Series Loss...

The Chicago Cubs lost the series against the Washington Nationals. They split the first two, but Washington pitched shutout ball in today's 2-0 loss. The Cubs' record is now 16-9. The Cubs finish their road trip 2-3... The Cubs will play Milwaukee Tuesday through Thursday, and then travel to St. Louis for a weekend series. The Cubs continue to lead the Central by half a game over the Cardinals...

10,000th, but not 10,001

The Cubs got their 10,000th franchise victory last night against the Colorado Rockies in a dramatic fashion, with a few changes in the lead and blown saves by both Colorado pitching, as well as Chicago pitching. But the Cubs came out dominant in the end after 10 innings.

On a bleaker note, the Cubs ended their 6 game winning streak today getting beat by the Rockies. The Cubs and Rox spllit two, and the Cubs will continue their road trip tomorrow in our nation's capital facing the Nationals.

4-23-08- Winning pitcher (and a blown save) Kerry Wood, 2-0
Save- Carlos Marmol

4-24-08- Losing pitcher Kevin Hart 0-2

9,999th Win, 5 in a Row, 2 Sweeps in a Row...

The Cubs are arguably the hottest team in Major League Baseball, they currently have the best on base percentage in the National League, they've scored an average of about 8 runs over their win streak, and they've gotten the long ball going. The offense isn't really a concern for the Cubs... Maybe one thing they need to work on is their starting pitching, but even that isn't a huge problem for them.

It was another day where nearly eveyone tried to contribute to the offense. Even Ted Lilly (1-3) was able to hustle his way to an infield single. But the two that contributed the most weren't even on the opening day roster. Reed Johnson continues to surprise the Cubs, and makes the late move of picking him up off of Toronto, one of the best moves of the offseason. He had a 2 RBI single in the 4th. Of course, their biggest offseason pick up continues to raise his on base percentage. Kosuke Fukudome reached base on all 5 plate appearances, walking twice, and getting 3 hits. While he didn't have any RBIs, he did score 2 runs. The RBI machine, Ronny Cedeno, had an RBI double in the 4th, and then hit his first career grand slam in the 8th giving the Cubs an 8-1 lead. The Cubs are now 14-6, the last time the Cubs started off this well, you have to go back to 1975.

The Cubs are one win shy of winning their 10,000th victory, if they are able to overcome Colorado today, they will accomplish that feat.

4 In a Row, Cubs Go For Second Straight Sweep

Carlos Zambrano (3-1) may not have hit as well as he did in his last game, but his slider was either striking out the batters he faced, or it was turned into a double play. The only run that Big Z gave up was in the 6th inning.

Meanwhile, while Big Z and the defense were doing thier job limiting the runs of the Mets, the bats continue to get hot. Aramis Ramirez hit a 2 run homer, which would be all that Cubs would need, but the bats got hot again in the 5 run 8th inning. D-Lee, Ramirez and Fukudome got on base with no outs. Mark DeRosa and Geovany Soto went down swinging, then Ronny Cedeno hit a 2 run single, and Felix Pie came up to bat and hit into the stands giving the Cubs a 7-1 lead.

While it wasn't a save situation, closer Kerry Wood pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, thus allowing the Cubs to keep pace with the Cardinals, staying just a half game ahead of St. Louis who overcame the Brewers last night. The Cubs will face off against the Mets again this afternoon going for their second straight sweep.

Felix Pie and Kosuke Fukudome celebrate their 7-1 victory over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have won 4 in a row and are looking to go for their second straight sweep.

9, Another Sweep, and First In the Central

The Cubs scored another 13... Yet again, it's hard to point to one person who contributed the most out of the offense, Aramis Ramirez was the only one to hit a home run on the Cubs, but the Cubs already had a comfy lead at that point. The Cubs sweep the Pirates for the second time this season, improve their homestand record to 5-1, and improves their season record to 12-6 taking the top spot atop the NL Central. Ryan Dempster (3-0) picks up his 3rd win of this season pitching 5 innings while only giving up 3 runs.

The final- 12-6, Cubs (12-6, 1st NL Central) beat the Pirates (7-11, 5th NL Central).

