Pack the bags

We are on the move....

Rooftop Report

Please

Somebody other than the Cubs needs to lose right the hell now. Even the Cardinals are rolling over to our Wild Card Competitors now. Frustration is currently through the roof.

Batting Order

If anybody asks, that is why you don't bat your worst hitter (save the pitcher) in the two hole. If Lee wasn't feeling well Grud should have been put there.

Patterson

I have figured out Corey Patterson. You HAVE to keep on him. You have to tell him everyday not to swing at pitches out of the zone. You have to tell him one good day doesn't mean a good day the next. You have to root against him until proven without a doubt to root for him. We cannot let good performance get into his head. Because, once we did he regressed and started trying to hit homeruns again. He stopped taking pitches. He stopped not swinging at balls above his head.

As Chuck points out, we are definitely starting to see old Corey. Please please please somebody talk to the guy.

What does it say...

About Sosa's career that when the announcers state the future HOF right fielder is going to be out of the lineup I think, "phew... at least it wasn't Lee, Alou, Ramirez, or Nomar...."?

Gmail invites

Sorry for the lack of posting, I am in the middle of trying to move this site to a real web address (gasp!).

Anyway, I have two extra Gmail invites. The first two people to comment with their favorite Cubs moment will receive them. Make sure to use your actual email address in the comment so I know that I am sending the invite to the right person.

Update: Two more available.

September Fun

30 games left, tied with the Giants, half game up on the Padres, and three games up on the Astros and the Marlins. Not what I wanted to be hearing this late in the year. That being said, tell me this won't be one of the most incredible months of non-playoff baseball ever.

Some questions about the Cubs that I would like your thoughts on:

(1) Does Mark Prior start in the playoffs? With Zambrano, Maddux, Wood, and Clement pitching so much better can a Prior start be justified?

(2) Is re-signing Clement an option?

(3) Who is the team MVP?

That is all for right now. I will have my answers tonight. Leave your thoughts.

Roller Coaster

Has a baseball team ever caused the need for someone to use dramamine? Just wondering.

Kicking fans and walking Astros

Brief recap of the Cubs day:

- 8 people were walked, 6 scored
- 3 errors
- 2nd loss in a row

Oh, and the disabling of a 100 mph fireballer due to an apparent distaste for electric fans:

Chicago Cubs reliever Kyle Farnsworth took out his frustrations by kicking an electric fan. Now he's expected to miss at least three weeks.

Farnsworth was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained and bruised right knee Saturday, one day after he gave up six runs in the ninth inning to the Houston Astros. Farnsworth, who'd been struggling, threw his glove in the stands as he left the field following the six-run ninth that helped the Astros to a 15-7 victory.

Then, as he went back to the Cubs clubhouse, he kicked an electric fan that sits in the runway from the dugout, manager Dusty Baker said. Farnsworth was on crutches Saturday and declined comment.

Well, at least the offense is still clicking.

Kick to electric fan lands Cubs reliever on DL [FoxSports]

Who would have thought it?

All of May and most of June went by, nothing. I begged, I pleaded, I thought about writing a letter to the Tribune Company, threating to stop purchasing my daily newspaper on the way to work. Still, nothing. My roomates quietly plotted my murder. Though they agreed with me, they couldn't take the constant talk of it. Then it happened; Beltran was traded...to the Astros. Doomsday mentality took over. How could we win now? The two best teams in the NL were in our Division.

June ended, and July saw Patterson's OBP drop from .346 to .321 as he batted .225 for the month and reached base just under a quarter of the time. All while Beltran was hitting game winning homeruns and making game saving catches. My anger boiled over, I gave up on Corey Patterson. I openly mocked him everytime he stepped the plate.

Well, don't I look like the horse's ass. CP has blazed through August, batting .3f'in86 and reaching base 44% of the time. All while stealing 11 bases, settling in to the leadoff spot, and leading the Cubs to a 14-8 August record. Now even thinking about trading for the free agent to be Beltran seems laughable.

Since June 25 (first game after trade)

Stat	Beltran	Patterson
Games	54	51
AB	202	207
Hits	50	64
Runs	38	36
2B	12	15
3B	1	1
HR	17	9
RBI	39	25
BB	29	13
SO	35	58
SB	17	16
CS	0	4
AVG	.248	.309
OBP	.346	.350
SLG	.569	.522
OPS	.915	.872

Who whould have thought it?

Don't you dare be injured

Nomar Garciaparra will be examined Monday in Chicago as a precautionary move after missing his second straight game for the Chicago Cubs because of a tender right Achilles.

The rest of this article puts a good spin on the news above, but, after this year, I am very weary of anything that comes out of the Cubs regarding injuries. Fingers are officially crossed.

