Subject of Lou's Wrath: Scott Eyre. Was handed the lead on a silver platter, proceeded to vomit on said platter. Bad table manners Scott.
  
• Comments: Zambrano was bad in the first inning, but it's April so we expect that. What's important here is that the offense actually fought back to take the lead, and the bullpen couldn't hold it. Again. Pie scored two runs and is still the most exciting thing about this team.
  
• Magic Number: 152. Slowly dropping, but no fast enough. Remember, this needs to get to zero by the end of the season. A few weeks before would be nice too.

Rich Hill pitches tomorrow, so you can put away the Prozac. He's facing off against Mark Redman, who is 0-2 with a 12.96 ERA. If we can't finish the job here, an intervention is in order.