Things of interest- Kosuke Fukudome missed the game due to an inflamed eye. Matt Murton got the nod in right after being called up from AAA Iowa. Reed Johnson appears to be the starting center fielder now. He is hitting much better than Pie, and has made some excellent defensive plays.

Make It 8

The Cubs and Jason Marquis completely destroyed the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 8th time in a row, overcoming the Bucs 13-1...

The Cubs offense was SPECTACULAR... There's really no one person who contributed the most. D Lee sparked things with his 7th homer making it 2-0 in the bottom of the first. And it was all the Cubs would've needed, but they kept swinging the bats. Lee extended his home run lead, he now leads the majors with 7.

The Cardinals dropped their game, allowing the Cubs to be within just a half game. The Cubs now have a great record of 11-6.

7 in a Row...

The Cubs have now beaten the Pittsburgh Pirates in 7 straight showdowns with their fellow Central foes dating back to last season. Rich Hill had MUCH better command over his pitching than he has in his last few starts and picks up his first decision making his record 1-0... Closer, Kerry Wood, picks up the save pitching a 1-2-3 9th inning at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Wood now has 4 saves so far as his first year as a closer.

The Pirates managed to get on the board first in the 2nd inning. Later, in the bottom of the third inning, Ryan Theriot, who has really hit well this week, hit a triple with just one out, but the both Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez failed to get him home. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Kosuke Fukudome, easily a Wrigley faithful favorite after just 16 games with the Cubs, hit a leadoff triple, and the Cubs went on to rally for 3 runs.

Carlos Marmol was very dominant in relief pitching striking out the side in the top of the 7th, his only blemish came in the top of the 8th. Pittsburgh's Nate McLouth, hit a solo homer, his third home run of the season (and I didn't mind that much because McLouth is one of the few non-Cubs on my fantasy team).

This continues the streak over the Pirates also for the Cubbies, only winning these ballgames against the Bucs by 1 or 2 runs. Last week they played 9 EXTRA innings against these Pirates, but still managed to win all their games against them last week. Let's hope this streak continues to tomorrow and Sunday.

Can't Win 'em All

Yesterday, Dusty Baker was finally able to beat his former team. Of course, it certainly helped that Joey Votto got 5 RBIs yesterday. Griffey also hit his 596th homer. Ted Lilly finally got some control over his pitches, but he still struggled to get in the "W" column for this year with his record degressing to 0-3 in 4 starts. The Reds overcame the Cubs 9-2.

Rich Hill will take the mound today in the opening game against this weekend's series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs swept the Pirates last week, but it included 2 extra inning games. Rich Hill struggled to get past the third inning in his last start and got a no decision as Jon Lieber and the rest of the Cubs bullpen took over and pitched shut out baseball to get the win.

In other news: Soriano is expected to get out of his boot today. He'd love to be back on the field, but still has another 12 days to go on the DL, he'll have to settle for being a cheerleader for a while. Reed Johnson played center field yesterday and went 4-4, but it wasn't something that was widely celebrated as he and the rest of the team would much rather have gotten the win.

Around the NL: "Let's play two..." and a half. The Rockies finally overcame the Padres last night in a game that lasted 22 innings.

Blowouts Certainly Aren't a Bad Thing...

The Cubs wouldn't mind having the wind blowing out everytime Big Z takes the mound. Even with the wind rapidly blowing out, Carlos Zambrano did not give up a home run. Derrek Lee however, hit his sixth of the season to help overpower the Cubs over the Reds.

It all started in the 4th inning when the bases were loaded, and Kosuke Fukudome did what he does best, getting on base any way he can. This time it was a 2 run double. Then DeRosa followed with another 2 run double. That was all the Cubs would've ever needed, but did they stop there? No, because they remember last week when they blew a 7 run lead.

In the next half inning, the Reds managed to put a run on the board. But Derrek Lee had an answer for that with his 6th home run of the season. That homer sparked a 6 run 3rd inning for the Cubs, who held their lead and never let the Reds back into conention.

The Cubs offense certainly wasn't lacking in their first game this season without super star left fielder Alfonso Soriano. The final in this excellent offensive stint for the Cubs was 12-3.



