Ding dong the witch is dead

Sorry about the delay folks but I have a job now... and it has me working 10 hour days. Anywho I have had little time for the Cubs recently but I have tried to keep up.

As I see it we are just where we should be right now at .500. The Cubs have been beating the ball like a redheaded step child scoring over 5 runs in 3 consecutive games! In addition the Cubs beat teams they should've hammering the sorry looking Astros and Rockies. Most importantly LaTroy is gone and I can stop bitching about him! (I wish him luck in San Fran and I'm sure he will do much better there.)

On a sad note Mark Prior a.k.a. Jesus is on the DL with a fractured elbow.

I thought that the Red Sox had proved that curses don't exist but apparently the Cubs still have their monkey strapped to their back.

The Cubs have a tough stretch in front of them with the Dodgers and the Padres coming up. Hopefully the Cubs can keep up this tear that they are going on. The key is to not let deficits in starting pitching get to us. The Cubs need to jump on opponents early if they want to make it through this. In addition the bullpen needs to keep up the good work.

I am not extremely enthusiastic about the players the Cubs picked up in the Hawkins deal. While both of them have potential to be good pitchers, judging by the fact that they are both former first rounders, I can't see them doing well immediately. They both have ERAs in the mid 6 range.

A new beginning

The past two games have been an awakening for the Cubs. I think that by sweeping the battling Bucs in spectacular fashion the Cubs should have a new spring in their step.

The Cubs beat the Bucs not once but twice in one run games. It was a miracle to say the least... actually now that I think about it, it must have been. The Derrek Lee homer had to be divine intervention, right?

What about THW and Macias, two of our worst hitters, coming in and hitting a crucial tying run single and a winning sac fly?

Even better, what about Dumpster trying his best to blow the game but getting the save because of good defense? If there is a god, he had his hands all up in the 9th inning of the last two games.

These two wins should really give the Cubs a boost going into the series with the Sox. The events of the past two days are just the beginning of the turnaround. Slowly but surely the pieces of this season are coming together. The bullpen, the starting pitching, and the offense were the first three pieces. Defense is the last piece, and we all know that this piece of the puzzle has been lost under to couch and covered by a pile of fallen cheetos. The Cubs are riding high on a wave of momentum right now and the schedule coming up should allow them to keep on sailing on.

The Cubs have three tough ones against the hated Sox but then play the god awful Rockies and Astros in the Friendly Confines. Both the Astros and the Rockies are absolutely terrible road teams sporting two of the worst road records in the big leagues.

The Cubs have gotten through what I hope to be the worst of their season and now the only direction is up. There is no way a team like the Cubs, with all the talent they have collected on the field, can be beaten in our division by a team like the BREWERS. Our starting pitchers wipe their asses with players like Brady Clark and Lyle Overbay.

Derrek Lee is having an MVP season... Derrek Lee should be the MVP. If Derrek keeps his pace up he might just be the first person not named Barry Bonds to hoist the award in 4 years. Derrek is batting like a maniac and his fielding is golden glove material. He leads the team in all major batting and baserunning statistics, which I have to admit is kind of sad.

Joe Table was the MVP of the series blowing two one run games in Hawkins like form. I guess you can scratch him off the list of closers we want to trade for at the deadline.

In other news I can't call LaTroy 1R if he continues to pitch so well, and I couldn't be more happy. I really don't like making fun of LaTroy and hope that he does well and returns to dominant 2003 form. The guy can really pitch and if he can keep his juevos I hope that the Cubs keep him at the trade deadline.

Stinging defeats

Last Night the Iowa Cubs lost to the Salt Lake Stingers 6-2, the Cubs lost to the Nats 3-4, and today the Cubs lost to the Nats 4-5. A sad 24 hours in Cubs baseball has passed and hopefully it will not continue as it has.

The AAA game last night was a terrible affair on the mound and at the plate. The newly acquired Daren Oliver sporting a 34 ERA at the beginning of the game. He gave up 6 runs off of nine hits including a three run homer and a run scoring double.

Todd Walker wasn't impressive in his first rehab start with the Iowa Cubs. Walker went 0-3 and really couldn't manage to get solid contact with the ball.

Roberto Novoa pitched in the 6th inning. He had a good outing as he struck out 1 batter and didn't allow any runs or hits.

Big Joe was doing rehab, and he performed in a solid 8th inning, not allowing any runs or hits but allowing a 4-0 walk. Big Joe has pitched 6 games for the Iowa Cubs and has a 3.00 ERA.

I missed the big league game last night but was happy to see that LaTroy pitched 1 1/3 innings only allowing 1 hit and no runs. He came in, in the 7th inning and stayed for the 1st out of the 8th. He is performing well in the set up role, the role he was SIGNED for.

