Well That Explains.....Nothing

Today came the sad yet hilarious news that a former Cub has been busted for steroid use. As you read that sentence, I'm sure a number of different names started popping up in your head. You probably started off by thinking Sosa, Nomar, or Gary Matthews Jr. I can tell you now that you are thinking in completely the wrong direction. Think worse, much worse. Worse than Corey Patterson? Absolutely. Jose Macias? Fo-Sho. Even worse than Jacque Jones?? Sweet Jesus yes.

That's right, Dusty's Golden Boy was banned for 25 games for testing positive for a banned stimulant. I'm surprised they even bother to test people with a .172 batting average. That's like testing a Mormon for alcohol, or Mike Tyson for sanity. You just figure you're not gonna find any, so why bother?

Start TheRiot

Much has been made of the French Connection, Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot teaming up for double plays just like they did back at LSU. Today though, it was the Theriot-Lee combination in the lineup that did it for the Cubs. Theriot had 3 doubles and 3 runs, and each time he got a hit DLee followed up with one of his own. Lee scored the other 2 runs for the Cubs as they rebounded from yesterday's tough loss to take the series from the Brewers with a 5-1 win. Marquis pitched 7 solid innings while only giving up one solo homer, and Carlos Marmol continued his blistering pace by pitching 2 scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.13. Everything just seems to be clicking for this team right now, as we've won 8 of our last 9 games, and 6 of those games were at home where the team has not played well in the past. But most importantly, the team got back to .500 and we're just about halfway through the season. Did anyone expect that two weeks ago? Not me.

Riding the Iowa Merry-Go-Round

Yesterday, the Cubs made yet another move, calling up the delightfully named Rocky Cherry from Iowa and sending Billy Petrick back down to the minors. Now I know what you're thinking, Billy who? Apparently we brought this guy up on June 26th and his major league debut was lost in the three-ring circus that was the Rockies series. So the only thing that surprised me about yesterday's move was that I had no idea Billy Petrick even existed.

But Billy didn't even have time to unpack his bags when he got to Iowa, as Cherry was placed on the DL today with a "right lat strain". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but as long as it's not his groin he should be alright. Either way, losing Rocky Cherry is never a good thing, as the guy has worked his way to a 2.38 ERA in the bigs, despite only being able to pull off a 6.75 ERA at Iowa.

EDIT: Turns out Billy didn't even make it back to Iowa. He drove home to Morris, IL, which is about an hour and a half from Wrigley, and was still there when he got the call. At least he's saving the Cubs some money on airfare.

Channeling Harry Caray

Even while he's on the disabled list, Ryan Dempster shows he's still got talent.

When the Cubs first came up to bat in today's game, Dempster had the task of introducing the Cubs batting order for FOX. He did so in a near-perfect imitation of Will Ferrell's Harry Caray skit from Saturday Night Live. I'm not a big fan of the original skit because it shows Harry as a delusional old man who loves Budweiser, even if that may not be too far from the truth.

Apparently this is not the first time Dempster has done this impression, as I found this video from Mesa in 2005 where he does a short rendition of it. I'll try to find video of today's introduction, as it will probably be the best part of the game with the Cubs down 9-2 in the 3rd at the moment.

Say Cheese

Look at how high Soriano can jump. Bulls should sign him instead of Noah.

DeRosa looks like he could win a team limbo contest.

Carlos' face...priceless.

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.

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.

Breaking News

For all of you that read this blog for up to the minute Cubs info (who the heck would actually do that is beyond me), the word on the street is that we have...

FINALLY TRADED JACQUE JONES!

While there is nothing official that I can find at the moment, it sounds like we sent him to the Marlins and pretty much got nothing for him. I'll be back later when I dig up something solid.

EDIT:

Found something decently solid.

Rod Beck, You Will be Missed

Former Cubs closer Rod Beck died Saturday at the young age of 38. I'm sure most Cubs fans remember his phenomenal season in 1998, when he compiled 51 saves and only 4 losses. Ryan Dempster could learn a thing or 12 from him. First step Ryan, grow a phenomenal mustache.

In all seriousness though, we extend our sincerest condolences to Rod's family. The big guy will be missed.

Awesomest. Game. Ever.

Wow. Just wow. This was probably the greatest game of the season so far. The offense held their own, with Soriano hitting his third solo home run in this three-game series. The defense was stellar, with Izturis and Fontenot both making diving catches, Derrek Lee pulling off a ridiculous play at first, Pagan diving on the warning track to make a catch, and Soriano nailing the runner at home. The pitching was equally phenomenal, as Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, Will Ohman, and Bob Howry combined to shut out the White Sox. Combine that with the confusion surrounding the interference play and Ozzie getting tossed, and this game cannot be matched for fun and excitement. Unless you're my White Sox fan brother, that is. He likes to yell angry words when things don't go his way. My house hasn't been very quiet for the past month.

Oh yeah, and we SWEPT the White Sox. At the Cell. Booyah.

We've got Jason Marquis up against the Rockies tomorrow. Let's see if we can keep some momentum going for once.

Cubs Take the Season Series

Today's close game clinched this series for the Cubs, along with the season series. Once again both starters performed very well, and once again all it took was two runs to beat the White Sox. I almost felt bad while listening to their announcers on WGN today, as they spent most of the time discussing how bad the Sox are and why they are having the worst month or two in baseball. They've now lost 21 of their last 26 I believe. They even went so far as to try and find a statistic that the team is doing well in, to try and look on the bright side of things. Sadly, no such statistic exists.

The dominance that is Sean Marshall takes the mound tomorrow against Jose Contreras. Given the White Sox's dismal record against lefties this should get interesting. I'm refusing to say the 'S' word though, because a jinx is the last thing this team needs.

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.