Things to note: Eric Patterson, Corey Patterson's little brother, pinch hit in the bottom of the 8th, but ended up striking out. In the top of the ninth, Corey was booed by the Wrigley faithful. Corey was a long time Cubs prospect, but never really picked up the way the Cubs organization had hoped.

Soriano Status

Soriano was in fact placed on the 15 day DL...

With hitting below .200, will this actually be a good thing for the not so known guys who can hit? Lou doesn't think so, he knows better than anyone that Soriano is such a leader in the Cubs dugout, and he said that whenever you lose one of your big guys it can potentially hurt you.

Eric Patterson the younger brother of the Red's center fielder and former Cub Corey Patterson, was recalled from AAA Iowa. Tonight will be the first time in a long time that the brothers play on the same field and the first time they play each other in the MLB. Young Patterson is batting over .300 at AAA Iowa, and Hendry (GM of the Cubs) and Piniella hope he can keep swinging the bat well in Chicago.

The wind is really blowing out again tonight at Wrigley. Expect homers from both teams, but more from the Cubs (hopefully!). My prediction: D-Lee's 6th homer will come tonight, and Aramis Ramirez will also hit a homer. Cubs will win 10-4 and Zambrano will get the win.

Speaking of Big Z... He wasn't as energized in his last appearance, and he certainly wasn't as dominant. Carlos is 1-1 with a 3.20 ERA. Big Z has only walked 2 batters in 3 appearances, and has struck out 18. Wish he was on my fantasy team...

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 595th homer last night... He's behind Sosa on the all time list. Sosa hit his 600th homer against the Cubs last year, and finished his season with 609 career home runs. Lucky for the Cubs, it's unlikely that Griffey will hit 5 homers in the next 2 days, but then again I guess nothing is impossible when the wind is gusting up to 25 mph out of Wrigley.

More after the game...

The Return of Baker, Long Balls, and an Injured Star Right Fielder in an MRI Machine

I'll start off by saying, yes, the title is corny.

I would've gotten this post up last night, but much to my surprise, after I returned home from watching the game last night, Google informed me that I was locked out of my blog for it possibly being a spam blog... After fits of rage and constantly checking to see if I had been allowed back in, I finally got in late this morning.

What a game... Aaron Harang, a pitcher who was 4-0 at Wrigley, seemed to forget his previous dominant starts at the friendly confines as the Cubs beat the Cincinnatti Reds.

Ryan Dempster looked decent in the top of the first inning, he went 1-2-3, but that number three hitter, Ken Griffey Jr., popped out to shallow right field. Alfonso Soriano came into make the play, and did his trademark hop when he caught the ball... His landing after the hop hopefully isn't something that he'll repeat. He started limping off the field, and SS Ryan Theriot helped him back to the dugout. He had an MRI last night, and the Cubs organization expects to have the results back sometime this afternoon... (I'll keep my non-existent readers posted :-])

In the bottom of the second, Kosuke Fukudome (arguably my favorite Cub right now...), singled to lead off the inning, and Mark DeRosa belted a 2-run shot to the left field bleachers making the game 2-1.

But Ken Griffey Jr. countered with his 595th career home run, another 2-run shot to left center to make the game 3-2.

But in the bottom of the 5th, Derrek Lee, sporting number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, belted a 3 run shot to left center making the game 5-3, never to have the Reds reclaim the lead for the rest of the game.

Dempster looked good through most of his start, his only blemishes were the Griffey homer and an unnecessary amount of walks. But he got the win. Carlos Marmol came out to pitch the 7th inning, and ended up loading the bases with no outs. On a ball that should have easily been a 2 run scoring single, Mike Fontenot (backup 2nd baseman) dove and stopped the ball and got the force out at 2nd only allowing one run to score. The very next pitch, Derrek Lee hustled to get a ground ball going down the 1st base line, threw it to get the force at 2nd, and Theriot quickly threw it back to Lee to get the runner at first.

The Cubs ended up winning 9-5.