T Dub had a good game last night too, pitching 2 innings and only allowing 1 hit. The night before he picked up the save as he bailed out Remmy. T Dub is progressing nicely and I hope Dusty continues to use him on a regular basis.

On to the business of today's game.

Greg Maddux was the pitcher of record today and he was having a decent game until the scary mound monster ate his control. I wasn't surprised that he gave up that gigantic 2 run homer by Johnson in the 5th, because the mound incident threw off his rhythm.

Neifi was the goat of the game as he committed 1 1/2 errors and had a Macias like day with the bat.

I say he had 1 1/2 errors because I would not have scored that first error as an error. The second error is something that has plagued the Cubs all to often this year and is the reason why the Cubs are near the bottom of the league in fielding. On a simple ball hit basically right at him Neifi booted the ball and allowed the eventual winning run to score. More times than I can imagine easy balls hit at Cub players result in errors that lead to runs scored by the other team. The bleeding has to stop right now.

I really hope Dusty gets canned soon and Bob "I'm just announcing till they fire Dusty" Brenly will take over. Dusty really has lost the energy for managing over the past 2 seasons and you can see it every time you look at him in the dugout and every time you watch the Cubs blow a game thanks to simple defensive fundamentals.

Don't get me wrong I think that Dusty's decision making ability has gone up 10x in the past couple of weeks and he is starting to make managerial moves that make sense. The problem at hand right now is his inability to teach the Cubs fundamental skills of baseball. Last year the Cubs couldn't run the bases and this year they couldn't field their way out of a paper bag.

On a lighter note the Cubs pen is pitching lights out and it is mostly thanks to the young arms of the Rolling Dubs, Good Ohman, and Cliff "I don't have a nickname" Bartosh.

Also it seems as though Macias has made a deal with the devil because he hit a very un-Macias like 2 hits today and 1 RBI. It is like as Neifi loses energy Macias is there to suck it up... somebody should start to monitor Macias and make sure his is not a Vampire.

Down at the Minors

I went to a Salt Lake Stinger game tonight and guess who they were playing, the Iowa Cubs.

Here is some nice photo documentation.
Todd Walker at bat.

Todd in the field sans robotic leg.

Novoa pitching in the 7th.

Here is Big Joe pitching in the 8th (sorry it's blurry.)

The NEW one run

It is official Dusty lost his mind today trotting out his newest version of 1R, Ryan Dumpster. Dumpster is the new closer and I now must jump off a bridge.

Two nights ago Dumpster was put in, in the 9th inning of a 5-4 game. It was 5-4 because 1R gave up a homer to Doug "sick to my stomach" Mientkiewicz. Dumpster came in and gave up two utterly horrific runs, on 4 hits, to end the game 7-4. Dusty apparently didn't learn his lesson, as always, and gave Dumpster the opportunity to screw up again. Dumpster promptly screwed up by walking one batter and allowing two hits, to eventually score Doug Mientkiewicz. What really pisses me off is Dusty wasted another great outing by Mark "Jesus" Prior by making terrible bullpen decisions.

Dusty almost made the right decision, because he had M Dub up in the pen along with Dumpster, but we all know that Dusty and sanity parted ways at the end of last year. My favorite shot of the whole game was Dusty pacing in the dugout right before Dumpster really blew it by allowing the Valent single that scored Mientkiewicz.

Luckily Derrek Lee, the hottest player in all of baseball, bailed the Cubs out of the fire by hitting a Herculean homer against the wind to left field.


In other game news bad defense is back in a big way. Jerry Hairston Jr. committed two errors the first of which led to the only two runs Prior let up today. An easy chopper was hit to second right at Jr. which had double play written all over it but he let it go right under his glove like some sort of Bill Buckner. The two runners, Floyd and Piazza, should've been out, but instead both scored two batters later. The horrible defensive fundamentals displayed by Hariston Jr. are a symptom of bad management on the part of Dusty. Dusty needs to wake up and correct the errors the Cubs have been making as of late.

Luckily the Mets suck at defense worse than the Cubs. In the bottom of the second inning two defensive miscues by the Mets scored two Cubs and a third, Mark Prior, scored the old fashioned way off a Nefi Perez single. The first miscue was a wild pitch that allowed Hairston Jr. to score from third and advanced Hank White. Two batters later C Pat grounded out to first and Mientkiewicz threw a throw in the dirt to home allowing Hank White to score from third.

Out of hibernation

The Cubs' bats woke up from hibernation tonight, beating the Mets senseless 7-0. The pitching of Greg Maddux kept the pressure off the offense and really allowed them to rake today with 4 homers.