AP BS

Title of the Associated Press recap of today's Chicago/Houston game: Wood beans three Astros, gets tossed
ESPN's headline to get to the recap: Back to old habits: Wood ejected
Snippet from the article:

Wood, returning from a five-game suspension for arguing with an umpire, was ejected for hitting Jeff Kent with a pitch on the left arm. The right-hander had already hit two other Astros -- Mike Lamb and Carlos Beltran.

Plate umpire Bill Hohn threw Wood out of the game, and the two argued. Baker came out to argue the ejection and was also tossed by Hohn.

With Oswalt's ejection thrown in as a side note later.

I mean, seriously, did somebody at AP even watch the game. This wasn't about Wood. Oswalt beaned Barrett on purpose due to the frustration of a 5 run third. Which directly lead to the benches clearing, Oswalt being tossed, and the umpires warning both clubs. Wood got ejected after accidentally hitting Jeff Kent two outs from nabbing the win. His ejection was solely because the warnings had been issued and the umpires are too scared not to toss somebody in that situation.

Is Wood running for President or something? I didn't know ESPN was so cool with so ridiculously spinning a story.

Treading Water, but hitting homeruns

Nothing more frustrating than whomping your opponent, going to bed, and then waking up to see that no ground was made in any race you are in. Damn those Padres, Giants, and Cardinals.

On the good side of things, the Cubs new look lineup kept things going, bringing the post-Sammy lineup drop team average of runs per game to 8.3. Not bad for a team that hadn't strung together three straight 7+ run games since the three games played between April 14th and 16th. Hopefully the trend continues tonight as Mark Prior tries to get his feet under him against some no name with 0 career starts (no offense Mr. Backe, just stating the facts).

More later.

Back to Back jacks

Though Sosa just followed an Alou homerun with a homerun of his own, I just can't get over the fact that when you look at the lineup card for today's game Sosa has the lowest batting average besides the pitcher.

Wonder how often that had happened before this year.

City of Chicago and Tribune Company pissing match

Round One: Mayor Daley accuses the Tribune Co. of hiding structural problems at Wrigley Field.

Round Two: The Tribune Co., siting the Freedom of Information Act, asks for records regarding the city's upkeep of the facade of City Hall.

Round Three: The City shut down construction of WGN's North Side studios, citing lack of permit.

Round Four: The City orders new inspections of Wrigley. Threatening to cancel Monday's game if satisfactory independent verification of repairs being made are not presented by noon on Monday.

The last punch apparently stemming from a reporter noting that some repairs at the ballpark were "shoddy."

So, let me get this straight, a reporter thinks the repairs are shoddy, but two structural engineers say it is fine. Yet, another review is ordered? Jesus Daly put it back in your pants... you win.

Moneyball

What do you think the chances of me landing an interview with Jim Hendry are? Or the chances of the Cub Reporter doing it for that matter?

I love Jim Hendry as a GM, but Billy Beane is hands down the best GM in baseball and allowing himself to be interviewed by an A's blog is just further proof in my mind. Go over to Athletics Nation and read part I and II of Blez's interview with the man that inspires Joe Morgan, et al. to say the most ridiculous crap imaginable.

If you are not familar with Moneyball or Billy Beane, use the snippet below as an introduction. Understanding it will put you well ahead of a majority of baseball GM's, sports writers, and fans.

Blez: How does a team like Oakland continue to stay competitive? The book talks a lot about OBP and my personal perception, and in talking to Michael Lewis, was that the A's have evolved beyond that into defense and other things.

BB: That's what's interesting when you talk about critics. We've never really sat down with any of these guys and explained to them what we're doing. They assumed they know what we're doing, which is great because they're out there blasting on the airwaves and they don't really have a clue what we're doing. But the closest thing I can say is that we're in a finite market and we're always trying to take advantage of any inefficiencies. Right now, you take on-base percentage and it's en vogue. It wasn't 10 years ago. We could get guys like Matt Stairs and Geronimo Berroa.

Blez: And guys like Scott Hatteberg.

BB: Exactly, guys like Scottie Hatteberg. Now people are recognizing the value of that and they're paying for it. And if we're in a bidding war, we're going to lose that. So we have evolved. If you look at some of our first playoff teams, the '99 team that won 87 games, it was a power, on-base team. Now we're tops in the league in defense and pitching. For us, it's all about filling in on the backend and figuring out what people are undervaluing. You know, one day we're going to have a team with guys who steal 50 bases because people aren't paying for it. But it's all about wins. That's all that matters.

Blez: And that was the point of the book.