Dusty Baker, who is now the manager of the Reds, didn't exactly get a warm welcome. Baker has been rightly accused of, in the past, over using his starting pitchers. He took Harang out of the game in the 7th inning, and was booed by the fans at Wrigley. Is Baker another scapegoat for not going all the way? Yes and no... Baker wasn't the best manager the Cubs have ever seen, he inherited great baseball players to work with... Could the same be said about Lou Piniella? Arguably yes, but Piniella is different, he knows what he's doing and is possibly one of the greatest managers of his time.

The Curse of the Goat

My very first comment came on yesterday's post. The question, was about the Cubs and the curse of the goat. While I typically don't believe in curses, this is Cubs fans' scape"goat"...

In 1945 a Greek immigrant had 2 tickets to the World Series matchup of the Chicago Cubs versus the Detroit Tigers. Billy Sianis brought along his pet goat for which he had named his local Chicago tavern (The Billy Goat Tavern). After a heated debate with some of the Ushers at Wrigley, Sianis and his goat were allowed to sit in the seats for which he had paid for. The goat wore a sign that said "We've Got Detroit's Goat", as the Cubs were heavily favored to win the series. They were allowed to parade around the field, and afterwards were told to go to their seats. Shortly into the game, it started to rain. Nearby fans started complaining of the smell of wet goat, and Philip Wrigley (Owner of the Cubs and Wrigley Field) told Sianis and his goat to leave due to the odor of the goat. Sianis was so upset about being ejected, that (as legend has it) he placed a curse on the Cubs that they would never win an NL Pennant or appear in another World Series at Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost that game, and eventually lost the whole series. Sianis sent a letter to Wrigley that simply said "Who stinks now".

To this day, the Cubs still have yet to win an NL Pennant since the 1945 season.

As I've said before, in 2003 they came so close, all of Chicago was packing the streets on the night of October 14. The Cubs were within 5 outs away from their first NL Pennant in 58 years. Mark Prior continued to pitch the 8th inning (Dusty Baker truly did overwork his good starters). Luis Castillo hit a foul ball that was playable for Moises Alou out in left field. A fan by the name of Steve Bartman caught the ball, and prevented Alou from getting the ball. Alou was so mad that he threw done his glove and demanded that the umps call fan interference. Interference was not called, and the Marlins went on to rally for 8 points in the inning with a few fielding errors on the Cubs. The Marlins won the game 8-3, and beat them again in game 7 to go onto the world series and win it.

People use things like the Billy Goat, and Steve Bartman to make excuses. Bartman did set off an unusual set of events from a team that was known for it's good defense, but it wasn't Bartman's fault. Other teams even feed off of these curses, for example, fans of Arizona were holding up pictures of a goat in the 2007 NLDS against the Cubs. The Diamonback organization went so far as to fly Steve Bartman to the game.

We need to put these curses behind us. 2008 is a new season, possibly one of the greatest teams the Cubs have had in a LONG time... This is our year...

Much Needed Off Day...

So, I thought about going back and writing more extremely long articles (my brother complained they were too long and didn't hold his attention for very long... Then again, the only thing that really holds his attention for very long is a computer game called Maple Story...) about the Cubs opening home stand. But aside from getting to be at Wrigley Field for their second game, it was a somewhat disappointing home stand with the North Siders just barely pulling off .500 for their first stand at Wrigley.

So instead, I have a few pictures from Wednesday's game (not many, I get very engrossed in the game and to the annoyance of those who weren't able to come to the game, didn't take many pictures) that are posted below.

Trivial Wrigley fact: Cubs park (now Wrigley Field) is built on the remains of an old Seminary.

The new Ernie Banks statue... "Let's play two!"

The missing apostrophe had been added the day before... Whoever designed the statue originally left it out... It just shows us that art majors don't always pay attention in English class... Regardless of the artist's lacking knowledge of the English language, this is a really nice statue...

The old scoreboard at Wrigley, which is still almost entirely turned by hand.

The unofficial mascot of the Cubs, Ronnie Woo-Woo...

Cubs... Woo! Ted Lilly... well he wasn't so "Woo" in this game...

Beautiful Wrigley Field... Let the name never change...