The offense was started off, by the true left fielder Jason Dubois, on a fielders choice to short scoring J Burn. Dubois also hit a homer in the 4th to left against the grain of the wind. C Pat's bat finally did something other than swinging at bad pitches and hit two dingers, one in the 3rd and the other in the 5th. Nefi continued his march to the all star game along with Derrek Lee by having a strong outing tonight tallying two hits and one stolen base. J Burn had a great game as well smacking one homer and a single.

Maddux really had his stuff today and boy was it nasty. Maddux struck out 10 batters in all and allowed 3 hits and 3 walks. Maddux was changing speeds on his pitches, keeping the hitters ahead of his pitches all night long. The movement on the ball was classic as he fooled batters again and again. He unraveled a bit in the 7th and worked himself into a bases loaded jam.

Dusty pulled him at the right time and M Dub came out to clean up the mess.

M Dub pitched a solid relief outing hopefully rolling his way into the favor of Dusty. M Dub was a bit off some times but none the less allowed no runs in 1 1/3 innings. Remmy, sans Billy Bob Thornton goatee, pitched a quick 9th inning and ended the game on a high note for the pitching staff.

I think tonight's game was a perfect opportunity to have 1R pitch in a situation that wasn't pressure packed and he couldn't screw up. Having a good solid outing in an easy situation would be good for 1R and would help to get his confidence up. Dusty wasted a great opportunity tonight to give 1R something he could feel good about.

I really wish that Dusty would stop his insane prejudice against young players and play Dubois out in left more than he plays THW. Dubois has played in half the games that THW has played in yet he has nearly twice the offensive output. In 16 games Dubois has hit 4 homers, 11 RBIs, scored 5 runs, and has a .286 BA. Compare that to THW's anemic numbers through 29 games. THW has hit 1 homer, 7 RBIs, scored 3 runs, and has a .211 BA. The number speak for themselves Dubois deserves the left field spot despite his bad defense which is no worse than oh say Moises Alou.

Good Ol' One Run

It's official LaTroy Hawkins shall forever be known as Good Ol' One Run or 1R for short. By putting 1R in the closing role last year and this year Dusty managed to crush 1R's confidence.

1R was put in the game, in the 8th inning where 1R belongs, only to give up his traditional one run sacrifice to the baseball gods. He just can't help but serve up big fat juicy pitches. Thus far this year 1R has given up at least one run in a pressure packed situation 6 out of 11 times (a pressure packed situation is a save or relief situation where it is tied or the Cubs are up by one run.) That is horrible considering that he blew it in the 8th a couple of times to.

So who is the pitcher that will save us from 1R. Well according to Dusty it's Dumpster. Wow whole lot of good that did. Dumpster gave up two more runs in the 9th inning putting the game officially out of reach by the standards of the Cubs offense. We don't need Dumpster to be our closer because I don't care if he has the "mental makeup of a closer" he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a banjo right now.

The person we need a closer right now is M Dub and we need T Dub to set him up. Is it just me or did T Dub pitch an amazing game last night for the second time in as many outings. My vision might be cloudy from all the 1Rs and Dumpsters on the staff that when somebody like the Rolling Dubs come along they look like gods in comparison.

The first win of the Dr. StrangeCub era!

The Cubs won a game by one run? That can't be right we always blow those, right? Not today my friends. Propelled by two of the three people who can hit a ball right now the Cubs beat the Phillies 2-1. Big Z had one hell of an outing today as well.

The game really started in the 4th inning when both Nefi Perez (a.k.a. future allstar 2005)

and The Book of Aramis hit solo shots on a day when the wind was blowing in. While I am glad that the Cubs won today I am still disappointed with the complete lack of offense by the Cubs. 2 runs cut it today but with the way the bullpen loves to blow games 2 runs isn't nearly enough. Only three Cubs were able to get a hit today and Ben Grieve drew a walk.

On a much brighter note The Cubs committed no errors much to my surprise. Even better Dusty held back and didn't let LaTroy close in a one run situation although he was thinking about it. Dusty put LaTroy and Good Ohman/Bad Ohman up in the pen in the 8th but thankfully didn't pull Big Z.

In the 9th inning Ryan Dumpster was up in the pen much to my chagrin. I think that Dumpster shouldn't even be considered for the closing spot considering the fact that we really need him to START. Not to mention the fact that he walks way too many people on average to be considered closer material.

Congrats to the Big Z on the complete game and the much needed big win snapping the losing streak and hopefully starting a winning streak.