BB: Yes, we know that, but other people are always trying to point the finger and say, "They do this, they don't do this." We just want to win and whatever somebody gives us, we're going to take. In many cases and over the course of time, it's up to us to discover what people aren't paying for and what they are under and overvaluing. That's really the art for us. The challenge for us in Oakland will be with really smart guys out there running teams, guys like Paul and Theo (Epstein) and J.P., there are some very, very bright guys out there running teams. The challenge will be competing with those guys for the same type of players.

Leadoff Hitter

I don't like Corey Pattterson. It really is that simple. Yeah, he hit this homerun last night. Yeah, he now has 20 stolen bases and 16 home runs. He is young, fast, plays good D (at least of late) and hits for power. So, it isn't anything he does (Gail Fischer and his looping swing notwithstanding). I just can't seem to enjoy the man as a ballplayer. That being said, he is murdering the ball as a leadoff hitter.

Due to sheer number of different lineups Dusty has presented to the umpire this year (over 70), Corey has started in every position of the lineup except fourth and ninth. Now, obviously his 8 games in the 3 hole, 7 games in the 5, 2 games in the 6, and 1 leading off for the pitcher, fall into the sample size category, so looking at those statistics would be meaningless (though that 30% walk rate in the 5 spot is mighty nice). His activity in the 1,2, and 7 slot are of interest though.

First, the Layman statistics:

Leadoff: .354 AVG, .73 R/G, .67 RBI/G
Second: .260 AVG, .66 R/G, .45 RBI/G
Seventh: .319 AVG, .47 R/G, .5 RBI/G

Second = bad, Seventh = good, Leadoff = Joe Morgan HOF

Second, the Carl Lewis statistics:

Leadoff: .467 SB/G
Second: .213 SB/G
Seventh: .031 SB/G

Seventh = National Anthem at NBA game, Second = 4 Golds in 1984, Leadoff = 4 straight Long Jump Olympic Golds

Third, the Optometrist statistics:

Leadoff: 3.8 P/PA, .417 OBP
Second: 3.2 P/PA, .310 OBP
Seventh: 3.5 P/PA, .389 OBP

Second = a mole, Seventh = corrective lenses, Leadoff = 20/20

Fourth, Mighty Casey statistics:

Leadoff: 13 AB/HR
Second: 49 AB/HR
Seventh: 23.2 AB/HR

Second = 1/5 2000 Barry Bonds, Seventh = 1988 Barry Bonds, Leadoff = 1996 Barry Bonds

So, to recap:

Second = bad, 4 Gold Medals in 1984, mole, 1/5 Barry Bonds 2000
Seventh = good, National Anthem in NBA game, corrective lenses, 1988 Barry Bonds
Leadoff = Joe Morgan HOF, 4 straight long jump golds, 20/20, 1996 Barry Bonds

People keep saying that Corey will be a middle of the order hitter later in his career. My question is why? If he can cut the K's a little more, walk a little more, and then just keep doing what he is doing what is stopping him from being one of the greatest leadoff hitters of all-time?

Selig renewed

I have mixed emotions about this:

Bud Selig's term as baseball commissioner was extended for three years through 2009 in a unanimous vote by owners Thursday.

The bad:

(1) He is a car salesman, and you don't want those guys sticking around too long.
(2) He bad mouths baseball in order to make HIS POINTS seem better. That is just absolutely unacceptable.
(3) Tied All-Star game
(4) No All-Star game in Pac-Bell yet, because he is mad the Giants {gasp} paid for their stadium themselves.
(5) He said his previous contract was his last.

The good:

(1) The game is mad popular right now.

There is a tremendous amount of reasons to not like Selig (way more than I listed), but you can't argue with results; can you?

Read the whole article below for the specifics. There are some other interesting tidbits besides Bud, including information about the World Cup and the Expos move.

Owners approve baseball World Cup and TV network [ESPN]

Laughing at others troubles

Haha, Eric Gagne
Haha, Trevor Hoffman
Haha, Dustin Mohr
Haha, Travis Phelps

Thanks to a late rally by the Braves, a baserunning error by the Giants, and some more leadoff godishness from Corey Patterson the Cubs find themselves a manageable one game out of the wild card race after last nights games. Not bad, especially since around the 9th inning the Padres were beating the Braves, the Cubs were matching bullpens with the Brewers, and the Giants were straight pounding the Expos.

Lineup Heaven

Patterson
Lee
Garciaparra
Alou
Sosa
Ramirez
Walker
Barrett
Pitcher

I couldn't ask for more. Thank you Dusty... Thank you for finally coming around.

[Update:] Well, I could ask for more, but this is a very good start. Your head is slowly coming out of your ass.