Oh, another topic that sparks quite a flame in my blue blood... I will undoubtedly have many things to say about as the season goes on...

Close Calls...

This road trip for the Cubs had so many close calls, Chicagoans (well, at least sensible fans of the real Chicago team) lost a good 10 pounds... That's how many EXTRA innings they've played in the last 6 days. And what's incredible is that they've won all their extra inning games on this road trip. The Cubs finish this trip an incredible 4-2.

Monday the Cubs opened up a 6 game road trip at the Pittsburgh Pirates' PNC Park. Ted Lilly and the Cubs got way ahead early taking a 7-0 lead. The Cubs let the Pirates back in the game just an inning later by letting up a 5 run inning. There were a couple fielding errors by 3rd baseman Aramis Ramirez and backup shortstop Ronny Cedeno. By what should have been the end of the game, it was 8-8 in a dead lock tie. Finally, in the top of the 12th inning, with the bases loaded, Aramis Ramirez redeemed himself by hitting a sacrifice fly to score the man from third. The Cubs went on to win it with Jon Lieber (1-1), picking up his first win as a long relief pitcher for the Cubs. Being a winning pitcher for the Cubs is nothing new for Jon Lieber, he was the last Cubs pitcher to win 20 games for them in 2001 before he went on to play for a short time for the Yankees, and then the Phillies. Lieber was certainly the game saver, he pitched more than 3 innings of scoreless relief. The final score after 4 hours and 45 minutes was the Cubs coming out on top 10-8, thus creating a winning season for them at 4-3.

After a much needed off day for both bullpens on Tuesday, a similar outcome followed on Wednesday. The Cubs once again pulled out an early lead, they led 1-0 for most of the game. Ryan Dempster looked fantastic only giving up one hit with no runs charged against him. By the 8th inning, the Cubs had extended their lead to 2-0... Carlos Marmol came to pitch the 8th, and gave up one run. In the bottom of the ninth, converted to closer Kerry Wood came to pitch the bottom of the ninth. He served up a solo homer to Jason Bay. He got out of the rest of the inning, but the damage had been done and on they went into extra innings. In the top of the 14th, Aramis Ramirez hit a 2 run home run to give the Cubs the lead 4-2. But in the bottom of the inning, Adam LaRoche had his very first hit of the season, a 2 run homer off of Cubs rookie pitcher Kevin Hart. On the Cubs went to the 15th inning, with 2 runners in scoring position, Felix Pie hit a 2 run single. Sean Marshall got the save, and the Cubs won their second extra innings game in a row.

Thursday was a little easier, by easier I guess I mean shorter. Rich Hill had a terrible outing giving up 3 runs in the first inning alone. After the third inning, Piniella knew he just didn't have it, that and he had already thrown 70 pitches... He called upon Jon Lieber again, and boy did he step up to the plate. He and the rest of the bullpen didn't give up another run after Hill was taken out of the game. The Cubs had a 5 run inning with 2 2 run homers from Geovany Soto and Mike Fontenot. The Cubs won it 7-3 and it only took 9 innings to play, which was a relief for player who had felt like they had already played that third game. Jon Lieber (2-1) earned his second win in 3 days. After completing their sweep of the Pirates, they had won 5 games in a row going to Philadelphia on Friday.

Friday and Saturday just didn't go as planned for the Cubs. They lost 2 in a row to the Phillies, and really needed to bounce back. They did that today. After the lead went back in forth for most of the game, it went into extra innings yet again with the game deadlocked at 4 apiece. Pinch hitter, Carlos Zambrano (yes, the starter pitcher, arguably the best hitting pitcher in the National League in my opinion), grounded into what probably should've been a double play. The Phillies got the force at second base, and Chase Utley noticed just how fast Big Z was running, and rushed the throw that was way off target allowing Ronny Cedeno to score from 3rd base. Former White Sox closer, Bob Howry, came in to pitch the bottom of the 10th to seal the deal for the Cubs improving their record to 7-5.



The Cubs will open up an 8 game home stand starting on Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds.

Go Cubs Go!!!