Another day another defensive disappointment

The game today started off well but ended on a very sour note. C Pat started the game off right in the bottom of the 1st with a solo line drive homer to right. That would be all the offense the crowd was going to see today not counting the offensive defense.

Glendon Rusch got the start today and oh what an outing he had. I would say he pitched very well considering it was his first extended period on the mound. He only gave up two runs in the 5th inning. One big reason that those two runs were able to score was because of a badly misjudged ball hit to C Pat by Mike Liberthal. All hits that came off Rusch in the 5th inning were slapped balls that really were lucky if anything.

After the two runs came in Dusty yanked Rusch and put in one of my favorite young pitchers Todd Wellemeyer (T Dub.) T Dub pitched a bit shaky at first but really dialed it in in the 6th and 7th innings pitching 1,2,3 innings each time. He was placing the ball well and had plenty of gas to boot.

The 7th inning stretch was sung by the great Will Ferrell and Da Coach. Ferrell stole the show with his dead on Harry Carry impression. Ferrell brought the only humor that the announcers box has seen all season even making the dull Len Casper and Bob Brenly seem funny.

When the 8th inning rolled around so did Mike Wuertz (M Dub.) M Dub pitched a great 1,2,3 8th inning picking up where T Dub left off. The 9th inning was a complete disaster and a disappointment as far as I am concerned and none of the blame should lye on M Dub's shoulders. M Dub was pitching fine with the exception of the Timo Perez walk. The defense really screwed up the 9th and were the reason that two more runs scored. The book of Aramis should of had that grounder to third for a double play but instead booted it and got M Dub into some serious trouble. The next hit should have never happened because the Cubs should have been out of the inning.

The Cubs have terrible defensive fundamentals and only one person can be blamed for it. Dusty Baker should have these guys playing good defense through teaching and drills but apparently he has been asleep at the wheel judging by yesterday's and today's terrible performances.

For a second straight day the Cubs left about a billion men on base. Every time a rally started the bottom half of the order would come up and blow it. Though, there was one bright spot in the offense today. C Pat had a great day with the bat drawing TWO walks and hitting a homer. TWO walks from C Pat is like Jesus walking on water it was a friggin miracle.

The luckiest man of the day award goes to Jose Macias the worst baseball player on the team. First He airmailed the throw on the double play in the second but was saved by Derek Lee's freakishly long arms. Next his only hit of the game came from a burning ground ball that should have been fielded easily by Timo Perez. Finally he stole a base that he should have been thrown out on but Mike Liberthal thought that center field was where second base was and decided to throw there.

Congratulations Cubs on another waste of a good pitching performance.

P.S. I have decided to name T Dub and M Dub the rolling Dubs. I would love to see a combination of T Dub in a set up role and M Dub in a closing role in the near future.

My first post and we are already off to a bad start

To start things off with a proverbial bang the Cubs lost today in a most spectacular fashion. As my father put it LaTroy "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory." Never have truer words been uttered. LaTroy is a great pitcher in almost every facet in any inning other than the 9th. Having said that LaTroy plays like a man with his head cut off in one run closing situations. A very apt example of such behavior was exhibited today. LaTroy actually pitched with some measure of control but found a new way to blow a one run lead. LaTroy speared a line drive hit straight at him by Placido Polanco but proceeded to FREAK OUT on the mound like the ball in his hand was ready to explode and he had to find someone to throw it to. LaTroy decided to unload the ball right into Jose Offerman's head at somewhere near mach 10.

2 "unearned" runs scored to put the Phillies up for good. The kind of behavior shown by LaTroy today on the mound is inexcuasable and has to stop right this instant.

The problem is the only person who can stop the madness is Dusty Baker. Baker is a man that met madness in a bar, slept with it, and had a hideous baby named "Cubs' season 2005." Baker is so crazy that he continuously uses LaTroy to close games. LaTroy clearly doesn't have the chops to be a closer and never will. Dusty never got that memo. Dusty is a great manager and I thank him for the success he gave the Cubs in 2003 but that was 2 years ago. In the following two years LaTroy has managed to ascend to the role of closer under Dusty's watchful eye and manage to ruin the end of last season and the beginning of the next. Dusty has some sort of need for LaTroy like a junkie needs a fix. He keeps on coming back and using him even though deep down he knows it is bad for him. Dusty needs to step back and think to himself "if I were a manager with a brain what would I do?" The answer is simple put LaTroy in the 8th inning where he is untouchable and try some new arms at closer untill JoBo comes back in 2 weeks. My two personal favorites for the job right now are Mike Wuertz, a kid believed to have the "makeup of a closer," and Todd Wellemeyer, a unproven pitcher who can throw it hard and straight.