A Dying Cubs Fan Last Request

Everday we get one day farther away from our birth, and one day closer to our death. A great Cubs fan, and one of my favorite folk artists (there's not that many of them that I like too much, I'll be honest), Steve Goodman, once wrote a song about how, while it was his great past time to watch the Cubbies, they only disappointed. Basically what he was saying was that, (said so many times by my grandfather whenever I'd mention the Cubs in postseason play) if you give a monkey a typewriter, eventually he's going to type a word.

Figuratively speaking, the monkey has been typing for 100 years now with a grand total of zero words. The Cubs World Series draught is the longest championship draught in professional sports history. I could go on and on about how close they've gotten, the great teams they've had, ranging from the era of hall of famer Ernie Banks, Banks' teammate Cub legend and color commentator for WGN: Ron Santo, hall of famer Ryne Sandberg, and the list goes on and on of the years where they'd show potential. But no year was more of a let down for getting so far, than the 2003 season. The Cubs were SIX outs a way from their first NL Pennant since WWII. In '04, they just didn't have the same chemistry, 2 of their great starters that returned from the 2003 season (Wood and Prior), weren't who they used to be with frequent trips to the disabled list. In '05, they were yet again a sub-par team, and watched their crosstown rivals win it all. In '06, they watched their biggest rival, the St. Louis Cardinals win it all as they finished LAST in the worst division in the MLB: the NL Central.

2007 came around. A good majority of Cubs fans (myself included), wanted Dusty Baker gone. The Trib fired him and after interviewing many capable candidates, gave the job to former Yankee/Mariners skipper: Lou Piniella. Billionaire Sam Zell bought the Tribune, and decided that he needed to sell the Cubs. The club still has yet to be sold. Later in the offseason, the Cubs signed Alfonso Soriano to their team, and he would prove to be a real team leader in the '07 season.

April finally came around. The Cubs looked like the worst team in the MLB, they didn't see .500 again until mid June. Meanwhile, NL Central division rivals; Milwaukee Brewers, got off to a FANTASTIC start, and they looked unstoppable.

Lucky for the Cubs that April is only one month of the baseball season. May wasn't much better though, then in June, Piniella and the Lovable Losers decided they were tired of losing. Things imploded starting with a June 1st scuffle between pitching ace, Carlos Zambrano and catcher Michael Barret. Barret Just wasn't getting along with the pitching staff, and GM Jim Hendry made a wise move by trading him to the San Diego Padres. About a week later, there was a controversial call by a 3rd base umpire, a call the Sweet Lou didn't quite agree with. Well, after throwing his cap down and kicking some dirt on the umpire, it could've been assumed that Piniella would be suspended a few games. Lucky for Lou, that little bit of drama was what (for whatever reason) sparked the Cubs. The Cubs won 7 in a row starting with a sweep of the crosstown rival White Sox, and continuing on another sweep of the Colorado Rockies. After their sweep of Colorado, they were finally over .500... While the Cubs continued to do very well, Milwaukee slowly imploded. The Cubs finally gained on them and in September, clinched the NL Central, the first team in the Central to ever finish last one year, and then win the division the next.

October baseball did not go according to plan for the Chicago Cubs. They got swept in 3 games of a possible 5 game series.



So, you may be saying, "You've made your point, the Cubs have been a big let down, why is the majority of Chicago still Cubs fans...?" Besides fantastic memories people have of watching the Cubs, being at beautiful Wrigley Field, I have a theory as to why people don't give up, and it's truly very simple. We love the underdog story. It makes us feel good, that we imagine a team that hasn't won anything worth noting since 1945 (the NL Pennant), and hasn't won it all in 100 years, finally claiming the prize.

I won't make predictions as bold as Ryan Dempster did this offseason. I will say this though, the 2008 Cubs have the chemistry to be, at the very least a playoff contender. The last time the Chicago Cubs went to back to back postseasons, was the same 2 years they won the World Series back to back: 1907-1908...



Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy-covered burial ground
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the National League

If only Steve Goodman could be around for the first time (that I believe) the Cubs will go to back to back posteasons since 07-08...






More articles to follow with news on the '08 Cubs, Cubs history, and anything Cubs.